|
Clarste posted:I don't like the idea of Antivolt and the other "immune to element" spells. Honestly I think they're pretty bad game design, because it makes everything all-or-nothing. The boss is either hard, or you don't take damage ever. They're a good demonstration of why making something more powerful doesn't always make it more fun. FractalSandwich fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Jan 19, 2017 |
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 01:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 22:06 |
|
|
Man, I sure hope the true scope of the Abyssal God's bullshit gets covered, because boy howdy. But still, thanks for showing me what lay beyond stratum 4, because that's where my own (incredibly suboptimal) playthrough bogged down. It was a heck of a ride!
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 01:51
|
|
|
I've been rereading the LP, realizing the last time I stopped was about the end of the first stratum. Now that I'm up to the fourth, I do see this. Just when you think you've got the game broken, it rubber bands back on you to say "That's not how you're supposed to play our games. Now go in the corner and think about what you did."
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 02:09
|
|
|
Wiffle posted:Nice job on finishing the lp. Though if you follow it up with that game... Are you going to do 100% quest completion? I'll give it a try, but no guarantees. Still not sure if I'm set on doing that game as an LP. It's a lot harder to data mine than the EO games are, since everything battle related is packed into one file, and trying extract the stuff I want is like pulling teeth. And the sprites are significantly harder to rip since they're not stored in a conventional format. (They're all scrambled, so I have to manually put them back together.) FractalSandwich posted:They're pretty awful, yeah. I don't even like them that much more as multi-turn buffs, because you're still punished for not being psychic and knowing which ones to level up for the next boss before you get there. EO5 just ended up compressing all of them into one skill and capped out the reduction to 67%. A far better way to handle those, in my opinion. (There was a vote here, however the rules had to be changed slightly. Read further down for the actual vote.) Araxxor fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Jan 19, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 05:55
|
|
|
Slay the DRAGONS! If it's possible of course. Otherwise sea
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:00
|
|
|
I say head for the 6th Stratum, I'm most curious about it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:02
|
|
|
Alxprit posted:I say head for the 6th Stratum, I'm most curious about it. Agreed.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:12
|
|
|
You've done enough exploring for a while, just chill and do some sidequests now.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:12
|
|
|
I think a respite with sidequests would be best now, and to build more suspense for the sixth stratum
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:15
|
|
|
Sidequests for now. I mean, the stars haven't aligned yet, so we have some time. Plus, it's tradition to have a sailing segment after clearing the stratum, right?
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:22
|
|
|
Do some sidequests because I bet some of us are missing Missy's unique flavor of talking.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:25
|
|
|
 READ THIS BEFORE CASTING A VOTE!Okay, when I said if I wasn't sure if the guild wasn't strong enough for the dragons, I meant if Cassandra was fast enough to outspeed them to protect the party. It turns out she is not. (This wouldn't be a problem if the guarding skills had priority in this game!  ) So instead I'm going to change up the voting rules. Any votes before this post are null and void. You may resubmit the same vote if you voted for a valid choice and don't want to change your mind. Sorry for the inconvenience.Anyways, now that the post-game is here, there are several courses of action that we can take:  We could explore part of the 6th Stratum right away...  Do a Sea Quest. Or tackle one of these sidequests first:   You guys! You guys! I am not believing this! All of Elval’s contests were a setup! That geezer apparently fought a monster called a Kraken with his best friend years ago. They weren’t strong enough to defeat it. All they could do was trap it in the Abyssal Shrine. The friend is dead already... His one regret is never defeating the Kraken. So, Elval sacrificed his riches to find skilled adventurers to make that wish come true. It seems that the Kraken appears on B13F, but nobody else has seen it... Everyone thinks this is part of some larger ruse... Not me! I think Elval’s being truthy! You are the only ones who can grant a dead man’s last wish! Do it for him! I beg you! You overcame both his fighting and harvesting challenges... I know you can do this! Now, fire yourselves up and head out to B13F, explorers!Elval's grim truth is either the hardest of the sidequests, or the easiest depending on the team that's being brought in.  When they say ”skilled adventurers,” they have to be referring to you! This request is from the Armoroad fishing committee. They haven’t been catching fish! Supposedly there’s a giant sea anemone lurking on the 2nd Stratum eating all the fish. Tons of fishermen live in Armoroad, and they depend on the sea for their livings! If they go out of business, so will my bistro, and all of Armoroad, too! Ahahaha! ...... Wait... That’s not funny! Look, just hurry up and beat the tar out of that monster! Well then, I’m counting on you! Set out, adventurers!Shrouded in the Abyss is probably middle of the road in terms of difficulty.  Oh, you’re accepting that request? That is another one from the boy at the inn. Thanks to your actions last time, a lot of people were saved from danger. It is looking like that rascal of a kid is still worried about something, though. So, go talk to him again, just like all the other times. ...Make sure to be ready! ...My bartender sense is telling me this is going to be a big one! Get going then, explorers!Monster from across the sea is probably the hardest of the sidequests here. Assuming that Elval's grim truth isn't cleared the easy way. So what course of action should the Tidehunt guild take first? Araxxor fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Jan 19, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:44
|
|
|
You know, I had never really thought of Yggdrasil as some kind of equal and opposite number. Are these Etrian games in any continuity? Or alternately, do people just kind of call any giant tree-thing Yggdrasil, regardless of where it came from?
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 06:57
|
|
|
Sea quest.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 07:17
|
|
|
Glazius posted:You know, I had never really thought of Yggdrasil as some kind of equal and opposite number. Are these Etrian games in any continuity? Or alternately, do people just kind of call any giant tree-thing Yggdrasil, regardless of where it came from? The EO games do have some minor bits of continuity with one another, but they're all standalone entries. EO3's Yggdrasil is completely unrelated to all the other Yggdrasils in the series. It is basically just a space cop. Nothing more.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 07:23
|
|
|
Fetus' choice of sidequest
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 07:34
|
|
|
Kemix posted:Fetus' choice of sidequest Second. Let's see if we can get the good Doctor through the rest of the game without throwing it into a wall.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 07:36
|
|
|
Dr. Fetus posted:I might have something different in mind. All of my yes doitdoidoitdoitdoitdoitdotidoit *Ahem* Elval's quest should go first cdyoung fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Jan 19, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 07:37
|
|
|
Sidequests, Fetus' choice
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 08:28
|
|
|
Still saying go on a sidequest.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 13:34
|
|
|
Well, I can see my vote's not going to matter anymore. Anyway, I know I don't post here or make votes a lot, but I do really enjoy this LP. I got into the series with IV and only played Untold 1 beyond that, so it's cool to see what the series used to be like on the DS. So thank you for allowing me to play vicariously through this.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 15:38
|
|
|
I vote Sea Quest. Also, the post game is where not only my memory of the game gets muddled, but it's also something I never saw to it's end. So I'm rather excited for what is essentially 'new content' in my eyes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 15:48
|
|
|
I found the Sea Quests to be interesting most of the time, so my vote goes towards those.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 15:55
|
|
|
Sea Quest!
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 16:18
|
|
|
We haven't seen the sea in a while, might as well do a sea quest.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 16:33
|
|
|
Okay, I'll close off voting. Sea Quests: 6 Sidequests: 4 (1 vote for Elval's grim truth.) 6th Stratum: 0 Alright, I got the general gist of the order I'll do things in, then. Sea Quest voting will hopefully be put up later today.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 17:17
|
|
|
Fetus' Choice. Let's not make the post-game painful for him. 1 second edit: maybe I should have refreshed before "voting".
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 17:37
|
|
|
Dadgummit, I missed my chance. Not that voting for Stratum 6 would have changed anything, apparently. Gotta say, though, that is some excellent stratum splash art.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 18:11
|
|
|
Grashbar posted:Fetus' Choice. Let's not make the post-game painful for him. Oh it's going to be painful, EO3 is right up with EO1 when it comes to a bullshit postgame.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 18:11
|
|
|
A Magical Lamp posted:Oh it's going to be painful, EO3 is right up with EO1 when it comes to a bullshit postgame. Not really? It doesn't even have a half-decent teleporter maze.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 18:14
|
|
|
Pureauthor posted:Not really? It doesn't even have a half-decent teleporter maze. You can get around a teleporter maze with creative mapping, not so much with the sixth stratum gimmicks. A Magical Lamp fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Jan 19, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 18:38
|
|
|
A Magical Lamp posted:Oh it's going to be painful, EO3 is right up with EO1 when it comes to a bullshit postgame. Dunno if I would say that. The random encounters in the 6th Stratum are simply annoying, not outright deadly in most cases. There are a lot more boss fights, though. With that said, the Cyclopean Haunt tries its best to be annoying to navigate. It definitely has one of the most diabolical obstacles in the series that isn't a teleporter maze.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 19:13
|
|
|
Well guess I'm in a bit of a minority, I could hardly tell where I was going in it half the time. True on the random encounters though, though if you give them half a chance they'll still mess you up in a hurry.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 19:37
|
|
|
I really dig the aesthetic of the Cyclopean Haunt, but it has some of the most mean-spirited gimmicks of the series to me. Like, even for a EO postgame stratum. They're supposed to be, but this one just has something extra.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2017 21:25
|
|
|
I thought the cycoplean haunt gimmicks were quite easy to handle, but it does require a different mindset for sure. Can't elaborate anymore without spoiling them though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2017 01:07
|
|
|
Update 84: Welcome to the Post-Game, Enjoy Your Stay!   Let's get the post-game started for real this time.   The robed girl continues...  In the depths of the Porcelain Forest is a teleporter. Use it to travel to where the 'evil' waits. He will not force you to go. But you are the only ones with the strength to slay the evil... So says the Abyssal King. His last wish is for you to travel there and carry out his will. That is all.With that, Olympia leaves from your sight.  Okay, we need like a new game plan. If we head straight to that thing, we're just gonna get creamed again. Maybe we should slow down, and take it easy? There may have been some things we overlooked during our trips there. Okay, let's see what the Progenitor's drop makes.   The Abyss Crystal unlocks the Almagest, which is kind of an okay book. I mean it's a nice upgrade for Asteria and other casters I guess. Though really a problem with getting weapons for casting classes is that they don't really need the weapon to do their stuff, it just helps them ever so slightly. As a result, there's not much of a need to upgrade. Basically what I'm saying is that this reward kind of blows. Oh and I said doing the True Ending first was a bad idea. Here's why.  Remember that we never really accepted a mission to do the True Ending. So we don't get any mission exp, nor a reward like the Armoroad Emblem or the Deep City Medal. Yeah, that Book (which isn't even the ultimate Book) is the only actual reward we get for going through the True Ending.  Well, I guess there's the guild card icon, but that's about it. Anyways, let's see what Flowdia has to say about our accomplishment.   I believed that one day, the Deep City would be discovered and the Princess’ wish would be granted. ...I must thank you all. ...Is this real? Is the hag actually thanking us? Must be a cold day in hell right now or something. Eh? Don’t be absurd! Of course Hell hasn’t frozen over, you imbeciles!  That’s why I’m here. Working with you was his last wish. Then let us do him proud. Now to get to the 6th Stratum, we need to get back to the 20th floor first.  Okay, this is the place.In this room, there's a gate at the back.   It takes us to the entrance to the next Stratum. Also, now the map of the 20th floor is finally complete!  I thought we weren't going through this place yet? Eh, it doesn't hurt to activate the pole first. Okay, get ready...   How unpleasant. Yep. Just as disgusting as last time.The forest itself in this Stratum is alive and writhing around! To reach the Stratum’s end will test your focus and skills as an explorer like never before! You nod grimly, prepared for the worst. You have already resolved to master Yggdrasil completely! Yeah, the 6th Stratum in this game? It is the evil one. And it is not going to make the trek to the end easy. But with that said, just listen to the music track. The Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss is a fantastic piece, and it really illustrates just how oppressive this Stratum is.  But we won't explore it just yet. We're going to beef up our party first before doing that. But first, new town dialogue!   But it’ll be okay! Lots of other explorers have come here after the rumors about you spread. Armoroad will thrive for years to come, I’m sure! Oh, you needn't worry about that just yet! ...Huh? You’re not leaving yet? There is one last thing we must do before we go. It may take a while before we get it done. You still have something to do? R-Really? Then I don’t have to say goodbye to you yet, boss? Great to hear it!Oh and for the record, some of the NPCs in the post-game have specific dialogue depending on what path you took, but I already showed those off in previous updates.  Maybe you should get your hearing checked! We're not done with you yet! ...Though of course someone of your stature would linger until everyone was properly thanked. Considering what painstaking care I took of you, I knew you’d not leave without a word. By the way, dear heroes? Someone as magnanimous wouldn’t leave without buying souvenirs, right? ...Maybe we should have let someone else deal with that evil one in the Labyrinth. Why are you guys still here in Armoroad? I thought you left for a new journey...? ... ...... ...I’m kidding. Don’t give me that look. If you came back, that must mean that you still have stuff to do, right? Yes, we do. Well, I’m always happy to be helping you, so you’re always welcome here.Oh and there's something important I want to note.   Huh, isn't this place usually busy? It seems like everyone either left Armoroad, or they... Either way, it seems we're on our own for this.From this point on, there aren't any more bar patrons left to talk to (Unless we're on a quest.) For the 6th Stratum, we're completely on our own. No hints on any upcoming dangers, no warnings about any dangerous enemies, and no hints for how to get any conditional drops for the rest of the game.  Hee hee, heroes, huh? We can't leave quite yet. We made a promise to someone to deal with a... problem, before we do so. Huh? You promised something to someone...? Sheesh... So you’re still gonna be under my care for a while. Wonderful. Well, don’t expect any special treatment because you’re heroes. Awww...  But I suppose there’s something you have yet to do? You got it! Haha, an old man like me can’t go to meet his wife until the tale of the young heroes is concluded, yes? How in the world did rumors of our so-called “departure” even spread around? Maybe they thought we reached the bottom. It doesn't seem like a lot of people are aware of what lies beneath Yggdrasil. Half measures won’t be enough for this. Come now, don’t you want to see the Princess and I smile?  The Abyssal King once told me to manage this inn for explorers, and I intend to honor that duty. Feel free to stop by if you need to rest or stay the night.And Angie just repeats this line for the next few floors. Yeah, when the Abyssal King is gone, she kind of just... breaks.  Nope! Still gotta lot of things to do! Well, if you’re going to keep hanging around here, I guess I won’t be bored after all! Now, what’ll it be for you today? Weapons? Armor? Medicine? The Napier name means quality! I am an automated soldier. I have no emotions. But I feel some sort of emptiness now... Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's called loneliness. Not exactly a great feeling, I know. And don't give me that bull honkey about no emotions. Um, I'm pretty sure automated machines not having emotions is the norm. Hmm, I wonder if we actually recruited some kind of maverick Yggdroid?Anyways, the first thing we're gonna do in the post-game are some Sea Quests! So let's take a look at the next set.   If you remember, the boss of these Sea Quests is Scylla, a boss from Etrian Odyssey 2. In fact, she pretty much acts the same way here as she did in EO2. So if you've played that game, you have a good idea of what to expect.  We haven't received the equipment reward from this Sea Quest, so we'll be doing this one properly soon enough.  Glaukos Class: Wildling Stats:
   Castor Class: Zodiac Stats:
 Pollux Class: Monk Stats:
  Whoa wait, Pale Horse?  quote:
We get to work with the Pale Horse? Oh man, this is gonna be awesome!  Schlaf Class: Farmer Stats:
 Norfolk Class: Farmer Stats:
Boolz Class: Farmer Stats:
 Bring lots of firepower. You're going to need it. Oh and to make matters worse, Scylla's conditional drop is killing her with Curse damage! So this Sea Quest is actually the best one to attempt that on since Pale Horse will rarely attack.    Cassandra is a very good defensive support to bring along, as Line Guard is pretty good at protecting the team from being killed by Scylla's attacks.    Charlotte is one of the better physical attackers to bring along. She's a bit unreliable and frail, but she can deal lots of damage with 5-Ring Sword.    Smith is a good candidate to bring to the fight. Scylla's likes to leg bind the party and inflict status ailments so that one of her heavy hitting attacks can connect a lot more easily. However, Smith is immune to binds and heavily resistant to status ailments, so Scylla can't do too much to him. However, that means he can't use Rocket Jump to activate Sleep Mode since that will disable his evasion. Though that's not really a problem since he has the Deep City Medal now.    Faye is a very good support to bring to the fights. She can heal the party sure, but more importantly, she can dispel any ailments and binds that land on the party.    Susan is okay, I guess. She can amplify the party's physical damage and prevent ailments from landing. Though she can't do a thing about binds. Then again, ailments are a bigger game ender than binds, so that's not something to be too concerned about with her.     Rose is the last viable physical attacker on this team. And she's fairly durable to boot. If you're wondering what's wrong with Scott and Sidney, well...    Scylla is resistant to Pierce attacks. Heavily. Scott is normally a wrecking ball in terms of damage, but he can't do much against Scylla since he only has access to Pierce attacks.    Same goes for Sidney. Pierce attacks are all he has, so he's not as effective as Charlotte and Rose.   On the other hand, Asteria is pretty much a walking nuke. The reason for this is because Scylla has a weakness to Volt attacks. Asteria's use in the post-game is a little questionable, but if the enemy in question has a weakness, she can still contribute with Etheric Charged elemental limits to wipe out a huge chunk of their HP.    Akatsuki can provide some support with Dark Ether. That's about it.   Okay, I really hate to say this, but the post-game marks the point where Wildlings go from questionably useful to absolute dead weight. The reason for this is because nearly every boss from this point on only has a maximum resistance of 30% to a given ailment. And that's the exception. The norm is 10%, meaning that even with Wild Mastery, Fang only has a 25% chance of inflicting said ailment at most. This means that Fang can only inflict a given ailment once. Period. And Scylla is not an exception to this. The most he can do in boss fights is to throw out items and spam debuffs. Yeah, the post-game is pretty much where ailments become nearly unviable as a strategy.    Sure. Make me babysit a 4th Farmer, why don't you? Vote for up to 3 characters to partake in the Sea Quests. Votes must be in bold. Araxxor fucked around with this message at 10:51 on May 4, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2017 03:15
|
|
|
Asteria, Rose, Fang
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2017 03:25
|
|
|
Rose, Charlotte, Smith
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2017 03:33
|
|
|
Alice should be with her kind! And 2x Fetus' choice to make up for that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2017 03:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 22:06 |
|
|
Alice and 2x Fetus' choice This is farmer heaven, we can't pass this up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2017 04:44
|
|