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Well I mean, Storm isn't that bad as far as the cores go. A strong AOE does plenty of damage and can take it out fairly quick (link order II or something like that). It's his status effects that are the problem.
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Jun 7, 2016 11:56
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Incidentally, the Adventurer's Bond quest is actually a reference to the EO2 manga (Yes, there's a manga of the game, but it's not a straight adaption.) The Ronin and the Gunner in that quest are some of the main characters in the manga. Ah, Stigmata. Yeah that ability is ridiculous (also a little less powerful than you said. It has a 80% base chance at level 10.) Tyty posted:Well I mean, Storm isn't that bad as far as the cores go. A strong AOE does plenty of damage and can take it out fairly quick (link order II or something like that). It's his status effects that are the problem. You can't even use Prevent Order for that. Corrupting Howl purges your buffs before attempting to inflict any statuses. Not that it would help much with Binding Dance anyway. The dragons in this game are awful. Though I guess I do appreciate the attempt to mix up those fights.
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Jun 7, 2016 14:03
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I knew you could kill it during this sidequest, but I never did it on Expert while underleveled. Jeez. But yeah, the hearts are the worst. Especially on The Great Dragon. 
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Jun 7, 2016 16:46
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Update 18: Arachne   Now we can make the second tea.     Believe or not, edible wood is actually a thing that exists. And yes, we're talking tree trunks here. Anyway, this tea is a really good one. What it does is force all Grimoire Chances to become Premium Chances. Every kind of Grimoire Chance. This makes grabbing Grimoires you want slightly easier, but it doesn't completely take out all the RNG from it, as you aren't guaranteed to get a max level Grimoire from one.   And let's turn in that mission.    Money is always nice.  But experience is even nicer.   Even if the minister isn't royalty himself, it's only polite to bow.    None of the townsfolk have new dialogue yet. So it's off to Ginnungagap!     In order to reach the sealed door again, you step into the quiet temple. Oh and here's an audio only conversation I forgot to show off when it was just Flavio and Arianna traveling with us through Ginnungagap.   The black-robed girl approaches the door and touches it with a small hand before quietly muttering. Bertrand pulls Chloe away from the door by the nape of her mantle, like a mother cat with a kitten, and motions to you.  The woman's mouth hangs open as she stares at the suddenly-opened path...  You follow the woman and step further into the unexplored ruins.   We're done with the first floor. Now onto the second.    You can't help but halt in your tracks in this suffocating atmosphere.  With that fiery response from the princess, you begin your journey through this new floor.       Moreover, the spider seems to have noticed your presence and is making threatening motions toward you... You doubt you will make it through this room without dealing with the spider, one way or another. You take the quaver in your friend's voice into consideration as you ponder how best to deal with this situation.    The rest of the group looks to you, awaiting your decision. Whatever action you elect to take regarding the web before you, now is the time to take it.   Time for a bit of pyromania!     You nod noncommittally to Flavio, who keeps pressing the issue, as you resume your exploration. Incidentally, you can easily take on the spider FOEs at this point. Maybe that was so that you could make good on your word there if you chose the 3rd option. I went back to town to rest up a bit. Now the townsfolk have new stuff to say, but we can't see any inn scenes yet.         Dramatic: Normally: Don't tell:     Now let's head back to Ginunngagap.   Your senses, honed through your many adventures, tell you much the same. Seemingly too agitated to speak another word, Flavio falls silent, his face pale and clammy.  Something baleful awaits you beyond this door... You review your readiness before committing to opening it.    A giant spider creature resides in this room.  Er, a giant spider woman.  Who is laughing at us while upside down.   On the other side of the door is the bewitchingly dreadful monster Arachne, a ghastly fusion of woman and insect! Arachne does not attack at once; rather she takes the time to laugh mockingly at you. Despite the beauty of her face, there is little but malice in her smile, and there is no knowing when she will strike...  You coax the anguished Flavio back to sense before taking up your weapons and stepping into Arachne's lair!        Well, she's helpless. So let's just slip past her.    But no. We must stay on the railroad.  But before we tackle Arachne, let's take a look at our party now. Once again, I'm using the MAX TP food, but mainly as insurance. I doubt I'll need it.                 Okay, let's do this.   Arachne Level: 31 HP: 17000 STR: 26 TEC: 25 VIT: 25 AGI: 20 LUC: 24 Skills:
Disable resistances: Arachne is really pathetic compared to Flame Demon. Seriously, I don't know why the web is even there. They really should have increased her HP because the amount of HP burning the web takes off is just pure overkill.  Take this free turn as an opportunity to set up.  If you can head bind Arachne, you've basically won the fight, as that will lock down most of her skills. Though don't expect that to be easy to pull off without a Hexer.    Arachne is immune to Blind, so Paralysis is my only option here.   I don't foresee this battle taking long enough to justify saving her Break and using it when necessary.   Ha ha, yes!    My number one priority for this fight is landing a Head bind on Arachne. Which unfortunately did not happen here.  The Ginnungagap boss theme is a nice track, but I think it's time we switched up the music a bit.   Much better.  Flavio's job is done, so I'm just gonna have him spam his attacks.  The reason I broke out Arianna's Force Boost was so she had access to an AOE Prevent Order in case anything went wrong.  Unfortunately, the Paralysis didn't lock up Arachne's turn.  Chloe failed to head bind her again. It's times like these I really wish I had a Hexer.  Average of 310 damage. Not bad.  I'd say we're not lacking damage in this fight either.  This is what I was putting up Prevent Order for.   I have no reason to hold onto Flavio's Force Boost. The fight shouldn't last long enough for it to come up again, and Arachne doesn't have any summons.  Sure, why not?   Say goodbye to 600 more HP.   Make that 1100.  Arachne got paralyzed this turn, so she wasn't able to use Venomous Bite.  Unfortunately, Paralysis wore off this turn, so I'm going to activate Chloe's Force Boost in hopes of landing a head bind.  I think this may be one of the last attacks Arachne gets off in this fight.  There's Extend in action.  For the record, I really don't care about Ailing Slash. It's not gonna speed things up that much.  Still no head bind?  Well, she's not immune to Sleep, so maybe I can cause her to lose another turn.  Ha ha! That was lucky!    Arachne is now effectively helpless.  Arianna's helping speed things along with Link Order.  May as well have Chloe conduct the pain train again.  Accumulative Resistance makes landing Paralysis again unlikely, but Flavio has nothing better to do.  I had Flavio fire off a Sagittarius Shot earlier. This skill is only level 2 right now, which means this should deal a lot more damage when it's maxed out. But unfortunately, it didn't stun Arachne, not that I was expecting it to.    Whittling down Arachne even more.  That's some nice damage.  Unfortunately for Arachne, she can't use Venomous Fangs thanks to her head bind.  May as well fire this off.  Even without an ailment, Ailing Slash still hits decently hard.     And now Knight will only used Delayed Chase + Flame Sabre for the rest of the battle.  At this point, why not?  AHAHAHA! That sure was lucky! So yeah, my grand strategy for this fight is to a) make Arachne helpless and b) beat the ever loving tar out of her while she is helpless. So far it's working!  Fortunately, Bertrand's arms didn't get bound, which are the limbs he really cares about.  I'll just say that the last turn was the last time Arachne gets to attack at all in this fight. She spends the rest of the battle completely paralyzed. Poor Arachne.   Looks like this is the end.     That spider just got stomped. Arachne isn't really a difficult fight, as long as you don't let it go on too long. It's even easier in Classic Mode, since you can make a much more powerful party there.  You have bested another of the threats standing in your way to the ritual!   Despite his bravado, Flavio seems vastly more cheerful now that the arachnoid monster has been vanquished... You are tempted to point this out to your friend, but content yourself with simply rejoicing in your victory for now. But just as you've finished basking in your triumph, the black-robed girl voices a reminder. The woman's anticipation is at its height as the group begins searching the hall.   Now we can go through this door.   The woman raises her voice with happy excitement before turning to you.   The words are difficult to make out. But they have a familiar, yet alien ring to them... You watch quietly as her voice slowly rises to fill the room. The woman unexpectedly calls for you. Her closed eyes open, and she beckons to you with an outstretched hand. You obey her request, noting that she sounds unlike herself, and take her hand. A bell sounds. The woman's dignified voice resounds. In response, you hear the sound of bells echoing somewhere... The bells reverberate through the room, creating a wave of sound that seems to sink deep into your bodies. And then an earthquake happens. Then, as if in answer to the sound of the bells, the earth begins to quake...! The earthquake stops. The tremors last for some time before stopping as suddenly as they began. Silence reigns once more over the hall.   A familiar voice makes itself known within you...! You recall this sensation well from the first time you came to Ginnungagap. Unlike before, however, it seems you weren't the only one who heard the voice. All five of you cast about for the voice's origin... but see nothing unusual.   The mysterious voice responds directly to Arianna's question. It would appear that it can hear you, in addition to you hearing it...    And Knight learns a new passive. Though it's called Self-Regenerate instead of Regeneration in Knight's skill list. Anyway, while Knight is Transformed, he will now recover 20% of his max HP at the end of each turn, making him even harder to kill.   We have to choose every option in order to move on.    So Arianna is the reason Knight has superpowers. Thanks, Arianna! The woman begins to sob in utter grief and shock.  The voice grows softer and more distant... And so, the voice disappears... What could the Black Guardian have meant by “your fate"...? The ambiguous and portentous statement gnaws at you deep inside...  Probably should prod the Black Guardian a bit more. No matter how you try to raise the Black Guardian again, your voice echoes in the quiet hall with no answer given. Chloe's assessment spurs you to put a hand to your face. Though you weren't conscious of it, you do feel an odd weariness. You think it would be best to return to town for a rest. You decide to leave the ritual hall and return to High Lagaard. Araxxor fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Aug 15, 2016 |
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Jun 8, 2016 05:29
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The plot thickens!Dr. Fetus posted:AHAHAHA! :cawg; That sure was lucky! So yeah, my grand strategy for this fight is to a) make Arachne helpless and b) beat the ever loving tar out of her while she is helpless. So far it's working! Your emoticon has a typo.
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Jun 8, 2016 06:02
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Update 19: The Next Step    As you lie awake, you hear a knock at your door.         By the way, all of these dialogue choices in this scene lead to Arianna saying the same thing.    BUT THOU MUST! By the way, that actually wasn't Arianna's inn scene. The game just forces that on you. We can just go to sleep again to get a different one.  As you sit there, you hear a knock at your door. Who could it be at this hour...?  Bertrand came in first place for this Stratum's inn scenes, so let's get on that.            Regina is the only one who has something new to say after Arachne's defeat. So let's head to the Grand Duchy.    If we talk to Dubois now...    Dubois has new stuff to say when we talk with him again.    How am I supposed to know? Now the town dialogue changes, but most of it is the same. Cass' doesn't, so let's check out his.   Okay, let's get to exploring the Labyrinth.    You take a better look at the mound of snow before you, certain of what you saw. Though it's hard to make out, you do indeed find a translucent stone shining amidst the snow. You may reach towards the stone if you wish.  May as well. You take hold of the stone gently so as not to disturb the mound of snow.   You put the discovery away with your belongings as you return to your investigation.   As you carefully tread down the perilous, snowy path, Flavio raises a warning. He follows this up by silently motioning towards the south side of the snowy area.  You are aware without their prompting that you must find a strong monster to leech the power from... You focus on the wolf's nature in hopes of answering their question. Alas, you sense nothing out of the ordinary from it. You may use caution so as not to enter the wolf's line of sight, or dispatch it and remove the obstacle in your path.   Two smaller snowballs are placed one atop the other... It seems to be a sculpture. You can rest for a while here near the snowman, or ignore it and hurry on.  Let's rest. If you don't, you'll get into a battle. You decide to rest your weary feet near the small snowman for a while. Arianna takes the opportunity to look at the snowman and smile.  You spend some time in conversation near the snowman. The peaceful, idle talk helps to naturally calm your minds.  With plenty of rest, you leave the area in a good mood.   Beyond the room packed with wolves is a surprising sight: a room whose floor is composed of entirely of ice!   Sharing the black-robed girl's motto of “test everything," you both reach towards the icy floor. As soon as you place your palm on its surface, you understand how cold and slick it is... The ice seems quite thick, as far as you can tell. You foresee no problem with the whole party traveling across it. Still, it is very different from any ordinary floor, and you should take great caution while walking on it. I walk on the ice.   The moment you step onto the icy floor, you find yourself unable to stop slipping forward until you reach the end. Luckily, the bank of snow at the end breaks your fall as you tumble into it...  Knowing the idiosyncrasies of the slippery floor now, you search for the best path to proceed...   You agree with the young man's assessment that you could catch the monsters off guard if you act now. If you wish, you may charge into the fray, or you may slink away quietly.  ATTACK!  As you begin your charge, the snow underfoot melts, revealing another snow creature! You do not like your chances against the horde either, but you are surrounded and cannot escape! Yet at that moment... the monsters display an odd change in behavior. The hostility directed at you does not diminish as the horde of monsters clumps into a single area... To your shock, the size of the central being grows larger by the second until it develops into a gargantuan monster! Bertrand has a point. You can stand and face the united monster, or attempt to flee the scene.  Screw that! We can take this guy! With a single enemy to unite against, you see hope that you may win the day. You face the gigantic snow beast and draw your weapons! Your comrades, inspired by your courage, take up their own weapons to face the hulking snow monster. As it watches you stand your ground, the brute halts, seeming uneasy. As you watch it guardedly, you hear a multitude of piping voices coming from the giant monster's mouth. This is a clear opportunity if ever there was one, and you decide to charge the beast while it still hesitates!  The Snow Swarm is an event miniboss. Shouldn't give you too much trouble.  It doesn't drop anything, but you do need to fight it in order to complete your Monster Codex.  Chloe points, and you look to see a collection of beautiful stones near where the monster fell. You pick up the stones, which you assume are the remains of the fused beast, before making your exit.    And that's the end of the 11th floor!        This is where the guard asks us the find the Snow Blooms. Now that we got to a new floor, let's go back to town.   As you sit there, you hear a knock at your door. Who could it be at this hour...?  Flavio was the next party member chosen for the inn scenes.         It is late, and you decide to rest in preparation for tomorrow... And since we reached a new Stratum, here's a new audio only conversation that plays here. Abigail doesn't have anything new to say in Story, but here's another audio only conversation that plays there now. MOVING ON!  Anyway, Regina has nothing new to say, but here's the audio conversation with her for this Stratum. Likewise, Cass has nothing new to say normally. So here's the audio conversation for this Stratum. Too bad I don't know how to rip audio tracks. This is one that you should really hear for yourself.  The drunk is back though. Here's the audio conversation that takes place at the Explorers Guild, since Marion has nothing new to say in Story mode.  Oh hey, Dubois has something new to say. And here's the audio conversation that plays here. We're done with the 12th floor, but we're not gonna tackle the rest of it in the next update. No, next time...  Something you probably and definitely shouldn't be reading at work! Araxxor fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 05:12
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Dr. Fetus posted:We're done with the 12th floor, but we're not gonna tackle the rest of it in the next update. No, next time... Remember how the Classic mode version of Hidden Hot Springs was barely anything out of the ordinary? Oh boy, does Story have a rude surprise for you. Incidental fun fact: Hidden Hot Springs was apparently one of the last additions to EO2U--the Gentle Toad is near the end of the enemy table, and most of its skills are also near the end of the skill table(s).
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Jun 9, 2016 05:22
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Update 47: Just Two Quests                     Here's everyone's final builds. I rested Ursa and Realga to get them back to normal builds, instead of wasting tons of skill points on attacks skills I'm not gonna use on either of them. By this point, most of my skill points are just going into passives.   Here are two things I unlocked. Exciting!    This is the spot we have to go to for Nupital preparations. SYSTEM: He spares you a glance, then looks away disinterestedly--turning his eyes back up to the sky.  SYSTEM: You tell him that you came to speak to him regarding his son's marriage, and he lets out a small, weary laugh.   SYSTEM: The guard takes out a necklace with a vivid green gemstone from his pocket. Staring at it, he speaks again, voice wistful. SYSTEM: It appears staying further will do no good. You should go back to the bar to report to his son...   Oh, welcome back. Were you able to meet my father? ...I...see. Then he wouldn't let me...after all. Well...how was my father? What? An emerald necklace? P-Please, wait! Did father say anything else to you? He said I should be a strong man...and said I should show my resolve without relying on others...? Hm... But how do I prove my resolve...? Wait... That necklace... Did father...? In that case, that quarry must be on the 2nd floor...! Maybe there's another way...but maybe, if I can do the same thing my father did...! I'm sorry, everyone! I need to go find that ore! I'll take care of it from here! No, I... I must do it on my own!     SYSTEM: You draw your weapons, but the son barks an order not to interfere. Battered and hurt, he charges the monster head-on. The guardsman's son is holding his own, but each successful hit from the monster nearly sends him to the ground... He takes hit after punishing hit...but then, seizing his chance, he lunges forward and lands a sudden counterattack! He has only time to grin in triumph before the enraged monster slams into him, sending him flying back off his feet! The guardsman's son hits the stone wall with a painful thud, and he collapses forward, with no strength left. SYSTEM: You swiftly move between the monster and the unconscious scholar, and raise your weapons. With a roar, the monster charges!   This is a Mole with 929 HP, 47 STR, and Destructive Claw, aka that skill that White Apes had. There's no point to showing off this battle, because nothing intersting happens in it.  A-Aghh... Wh-What happened...? Where's the...the monster...? ...It's... you...? I see... I couldn't defeat the monster on my own...after all? Gah...how humiliating... O-Oh, right! The ore! Where...where's the ore!? Phew, it's here... I need to show my father this ore... That should show him...what my resolve is...!SYSTEM: With that, the guardsman's son stands up...but staggers, badly wounded. Continuing would be impossible for him. SYSTEM: Leaving him to his death would be unthinkable. You suggest that you deliver the ore, and he seek medical attention. He protests vehemently, but cannot argue against his wounds for long. He sadly hands you the ore, and uses an Ariadne Thread. After seeing him off, you decide to head to the small room where his father is, in the northeast of the 2nd floor.   SYSTEM: He notices you approach, but simply turns his gaze to the sky.   SYSTEM: The guard stands quietly, looking into the distance, and you hand him the bag with the ore inside. SYSTEM: The guard laughs quietly, but follows it with a deep sigh. After a moment, he turns in your direction.    SYSTEM: Was the guard giving the couple his blessing, in his own way...? When you have time, go to the bar to report this to the guardsman's son!  Oh, everyone, welcome back. I'm sorry I caused you trouble earlier... ...Oh, my condition? Ahaha... Well, it's probably going to ache for a long time, but I'm getting better. I'll live. And, also...could you please bring that emerald ore to my father? ...Huh? Something from father? That's--That's mother's necklace... But why...? My father gave this to my mother, and he always took great care of...hmm? What's this on the back...? Father's writing? This is mother's name...and my fiancee's name? Hahah...ahahahaha! This... I guess this is his way of congratulating me. Seriously, what an awkward man... ...Thank you very much for your help. I left your reward with Cass, so please accept my gratitude! Now, I have a new duty to fulfill--to deliver this necklace to a very important person. So...please excuse me. Everyone...thank you so very much for your help.    40k en for a quest that's mostly just dialogue plus one easy event fight isn't bad at all.     I sent the Byeahs out after that to get all the materials for The courageous knight.   They also got this thing. Brawn Rings give +7 STR to the holder, which is a pretty drat big boost to physical damage. I put this on Asriel later in the update, since he needs all the help he can get to stay competitive.     Just one piece left.  Getting Revive back up to where it once was.  And maxing out Formula Mastery on Stardust for more tiny bonus damage.     And here's some stuff I unlocked. Next time: 24F. Because while this update is short, it's also simultaneously long enough that it'd cause the update to ram squarely into the character limit with 24F. Sorry! Rea fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 07:17
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I think Dr. Fetus is right about needing to hear the audio conversation between Cass and Bertrand for myself, because I have no idea what they're going on about, unless Bertrand is gonna pour one out for his homies or something. That's more 'rapper' than 'hard boiled', though.
vdate fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 15:05
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IIRC they are pretending to be film noir characters having a vaguely portentous conversation about a mysterious but tragic past. (also "Playing at being hard boiled" seems more likely)
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Jun 9, 2016 16:26
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Somehow, one-off minibosses feel... wronger? in Etrian Odyssey than they do in other games. Maybe because normal fights are already kind of challenging?
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Jun 11, 2016 23:09
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Update 48: rd_heavenlykeep Only two floors left before we reach the end of the main story. Let's get going.   This is a pretty big floor, so get comfortable.     Nightmare HP: 960, STR: 47, TEC: 35, VIT: 37, AGI: 39, LUC: 37 Skills:
Disable resistances: An otherworldly horse that gallops wildly, rarely stopped to rest. Nightmares can seriously mess you up if they use Nightmare. Otherwise, the primary target of Night Run will probably be left hurting quite a bit, but will probably live.  Let's see what a level 10 Chase Heal can do.     That's the Auto-Heal Legendary Grimoire effect Ursa has equipped activating--it's a 50% chance for Ursa to restore a flat 50% of her max HP, remember. Combined with Chase Heal, unless Ursa gets one-shot by something, we can say goodbye to her ever dying from here on out.           Huge Statue HP: 2028, STR: 50, TEC: 37, VIT: 40, AGI: 30, LUC: 38 Skills:
Disable resistances: A colossus with a strong shell for protection and claws which never go dull. Huge Statues have slightly special AI. They won't do anything when they're at full HP. Once they take even 1 point of damage, however, they will start spamming Revenge Claw, which can very easily just kill our entire front row in one go. They thankfully have no resistance to arm binds, meaning as long as you have a Dark Hunter or Hexer, you can (usually) deal with these things handily.  Crap.  I hate Swallow Strike sometimes.   And using Volt Formula, evidently, isn't worth it.  I had Realga use Overheal on the last turn, since she wasn't going to do anything else.  That's more like it.   Perfect timing, too.  It's more efficient for Asriel to just use Flame Grater on Huge Statues instead of Swallow Strike, since that doesn't incur the 50% damage penalty due to the Huge Statue's resistances.   Huge Statues are manageable on their own, but can become real pains when combined with other monsters.      Silver Gunman HP: 942, STR: 45, TEC: 45, VIT: 36, AGI: 42, LUC: 33 Skills:
Disable resistances: A humaniform machine with a particularly deadly firearm. Silver Gunmen are annoying if you have no way to deal with Silver Bullet, but otherwise there's not much else to them.  200% resistance to arm binds means that it's incredibly easy to stop Silver Gunmen from doing anything.     No trouble, really.  Asriel's skill point goes into Peerless Stance.   SYSTEM: You draw closer to find large, rainbow-colored fruits beyond anything you've seen before growing on them. Though their color is strange to you, they may be safe to eat... SYSTEM: The fruit feels so light as you pick it that you wonder if there is anything inside. You take a wary bite... The fruit's texture is soft, like cotton, but juice erupts from it with each chew until it fills your mouth! The strangely enjoyable texture and perfect, sweet-sour taste enthralls you as you devour the entire fruit!   SYSTEM: You glance around and notice that some of the fruits are not yet ripe. By the time tomorrow comes, the fruits will surely be edible... You are already looking forward to eating more of the fruit as you return to your investigation, feeling greatly satisfied.  This encounter looks incredibly mean, but as long as you just have your damage dealers only go for the Forest Bat, the Huge Statue won't touch you.   SYSTEM: It seems to have been neglected for years, but it somehow manages to catch your interest. SYSTEM: Though pressing it seems to accomplish nothing, before long a disembodied voice sounds. SYSTEM: The mysterious voice abruptly ends there. You cock your head, marveling at the strange phenomenon, before returning to your quest.    Freyja got a level up from a random encounter. I opted to have her start investing in Curb ATK Up instead of HP Up, since Ursa being on the team means she shouldn't be taking too many hits.    Another boring encounter gave Ursa a level up, which I use to give her slightly more HP.   After seeing that empty space in the map, I did some backtracking to get the secret area. Soma Primes are pretty useful, I guess.  I went back to town at this point because I'd already blown most everyone's Force Breaks dealing with irritating encounters.         Here's some food, too. Beggar's Fowl gives the party +80% resistance to fear. There's one part of the Overlord fight that this can help greatly with. Horse Shabu Shabu disables rare breed encounters. I can't think of any situation where you'd really want that. Steak Tartare increases the party's STR by 10. This massively boosts most physical damage dealers', well, damage. Stone Galette increases the party's TEC by 10. Alchemists obviously benefit from this quite a lot, but aside from that, it's not as universally good as the Steak Tartare. Sovereigns benefit from it for Link Order damage, I suppose. I eat the Stone Galette because Stardust is my primary encounter clearer, and +10 TEC means she's even better at that job.          And new campaigns before I go.     And here's some random bits of equipment I unlocked.      Sky Metal Knight HP: 14349, STR: 61, TEC: 43, VIT: 44, AGI: 41, LUC: 35 Skills:
Disable resistances: A mechanized soldier wielding two beam swords. Defeat it fast, before it detects your presence. Sky Metal Knights almost necessitate a Beast, honestly. Even Front Guard won't help you if Slaughter Blade hits someone in the back row, and if that wasn't bad enough, the damage buff means even its normal attacks become lethal.  Freyja will try her best to get two binds on the Sky Metal Knight--I'll consider that acceptable for Ecstasy.  I have Ursa turn on Desperation, in case Freyja doesn't get the arm bind off.  Realga really has nothing else to do.     Gag would've been the better choice here, honestly, since cutting the Sky Metal Knight's TEC down means that Stardust would deal more damage.  Asriel's job is just to spam Swallow Strike.  I thought for a long while that Desperation and Overheal didn't stack, but I'm about to prove myself wrong.   Hot drat that's a lot of HP--2315. That's more than even Huge Statues have.   It's kind of sad, really.  Alright, two binds. I'll take it.  Honestly, I'm kind of surprised the arm bind has stuck on for this long. The Sky Metal Knight literally has not gotten a single attack in yet, because it keeps trying to use Slaughter Blade, even though its arms are bound.  Oh yeah, getting that conditional is going to be super easy.  The arm bind fell off, but does that really matter by this point?    Too easy.  Meh.   I decided to go back to town to sell the Sky Metal Knight's drops, although I probably should've just kept the Sky Metal Shard, for reasons you'll see later.     It's just another room where bombs are the only obstacle. The floor gets more involved, though, believe me.   Not yet, though.    SYSTEM: You suspect it is one of the monsters which guards this castle.  SYSTEM: In addition to the monster you see here, you sense another presence in the room!   SYSTEM: It seems this monster can call upon others of its kind for aid... You think very carefully about how to proceed through this floor in light of this new knowledge. Taking on a Silver Guardian without a very specific plan against it is a terrible idea, so I really have no other option but taking the long way around.   24F's main FOE puzzle is luring the bombs into Silver Guardians. This particular instance is amazingly easy, mostly because this is the only Silver Guardian patrolling this small area.   I mark Silver Guardian spawn points on the map with the question mark icon.   Now we have two of them to deal with--we only have to kill one, though. Killing one is enough to give us some room to get out of the patrol area.   Just lure the bomb over to the top by standing here, and then move so that the bomb won't turn again.   When you step into a Silver Guardian's patrol area, all of the Silver Guardians patrolling that specific area will aggro on you. Since there's only one here, though, we can just run to the safe area.   This next puzzle's slightly trickier, since the bomb spawner is all the way down there, meaning you have to first lure the bomb up by standing on the left, and then move so that it'll end up going to the right.       Like so.   These types of puzzles can take a bit of getting used to, especially on your first go-around, but once you know how to work them, they're pretty drat easy.   This next puzzle steps up the difficulty by making you blow up two Silver Guardians before proceeding.     One down.   And we're good.   Last puzzle of the floor. There's a whopping four Silver Guardians patrolling the area here, and two bomb spawn points--the one close to us, and the one to the north alllll the way on the other side of the room. That one will blow up Silver Guardians on its own, but we have to goad the ones near us towards the Silver Guardians.   It's easier than it looks.     The last floor. (Of the main story, anyway.)  Town dialogue time.   Regina started talking as soon as we entered. This also triggered new FOEbucks dialogue for the rest of the town. Let's start with Regina herself.  And lastly, her normal dialogue.  FOEbucks dialogue. Normal dialogue.  I went back to the inn to get the FOEbucks dialogue. Quona has dialogue too.   My dialogue progression's certainly scattered today, isn't it? Dulcet-voiced caster: Girl in a white sundress:  Normal dialogue.  Normal dialogue.  The last quests of the main story. Task for the tracker: We thankfully have a Beast on us, so we can just take Ursa to 16F and get on the quest whenever convenient. An inquisitive child: What Cass meant by bringing back "materials from a monster that ain't a pushover" is that he wants us to bring back drops from an FOE--either a Sky Metal Knight, a Cursed Knight, or a Silver Guardian. "Special rarer materials" refers to conditional drops, which only the Sky Metal Knight and Cursed Knight have. The quest doesn't care about what specific drop you bring back, just what type it is. We'll take care of both those quests, and 25F, next time. Rea fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Jun 12, 2016 05:06
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And now you referenced FE: Fates. I will concede with Realga and Stardust: The Babyrealms was a stupid idea. I liked Awakening's "stop apocalyptic future" justification because it made the children have real good quirks. Inigo's line in his B Support with his father is a good example: "I had to fight every day of my goddamn life and wear a smile through it all!" Eh, anyone else feel like going to the FE thread and talking?
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Jun 12, 2016 07:14
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I wonder how Regina would react if she knew she was apparently the object of adoration from so many women.
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Jun 12, 2016 07:29
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As I type this, the Overlord fight raw footage is being processed. As such, I felt this would be a good time to throw out a question. We're headed into the postgame really soon--that should be fairly obvious. What I want to ask about is: how should votes from here on out be handled? There are several postgame bosses (including the superboss) where you basically need one or two specific classes or else you'll probably just lose. Should I just stop holding votes for anything I feel I should build a party for myself, should I just lock in the pseudo-required characters and let the others be voted in, should I do something else? Also, for postgame stratum exploration: should I just swap out the party with every floor? The postgame stratum isn't that hard to go through, it's just that the floors are very long, and you'll probably be going back to town quite a bit. Lastly, expect the 25F update sometime this week (my ideal time is tomorrow night), and the Overlord update shortly after.
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Jun 12, 2016 09:00
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Keep holding votes, but place no restrictions. You can use Grimoires to get your hands on the abilities you need. 
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Jun 12, 2016 09:10
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Dr. Fetus posted:Keep holding votes, but place no restrictions. Seconding this! I'm sure you'll do just fine, even if the readers decide to make your life a little more difficult.
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Jun 12, 2016 10:26
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As amusing as sending you against a superboss with a party of dead-weight and Grimoires would be I support locking in the pseudo-required characters.
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Jun 12, 2016 14:43
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So long as everyone gets a go in the new stratum, I'm happy with free votes for all
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Jun 12, 2016 14:54
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Lock in the required characters, hold a vote for the rest. I think that's the best way to not get frustrated.
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Jun 12, 2016 16:45
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Lock required.
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Jun 12, 2016 17:32
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I'd say lock in characters only if they're needed. I know from experience that there are some bosses coming up that I wouldn't want to fight with the wrong party. Then again, you've proven several times already that difficulty in this game might as well be subjective (I'm still looking at that Storm Emperor fight). And yeah, since the floor count is winding down after this in favor of huge multi-trip floors, I'd say swap the party after every floor.
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Jun 12, 2016 18:15
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8_Escape posted:As amusing as sending you against a superboss with a party of dead-weight and Grimoires would be I support locking in the pseudo-required characters. Seconded.
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Jun 12, 2016 18:27
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Lock in pseudoreqs.
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Jun 12, 2016 19:54
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Lock in any and all required characters for fights we don't want our LPer dying on us now do we?
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Jun 12, 2016 20:52
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For bosses, no votes. Brutalize everything. Show us how to completely destroy the game. Your pick, every boss. For exploration, anything goes
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Jun 12, 2016 21:01
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FriskyBoat posted:For bosses, no votes. Brutalize everything. Show us how to completely destroy the game. Your pick, every boss. For exploration, anything goes We've already seen floors where mobs make some classes only technically optional. Definitely lock in required classes unless you're really up to doing a Goofus and Gallant-style demonstration. If you're up to that this late in the LP. Really, I'd be okay with thread input being taken only as suggestions and proposals at this point. It's not your fault so much; it's dubious and arguably inconsistent game design.
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Jun 12, 2016 23:41
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Update 49: To the Throne So, fun story, and by fun I mean "I really shouldn't be making mistakes this terrible this late into the LP." I lost the footage of doing Task for the tracker! I recorded it separately from both this update and the last one, and accidentally deleted the raw footage before processing it. I AM VERY ORGANIZED.    First thing to do today is get another Sky Metal Shard. You've already seen one fight with a Sky Metal Knight, so let's just skip ahead.  SYSTEM: If you decide that this material would make a sufficient present, you can return to the bar with it.  The most ad campaign finished, with mediocre results.          New campaigns.   You have to manually select what drop you want to turn in--I turn in the Sky Metal Shard, pretty obviously.     We get two more Nectar IIs for turning in a conditional drop.   Still just putting points in small passives.  Let's tackle The Test of Courage now. Firstly, I have absolutely no qualms about dropping the difficulty to Picnic for this, because getting the maximum reward with this quest on Expert is nigh-impossible unless you put it off until, like, the end of the postgame.    SYSTEM: You feel a rush just setting foot in the area. A guard sees you from his post by the stairs, and moves towards you.  SYSTEM: When you nod, the guard breathes a sigh of relief, his palm settling against his breastplate. SYSTEM: You give thanks to the guard, and fix your grips on your weapons. The Test of Courage has begun. You forge onward. It's exactly what it sounds like: we have to kill a bunch of Charging Rhinos to finish the quest. There's six of these things on the floor, and if you want the maximum reward, you have to kill them ALL. You'll see why this is incredibly difficult until you're massively overleveled or on Picnic in just a bit.     Charging Rhino HP: 12517, STR: 49, TEC: 41, VIT: 40, AGI: 30, LUC: 39 Skills:
Disable resistances: An abnormally large-horned rhino who will frenzy if binded. 12517 HP. Even at our current level, on Expert, that would take quite a lot of turns and, more importantly, TP and Force to chew through. These things aren't even a real challenge by this point, it's killing six of them within 7 in-game hours that's the problem. An actual fight with one wouldn't even be interesting, hence why I had no hesitation switching to Picnic.   Six rhinos later... SYSTEM: The thudding impact reverberates across the forest, as if announcing your victory to the world... Congratulations! You have set a new record on the Test of Courage, surpassing countless other warriors! Now, return to the bar when you feel so inclined, and claim your prize for overcoming the Test!     This is why I wanted the maximum reward--if we only killed one or two rhinos, we would've only gotten one Amrita II. Three to five rhinos would've gotten us three Amrita IIs. Believe me, I'm gonna need as many of these things as I can for Overlord.  Peerless Stance now gives Asriel 17% extra damage, 12% extra defense, a 141% speed multiplier, and +130 non-base accuracy/evasion, while now costing 5 TP instead of 3.  Level 1 Aegis/Deadly Resolve is a 10% chance to endure mortal damage at 1 HP.   And I'm still getting certain skills back up to where they were pre-resting. That's all the quests we can do during the main game. All that's left is 25F.       Let's do some cooking, first. Stewed Rhino gives the party +80% resistance to panic. Panic is one of the worst ailments to get hit by, making this theoretically pretty useful--unfortunately, almost no enemies beyond the Great Moths back in the 4th Stratum rely on panic. Shell Yakiniku makes it so that paralyzed enemies have a whopping 99% chance to not act. This is a supremely broken food, only made slightly less amazing by quite a lot of enemies and bosses having 25% paralysis resistance. It's also the only ailment that Hexers don't have access to. Rhino Meat Stew increases all enemy drop rates by 15%. This would be slightly better in earlier EO games, where enemy drop rates were drat terrible a lot of the time, but in EO2U, where most drop rates are pretty reasonable, not so much.   I bought Freyja a Fortune Necklace before going into 25F, since her binds are annoyingly unreliable, and I want to mitigate that somewhat.   Let's begin the end.   Well, that level up didn't take long.  Leveling up Curb ATK Up to 3 unlocked Snake Eyes, which lowers one enemy's physical defense. If the targeted enemy has an ailment or bind on them, the defense reduction is increased by 10%. At level 20, Snake Eyes on a target with an ailment/bind is actually the strongest defense debuff in the game, at 50%.   We've got two Cursed Knights and a Sky Metal Knight in the same room.    Let's just take care of that and make my life easier.     Blowing up those Cursed Knights isn't that big a deal.    King Gel HP: 1567, STR: 47, TEC: 46, VIT: 35, AGI: 29, LUC: 36 Skills:
Disable resistances: The most ancient of the protean life-forms and the deadliest. King Gels are fairly unique as far as enemies go, and are (appropriately) reminiscent of King Snails from the 1st Stratum. If a King Gel is alone, it will summon two Yellow Gels as soon as possible, and after that, will spam Explosives until the Yellow Gels are dead. The other notable thing is that they're the first of three enemies with a "Kill with curse damage" conditional, near-universally reviled in the EO community because they're incredibly annoying to get, due to how weak curse is against enemies. Could be worse, though--could be like EO3 and EO4, where there's one boss in each game with a "kill with curse damage" conditional.       Just have some all-target Fire or Ice damage on hand, and King Gels are completely trivial.   Anyway, our final puzzle of the main story. Everything after this is just corridors. This one is incredibly easy to trip yourself up on, and a solid 20 minutes of raw footage here is dedicated to me stumbling around, going back to town, and stumbling around some more, trying to remember what the solution was.   We've got two Cursed Knights--one right in front of us, the other all the way back there, and a patrol area with two Silver Guardians.   Pacing back and forth in this corner will eventually result in luring a bomb in front of you.   That's one down.   That's two.   And we're clear to get through the patrol area. That's the last puzzle of the main story finished.    Undead Soldier HP: 1067, STR: 51, TEC: 46, VIT: 38, AGI: 32, LUC: 36 Skills:
Disable resistances: A suit of armor said to contain the souls of fallen adventurers. Undead Soldiers augment damage from enemies with elementals, and that's about the only interesting thing about them.  It won't even get a chance to demonstrate that here.    Sometimes I wonder if I should intentionally let myself get messed up by enemies with gimmicks.   Oh, gently caress you, game.      SYSTEM: The shining plate features writing unlike any you have seen, under which is a pair of circular patterns: one red, one blue. Between the circular patterns is the slowly blinking emblem of a hand, as if inviting you to touch the circles. You may touch one of the circles, or abandon them and leave. SYSTEM: The device is so inviting that you can only assume that it is a trap. In no mood to endanger yourselves needlessly, you turn your back to the wall and resume exploring. The red circle increases the rate at which you encounter monsters until you leave the floor, and the blue circle reduces the rate. I can never remember which one is which, so I just played it safe here.   Hamao Primes restore 200 HP and 40 TP to one target. Bleh.  I went back to town to heal up, and hot drat.          The Gourmet King is always a nice surprise.     And the last round of unlocked items for the main game.   I told you there was literally nothing but corridors left. SYSTEM: You feel a tremendous weight on your shoulders as you approach, and cannot help but walk with fearful steps. The Overlord, master of this heavenly castle, awaits you beyond this door. There can be no turning back. You consider carefully whether you are fully prepared, whether your resolve is firm enough, before opening the door. I don't particularly feel like fighting Overlord right now. Next time: the final boss.
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Jun 13, 2016 03:20
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Update 50: OVERLORD                     It's time to finish this. It's been a pretty long seven months since I started the LP, huh?  I went with the Attack Item Up food and bought a ton of Storm Jars, because Stardust kept running out of TP from spamming level 20 Thor Formulas in earlier attempts.       SYSTEM: As you struggle to take it all in, the mysterious voice booms from above you.    VIDEO: Boss Battle: Overlord   This is the only time Last Battle plays in the game, so give it a listen. It's not a spectacular track, but it's decent enough.  Overlord HP: 6000, STR: 58, TEC: 48, VIT: 50, AGI: 37, LUC: 50 Skills:
Disable resistances: AI pattern:
Master of the floating castle and Ruler of Heaven, he has left his mortal body behind. ...Are you kidding me? THIS is the final boss?! 6000 HP?! What kind of dumb joke is this?! All I really have to say about the Overlord's skillset is that if you somehow can't kill it in 8 turns, you have much bigger problems than dying to VOID0.  I'm hoping Freyja manages to get a head bind off, since LRDA is annoying to clean up after, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  Asriel will set up Upper Stance, and then just spam Swallow Strike.  Overlord's not attacking this turn, so I have Ursa set up Protection Vow.  Realga defends since I'm betting on Freyja not binding the Overlord's head. Defending reduces the chance of being hit with ailments and binds for that turn by some unknown factor.  Much like Asriel, Stardust will set up Compression, and then just spam either Thor Formula or Storm Jars.    Well, alright then! Makes my job easier.   None of the Overlord's skills use the arms, but Cuffs deals more damage than Shackles at the moment.  Ursa'll be fine tanking VOID3.  Realga preps Overheal because what else is she gonna do right now?  Here we go.  Less surprising than the head bind, since the Overlord only has 50% resistance to arm binds.   Well, that's over 10% of the Overlord's HP.  And THAT was 1/3 of the Overlord's HP.   Head binds shut down the Overlord so hard it's not even funny.    Turn 3 is the MACV turn, so Freyja and Asriel need to hold off on attacking, while Ursa has nothing to do.   Overlord is now at around 1000 HP. He's done for.    That was disappointing.  SYSTEM: As you bask in your hard-won victory, the voice speaks again. SYSTEM: The Overlord's offer has been made, and he awaits your answer. The decision is entirely in your hands...  Choosing to leave just results in being given a game over. SYSTEM: You cannot leave when the Grail of Kings is so near at hand, and so you refuse the Overlord. At hearing your response, the Overlord sighs deeply before speaking again. https://zippy.gfycat.com/BlankPreciousGlassfrog.webm (No GIF version available) VIDEO: Final Boss: Overlord   Now that looks like a final boss.  Overlord HP: 27000, STR: 59, TEC: 48, VIT: 50, AGI: 39, LUC: 53 Skills:
Disable resistances: AI pattern:
The true form of the Ruler of Heaven. Behold his overwhelming power, and despair. THIS is the actual final boss, and he's...honestly something of a disappointment. Overlord is really just a damage race. He hits hard, but that's really the complete extent of what he does. The entire fight boils down to killing him before he kills you.  I probably should've used Cuffs instead, for reasons you'll see shortly.  Asriel will be varying up his usual actions in a couple of turns.  Ursa readies up Protection Vow, since the Overlord's not gonna do anything this turn.  Ursa will NEED an Overhealed Cure to not die to Mountain Stream next turn.  Same as always.    Note how I didn't activate Immovable yet.   Hope this works.  Since Freyja and Asriel are gonna be dishing out mediocre damage, it's up to Stardust to pick up the slack.      This doesn't bode well.  It's...some damage. I can't argue that.  Oh.  Ursa needs to be patched up.  Aiiiii, I knew this would happen.   Fantastic, summons, my favorite part of boss fights.  Killer Satellite HP: 1700, STR: 58, TEC: 45, VIT: 45, AGI: 41, LUC: 48 Skills:
Disable resistances: Killer Satellites are major pains. Their normal attacks deal not-insignificant damage, and Chase Laser can turn heavy damage elementals into death. They're also in the back row, meaning that everyone deals half damage to them! (The only exception is if I moved Stardust up to the front row, or have Asriel use Issen.)  Asriel has one turn of Upper Stance left, so I have him use Peerless Stance.  This is supposed to just be a normal attack turn, so I'll have Ursa use an Amrita II on Asriel.   Ugh.    Protection Vow kicked in there.  We could be doing worse for 5 turns in, given who our damage dealers are.  I have Asriel turn Immovable on, now that he has Peerless Stance going.  Compression ran out, but that's fine, since I want Stardust to chip at the Killer Satellite.  Peerless Stance needs quite a few levels before it starts becoming noticeably better than Upper Stance.  Insert exasperated statement here.   I love Overheal. Ursa just ate half of her normal max HP and doesn't even care.     Oh, great, one more summon.  Overlord Core HP: 2800, STR: 59, TEC: 48, VIT: 50, AGI: 39, LUC: 53 Damage resistances: Disable resistances: Okay, I'm being a little unfair to the Overlord Core. It's not really a traditional "summon," since it literally does nothing on its own. Its only purpose is to act as a timer--if you can't kill it within four turns, you're doomed, since Dance will no-questions-asked wipe you (exclusing Perfect Defense or True Endurance).  I have Asriel target the Overlord Core with Swallow Strike, since I want this thing dead in a reasonable amount of time.    In the video, you can see that this instance of Dazzling Sunlight gets sped up compared to normal actions. That's because I saw Ursa's HP, and my damage estimate for Dazzling Sunlight in my head went over that, meaning I panic-held the A Button and was basically shouting "NO NO NO PLEASE THIS ATTEMPT IS GOING WELL" in my head. That one point of Deadly Resolve saved me in the end, since it procced on the last hit.   Fun fact about the Auto-Heal and Self-Heal Amp Grimoire effects: because Auto-Heal technically isn't a fixed healing source, Self-Heal Amp boosts it, meaning that Ursa restores 75% of her HP whenever it activates--and remember, it activates 50% of the time on any damage instance.    A bit too close for comfort, but everything turned out fine in the end.  Asriel's Force isn't gonna have enough time to regenerate before the end of the fight, so I just bust out Issen to damage the Overlord plus both of his summons.   That's the Killer Satellite down.  *screaming internally*   Remember how Dazzling Sunlight nearly killed Ursa last time? I seriously loving love Overheal.  Oh yeah, and Auto-Heal counts whatever the user's current max is, meaning it works perfectly fine with Overheal.   The Overlord telegraphs Dance with this, although you can already probably guess that it's coming by killing the Core.  I have Freyja take a break from not binding the Overlord's head so she can restore her TP.  Even with Overheal, Ursa would die if she tanked the entirety of Dance, so I turn on Desperation.  Stardust'll re-cast Compression now that the summons are dead.    Ouch.   That basically completely undid Dance's damage, haha.  Oh hey, we skipped the second part of phase 2.  Getting ever closer.  Also, remember how I said that Overheal and Desperation stacking was a bug all the way back in the Gentle Toad fight? Turns out it isn't!  Overkill much?  Same reasoning as Issen.   FINALLY. And not a moment too soon, since the Hail and Rain phase is probably gonna start soon.   I got really lucky that the Overlord used Birth of Anguish during True Endurance, since it means the panic got nullified, and Ursa becoming panicked would've thrown a serious wrench in everything.  Yep, there it is.  This is frankly kind of a lovely use of Trance, but whatever, I need as much damage as possible right now.  We're almost there, just a little more left!  Cuffs + Trance damage, for reference.   Like I said, the head bind could not have been timed better, even if it took annoyingly long to land.  Okay, it's over.  Might as well go for style points. (Realga has Overheal active.)       It is finished. VIDEO: Ending and Credits   SYSTEM: Whether the light marks the end of an ancient legend...or the opening of a new chapter... It would be premature to judge now.  SYSTEM: You recall his words... SYSTEM: Despairing at man's weakness, he personally strove to transcend the limitations of his species.  SYSTEM: Perhaps their conflict was not a matter of right and wrong. It was a struggle whose outcome was determined by the strength of their respective beliefs. There may come a time again when mankind, facing incredible adversity, will lose its way...  SYSTEM: Just as you traversed the flying castle, their strength and bravery will allow them to face any hardship.  That could not be further from the truth.      So. That's the end of the main story. What a ride that was, huh? Kind of hard to believe it's been seven months since I started. I guess I'll use this time to throw out some miscellaneous thoughts. If you've never played EO2U, or even any EO game at all, I hope the LP's convinced you to at least give the eShop demo of it a look. Etrian Odyssey is a series that I'm incredibly passionate about, if the fact that I'm doing an LP of this game or that Dr. Fetus and I have near-exhaustively datamined both of the Untolds didn't clue you in already. One of my goals when I started the LP was to potentially expose the game (and possibly series) to people who might not have otherwise tried it, especially since EO2U is a remake of (in my opinion) the worst game in a series that's already very niche to begin with. Another big reason I started this thing was to kind of throw myself into territories I was very uncomfortable with at the outset: organizing and maintaining a pseudo-creative project, and writing a narrative. I...wouldn't really say I'm comfortable with either of those after doing all of this, haha, but it's certainly been a fun experience just doing something that's a great deal different than my day-to-day routine of programming (both during the school year and now). I don't know if anyone reading this thread is aware of this, but four years ago, I actually tried my hand at LP'ing for the first time (with Megaman Star Force 1)...and promptly burned out five updates in because I underestimated the workload. Committing to this LP for seven months and reaching the end of the main story, in light of that, is something I'm personally kind of proud of.  Anyway, with that stuff out of the way, might as well take the time to throw out some special thanks. Firstly, a massive thanks to everyone who's posted in the thread so far! This might sound kind of weird, but every time I see someone post in the thread, it honestly kind of motivates me to know that there's a concrete example of someone who appreciates (or, at the least, can tolerate) the work I put into making updates. Next, thanks to everyone who submitted characters at the start of the LP, both to those whose submissions I didn't go with (Hobgoblin2099, theshim, Erg, Txn, Level Seven, SC Bracer, Argent Cinereus, ZZT the Fifth), and those I did go with (Logicblade (Zack), Crosspeice (Nadia), C-Start (Phoebe), Supremezero (Freyja), Endorph (Realga), alcharagia (Stardust), jimmydalad (Milly), Kemix (Asriel), BlackPersona (Sophie), Dr. Fetus (Jackie), Scrap Dragon (Colette), TKMobile (Ursa), AweStriker (Rheine), and BlazeEmblem (Tyler)). It was a lot of fun, for someone who's never really done creative writing or fiction in any appreciable capacity, to take all these different types of characters and figure out how to write them! Also thanks to my non-goon friends (excluding one), some of whom have kept up with the LP, some of whom I've just been talking to about doing this stuff: Becca, Jib, Ned, Heavy, Ben, Freak, Sapph, Yorsh, Oso, Efe (he's the goon), Crime, Sas, Glock, and Ranger. Yes, Ranger's name is derived from my friend whose online alias is basically Ranger--the LP's Ranger was originally supposed to be named Tim, but I discovered too late that you can't rename Story characters. (Incidentally, you've actually already seen almost everyone in that list, but not even realized it: "hat guy's guild" is the guild I use in every EO game, with characters named after those friends and I! Meaning, yes, I am "hat guy"-- I've collected a lot of hats in TF2 and Dota.  )Of those I named above, extra-special thanks to Heavy, who is principally responsible for the character of Ranger (building off an idea originally posted by alcharagia) and has kept up with the LP to make sure Ranger was appropriately Ranger-y. Another extra special thanks to Efe, who is the one friend in that group who plays EO, and has kept up with the LP from start to finish, all the while helping me with narrative stuff, moral support during difficult parts of the LP (writer's block, irritating bosses), and making my life easier by voting for good parties of his own accord.  Continuing with the thanks, yet another thanks to alcharagia for providing the thread title, which was my absolute favorite out of all the ones posted in the EO Megathread despite being relevant to exactly one boss. An incredible amount of thanks to Dr. Fetus, who's both directly and indirectly done a metric ton for the LP. Beyond just being a sounding board for ideas through Steam conversations, his assistance in datamining EO2U made the process go by a lot faster, and he's constantly offered so many corrections, both mechanically (typos) and game-wise (number errors, misinformation about some classes, etc.) Oh, yeah, he's also doing the Story mode LP. That's gotta count for something. Speaking of Steam conversations, theshim, Tyty, and Hivac also deserve incredible amounts of thanks for just being on Steam for me to talk to, toss ideas by, check videos for any glaringly obvious issues, and for theshim and Hivac, occasionally being TF2 and Overwatch (respectively) partners.  I'm almost done with the thanks, I swear. On the somewhat-technical end of things, thanks to Crosspeice, who provided a comprehensive list of item unlock requirements well before Dr. Fetus and I started datamining EO2U, and to Hobgoblin2099, whose food guide on GameFAQs has saved me so much time looking up pretty much anything related to FOEbucks food. On a bit of a personal level, I suppose, thanks to Endorph, Hobgoblin2099, alcharagia, Dr. Fetus, Kemix, BlackPersona, BlazeEmblem, Crosspeice, who all responded with feedback after I made a post around a month ago asking how I was doing with the narrative. Seeing concrete feedback that my writing ability wasn't complete rear end gave me a pretty big morale boost, especially given that I consider myself bad at anything vaguely creative.   And, lastly, thank you. Yes, you, the person reading this block of text right now, even if you were already mentioned above. I realize that this kind of thanks is a bit cliche, but I don't really care.  We're still not done with the game, of course. There's still quite a lot to do in the postgame, so don't go anywhere! We've still got plenty of game left to go. That's for later, though.  For now, thank you for reading, and, from where I am at the time of writing, good night.       ef
Rea fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Jun 13, 2016 09:30
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What a journey it's been. Spectacular work, Ragnar, through and through. Your narrative and creativity have been spectacular, as has the sheer quality of the playthrough. It's been an absolute delight reading along and I'm beyond eager to see how the postgame plays out. Fantastic job.
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Jun 13, 2016 10:29
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I'm glad I was able to help in all those different ways. The item unlock list was convenient timing, since I was unhappy with the general lack of info the 3DS games had. At least we shouldn't have any problems with any other EO LPs in future. It's really nice to contribute to a series that I love so much. And thanks for doing the LP. Even though I played through EO2U to completion shortly before the LP, it was great fun to read to see what I had missed, strategies I didn't think of and to see all the delicious info we didn't really have before the LP. I will say I'm impressed you did this in only seven months. SSLPs are a lot of work and to make so many updates with a narrative between so many characters and keeping track of voting and showing off cool things and having so much raw info is seriously amazing and I couldn't really say how this LP could've be better. Congrats on making it to the (story) end!
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Jun 13, 2016 12:38
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It's been a good LP so far. Rekindled my interest in the EO series, so I finally started on the 3DS games.
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Jun 13, 2016 14:42
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Great job killing Megatron, Ragnar. I'm glad I could help, even if it was only a little.  If you ever do MMSF again, I'll definitely follow the thread. Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Jun 13, 2016 |
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Jun 13, 2016 15:13
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good lp, 5/5
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Jun 13, 2016 15:40
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Crosspeice posted:I'm glad I was able to help in all those different ways. The item unlock list was convenient timing, since I was unhappy with the general lack of info the 3DS games had. At least we shouldn't have any problems with any other EO LPs in future. It's really nice to contribute to a series that I love so much. Unless EO5 goes with a different compression format. Kind of lucky we figured out how to break it during this LP.Glad I could help. It's been a good LP. Looking forward to the post-game. (which is about as tough as a kitten. )
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Jun 13, 2016 16:18
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Update 20: Something You Probably and Definitely Shouldn't Be Reading at Work (Gentle Toad) Don't say I didn't warn you!  Okay, it's time to take this quest. Cass' dialogue for this quest is the same as in Classic, so I'll just skip ahead a bit.   Why don't we mess with her a bit?  Okay, now let's head to the quest location.   You can proceed ahead to find a possible location for a hot spring, or you can turn back for now. Might as well go through.   You decide to head down the path in search of a place large enough to dig up a hot spring.    We have to dig in order to get this sidequest done.    After some time, you notice that the hole you've dug is quite deep and wide. ...It may be time to call it. It doesn't seem likely that you'll find a hot spring here. Just as you find yourself thinking this, you realize the ground beneath your spade feels somewhat different... ...Could it be a hot spring?  Let's dig down at once. At the sign of progress, you pull back the shovel and drive it fiercely into the ground! Digging sounds. Sounds of gushing water occur. You look down, and see that water is gushing out from where you drove down the shovel! ...And this is no ordinary water. It appears to be steaming hot! Surprised, you watch the hot water continue to pour out and fill the hole you dug.  The devs are pretty much just admitting that this makes absolutely no sense. Look, just go along with their setup for this quest.  Ehh, all we had to do was just find the hot spring. As the two of them happily rejoice, the rest of you quietly file out of the room where the hot spring has formed...      A sound of a frog croaking plays. As you wait outside while the two are bathing in the hot spring, an unfamiliar sound reaches your ears... More croaking. More croaking, and then a crashing sound.          Scatter About is the theme that plays for a few optional bosses in the EO games. I really hate the 3DS versions of the song, especially the the EO2U version. Anyway, Gentle Toad. Gentle Toad Level: 27 HP: 9000 STR: 27 TEC: 26 VIT: 23 AGI: 18 LUC: 23 Skills:
Disable resistances: The Gentle Toad is honestly a very unremarkable boss. Actually, that goes for most of the DLC bosses. They're not very interesting boss fights. In fact, they're pretty  in terms of design. I probably won't cover these too much, since they're a good deal easier than the Stratum bosses. Like always, setting up a Delayed Chase.  ...What.  ...Okay then. So yeah, there's the main attraction for this DLC. You get those portraits of Arianna and Chloe. For the record, Knight, Flavio, and Bertrand don't have those kinds of portraits. Gentle Toad really isn't worth covering. The only time you need to be worried is when it gets excited, and if you have Ice Wall at level 5 like I do, that's 3 free turns to smack it down. Now, I was trying to get its conditional drop, which required killing it with Bash damage. Normally not a problem, since Knight has Meteor strike, but he spent all of his Force too fast. Which meant that my only source of Bash damage was...  Fortunately, it only took 3 turns of Arianna smacking it with her staff to kill it.  Really, it's an easy fight. It shouldn't give you much trouble as long as you can deal with Hug, Lick Around, and Hydro Jump. The strategy to deal with the thing in Story Mode is the same as in Classic. It just might take you a bit longer.     Both of these choices lead to the same dialogue. https://gfycat.com/EssentialUnfitCarp.webm https://gfycat.com/PoliteShinyFallowdeer.webm     She sounds slightly regretful, but swiftly changes the subject, suggesting that you all head back to town. You have completed the request to dig up a hot spring in the forest. You should head back to the bar when you have time, and report your success. Incidentally, spending some time in the hot springs fully healed the party.  If you want to use those portraits, check the hot springs to switch over to them. But I'm not gonna be using those.  And that's the end of that quest. Before I close off this update, I would like to say one last thing.  If you plan on tackling a certain piece of post-game DLC, you'll want to make sure to get the conditional drop so you can get the equipment it unlocks for your entire party.  So you can get this. It's limited in stock, so you'll have to do the hot springs quest 5 times to get enough for the party. Next time, back to the Labyrinth. Araxxor fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Jun 14, 2016 |
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Jun 13, 2016 17:59
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Dr. Fetus posted:
Yep. Heard that in her voice.
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Jun 13, 2016 18:06
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Flavoyeur is the single best line in Story and mad props to whoever at Atlus USA translated it that way. I find it funny that the end of Classic mode is followed up by hot springs.
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Jun 13, 2016 18:21
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It's both cathartic to see the Overlord beaten in 12 turns, after all the trouble it gave me, and annoying because I'll forever be wondering "Why couldn't I do that?" Granted, it was my first run of the game and I don't think there was a boss I could end in less than 20 turns, but this is still a feat worth marveling at. Bravo, Ragnar. Bravo. Yes I am the goon he's talking about Also, I don't remember where I was when I first did that DLC quest, I just remember having to close my 3DS and wait until I got home. There are certain games I don't play in public for fear of prying eyes, and I didn't expect this would have ended up one of them ;_;
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Jun 13, 2016 20:01
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Before I record the start of the postgame stuff (well, this first thing isn't really postgame, per se), I went back and tallied how many times each character was in a party throughout the main story.quote:Stardust: 9 I'd say "poor Colette," but her usage is gonna spike like crazy in the postgame. I will also take this opportunity to say that I am forcing the party to be of my own choosing for this first postgame-but-not-really thing.
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Jun 14, 2016 03:18
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