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Dr. Fetus posted:Nope. I think the game checks and applies diminishing returns accordingly at the moment you attack or get attacked. At least that's what I've seen from testing things out. So order doesn't matter, the buff power does. What's the criteria for applying diminishing returns if you have, for example, 2 30% ATK buffs on someone and a 30% DEF debuff on the target? They're all of equal power, then. Also I really wish it was easier to find info on newer EO games besides deciphering Google Translate on the @wiki.
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Dec 26, 2015 04:36
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Ragnar Homsar posted:What's the criteria for applying diminishing returns if you have, for example, 2 30% ATK buffs on someone and a 30% DEF debuff on the target? They're all of equal power, then. Dunno, I guess it's applied randomly in that case? It's still 100-60-20-0 like everything else. All I know is that the game doesn't screw you over if you use buffs that are at different levels. Like a level 20 Attack Order (40%) and then something like a level 10 Warrior Song (30%). The game will always apply the 60% reduction to Warrior Song in that case, even if it was cast first. (1.4 * 1.18 would net you a 1.65 multiplier while 1.3 * 1.24 would net you a 1.61 multiplier instead.)
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Dec 26, 2015 05:09
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Tyler, Sophie, Realga
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Dec 26, 2015 10:51
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Freyja, Asriel and Rheine. What's the abbreviation for our pretty pretty princess class? SO? One vote for Café Café. Arianna: even in your labyrinth, M.O.E. Tone it down a bit, lady?
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Dec 26, 2015 12:33
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Jackie, Tyler, Sophie.
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Dec 26, 2015 21:54
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Votes are currently:quote:Sophie: 10 I'll be leaving votes open until I return home. As they are right now, we have a two-way 2nd place tie, and a four-way 3rd place tie.
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Dec 27, 2015 01:40
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Tyler, Jackie, and Phoebe
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Dec 27, 2015 01:50
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Stardust, Sophie, Tyler
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Dec 27, 2015 02:59
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Omobono posted:Freyja, Asriel and Rheine. What's the abbreviation for our pretty pretty princess class? SO? Yeah. And the reason the name got changed from Prince/ss to Sovereign was because it interfered with Protector. Wonder if that name will stay the same in EO3U or so.
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Dec 27, 2015 05:03
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Update 7: Never Trust An Animal (Except Wolves) Previously on this Let's Play of Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold... And the name that was voted on was... How brilliant! How bursting with creativity! It's perfect. Now, Regina doesn't have anything more to say after that, but there is an audio only conversation we can listen to.  And let's head to the 2nd floor of the Labyrinth.  Well there's an obvious solution to that. I get past it. Same thing as in Classic. I go to the room on the right and find a Sugar Beet from the Mine point. I head back to Cafe to cook up some coffee.  And here's one of the side stuff that we can do. Cooking! We're given a tutorial on it. Well, let's go make some coffee. If you use the right ingredients, that happens. The game then tells us about how food works. More specifically, it heals the party for 15% of their max HP for every 9 steps they take. Which is basically 1.6666% for every step you take. Meh. So anyways, what you saw there was a restaurant skit. Classic Mode misses out on those, but in Story Mode, the party will comment on the dish that was made. I'll make sure to show all of those off. Oh, and thanks to Hobgoblin2099 for providing a transcript of these scenes. Here's another recipe we can complete right now. And the conversation continues on from there. And this increases the amount of ingredients we get at item points. Handy if we want to farm for dishes. The NPCs do have one time dialogue for the restaurant opening up, but Hanna's dialogue is the same as it was in Classic, so I'm not showing that. Anyways, I could use some sleep.  S-Sure I do! Flavio's not your friend? And then we wake up.  Abigail gives us a tutorial on Blast Grenades. Unlike in EOU, these are actually useful in these game, and will effectively neuter a couple of dangerous encounters. Don't stock up on too much of them, but having 3 on hand is usually enough. Incidentally, Abigail's cafe and 2F dialogue are the same as in Classic. But there are quests you can take in the bar that involve unlocking some equipment. If you've already done that before taking the quest, you'll get some different dialogue once you enter the store again. While I won't be showing off stuff that was already shown in Ragnar's Classic Mode playthrough, I will be covering stuff he missed. I think that's actually supposed to be Flavio talking. Whoops! And now for his 2F dialogue.  Her 2F dialogue is the same as it was in Classic for the most part. Only her first 3 sentences aren't included. His 2F dialogue. In both Untold and Untold 2's story modes, the Labyrinth isn't actually your main objective. The main objectives actually the new dungeons they added in the remakes. We'll still explore the Labyrinth obviously, but that's one of the main ways Story differs from Classic. New equipment (that is redundant with Flavio's current skillset.) You walk closer to see what it is, and once again, you find a hedgehog whose spines are caught in a tree's roots. We meet again. Though you know now there is no reward in helping it, you still have a choice to make. Let's help it again. When you reach towards the hedgehog, it trembles at first, but then calms down and allows you to touch it. It would seem that luck is on your side as you swiftly remove its spines from the tree's roots, and yet...! The instant it is freed, the hedgehog leaps from your hand! Worse yet, it steps on your face in its rush to flee from you. Ingrate! Never trusting that thing again!  Though you sustained mild injuries in the process, the hedgehog has been safely released from the tree. You nod to yourself, sure that you did the right thing, before leaving the area. Mild injuries, my butt! That thing practically killed me! I should be dead right now! The black-robed girl pauses during your trek through the forest. You cautiously look ahead on the path... To your surprise, there are a number of coins piled beyond the rubble! You're one to talk. You're tempted to retrieve them, but you have to wonder about the circumstances... Screw being cautious, I see FREE MONEY! Ignoring Bertrand's warning, you reach into the rubble to take the coins. They are worth 100en in total! Heartened by the lucky find, you return to your investigation. What a worrywart. In the middle of the path you currently walk is a monster. As you discuss the possibilities, the monster discovers your presence and turns its sharp gaze your way! The monster reacts to the survivalist's shout of alarm by baring its fangs and pouncing! It's just a Clawed Mole, so I take it out easily. Rare breeds are quite nice to run into, as killing them yields quintuple the exp of what a normal monster yields. We killed it in one turn, Bertrand. In that I actually took damage from that thing. Rare breeds are different from their normal counterparts in that their strength increases during battle. If you think the rare breed is within your means to defeat, it's advantageous to try and vanquish it. However, rare breeds are prone to run away from battle, so keep that in mind. So, rare breeds are a returning mechanic from EO4. They're tougher versions of regular enemies, but give out 5 times more exp when defeated. They almost always move first in the turn, but they only get a huge boost to their action speed, so priority skills can still go before them. It is possible to outspeed them, but that happens rarely. For every turn that passes, their damage output increases by 10%. And they have a chance to run, so you want to kill them quickly. Oh, and FOEs can be rare breeds as well. Only they don't run from battle, so only fight those if you're sure you can win. Thankfully, bosses can't be rare breeds. If the enemy is incapacitated through the use of Sleep or something like that, they won't get a power boost when it's their turn. If you wish to eat one, they can be easily plucked from the tree. Let's eat them. You bring the small fruit to your lips... The juice that gushes from it has a delicate sweetness that restores some of the energy you had lost! You could note the tree's location on your map as a reminder, should you happen to be in the vicinity another day. I eventually decide to head back to town. Select the Guild House from the menu to enter the Guild House, and try equipping a Grimoire. Incidentally, that option unlocking actually lets us talk to Regina now. Here's her dialogue for when the restaurant opens. And here's her 2F dialogue. So Grimoires are a returning mechanic from EOU. They've been reworked to be significantly less annoying, but I'm still not a fan of the system, as it still has too much RNG for my tastes. As for how I'm gonna use it for myself? Probably just gonna stack abilities, and that's it. I probably won't be using other class abilities or enemy skills too much. Enemy skills are rarely worth it anyways. Anyways, let's head back to the Labyrinth. Sure, why not? You gradually understand that she has spotted monsters not far off. Before you can ask what she means by this, the monsters identify you as prey and charge towards you!  And then we get a tutorial on how we can get more Grimoires in battle. So sometimes you'll see that Grimorie Chance thing pop up. And sometimes there will be an extra notice underneath, telling you that you have a chance to get an active, passive, or an enemy skill. You have a 30% chance of getting a Grimoire when those notices pop up. The exception to these are Premium Chances. These are more rare than the other types of Grimoire Chances. When you get one of these, you are guaranteed to get a Grimoire for that turn. If you cast an active skill, you will always get a Grimoire Stone of said skill. But if you do something like attack or defend, you'll just get a random skill, whether it's from you or an enemy. Premium Chances are also more likely to give out higher level Grimoires than normal Grimoire chances. When a character is successful in creating a new Grimoire, the game will tell them what they got. Though specific details about said skill will only be found out once the battle ends. For this tutorial, everyone will get a Grimoire Chance. Ooh, that's lucky. Sometimes you'll see that pop up while in battle. Whenever it does, everyone in the party will get a Grimoire Chance for that turn. And sometimes Grimoire Fevers can happen multiple turns in a row if you're lucky. If you get them to happen 3 times in a row or more, all Grimoire Chances will become Premium Chances during those fevers. You can't prolong a battle forever to get Grimoires. Each character is limited to getting 5 Grimoire Chances in one battle. Once a battle ends, you'll be told about the Grimoires you got. Unlike Untold, each stone can only contain one skill. Oh, but don't worry. Unlike in Untold, Grimoire Stones no longer take up space in your inventory! (Yes, that was actually a thing. And it made exploration kind of annoying.) Instead, Grimoire Stones have their own category in your inventory, and you can carry up to 400 of them. They were snails, Flavio. SNAILS. You nod to the woman before beginning your exploration of the Labyrinth, to accomplish what must be done. Back on the 2nd floor... The black shadow that introduces itself with a low growl happens to be a large beast with ebon fur. But you know quite well by now that this beast is no enemy. For the black shadow appearing before you now is Wulfgar, your erstwhile companion as you mapped the 1st floor! The black-furred beast looks at you calmly before turning his gaze to a point behind you, as if trying to convey something. What the beast gazes at is the path where you just came from. However, you notice that a portion of the path stands out... You have seen stone pillars on occasion elsewhere, but this is the first time you've seen a floor tile like this. I don't have time for this. Let's just move on. The beast is not an impediment to your investigation, so you see no need to let it bother you. Having decided that, you begin walking again on the road leading deeper into the forest. Anyways- He continues to glance back at the stone pavement, as if directing your attention to it. You know not way, but it is clearly important to Wulfgar that you examine the stone pavement at all costs. You don't understand why, but there is no point in arguing with the beast. You go to obey its command and check the stones. Though you examine it from different angles and probe every inch of it, your investigation yields nothing. Her her, huh? Man, that kind of typo shows up in these games often. Dunno why. With that, she produces her weapon and strikes it against the stone pavement! A hollow thunking sound is heard. Think fast! You agree with the black-robed girl and make to resume your exploration. 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. There are warning bells ringing in my mind, but I don't know why. The squirrel-like animal looks up with its beady eyes, in seeming defiance of Bertrand's warning. The way it cocks its head is absolutely heart-melting... You may reach out to pet the small woodland creature, or simply leave. Oh, but it's just a squirrel. What can they really do, anyways? It's not like they're as bad as hedgehogs. You kneel down and extend a hand gently, so as not to surprise it. But at that moment...! Is there nothing in the forest that we can trust!? Coming to realize the truth of this statement anew, you continue exploring with heightened caution. Great idea! Flavio, you've got a big job to do! As the other three debate over how to resolve the situation, Chloe calls to you. You see that she is pointing to a spot slightly in front of the monster. With that, the black-robed girl steps back. True to her word, she intends to let you handle this. You ponder to yourself whether to enact Chloe's plan to lure the monster, or to ignore her and do as you wish. Hope this works! The monster is trapped in the hollow space below!  Do you just enjoy seeing FOEs suffer?Obviously, we must finish the job. You understand the sense in Bertrand's words and move to avoid the monster... Though you could fight it if you wished. We're not gonna do that since we don't stand a chance against it right now. You hurry to draw your weapons, but a figure appears before you can do so! The man clad in fine armor raises both hands to show he bears no ill will before walking towards you. The friendliness of his manner allows you to relax and lower your weapons. The black beast you've met before appears in response to the protector's summon. The armored man smiles to see Arianna's cheer as she approaches Wulfgar. He turns back to you and continues. You thank the red-haired man for the aid that Wulfgar provided thus far, and then tell him your name and origins. You ask whether he's seen the guard corps you're searching for. Arianna explains to the man that she is a princess of Caledonia, here to perform a particular ritual. I don't trust you. You can go your own way as well, or head back to town for now. Sometimes Grimoires can come with bonuses like that. That bonus increases Volt damage by 2%. Most bonuses do stack with each other, so with enough of them, they can make an impact. The young man examines the map and cocks his head. Bertrand mutters under his breath before proceeding onward. You decide to follow after him to where the guards should be. Hopefully, we'll catch up to those guards next time. Araxxor fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Dec 27, 2015 |
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Dec 27, 2015 07:01
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I initially debated showing off stuff like the dialogue Abigail has if you preemptively unlock a quest item, but decided it was enough of a pain that I didn't feel like doing it. Not having a text dump or save states seriously sucks. Also phone posting so I can't quote them, but I'm pretty sure Flavio should be saying "Of all the things" instead of "Oh all the things," and "those guard" at the end should be "those guards."
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Dec 27, 2015 07:34
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Ragnar Homsar posted:I initially debated showing off stuff like the dialogue Abigail has if you preemptively unlock a quest item, but decided it was enough of a pain that I didn't feel like doing it. Not having a text dump or save states seriously sucks. Bah, fixed.
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Dec 27, 2015 07:52
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On the subject of Grimoire Stones, if you get a Premium Chance is there any surefire way to get a passive ability? Like Shield Mastery if you wanted a Grimoire of it from the Premium?
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Dec 27, 2015 11:21
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BlackPersona posted:On the subject of Grimoire Stones, if you get a Premium Chance is there any surefire way to get a passive ability? Like Shield Mastery if you wanted a Grimoire of it from the Premium? I want to say Defending should work.
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Dec 27, 2015 16:48
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Ragnar Homsar posted:I initially debated showing off stuff like the dialogue Abigail has if you preemptively unlock a quest item, but decided it was enough of a pain that I didn't feel like doing it. Not having a text dump or save states seriously sucks. How's the loading times on the 3ds? But yeah, I can see how saving, dropping quest, transcribing, reloading, transcribing, is a goddamn pain. Stick with what comes up, who cares about minor changes that basically amount to: "I didn't notice you brought the mats already, go grab the reward and thanks" if it's anything like EO3.
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Dec 27, 2015 17:38
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BlackPersona posted:On the subject of Grimoire Stones, if you get a Premium Chance is there any surefire way to get a passive ability? Like Shield Mastery if you wanted a Grimoire of it from the Premium? Unfortunately, no. While they can guarantee getting active skills, in order to get passive skills, you have to do something other than using a skill. Which than just pulls a random skill from your skill tree or the enemies', so you have to rely on RNG there. On the other hand, you can try resting an just putting skill points in the passives that you want. There's just one problem with that.  Remember how Mastery skills unlock skills? Yeah, those extra skills unlocked can kind of get in the way of that. On the other hand, you aren't required to spend all of your skill points in order to get high level Grimoire Stones like in Untold. That got taken out of this game. Ugh, the Grimoire system in that game was just pure garbage. And while it wasn't necessary for the main game, the post-game will eat you alive if you don't make good use of them.
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Dec 27, 2015 20:14
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Update 8: Rescue Mission And now that we've reached the 3rd floor... let's go back to town! Before we set out again, why don't we get some sleep?  Go away, I'm trying to sleep. Yes. Get out. That's the professor, for the record. On the other hand, we have no idea who that is. I'm hungry. I don't remember anything. And then we wake up. And now we have the option to store our items. Regina's 3F dialogue is the same as in Classic. Cass has some one time dialogue for when we run into Guild Beowulf. His 3F dialogue is the same as it is in Classic, but... Let's tell him that slow and steady doesn't win the race. Marion's dialogue isn't any different. Anyways, I take the time to do the quest where we have to take care of Quona. If you actually turn her down when she comes to you about the drunk guard, you actually don't have to deal with that and the quest ends immediately. However you don't get as big of a reward and only get 125 exp per party member. Also Cass calls you out for being a dick to her. The Story party doesn't have any new dialogue for this, so I'm not showing off the quest. So let's get back to the 3rd floor. Oh no. You cautiously look over and find a familiar-seeming hedgehog... Once more, it is stuck fast due to its spines becoming lodged in the tree's roots. You may rescue the foolish hedgehog or leave it to its predicament. Fine, I'll give it another chance. But this is the last one! In for a penny, in for a pound, you think to yourself as you reach towards it. Yet you still recall the intense pain your last rescue attempt resulted in. It is something you are not eager to repeat. You pause, considering briefly how best to go about this. Okay, I've got a plan. You wonder if you might escape unscathed if you leave it without any chance of launching a counterattack... Sayonara, hedgehog!  Your toss was well-timed, it seems. You were not bitten once! Having done your good deed for the day, you decide to leave this place. You don't get anything for picking that option, so let's just stare at it again. As you work at dislodging the hedgehog, you try to convey through your stare that you only wish to help the creature... When all the spines have been extracted from the tree, the hedgehog obediently jumps to the ground from your hands. You seem to have gotten through to it! I knew I shouldn't have trusted it! In truth, your pride is more punctured than your skin. You convince yourself that this is the case and put away the hedgehog's token of gratitude before going on your way. Okay, fine hedgehog. I'll forgive you this time. Oh that's nice. More recipes means more restaurant skits. Should come in handy in case I screw up badly. Upon closer inspection, you see three injured guards collapsed on the ground behind him. What has happened here...? You consider asking the man. I'm sure that doesn't mean anything bad. Those guards probably just tripped over something. You ignore his warning and reach for the door. But the red-haired man quickly takes hold of your hand to stop you. The red-haired man shows signs of distress, but he looks each of you in the eye before speaking up. Some? In Classic Mode, all but one got killed. Guess Story Mode is making some things lighter. Hrothgar gives a backward glance to the three guards behind him. Their wounds are treated and they sleep peacefully. You nod at Arianna's words and make to return to the Duke's Palace. Screw this, let's just go through the door now! It seems that he won't let you through for any reason until you have returned to town. The fastest way to move forward, it seems, is to return to High Lagaard for now. Fine. Sheesh. Dubois has new dialogue if we talk to him. Let's do this. And Dubois has more to say if we talk to him again. We probably could have saved more if we went in right away. Now let's head back to the 3rd floor. As you discuss the possibilities, two figures appear behind you. The red-haired young man smiles as he explains himself before continuing. The protector's expression darkens, and though he opens his mouth as if to speak, no words come out. Think we're not up to the task, huh? The young man's cold tone is a far cry from his usual friendliness... He turns his back to you. Hrothgar and Wulfgar leave. You are free to proceed through the door if you wish, though you also consider returning to town to prepare yourselves. Considering that we had to go back to town to even proceed with the plot, I think we'll be fine. Let's go through the door.  When you notice what lies at the monster's feet, you feel as if you have been punched in the stomach... Scattered about is armor and helmets worn by the guard corps, atop a patch of ground utterly soaked in blood! The dreadful sight leaves the entire group at a loss for words. In contrast to the shocked young man and woman, the protector and his black-clad ward begin analyzing the scene. Chloe turns her gaze on your, and Arianna looks at you forlornly as well. The young man patiently awaits your ruling on the suggestion. If you mean to investigate the path ahead, you must either slay the monster or devise a way to avoid it. Either way, the decision is yours... But be cautious. The monster lurking ahead is more vicious than anything you've faced, and victory is not certain! We're going to get pasted if we try to take on that FOE now, so we have no choice but to avoid it. First, walk two steps forward to trap the 2 Raptors for 10 turns. Then walk over here. The Terrible Hunter will hop over any pits that are in its way, but it has to rest for a turn if it does that. So how do we lure it into one? Aside from that aspect, it acts like a Raptor in its movement patterns. So move one step to the left and... Take a step back! The Terrible Hunter will attempt to jump over the first pit, only to land in the second one! After luring it into a pit once, the Terrible Hunter loses the ability to hop over pits, and moves 1 tile every other turn, so it's much easier to lure it into a pit the second time. We're still not fighting it because we aren't strong enough yet. The young man stops briefly to check the ground and nearby branches before looking back up. The young survivalist looks to the path heading south as he awaits your instructions. It is up to you whether to follow the footsteps and head south, or search the northern side first. If the missing guards are indeed in hiding, fearful of monsters, they may be difficult to find at first glance. On hearing your voice, an injured man carrying comrades on his back emerges from between the trees. You silently lend your hand to the guard. As the guard takes your hand, he is overcome with emotion and begins to sob. You shudder to think of how painful it must have been to be forced into hiding by pursuing monsters... The guard squeezes your hand tightly... Once your are sure that he's calmed down, you tell him that you are explorers charged by the Grand Duchy to save him. But once his outburst of joy subsides, the guard limps over to Chloe upon noticing her. In case you're wondering, altering the story mode party's classes has no effect on the plot. Chloe moves to the three collapsed guards and begins treating them... ...... Fade to black. The entire party shares a moment of relief... You speak to the guard again, who is looking gleefully upon his comrades. If this is Brucke, then he must be the bridge expert you were searching for... The guard can't help but smile as well at the protector's smirking remark. Fade to black. After you do what you can for the guards, you hand Brucke the Ariadne Thread that the Grand Duchy gave you to pass on. Wait, when did we get that? The guard then uses the Ariadne Thread and returns to town with his three comrades. The guards leave. The woman is right. You must now return to town and inform the Grand Duchy. That can wait. Why don't we go to the next floor, first? The woman is right. You are duty-bound to report back about the guards that you have rescued! Before you explore any new areas, you must return to town and speak to the Minister! Oh, fine. Another mission becomes available, but let's see what Dubois has to say first. And now let's accept the mission. I think you meant part. Unless you really wanted us to boogie down here. Gameplay wise, it won't. Dubois has more things to say if we talk with him. Sometimes the town dialogue changes when something major happens instead of just going up to a new floor. Let's see what Quona has to say now. And we'll be making our way up to Chimaera's lair next time.
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Dec 31, 2015 20:43
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uh, no idea what happened there. nevermind this.
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Jan 1, 2016 10:53
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I'm not actually home from vacation yet (got an entire day of travelling tomorrow, hooray), but I might as well call the vote since it seems everyone who wanted to vote has:quote:Sophie: 11 Anyone not the list got no votes. In the interest of not holding another vote for a small thing, I flipped a coin--heads for Jackie, tails for Stardust. It landed on tails, so Stardust it is. As such, our party is, in terms of rows: Tyler/Rheine, Realga/Stardust/Sophie Rheine's not really suited for the front row, but she's a better choice for it than anyone else.
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Jan 4, 2016 08:07
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Ragnar Homsar posted:
Found a translation of said comic.  Ragnar Homsar posted:
Unfortunately the localization of this game kind of cut corners a bit by copy pasting the translation from the original game and updating parts of it without really checking to see if it fit in. Like sometimes the NPCs will talk about things that got cut from the remake. And fact some of the item descriptions were copy and pasted from Untold.
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Jan 4, 2016 23:47
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Gunner is so powerful in this game because she got so much money from the figurine
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Jan 5, 2016 01:23
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Ah yes, something I'm wondering about. Are you planning on doing a writeup on advertisements and saying which foods are effective with certain customer types?
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Jan 6, 2016 08:21
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Dr. Fetus posted:Ah yes, something I'm wondering about. Are you planning on doing a writeup on advertisements and saying which foods are effective with certain customer types? I wasn't planning on doing it, but now that you mention it and since I now have an easy way to check groups (a 100% save file), it'd probably be a good idea once all the wards are unlocked. Update 13'll be coming whenever, and it'll be pretty short (an average update is anywhere from 25-40 minutes of raw footage--Update 13 is ~15 minutes). I spent quite a lot of time today troubleshooting some stuff with my 3DS capture card that have been happening since the start of the LP, and I eventually just messaged Tyty and found out the issues I was having are just kind of standard stuff with the thing. They're both small things and don't show up in screenshots, though.
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Jan 6, 2016 08:26
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Update 13: Salamander Meet the new party for the second half of the stratum. Rheine's not really suited for the front row compared to Tyler or our other front liners, but she's a better choice than anyone else in the back row. At least she can wear heavy armor and equip shields.         First order of business: selling all the stuff I got from grinding up the entire guild. Wrapped Bow is unlocked by selling 4 Ostrich Tendons. It has +6 ATK over the Kagenui, which isn't that big an upgrade. Madfa is unlocked by selling 5 Iron Toenails and 1 Rock Shard. It has +9 ATK over the Bayonet. I'd probably buy it for Jackie if she was in the party. Stone Claw is unlocked by selling 5 Rock Shards. It gives +9 ATK over the Iron Nail, but no extra stats, which is what Beasts want. Pass. Iron Armor is unlocked by selling 7 Iron Toenails. It gives 27 DEF, a whopping +19 upgrade from the Half Armor Rheine has had since the start of the game. As such, I buy one for her. Studded Leather is unlocked by selling 3 Collar Furs. It gives 22 DEF. I buy one for Tyler, since I want both him and Rheine to be as survivable as possible. Flower Caftan is unlocked by selling 2 Scarlet Vines. I don't bother to buy it for any of our backliners. Scout Boots are unlocked by selling Thick Boar Skins. They reduce damage taken from damage tiles, but that's kind of a non-issue with Realga in the party. Blind Gas is unlocked by selling 5 Bendy Vines. The only person who can really make use of it in our current party is Sophie, and she already has Blinding Curse. Aside from that, I guess Survivalists or Dark Hunters can probably make use of it, but the base infliction chance on it is super low.       I also buy Lactarius Staves for Rheine, Realga, and Stardust, to give each of them a slight boost to TEC.     I also outfit Rheine and Tyler with shields to make them less susceptible to being one or two-shot.      Everyone's Grimoires. I took the level 8 Spear Assist Grimoire off of Tyler because that TP cost would not be sustainable at all. Any empty Grimoire slots are because there weren't any good Grimoires to put in said slot.   Rheine's skill build. I'm leaving Attack Order at level 9 since the TP cost jumps to a whopping 20 at level 10. Since I didn't really want to level up any of the Orders at this time, I opted to have Rheine start learning Link Order. Link Order works like this: the Sovereign selects a target, and then prepares Link Order at the start of the turn. After that, when the target is hit with an elemental attack, the Sovereign will follow up with an extra hit of the same element. It gives the Sovereign a way to contribute some respectable damage when they're done buffing the party, and Link Order II is very nice for random encounters and boss fights with multiple targets.  Tyler's skill build. I maxed out Spear Mastery, and gained access to Delayed Charge, followed by Cross Charge when I leveled up Delayed Charge to level 3. Delayed Charge is basically what it sounds like: when the Highlander uses it, the skill becomes locked for a set amount of turns. Once that timer runs out, Delayed Charge activates, and deals damage alongside the Highlander's normal action for that turn. Cross Charge is kind of special--on its own, it's just a basic Stab attack. However, if it's used while Delayed Charge has its timer going, Delayed Charge will immediately activate at the same time as Cross Charge, and Cross Charge will deal bonus damage.  Realga's skill build. I leveled up both Unbind and Refresh to 3 so I could get Revive. At level 1, it revives someone with 1 HP. Right now, it's less useful in combat as it is saving money on Nectars during dungeon exploration. After getting Revive, I then opted to level up Salve, which I want to get to 5 before leveling up Overheal.  Stardust's skill build. Compression is maxed out, and gives a 175% damage boost to all-target skills at level 10. I'm now leveling up Cocytus Formula, since the upcoming stratum boss is weak to ice.  Sophie's skill build. I'm really starting to regret investing 3 skill points in Frailty Curse--I might rest her to allocate the points elsewhere. Aside from that, I leveled up Blinding Curse to 2, and Madness Curse to 5. Both of these unlocked Torpor Curse, which tries to put a row of enemies to sleep, and Corrupt Curse, which tries to curse a row of enemies. Curse is by far the least useful status ailment, but sleep is incredibly useful for random encounters. I'm prioritizing Madness Curse at the moment since standard attacks from enemies hurt a lot less than skills at this point.    SYSTEM: It appears as though the wall might have some sort of mineral inside... Do you recall the quest you accepted at the bar? The people of High Lagaard anxiously seek stones to fashion into jewels for the Duke's daughter. This wall must be where the gems that the barkeep was talking about can be mined. SYSTEM: The wall is hard, and is taking more effort than you expected, but it still looks possible to dig something out. Before long, you hear the crack of stone give way to something sturdier. It seems you have reached something... When you carefully uncover it, it appears to be crystallized ore. When you bring the crystal to light, it flickers gently in the coarse facets. This is no ordinary stone... SYSTEM: There can be no mistaking it--this must be one of the unrefined gems that was requested! You gently deposit the ore into your bag, and move on...maintaining a gentle pace to prevent any damage to the crystal.  SYSTEM: You have obtained one unrefined gem that was requested. However, for the artisans to craft the finest gift, you must collect three gems.   An unremarkable random encounter--let's use it to see the new party in action, shall we?   Gonna have Rheine and Stardust combo that Fanged Vine down.  Head Pierce is a Stab attack that has chances to inflict either head bind or instant death. It's not worth leveling up, but it can be kind of nice when the instant death procs in a random encounter.  And I'll have Sophie try for the Fanged Vine's conditional drop.       Panicked enemies will sometimes attack either themselves or their allies. Pretty nice when it happens.   The "Killed the Fanged Vine!" message means that Head Pierce's instant death activated.    Got the conditional.     The text at each of the gem spots is the same, aside from minor variations on the end text.     Getting more gems increases the money and EXP reward from the quest.  I put Realga's skill point in Salve.  Bite Earring's unlocked by selling Crazed Bulbs. We've already seen it, but Bite Earrings provide immunity to blind. Meh.  I don't think I've shown off sleeping till evening yet. It sets the time to 7 PM instead of 7 AM. Exploring at night really only comes up once in the game, but it's sometimes nice to explore at night just for variety.   Each stratum also has a slight variation on its splash screen for nighttime.     SYSTEM: 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! We can't actually get into random encounters in this area.  quote:2:15 PM - Dr. Fetus: yeah      SYSTEM: You are clearly within its sights, as it is glaring directly at you! Just feeling its terrifying presence is enough to make the sweat roll down your back... The monster is that powerful. You must remember that if you are to face it head on, you will not escape unscathed.  Salamander's field gimmick is basically the Baby Salamanders, but amplified. Salamander's line of sight is a 3 tiles wide, 6 tiles long area in front of where it's facing. Much like the Baby Salamander fire, the initial blaze pushes you back, and can be walked through after that at the expense of HP. SYSTEM: The very instant after you see the Salamander draw in a deep breath, it releases a gout of flame towards you! Thankfully, you dodge in time, but a single miss should it breathe at you again could prove disastrous. The best course would seem to be to walk cautiously around the Salamander, gauging its movements and behavior. When you are ready, act at once to claim the Salamander's feather that is found somewhere in this room!   So we basically have to circle around this entire huge area to get to the Fire Plume, clearly marked with the yellow exclamation point. There's no random encounters in this area, thankfully, so we can walk around as much as we want. We could even cheese the thing by just walking through the fire through the tiny entrance to this area we're in now, but I want to map out the entire area.   After the initial scene introducing the Salamander, it'll start turning every time we take a step. When it's not facing us, it won't breathe fire at us.   As soon as Salamander sees you, though, it'll get ready to breathe fire.   Salamander also won't turn if there's fire out on the field.       SYSTEM: It may have grown exhausted from breathing its flames so often... You suspect from the look of it that the Salamander will be incapacitated for a little while. This may be your best opportunity to hurry and find the Salamander's feather. After the Salamander breathes fire three times or so in a row, it'll become inactive for a few turns, giving you free reign to run in front of it without being breathed at.   I do appreciate that there's no random encounters in the Salamander's nest, but the sheer size of the place means it's pretty boring to walk around in.   While we can't sprint to the Fire Plume area from the start even with the fire, we could've sprinted to here if we wanted to.   SYSTEM: Suddenly, you brush aside the soil and a shining rainbow plume lies before you! This must be the Fire Plume you seek!  A few floor jumps later, and we're back in town.        Man I love mission EXP.  Another point in Link Order for Rheine.  Delayed Charge does a lot more damage with each additional level than Cross Charge does, so I'm prioritizing it over Cross Charge.  Salve is now level 5, which not only gives a big increase to the heal amount and increases the TP to 16, it also increases its action speed, which is what I'm primarily interested in when leveling it up.  Cocytus Formula now deals considerably more damage at the cost of 12 more TP per cast.  Both of Sophie's skill points went into Blinding Curse.  0.194562     By approaching Salamander from the Tetris block in the top left, you can get behind it and get a preemptive attack.  VIDEO: Boss Fight: Salamander     [49 4D 41 47 45 20 4D 49 53 53 49 4E 47] Salamander HP: 74 68 69 73 20 77 61 73 20, STR: 61 20 74 65 72 72 69 62 6C, VIT: 65 20 6D 69 73 74 61 6B 65 Skills:
A giant creature that wears flame itself as armor! It seeks to incinerate its foes. Ah poo poo, I think my Monstrous Codex file got corrupted. Gonna have to fix that. Anyway, Salamander shouldn't be too bad, right? It's an 8th floor mini-boss, by the looks of it. We've got the ability to deal quite a bit of Ice damage, so we can get to exploiting its weakness. Inflicting Fear is a bit of a pain in the rear end since Salamander resists it quite a bit, but it shouldn't be too hard...once I get Evil Eye.  Rheine'll buff hers and Tyler's damage.  Tyler'll ready up Delayed Charge.  Realga has nothing to do, so I'll just have her Defend.  Stardust'll ready Compression.   And Sophie'll try to inflict whatever.     Dammit. Like I said, Salamander resists panic pretty heavily.   I could buff the back row, but I opted for Link Order instead.   Tyler'll work off Stardust and Rheine's ice damage.  Realga still has nothing to do.   Stardust'll start unloading Cocytus Formulas.  And Sophie'll keep trying to inflict panic.  Alright, this can't be that--  Uh.   poo poo.   poo poo poo poo poo poo.   poo poo poo poo poo poo.  I didn't even dent the thing.  A war of attrition it is, then!  Alright, Realga can fix this, no problem!     Ohhhh gently caress.       Okay, hold up, I'm calling bullshit. What are the Salamander's stats? Salamander HP: 23000, STR: 60, VIT: 50 O-oh. That was...a mistake, to put it lightly. I should've taken the g61me's 61dvi6365-- 0.581943  We'll actually explore 8F next time. Rea fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Jan 8, 2016 |
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Jan 8, 2016 03:22
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Maybe you would have had more luck if you took Pheobe, Freyja, Jackie, Sophie, and Milly with you for that fight.
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Jan 8, 2016 03:58
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Update 14: Stickerbrush Symphony   Now that we finished the Salamander mission, the guard blocking the other door has left, letting us go further into 8F. Notice how much of the map Salamander's nest takes up, by the way.     Damage tiles have been in every EO game to date. While they were pretty obnoxious in EO1, where there was no way to mitigate damage tiles at all and walking through them was basically mandatory, they got less annoying in EO2 and on. A nice change that EO2U makes not just for Labyrinth tiles, but for several Labyrinth obstacles in general, is it'll automatically color the map floor a certain color if you step on a special tile--it won't override floors you paint yourself, though. In this case, the damage tile was painted dark red on the map when we stepped on it.    First Mine point of the floor, with a very convenient location of "7 tiles from the stairs." It gives Scarlet Yams for its ingredient.   And here's something that EO3, EOU, and EO2U all use damage tiles for: letting you skip large portions of the floor if you're willing to eat the damage. I could just walk through the damage tiles that you can see to the right and have Realga heal everyone up, but I'd rather not skip the entire floor.    Flame Lizard HP: 189, STR: 11, VIT: 12 Skills:
A lizard that resists heat and spews fire. Nullify its flame, and it is a pushover... Flame Lizards are annoying. Actually, let me rephrase that: one Flame Lizard on its own isn't that bad. The issue is when there's multiple Flame Lizards in one fight, at which point the damage from Flame Breath starts stacking up quickly. Kill these things first in a battle unless you want multiple dead party members. You might also notice that the (G) tag on certain skills has been replaced with a monster skill icon. I don't think I ever explained it, but (G) denoted that an enemy skill can be turned into a Grimoire, and the monster skill icon does the same.  Red Gel HP: 148, ATK: 14, DEF: 13 Skills:
Red Gels, on the other hand, should be killed last. Insulation Gel is completely negligible, especially given that no enemies in the Auburn Thicket are weak to fire, but Bracing Liquid can turn enemies like Flame Lizards into complete nightmares.   Don't think I've shown Chase Heal yet. The way it works is that Realga targets one party member, and then immediately prepares Chase Heal at the start of the turn. Whenever that selected party member takes damage, when the enemy that dealt the damage is done with their turn, the selected party member is healed at least one time, based on the number of times they were hit. The chance of being healed goes down with each heal.     Ouch. If you're wondering why Rheine took considerably less damage than Tyler despite having comparable equipment, TEC-based attacks like Flame Breath use a character's TEC value to determine resistance to elemental attacks, instead of VIT. This is why classes like Landsknechts and Highlanders--high VIT but low TEC--tend to take a lot more damage from elemental attacks than others.    The rest of the battle was uneventful.   We can see a smaller version of what we saw earlier--usually small patches of damage tiles make you take a slightly longer path around. Those of you who have played EOU might be thinking all of this sounds like B7F from that game, and you'd be correct, because all these damage tiles acting as pseudo-barriers was that floor's gimmick too.     Oh yeah, watch your encounter radar when walking over damage tiles, since getting into a fight after stepping on damage tiles can turn out pretty badly.    You can also take this path to the chest, if taking 30 damage instead of 20 damage is your thing.   All these long corridors and the damage tiles really make 8F feel more like an EOU floor than an EO2U floor. I dunno, it feels more confined than most EO2U floors do. EO1 and EOU really had things for long, straight corridors with maybe a branching path or two.   Oh yes, I'd like to take this opportunity to mention how nice Venom Curse is for random encounters with just one row. Had I not just slaughtered these things before the Poison took effect, they would've just died on the spot. Venom Curse isn't an instant "I win" button you can apply to every encounter like it was in EO2 due to the introduction of rows for monsters, and the damage starts falling off much earlier than it did in the original EO2 due to overall higher enemy HP totals, but for the first two or three Strata, it's a nice way to not have to deal with encounters.   Tyler and Rheine got level ups from an otherwise unremarkable encounter.   A minor increase in damage for Link Order, but Delayed Charge got a pretty big upgrade. Not only did its damage for being activated on 1 or 2 turns after preparation get increased a decent amount, but it now goes up to 3 turns. For reference, level 5 Delayed Charge deals 310% damage 2 turns after preparation, while 3 turns deals 430% damage. Yeah.   SYSTEM: Beyond the low grass is a small field with patches of wild strawberries growing in places. SYSTEM: You give thanks for the blessing and enter the field with your comrades to enjoy the snack. A worry flits across your mind that a monster may ambush you, but it proves to be unfounded. You enjoy your fill of freshly-picked strawberries.   Given how fast Realga and Stardust are chewing through their TP with Salve and Cocytus Formula, respectively, a 50 TP heal is much appreciated.   SYSTEM: You suspect that if you come again tomorrow, there may be more of the sweetly tart berries to enjoy. This is a spot to remember for later if there ever was one...   Again, look at the path we had to take to avoid the damage tiles.      Armor Tortoise HP: 655, ATK: 20, DEF: 20 Skills:
Its tough shell is also covered in spikes which effortlessly deflect its foes' blades. I'd advise spending a turn buffing your party before unloading on the Armor Tortoise. Strike Down seriously hurts, but it'll only use it when it is not at full HP. Since the thing's super weak to Sleep, you can tackle it by buffing up for one turn, and then unloading on the Tortoise after putting it to sleep using either Sleep Arrow or Torpor Curse.  Now, watch as I fail to follow my own advice!   Worth noting that you don't get bonus damage from attacking an asleep enemy with a TEC-based attack, like Alchemist Formulas.   Nice damage, but we've only lopped off around half of the Tortoise's HP. This is gonna hurt.  Okay, it didn't use Strike Down. Phew.    That could've gone worse if the Tortoise had decided to use Strike Down.   We're roughly halfway done with 8F. Like I said, you can skip a LOT of the floor if you walk through the damage tiles.    The other Mine point of the floor. This one gives Root Chili for an ingredient!   Want to skip most of the floor? Just eat 80 damage on your entire party! That may sound like a lot, but Salve makes it a non-issue.    SYSTEM: It will be a challenge to navigate these narrow confines while staying out of the monster's path... Though of course, one option is to engage the monster in combat and force your way through the room. Haha gently caress you too, game. SYSTEM: Once you have decided on a course of action, do what you see fit. So we have a Fire Drake to go around. It has a pretty simple movement pattern.     For every move we make, the Fire Drake will alternate between moving on a set patrol path and becoming inactive. If at any point we get in the thing's line of sight, it will become aggressive, and ditch its patrol path and go after us, with the same moving->inactive->moving pattern.   This Fire Drake isn't that hard to go around: just walk along the edges of the room, and you'll get to the door without getting in its line of sight. Moving onto the next room:     SYSTEM: This room is larger than the last, but the ground is choked with thorny vines. It will be difficult to pass without injury. And you still cannot predict what the monster may do. Careful observation will be necessary to avoid a fight... Oh yeah, damage tiles throw a wrench into the Fire Drake's field patterns. While a Fire Drake is on a damage tile, it won't go inactive every other turn, meaning it will move every turn.   Here's my strategy for this Fire Drake. Aggro it at this position...   Lure it off the damage tiles...   Get into a loving BATTLE ONE TILE AWAY FROM THE FIRE DRAKE OH GOD   Force Breaks like Eschaton are uesful for situations like this.  Another boost to Cocytus Formula. I dunno if I'll actually max it out for the boss, but I at least want it at level 9.   Anyway, just make a mad dash for the door through the center path after that, and you'll be one step away from the Fire Drake the entire time.   Probably the biggest pain in the rear end encounter on 8F. Thought Armor Tortoises were annoying? Try two of them!   See?  Oh hey, gameplay "feature" we haven't seen yet. If the entire front row dies, the rows will automatically switch, putting your back row in front.  At least Venom Curse and Cocytus Formula make short work of them at the end of the turn.      SYSTEM: But considering what you've learned in the process of reaching here, you think you have some idea of how to proceed. When you are fully prepared, then begin moving forth! This room seems deceptively simple at first. But don't be fooled--it's super easy to get ambushed by one of the Fire Drakes here, and trying to run away from a fight with them is an experience best described as futile.   Here's how I solve this room. Walk onto the lower damage tiles, which'll aggro one of the Drakes while it's off the damage tiles.   Then you just give the Fire Drake the outside until you're at the door.   And we're done with the floor, basically.   Uh-oh. An encounter with a rare breed Flame Lizard, plus a normal Flame Lizard, and my party's at super low HP. This is...a bad situation, to say the least.  Ooh, I know! I'll use this to demonstrate Medical Miracle!    Medical Miracle heals your entire party for what is basically a full heal, purges all debuffs, purges all status ailments, purges all binds, and revives any dead party members while healing them as well. It's basically the best defensive panic button in the game if you're finding an FOE or boss fight going really south.  Yeah, if I hadn't used either Medical Miracle or Steady Hands-boosted Salve, I would've game overed here.  All I can say is, uh, phew.     We'll be revisiting these doors later on.   And now that we've stepped into 9F, it's time to head back to town. At this point, I did some off-screen material gathering with the Byeahs.  This also happened while gathering stuff. That's all we need for Quid pro quo.     All the stuff we unlocked. Since I've started putting in item icons with this update, I should note that blue icons are items that don't need to be restocked, while gold icons will consume a certain amount of materials when bought, and will need their materials restocked when Sitoth Trading runs out. Items made from rare finds from materials gathering points and conditional drops are always gold items.  And let's go through everyone's dialogue, starting with Marion.  Dubois.  Oh hey, Regina has something new for us. I should really get on top of town development. Oh yeah. The North Ward is home to Ronin and Troubadours, Uptown has Protectors and Sovereigns, and the Slums house Dark Hunters and Hexers. Anyway, Regina's dialogue.  Still holding off on developing food since we'll get the last 2nd Stratum recipes on 9F.   And now, onto the Stickleback Bar. Let's turn in Quid pro quo, first.   And we start the slow climb to having 5 "chess" pieces.  The 9F quests. Labyrinth stew: Smithy Thompson's request: Cass's 9F dialogue:  The bar patrons...er, bar patron. Rozsika will never say anything new. Exhausted Tramonte: Risen! Wolves! Risen riding wolves! I don't think we'll be able to get Fleeting Thorns for a very long while.  And like an idiot, I forgot to get Abigail's dialogue for 9F before taking on Smithy Thompson's request. WHOOPS. Glow Quills can be obtained from Madness Owls, which we'll be seeing soon.  And to close out the update, Hanna talks to you immediately upon entering once you take on Labyrinth stew. Fanged Vines drop Bendy Vines, as we've already seen. Next time: 9F. We're almost done with the 2nd Stratum.
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Jan 14, 2016 04:19
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> You begin to suspect the Salamander's lair is a portal to the Meat Dimension...
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Jan 14, 2016 04:49
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I also went back and added an icon reference to the 2nd post, just above the guild roster. I'll be retroactively editing older posts to apply the new stuff I did in Update 14, which is gonna be fun for updates that were ramming the character limit.
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Jan 14, 2016 04:58
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So a tortoise drops the skin of an ankylosaur which is actually not skin but armour, and not from a dinosaur but from a dragon? This game makes no sense.
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Jan 14, 2016 05:02
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  Troubadours, like most of the class roster, were introduced in EO1, and while they aren't in EO3 or EO4, Sovereigns and Dancers took up their roles of being buffing supports. In EO1, Troubadours were what you'd generally replace Alchemists with in the late and postgame, mostly because of Relaxing, which healed up a percentage of the party's TP every turn, effectively meaning that you could stay in the Labyrinth as long as you wanted. They were also useful for several postgame bosses there for varying reasons (one of which was because of a bug that meant a status ailment-inflicting and attack-debuffing skill only worked if the targets didn't have an attack buff). Admittedly, after casting their buffs, Troubadours didn't do much, since Song buffs lasted indefinitely in EO1 and 2. In EO2, Troubadours as a class weren't really nerfed directly (aside from the loss of Healing and Relaxing), but the loss of the Boost option (which increased any used skill's level by 5, even at levels 5-10) hurt them pretty badly. Several bosses in EO2 also tended to react badly to your party having an amount of buffs ranging from 15 (everyone in the party having a buff), to one boss that would basically cause a game over if you only had 5 buffs (just ONE Song). Sovereigns in EO3 replaced Troubadours, with the primary change being that Orders were row-target, compared to Songs being all-target. While the Sovereign innate skillset was fantastic, the class it weren't that great due to Orders (aside from Protect Order) being stat-independent--which meant that most people just put a Sovereign subclass on a Monk (EO3's Medic equivalent) and ignored Sovereigns as a main class. Dancers in EO4 were a really weird class, and one that I never really figured out how to use effectively beyond just utilizing Attack Tango and trying to stun with Sword Dance and Mist Dance. Dancer buffs weren't placed on multiple characters, but were rather buffs placed on the Dancer themself that would give bonuses to allies in their row. Troubadours then returned in EOU, and were a decent enough class. Song buffs are no longer indefinite, mirroring the changes brought about in EO3 and EO4, and they got Healing and Relaxing back (renamed Healing Lullaby and Peace Ballad, respectively), but Relaxing/Peace Ballad ate huge nerfs: the TP cost for the Troubadour was increased massively, the TP restoration is a static amount now, and the effect is no longer indefinite. Troubadours got changed up a lot in EO2U, mostly through the Preludes becoming generic damage increases along with their old effects, and gaining the Ensemble skills, which give them something to do when they don't need to re-cast buff Songs. The absolute biggest changes to Troubadours, however, are the addition of the diminishing buffs system, and Crusade, both of which propel them into being one of the best choices for a support in a given party. The diminishing buffs system means that Troubadours, who can work around the system and provide multiple damage buffs through a variety of methods, are now considerably better at providing damage increases compared to other classes that provide buffs. Crusade is also part of how Troubadours work around said system--I'll come back to it later, though. Stats: Level 1: HP: 27 TP: 50 STR: 4 TEC: 8 VIT: 6 AGI: 9 LUC: 8 Level 50: HP: 196 TP: 368 STR: 18 TEC: 32 VIT: 29 AGI: 34 LUC: 30 Level 99: HP: 472 TP: 690 STR: 35 TEC: 60 VIT: 55 AGI: 64 LUC: 56 Innate weapon choices: Innate armor chocies: Common skills: HP Up, TP Up, Speed Up, Take Troubadours are pretty average as far as stats go, STR and TP excepted-- they have the highest max TP pool out of any class, and their STR is only 5 points above Hexers, who have the worst STR. Bows are probably the best weapons you can put on them, since TEC (which staves tend to give) doesn't factor into any of their skills besides Life Ensemble, bows provide an action speed bonus to make them even quicker, and their above-average AGI means their auto-attacks aren't garbage. Song Mastery Requirements: None  Another mastery skill. This time, leveling it up reduces the TP costs of skills learned from Song Mastery, as well as increasing their speed modifiers. For the rest of the overview, note that TP costs listed will not count Song Mastery's TP cost reduction. Song Mastery is one of the few mastery skills where I'd advise leveling it up over the active skills early on. The action speed increase is decent, although Troubadours are already naturally fast with their equipment choices and decent AGI, but the TP cost reduction is something Troubadours desperately need early on given how much TP their skills cost, even at lower levels. Warrior Song Requirements: Song Mastery level 1 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member a physical/elemental attack buff. Does not affect untyped damage. One of the most important skills in the Troubadour repertoire. Definitely something that should be maxed out as soon as your Troubadour has enough TP and Song Mastery levels to manage the TP cost at levels 5 and above. Shelter Song Requirements: Song Mastery level 1 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member a physical/elemental defense buff. Does not affect to untyped damage. Less important than Warrior Song, but can be useful, especially in combination with a Protector. Energy Ensemble Requirements: Warrior Song level 3, Shelter Song level 3 Body parts used: Head  For one turn, when any party member with a song buff consumes TP, they will recover TP. The recovery amount is (base_amount + (used_tp * multiplier)). The Ensembles exist to give Troubadours something to do when they don't need to be casting buffs or tossing out items, and Energy Ensemble is very useful. TP restoration is always handy, especially for classes with low max TP like Landsknechts and Ronin. Lightfoot Melody Requirements: Song Mastery level 3 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member an evasion buff. Useless. There are better uses of buff slots than evasion, especially given that Protectors and Beasts do a good enough job of keeping your party alive. Even if you don't have one, Lightfoot Melody is still a really bad investment aside from Skanda Ensemble. Insight Melody Requirements: Song Mastery level 3 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member an accuracy buff. Somehow even more useless than Lightfoot Melody. Pretty much no classes in EO2U after the very early game have issues with accuracy. Skanda Ensemble Requirements: Lightfoot Melody level 3, Insight Melody level 3 Body parts used: Head  For one turn, increases the action speed of all party members with song buffs. Skanda Ensemble, at higher levels, is basically Rise's Leader command from Persona Q that lets your entire party act before enemies, and is really useful as a result. It's not as overall useful as Energy Ensemble, but there's a lot of postgame bosses where having your party get their turns before enemies do is really goddamn useful. Fire/Ice/Volt Prelude Requirements: Song Mastery level 5 Body parts used: Head  Gives one party member a generic damage buff, and adds an element to their normal attacks. The Preludes, along with Crusade, are what propel Troubadours from "kinda useful" to "enablers of insane damage." You might be thinking "wait a minute, what about the diminishing buffs nerf?" That's the thing: the Preludes are generic damage buffs, not physical/elemental attack buffs. As a result, the game doesn't perform diminishing returns on them, meaning that they stack fully with Warrior Song and other attack buffs. They're also the only damage buffs aside from Crusade that affect untyped damage, due to being generic damage increases, but that's kind of a niche use since only one player skill and one Force Break are untyped damage. Oh, and I guess the added normal attack elements part is situationally useful for getting conditional drops against enemies that nullify a specific element and also have a conditional drop tied to being killed with that element. That only comes up a grand total of four times throughout the entire game, though. Flame/Frost/Shock Fantasia Requirements: Fire/Ice/Volt Prelude level 5 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member a buff that increases their resistance to Fire/Ice/Volt, and gives each enemy a debuff that reduces their resistance to Fire/Ice/Volt. The increased resistance to an element for your party is nice, I guess, but the real draw of the Fantasias is the decreased resistance for enemies. These debuffs do not count as physical/elemental defense debuffs, meaning they are not subject to the diminishing buffs system when a buffed party member hits an enemy with the corresponding element. The Fantasias are most useful when in a situation as described above: enemies that nullify an element but require being killed with it for a conditional, since most of their damage is likely tied to that element as well, meaning the resistance buff for your party comes in handy. Barbaric March Requirements: Song Mastery level 7 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member a buff that raises their max HP. Does not heal each party member to their new max HP. Not a buff I value very much. Barbaric March has a use for one FOE later in the game, but it only needs to be level 1 to be useful. If you want to increase a Beast's HP to give them better tanking potential, there's better ways than using up a buff slot. Life Ensemble Requirements: Barbaric March level 3 Body parts used: Head  For one turn, whenever an ally with a song buff takes damage, for one time, they will be healed. The heal is dependent on the Troubadour's TEC/VIT. Probably the least useful of the Ensembles. It only heals for one instance of damage, and the heal is pretty solidly always going to be mediocre--Troubadours have average TEC/VIT, which doesn't result in stellar healing. Reverb Requirements: Energy Ensemble level 3, Life Ensemble level 3 Body parts used: Head  Copies one targeted ally's buffs to another targeted ally. From levels 5 on, Reverb also increases the duration of copied buffs on the recipient. Reverb is a really weird skill that I didn't entirely get the point of at first. Most buffs in EO2U are multi-target, so what would the point of copying a single target's buffs to another target be? What I didn't think of, however, is that Reverb can be used to restore a party member's buffs after they are killed and revived, which is amazing. Getting a damage dealer back up and running after dying usually takes a few turns, but Reverb just throws that all out the window. Health Requiem Requirements: Song Mastery level 10 Body parts used: Head  Gives each party member a buff that raises their resistance to status ailments and binds. Does not raise resistance to instant death. Health Requiem is probably the most useless Song. I have used it in previous runs and, even at level 20, it barely does anything. It might prevent one person being tagged by an all-target ailment, which is absolute garbage. Don't touch this skill at all. Alluring Ballad Requirements: Speed Up level 3 Max level (innate): 10  Raises the encounter rate for a set amount of steps. I have expressed my dislike for field skills in other class updates, and Alluring Ballad is no exception. I really don't see why you'd want to raise the encounter rate unless you're grinding, in which case just setting an auto-walk path and telling the game to make you always run in the Labyrinth is fast enough. Jovial March Requirements: Speed Up level 7 Max level (innate): 10  Restores the party's TP every 5 steps for a set amount of steps. In a game with several useless field skills, Jovial March stands out. Not only is the TP cost absurd, even given Troubadours' high max TP, but it barely restores any TP relative to how many steps it takes to restore that TP. Healing Rhythm Requirements: HP Up level 5 Max level (innate): 10  If someone with Healing Rhythm has any buffs on them, they will be healed at the end of every turn. Uses the Healing Rhythm owner's TEC/VIT for healing. A useless passive. Most classes outside of War Magi and Medics don't have the TEC/VIT to make Healing Rhythm worth having at all, and even outside of that, end-of-round healing is not worth a Grimoire slot on any class. Holy Gift Type: Passive Requirements: TP Up level 10  Increases the EXP gained from battles. Has no effect on quest and mission EXP rewards. I wouldn't invest in Holy Gift on an actual Troubadour, given the fact that if you get TP Up to level 10 when you should, it'll be in the postgame and you won't have a big need for more EXP. Holy Gift Grimoires, however, are probably the best way to speed up grinding--equip your grinding party with 5 level 10 Holy Gift Grimoires, drink the Yggdrasil Clover Tea, set an auto-walk path, and just watch the EXP come in. War Song Force Boost Pauses the duration of all buffs on the party for 3 turns. Enemies become unable to dispel buffs on the party. War Song is okay. Pausing the duration of buffs is nice, especially with crucial buffs like Compression, and preventing enemies from dispelling buffs is useful for some bosses. Crusade Force Break Body parts used: Head Activated at the start of the turn. Raises the party's outgoing damage and damage received by 50% each for one turn. Stacks fully with attack and defense buffs. Crusade is possibly the most broken thing about Troubadours. The defense increase is nice, I suppose, but a flat 50% damage increase combined with Warrior Song and a Prelude results in some ludicrously huge numbers (for Etrian Odyssey, at least). Rea fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Oct 3, 2016 |
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Jan 14, 2016 08:49
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thats the power of music
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Jan 14, 2016 10:23
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Jovial March is kind of like a mass Transfer - uses up a huge chunk of the Troubadour's TP but restores some to everyone else. The problem is that they don't have Cursecut, so it's at best a super inefficient way of making Amrita's kind of affect everyone out of battles or blehhhhhhhhhhhh.
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Jan 14, 2016 15:45
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They've really been trying to nerf TP recovery with each game. Like there's a King Grimoire skill in EOU that cuts down on the party's TP costs by 10. Which would be good in another EO game, except skills are expensive to use in EOU. And the skill itself costs 30 TP to use at max level. Amritas are a nightmare to farm for in EO4, though they're easier to acquire in EOU. But in EO2U, they are impossible for the Story party to farm for in EO2U outside of extreme RNG methods. The Preludes were generic damage buffs in EOU. It's just that they gave the same amount as Warrior Song, and there were other AOE attack buffs to make use of. And the diminishing returns system didn't exist in that game, so they were overlooked. Reverb is also useful for transferring powerful single target buffs, and it's a key ability in setting up cheese strats for some bosses.
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Jan 14, 2016 17:07
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Update 9: Cooking by the Book So now that we've gotten to the 4th floor, let's see what the townsfolk have to say now. May as well. This is one of the best ways to make money in this game. And now let's see what he has to say normally. Speaking of the Labyrinth's looks, I have the opinion that for all its faults, the original EO2 easily had the best looking Strata of the bunch. ...Well, for the most part. And I think the 3DS remake easily did the aesthetics justice. They just look really great. But it might be better if you saw them for yourself. Now let's head to Cafe and see what we have to do there. The game then gives us a tutorial on advertising. Regina's talk dialogue is the same as in Classic. Now let's get to cooking! And then the conversation goes on from here. And this food increases your max TP pool by 30%. We will be using this a lot. And the dialogue branches merge after that. Deer Steak recovers 5% of your party's max HP at the end of the turn. Not useful, eat something better. And the dialogue merges here. And both dialogue branches merge at this point. Could be useful, I guess. Though I have no idea what the exact numbers on that are. Doesn't matter what you say here. This is so ridiculously situational, that I don't recommend eating this. Anyways, all that cooking was exhausting. Let's take another nap. Sorta, I guess? Your lack of subtlety is showing. No dream sequence this time. We just head back to the inn lobby right afterwards. Hanna and Quona don't have any dialogue exclusive to Story on 4F. And then she gives us a tutorial on Flash Grenades. Let's talk to her now. None of the other NPCs have anything new to say. Let's just head to the 4th floor. It shows no interest in you for now, but there's no knowing when it may change its mind. When the guard notices your presence, he salutes and speaks to you. Sorry, our guild name is just really confusing. Well we're not gonna let them steal our kill! The guard stops there for a moment before continuing, a hint of longing in his voice. Uhhh, something tells me that we might not be able to do that. Upon speaking thus far, the guard bows his head and apologizes for bring such a topic up before returning to his duties. The young man is right. To challenge the king of beasts will naturally mean pursuing Beowulf. You decide to hurry to the 5th floor in search of them. We can actually talk with the guard again. 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. Araxxor fucked around with this message at 06:32 on Jan 16, 2016 |
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Jan 15, 2016 23:37
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  Alchemists, much like most of the class roster, were introduced in EO1, and formed the basis for the spellcaster classes in the rest of the series. They deal elemental damage, and aside from one or two weird exceptions in seemingly every game, that's pretty much all that they do. In EO1, Alchemists boasted damage way ahead of most classes in the early game (at the cost of needing to expend TP to do anything useful), and also had access to Poison, for some bizarre reason. Due to EO1's disable infliction formula, where it was literally just (BaseChance * EnemyResistance), Poison's whopping 255% base infliction chance at max level, the fact that Poison damage can't be resisted at all, and the fact that most FOEs only had 25% resistance or so to status ailments, Alchemists could be used to cheese most FOEs extremely early and put your party conisderably ahead of the EXP/level curve. Their elemental damage was also useful, obviously, since it'd chew through bosses' HP much quicker than pretty much any class. Around the 4th Stratum or so, however, Alchemists started falling off, due to EO1's incredibly strange TEC damage formula--basically, putting a level in an Alchemist's Formula skills there was more akin to equipping a higher-damage weapon, and the level 10 tier 2 Formulas had damage comparable to a 4th Stratum weapon. By the lategame/postgame, most people ended up chucking their Alchemists aside for a Troubadour. Now, what was Atlus's reaction to a class that could cheese the earlygame really easily but ended up falling off very sharply in the lategame/postgame? If you're thinking "severely nerf Alchemists," then congratulations! In EO2, Alchemists saw their TP costs get massively increased--I'm talking tier 2 Formulas (single-target, higher-damage) going from costing 14 TP at levels 5-10 to 18 at level 1 and 36 at level 10, and tier 3 Formulas (all-target) going from 20 TP at levels 5-10 to 20 at level 1 and 52 at level 10. They also gained probably the most pointless addition a class could possibly get: physical damage Formulas. Not only did these have less passive damage increases than the normal elemental Formulas, but EO2's really awful physical damage resistance distribution (most bosses resist physical damage, there's a single-digit number of monsters weak to Cut, and no monsters weak to Bash) made them even worse. The only good change that Alchemists got in EO2 was the addition of Analysis, a passive that greatly boosts their damage when hitting an enemy's weakness. While Analysis itself has been changed multiple times, it's become a part of every spellcaster class in EO since EO2. Zodiacs were EO3's spellcaster class, and despite a massively revamped TEC damage formula that made more sense than having skills be like weapons, they still had the same problems that Alchemists in EO1 did: they cheese the early game super-easily (arguably even more than EO1 Alchemists did), but fall off once the late and postgame come around. Runemasters in EO4 were where Atlus finally learned how to make a spellcaster class that's relevant throughout the entire game, mostly through making the top-tier Rune skills be actually comparable to other classes' damage skills in the later stages of the game, and through the resistance-changing Runes, which allow them to screw with the party and all enemies' resistances to certain elements. Alchemists returned in EOU with some pretty heavy reworks compared to their last appearance in EO2. Probably the most noticeable of said changes was that Formulas were no longer separated into Fire, Ice, and Volt Masteries, each of which needed to be individually invested in to learn different elements, but instead all grouped under one generic Formula Mastery. The whole "massive TP cost" thing also got toned down from EO2, mostly through skill costs being slightly lowered and Alchemists having much bigger TP pools relative to before. Sadly, it wasn't all sunshine for Alchemists in EOU--Analysis ate a pretty big nerf through being turned into a buff skill that Alchemists have to re-cast every few turns, instead of being a passive. And now, onto EO2U. Alchemists have had their skillset shuffled around quite a lot here, and have a number of weird and interesting new skills. Most noticeable are the Palm skills: melee-range purely elemental attacks that add elements to whatever action is performed next. They're not the most optimal solution for damage--they deal far less burst damage than Formulas do, and even if they're far more TP-efficient, they still lose out on damage in the long run--but hell if they aren't fun to mess with. They also form the backbone of several cheese strategies for postgame bosses. On the Formula side of things, the order in which Alchemists learn skills got shuffled around, but that's not the major change--that would be the addition of Riot Formula and Compression. Riot Formula is an interesting skill and, I assume, was intended to be the primary Alchemist skill in the lategame, but it loses out big-time compared to Compression, which we'll get to later. Stats: Level 1: HP: 24 TP: 41 STR: 5 TEC: 10 VIT: 5 AGI: 4 LUC: 6 Level 50: HP: 166 TP: 317 STR: 20 TEC: 39 VIT: 16 AGI: 24 LUC: 34 Level 99: HP: 396 TP: 597 STR: 37 TEC: 74 VIT: 30 AGI: 48 LUC: 67 Innate weapon choices: Innate armor choices: Alchemists have the best TEC stat out of any class, and the second-highest TP pool--you'd hope so, given that they rely on their TEC stat to determine damage, and their skills cost way more TP than any other class. They also, bizarrely, have the second-highest LUC out of any class, even though they don't have any skills that use it--it does make them more resilient to disables than most classes, though. Aside from that, their AGI is sub-par, their STR is straight-up garbage, and their VIT is the lowest out of any class. If you're going to be running a front-row Alchemists for Palm skills, you REALLY need either a Protector or, ideally, a Beast. Formula Mastery Requirements: None  The mastery skill for Formulas, as its name implies. Raises damage dealt by Formula skills. Fire/Ice/Volt Formula Requirements: Formula Mastery level 1 Body parts used: Head  Deals ranged TEC-based Fire/Ice/Volt damage to one enemy. Has an 80% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels. The most basic skills in the Formula tree, and probably what your Alchemist will be using for most of the early game. I wouldn't level these up past level 1 unless you REALLY want Riot Formula, though. Flame/Freeze/Spark Formula Requirements: Fire/Ice/Volt Formula level 5 Body parts used: Head  (Flame Formula) (Freeze Formula) (Spark Formula)Flame Formula deals ranged TEC-based Fire damage with a splash effect, Freeze Formula deals ranged TEC-based Ice damage with a line-piercing effect, and Spark Formula deals ranged TEC-based Volt damage to the entire enemy front row. All of the skills have 70% speed modifiers and 150 base accuracy at all levels. Boring middle-of-the-road Formulas. If you're going for Riot Formula, these are probably what you'll be using throughout the midgame. Riot Formula Requirements: Flame Formula level 3, Freeze Formula level 3, Shock Formula level 3 Body parts used: Head  Deals 5 random-target instances of ranged TEC-based Fire, Ice, or Volt damage. TP cost is reduced based on 60% of the TP the Alchemist used from the start of the battle to casting Riot Formula. TP cost is reset upon casting Riot Formula. Has a 60% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels. Riot Formula is a really, really weird skill. It's pretty obviously intended to be an option for late and postgame Alchemists, but it has two massive problems. The most obvious is the TP cost, which is extravagant at best and unsustainable at worst. The other issue, however, is that the element chosen for Riot Formula is completely random, which really sucks since you really want to be hitting enemy weaknesses and, unless you're going up against something weak to all elements, Riot Formula can't guarantee that. I honestly would not advise investing in Riot Formula. Inferno/Cocytus/Thor Formula Requirements: Formula Mastery level 5 Body parts used: Head  Deals Fire/Ice/Volt damage to all enemies. Has a 60% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels. The all-target Formulas--if you're going for a Compression build, these are skills you really want to max out eventually. Outside of Compression, the all-target Formulas are one of the best options for clearing out random encounters, and they're more sustainable than their high TP costs would suggest, due to how high Alchemist TP pools are and the fact that the TP Up food exists. Compression Requirements: Inferno Formula level 3, Cocytus Formula level 3, Thor Formula level 3 Body parts used: Head  Gives the caster a 4-turn buff that makes all-target attacks single-target only, but gives them a damage buff to compensate. Has a 60% speed modifier at all levels. The most important skill in the Formula tree, and the skill you'll probably be beelining for if you're going for a standard non-cheese Alchemist. A level 20 Compression + level 20 all-target Formula outdamages pretty much any other skill in the Alchemist skillset and requires less maintenance (or randomness, in the case of Riot Formula). Fun fact: Compression does not apply exclusively to Formulas. It applies to any skill or item that attacks all targets. There's two important things to note as a result of this: the first is that Compression works on the tier 2 Jar items. Why is this important, you might ask? Because a) the Jars don't cost TP to use, and b) there is a food you can cook from the 4th Stratum on that doubles damage dealt from attack items. At that point, Alchemists go from being pretty good damage dealers to absolute monsters, especially with Compression up. This is also key to getting around a really annoying counter skill for a lategame boss, so keep this in mind! The other fun note about Compression is that the Ronin skill Frigid Slash, which deals Cut+Ice damage to all enemies, gets the bonus damage from Compression if the user has the buff on them...but doesn't actually become single-target. This is probably tied into the fact that Frigid Slash is the only all-target composite-damage-type skill in the game. It's a fun buggy interaction, but it's not particularly useful. Nuclear Formula Requirements: Formula Mastery level 10 Body parts used: Head  Deals ranged TEC-based Almighty damage to one enemy. Has a 60% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels. If, for whatever reason, you're not going for Compression on an Alchemist, you'll probably want Nuclear Formula. While the fact that it's untyped means it can't be used with Analysis at all, and doesn't benefit from physical/elemental damage buffs without the use of Palms, it's the most reliable high-damage Formula skill. Riot Formula can theoretically deal more damage, but you still have to put up with the random element thing. If you are going for Compression, ignore Nuclear Formula. Palm Mastery Requirements: None The mastery skill for Palm skills. Raises damage dealt by Palm skills. Fire/Ice/Volt Palm Requirements: Palm Mastery level 1 Body parts used: Arms  Deals melee TEC-based Fire/Ice/Volt damage to one enemy. Only usable from the front row. Grants the next action performed by the Alchemist a damage buff and the element of the Palm skill used. Has no speed modifier and 99 base accuracy at all levels. Palms are really strange yet interesting additions to the Alchemist skillset. They don't deal much damage on their own, but a) they increase the damage dealt by the user's next action, and b) they add the element of the Palm that was used to the user's next attack. Yes, this applies to everything, including stuff like Eschaton. You can get some pretty huge numbers by sticking a Palm Grimoire on a class that has high damage modifiers (Dark Hunters, for example) and having them use the Palm an enemy is weak to, followed by a very high-damage attack. It's worth noting that if TP-to-damage ratio is something you consider important, the Palm skills are actually incredibly TP efficient at higher levels, especially when you factor Additional Palm into the mix. Splash Palm Requirements: Palm Mastery level 5  When hitting an enemy's weakness with a Palm skill, may cause splash damage to enemies on either side of the struck target. Basically a way for Palm Alchemists to be better at clearing out random encounters. It's not a terribly exciting passive, but if you're really sticking to Palm Alchemist, you'll probably want this maxed out eventually. Additional Palm Requirements: Palm Mastery level 10  At the end of a turn a Palm skill was used, the user will hit the enemy damaged with a Palm skill with an additional melee TEC-based attack of the same element as the Palm skill. Does not check for accuracy. Additional Palm is basically what propels Palm skills from being "pretty TP efficient" to "one of the most TP-efficient skills in the game." It's literally just free damage at no extra TP cost. Definitely something you want maxed out sooner rather than later. Sight Formula Requirements: TP Up level 5  Shows the locations of shortcuts, stairs, FOEs, and materials gathering points on the map. Do I really need to state my opinion on field skills again? Analysis Type: Force Boost Raises damage that hits an enemy's weakness by 165% for 3 turns. Yes, Analysis ate another arguably-nerf after EOU. You don't have to spend a turn casting it this time around, but on the downside, it now has a double-digit turn cooldown if you don't have other ways of increasing Force. Even with that, Analysis is still as useful as ever, especially given that you're getting an additional damage bonus on top of hitting an enemy's weakness. Eschaton Body parts used: Head Deals ranged TEC-based Almighty damage to all enemies. Damage scales linearly based on user level, from 600% to 2600%. Has a 50% speed modifier. It's another multi-target Force Break with big damage. Analysis is useful enough, however, that you should probably seriously think about if the battle will be short enough that casting Eschaton will be more useful than getting another Analysis down the road. Rea fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Apr 28, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 07:17
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Update 15: I Hate Cacti And we begin the update with finishing Labyrinth stew. Didn't take very long--just made an auto-walk pattern near the entrance to 7F and waited. Oh come on. You couldn't give everyone 5 more EXP, Cass? Rheine's so close to a level. Minor boost to Delayed Charge. At this point I'm going to opt for maxing out Overheal over more points in Salve. And Blinding Curse now has a much higher success rate at the cost of 4 more TP per cast. Finishing Labyrinth stew unlocked this quest. We do just that. So this is a very simple quest. We just have to go to the spot at the very top right of 8F where we got the TP-restoring strawberries, get some, and then go to the point Hanna marked. We can also visit the VIP's camp before we have the strawberries. SYSTEM: Possibly alarmed by the urgency of your pace, one guard reacts quickly - lowering his weapon to bar your path. SYSTEM: Realizing that this must be the VIP's camp, you explain your assignment for the berries, but the guard does not relax. SYSTEM: The guard says no more, but bars the way, his eyes cold and wary--more suspicious than he had been before the explanation. You take your leave of the place, heading northeast to find the strawberries said to be there. SYSTEM: Do you remember the quest you accepted to deliver the VIP's strawberries that the Inn's landlady requested? You decide that these are the berries in question, having already tried them, and pick a fine selection for the VIP. The first few lines are the same as last time. SYSTEM: The guard pauses, considering your words, and speaks again with a more composed tone. SYSTEM: You express your gratitude to the guard, and take your leave of the camp. You have completed the quest! All that remains is to return to the bar to report and receive your reward. Point Blank is a Gunner charge skill that gives a damage boost at the expense of making all ranged attacks melee for one turn. It's the best charge skill in the game--as in it gives 200% damage boost at level 20 and 175% at level 10--but that's not saying a ton. It's most useful in combination with Burst Shot, since that has a cooldown. None of that matters with this Grimoire though, since it's not level 10. Still maxing out Cocytus Formula in preparation for the stratum boss. And here's Hanna's 9F dialogue. 9F is a really short floor, so let's just get it out of the way.  Gryphon HP: 352, STR: 21, VIT: 17 Skills:
Long thought to exist only in myth, it has sharp claws and creates gusts with its wings. Gryphons are pretty annoying. They're really, REALLY fast, and Slashing Claws hurts pretty badly--Tyler takes ~90 damage from it, for reference.  Madness Owl HP: 210, STR: 13, VIT: 14 Skills:
If you do not bind its wings, it is likely the place you met this owl will also be your grave. Madness Owls are similarly annoying. Panic is one of the worst ailments to get hit by--having a support get tagged by it means you can't dispel it, and having a damage dealer get tagged by it means you run a high risk of a party member getting either softened up enough for a monster to kill them, or killed if their HP is already low enough. This particular monster formation is somewhat similar to a few of the Ladybug fights from the 1st Stratum--do you try to kill the Gryphon first and hope the Madness Owl doesn't Panic key party members, or kill the Madness Owl first and let the Gryphon wail on you in the meantime? Ouch. Rheine would probably have died to that. I...didn't know that Madness Owls could run away if you let a fight against just one of them run on for too long. Either tiles around treasure chests are more likely to trigger encounters, or I am just "lucky" enough to have this happen a bunch. It's worth in the end, though. I'll start cooking 2nd Stratum food once I get every ingredient. Now this is just annoying. Well, it would be if I didn't have Stardust. This, on the other hand, is a potentially deadly encounter. If both of the Gryphons gang up on anyone, they're dead. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is why you can generally be a little lax about upgrading your back line's armor--the back row damage reduction usually keeps them safe. All-target Formulas and Venom Curse are a pretty easy, if a bit TP-expensive, method of just saying "nah" to dealing with random encounters. SYSTEM: Eventually you discover a monster's young at the root of a tree, chirping and wheezing. A lump seems to be lodged in the down-covered chick's throat, which it is trying to dislodge. It may have swallowed something dangerous... If left alone, it will eventually die. On the other hand, you are well aware that it is a monster's young you're dealing with. SYSTEM: The chick heaves several times before giving a violent upheaval as the mass comes loose! Finally at peace, the chick looks at you with beady eyes. One last chirp, and it is gone. SYSTEM: You look at the lump caught in the chick's throat, and are surprised to find a gemstone. You take the gem as a reward for your benevolence and leave the area. A bit of extra money, I guess. Rubies aren't particularly rare. Yeah, the only interesting things about this area is the recipe book and the baby monster event. I head back to town at this point to replenish Stardust and Sophie's TP and to sell off what I've gotten so far. And here's what I got from selling said stuff. SYSTEM: All at once, you feel predatory eyes fixed upon you and turn to face them! SYSTEM: Its malice toward you is apparent, and it is clear that it has marked you as prey. Yet you see no way to progress into the Labyrinth without taking this path. You must find some means of handling this dilemma in order to reach the next room! Alright. You see those damage tiles? You know how the Fire Drakes reacted to walking on them by speeding up? Attack Cacti react by being damaged and de-aggroing from you. They will then limp away and become inactive for a few turns before healing and aggroing again. The game has text for this, but it's seven dialogue boxes to tell you what I just said.   Attack Cactus HP: 6610, STR: 27, VIT: 23 Skills:
A predator whose body is covered in sharp needles. Attack Cacti are really dangerous FOEs to fight if you have any physical damage dealers. Revenge Needle basically means you need to hold off on using any physical damage sources until you can either Panic the thing or bind its arms. Also, I'm sure you could guess it just by looking at that HP total, but even with the slight damage we already got from the damage tile, we are not going to be killing this thing on the first turn--not for a good long while. Rheine is my second most reliable damage dealer in this fight, behind Stardust, so buffing her Link Order damage is a good idea (Compression and Attack Order trigger the diminishing buff returns on each other, and Attack Order would lose out there). I don't actually know if Delayed Charge will trigger Revenge Needle, but I can probably bind the Cactus's arms before its turn counter runs out. Medics really don't have much to contribute at the start of a fight if Overheal isn't a high enough level to be worth using. Compressed Inferno Formulas are my best damage against the Cactus. I REALLY need to bind the Cactus's arms, so I even enable Creeping Curse to increase the odds of of Abdomen Curse landing. Soggy bullshit. This was a mistake. I should've just had Rheine cast Link Order. Tyler attacking could result in him getting killed, so I just have him hold off until the arm bind lands. Tyler's high HP means he's the most likely to get targeted if the Attack Cactus uses an attack or Double Needle, so I have Realga prep Chase Heal in case Tyler somehow doesn't die from it. Analysis will help make up for Inferno Formula's low level. You've gotta be stirring my pasta. And using Chase Heal paid off. Now THAT is what I like to see! We'll need the rest of the party to contribute if we want to kill the thing soon, though. I finally stop being dumb and just activate Link Order. THERE we go. Now that Tyler can finally deal damage, we'll be able to kill this thing pretty quickly. Alright, let's use Delayed + Cross Charge. If the fight goes on long enough for Stardust to get another Analysis, I'm probably screwed, so might as well use Eschaton. If I can Poison the Cactus, the battle will be over quite a bit more quickly. And the thing's wasted a turn. Well, it's not as much as Stardust is dishing out, but both Delayed and Cross Charge are at fairly low levels. Highlanders need a lot of levels to start dishing out big burst damage. One turn to Poison it. Sometimes I feel like the game's taunting me. Alchemists are really, really good damage dealers. Gotta love Poison too. Attack Cacti have a LOT of HP, even if you take advantage of the damage tiles. I could have Tyler prep another Delayed Charge, but I'd rather get as much damage out of Hero Battle as possible. And here I make a really goddamned moronic decision and somehow think the battle will be over soon enough to make casting Comnpression not worth it. Sophie's run out of things to do for now, so I might as well just boost everyone's damage a tiny bit. Even with the arm bind reducing its STR, the Attack Cactus still hurts. It's worth remembering that Sovereigns have sub-par VIT, though, even though they can wear heavy armor. And that's why not re-applying Compression was a bad idea. At least Spear Assist deals kind of nice damage. I should've put Tyler's Spear Assist Grimoire back on him. Aw crap. The thing's close to dying, but not only did the poison wear off, the arm bind did too. This is what we like to call both "desperate" and "really dumb". And I realize how much Stardust's damage output suffered from my dumb decision and re-apply Compression. Blinding the Cactus probably won't stop Revenge Needle, but it's still the most useful disable I have that's likely to land. Welp. Goodbye, Tyler. Oh yeah, Spear Assist does really pitiful damage if no-one used an elemental attack before it. Tyler died for 56 damage. I activate Steady Hands since the battle's going south very quickly, and I need to get Tyler back in fighting shape as soon as possible. It doesn't actually boost Revive's heal, but it does boost its action speed. Aaaa, the fight was going so well, too! Sooo cloooose. If there's a better time for Medical Miracle, it doesn't matter, because this is the last turn of Realga's Force Boost. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Medical Miracle is really powerful. gently caress. I probably would've won by now if I hadn't made all those dumb decisions. God, I played that fight really badly. I forgot to invest Sophie's skill point, too. Next room's more of the same. Lure the Attack Cactus to damage tiles... And then just walk around it while it's limping away. The last room of 9F (yes, it really is this short) is a bit more involved. We have several patches of damage tiles scattered across the room, and two Attack Cacti to deal with. The way I do this room is lure the upper Cactus into the damage tiles... Followed by the other one. When you walk to this tile, the upper one will re-aggro to you, while the lower one will still be limping. Avoid running into the limping Attack Cactus from a direction that's not the back (yes, I've done this before), and lure the upper one into that lone damage tile. And from there, you're home-free. I don't actually go to 10F yet, since I still need to finish Smithy Thompson's request and get Abigail's dialogue. I learned from the last time I lost dialogue by going to a new floor, don't worry. I head back to town since Rheine and Tyler died while grinding Glow Quills and Realga ran out of TP. I also sold off the stuff we got. Realga got a level from Glow Quill grinding. Overheal now gives slightly more extra heal, although the max HP boost didn't go up (that only goes up at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20). I also remember that Sophie got a level from the Attack Cactus fight, and at this point, I want to get Evil Eye while also boosting the rest of her disables' infliction chances, so I invest in Curse Mastery. Tyler then got a level from more grinding. Delayed Charge now does slightly more damage. I ended up in a LOT of fights trying to get Glow Quills, alright? Cocytus Formula now does slightly more damage. FINALLY. Good lord. Abigail then starts talking when we leave. And here's Abigail's 9F dialogue. Let's turn in that quest before moving onto 10F. Link Order now does quite a bit more damage, but more importantly, Link Order II got unlocked. It's basically just a version of Link Order that deals damage to every enemy when the target gets hit with an element. It even does the same damage at every level as Link Order. We're now at the end of the Auburn Thicket. I head right back to town to check up on new dialogue and quests. Let's start with Dubois. Onto Marion. Next up, Regina. Moving onto Abigail. Over to Hanna. And, lastly, Cass. Only one patron besides Rozsika, again. The 10F quests. Volunteer service II: Tree Sponges are either really easy or nightmarish, depending on your party composition. We'll see them next update. The perfect gift: Does Cass really need to remind us of the inn's purpose every time he brings it up? Good lord. And we'll end the update on Hanna's quest details. Phew. Alright, next time: we take care of both of these quests, and then go through 10F. Rea fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Jan 26, 2016 |
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Jan 25, 2016 19:37
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So this game kind of reworked how most FOEs operate AI wise. In the past games there wasn't much to them aside from them being really strong and doing specific actions in certain circumstances. Here some of the FOEs follow a pattern or have some sort of specific behavior when they're above 51% HP. In the Attack Cactus's case, it'll use Revenge Needle every 3 turns. But once they fall below 51%, they throw that out the window and just act randomly. Not all FOEs fall under that pattern though, there are a few that will stick to their script until the very end.
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Jan 25, 2016 20:31
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Can you keep kiting the Attack Cactus through the thorns multiple times if you wanted?
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Jan 26, 2016 03:40
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RareAcumen posted:Can you keep kiting the Attack Cactus through the thorns multiple times if you wanted? You can do it as many times as you want, but the Attack Cactus can only be damaged once before it heals, as far as I know.
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Jan 26, 2016 03:41
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RareAcumen posted:Can you keep kiting the Attack Cactus through the thorns multiple times if you wanted? No. If the Attack Cactus somehow manages to walk towards another damage tile, it'll just turn and walk in a different direction. So you can only damage it once.
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Jan 26, 2016 04:03
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