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Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!
Charlotte, Rose, Sidney.

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Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
That... looked like just an ordinary big ol' anemone. I mean, on the one hand, having a super end-game boss that's just a regular animal is a nice departure from elaborate dragons or whatever, but on the other, elaborate dragons are a lot more intimidating.

eternaldough
Jan 16, 2017

Rose, Charlotte, MEGAQUEEN.

I don't know if it actually is stated anywhere, but I like to imagine the theriacas for dispelling binds do so by making you really slippery. Probably kinda gross when you gotta pour the stuff on your head though.

a busted-up mailbox
Dec 14, 2012
Alice, Charlotte, and Susan.

Strong stat spreads and skill sets are overrated, and Alice will always find a way.

RegalStar
Jul 17, 2016
Charlotte, Asteria, Sidney

Blademaster_Aio
Jan 22, 2017

Dr. Fetus choice x3

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Votes so far:

Charlotte: 8
Sidney: 7
Rose: 6
Susan: 5
Cassandra: 5

Alice: 2
Asteria: 1
Fang: 0
Scott: 0
Faye: 0
Akatsuki: 0
Smith: 0

My Choice: 3

I'm wondering if I should close the votes now, but hey, you never know if there will be a sudden rush for one of the underdogs or something.

theshim posted:

Why the heck are so many of the quest NPCs naked, anyway?

Cassandra, MEGAQUEEN, Alice

Probably so they don't have too much armor so they don't carry the player to victory that easily. Or they just really like to go swimming.

Glazius posted:

That... looked like just an ordinary big ol' anemone. I mean, on the one hand, having a super end-game boss that's just a regular animal is a nice departure from elaborate dragons or whatever, but on the other, elaborate dragons are a lot more intimidating.

Yeah, there wasn't even any real buildup to it either. The other 2 bosses are the end of a questline. Anemone just kind of suddenly appears. But I guess that's to ease the player into the post-game.

Kemix
Dec 1, 2013

Because change
Fetus' Choicex3 because I'm a lazy gently caress.

Crystalgate
Dec 26, 2012

Dr. Fetus posted:

Probably so they don't have too much armor so they don't carry the player to victory that easily. Or they just really like to go swimming.
Since armor in this game tends to be made out of wet toilet paper, the latter seems more plausible.

Omobono
Feb 19, 2013

That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

Dr. Fetus posted:

I'm wondering if I should close the votes now, but hey, you never know if there will be a sudden rush for one of the underdogs or something.

Alice, Alice and Alice because someone tempted fate. :colbert:

(actual votes Scott, Smith and MEGAQUEEN)

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


For once I'm not going to defer to the Good Doctor: Cassandra, Charlotte, MEGAQUEEN

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
VOTING IS CLOSED! Final results:

Charlotte: 9
Sidney: 7
Susan: 7
Rose: 6
Cassandra: 6

Alice: 2
Asteria: 1
Scott: 1
Smith: 1
Fang: 0
Faye: 0
Akatsuki: 0

My Choice: 6

Looks like the team will be Charlotte, Rose, Cassandra, Susan, and Sidney!

Araxxor fucked around with this message at 07:49 on May 8, 2017

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Not an update (ran into some spiteful RNG while trying to do the battles, but I'll have it up soon enough. Anyway...) I bring important news.



:siren:EO5 is getting a western release in the fall!:siren:

Link to the site.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
Oh, that's great. :dance:

That's when my senior year starts, though. Why can't games I want to play ever release in the Summer?

FriskyBoat
Apr 23, 2011

Dr. Fetus posted:

Not an update (ran into some spiteful RNG while trying to do the battles, but I'll have it up soon enough. Anyway...) I bring important news.



:siren:EO5 is getting a western release in the fall!:siren:

Link to the site.

You rock Fetus. I was just talking with a buddy from college that I doubted EO5 would be localized.

Skyridge
Jan 1, 2011

Now just bring back Mega Man Legends 3 and 3DS has a serious chance of being my favorite platform ever.

Please, Capcom. Why can't you be like Atlus and fulfill all my wishes?

Argas
Jan 13, 2008
SRW Fanatic




Skyridge posted:

Now just bring back Mega Man Legends 3 and 3DS has a serious chance of being my favorite platform ever.

Please, Capcom. Why can't you be like Atlus and fulfill all my wishes?

Desire sensor.

Spielmeister
Mar 31, 2014
They have a small product page for it now

The site's technically up too, but it's just the splash screen.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Update 90: Leviathan

If that beast ever comes back from the dead, I’ll show it the true wrath of a QUEEN!





Here we go, the last set of sea quests we can do for now.



Here’s the team I’ll be using for this one.



Gonna be going with a very defensive Limit setup for this one, since I don’t really trust Squire to do a good job.







But you spot a gigantic shadow approaching your ship at tremendous speed! That’s no ordinary fish!

Hoo hoo! Look at the size of that fish coming our- uhh, that’s way too big to be a Tanniyn!

The figure that leaps from the water is none other than the sea dragon from Ugarit!

It may not be a fish, but it’s a fine catch indeed!

The client steps forward and levels his spear! He looks as though he’s been ready for this the whole time! Following his lead, you draw your weapons and dash toward the sea dragon at the bow of your ship!

:black101:Video: Leviathan:black101:






Leviathan
Level: 68
HP: 17740
STR: 65
VIT: 61
AGI: 52
LUC: 51
TEC: 66
Attack Type: Pierce
Exp: 68000
Item Drops:
-Normal: Dragon Weave - 100% Drop Rate. 1 needed for Kurikara (Katana. Must be restocked.)
--Special bone dense enough to withstand vehement attacks.
-Gold: Tsunami Fang - Get lucky. 20% Drop Rate. Prevents normal drops. 1 needed for Trident (Ultimate Spear. Must be restocked.)
--Emits a jet of water to blast away the prey it traps.
Description: A sea dragon first seen after the Calamity. Ugarit’s sailors fear it more than pirates.
Damage Resistances: Slash: 150% Strike: 50% Pierce: 50% Fire: 50% Ice: 150% Volt: 50%
Ailment Resistances: Sleep: 10% Confusion: 30% Plague: 10% Poison: 10% Blind: 10% Curse: 30% Paralysis: 10%
Bind Resistances: Head: 30% Arm: 30% Leg: 30%
Other Resistances: Death: LR - 12% Petrification: LR - 12% Stun: 30%

Skills:

Fuming Snort: Uses the Head. Lowers the party’s accuracy by 70 for 4 turns and has a 30% chance to inflict Plague. Has an action speed of +3.
Fumes: Uses the Head. Deals 150% TEC-based Fire damage to one row. Has an accuracy of 100. Has an action speed of -10.
Tie Up: Uses the Legs. Deals 50% STR-based Strike damage to the entire party. Attempts to bind the targets’ head, arms, and legs, with a 20% success rate. Has an accuracy of 90. Has an action speed of +/-0.
Overeat: Uses the Head. Deals 200% STR-based Slash damage to one party member. Leviathan is then healed for twice the damage dealt. If the target has the Plague, the damage is quintupled. Has an accuracy of 150. Has an action speed of +/-0.
Hard Scale: Uses the Head. Reduces the amount of physical damage Leviathan takes by 80% for 4 turns. Has an action speed of +/-0.
Cold Wave: Uses the Head. Randomly hits the party 4 to 6 times, dealing 50% TEC-based Ice damage per hit. Attempts to stun the targets with a 50% success rate. Has an accuracy of 90. Has an action speed of +3.

Leviathan’s AI Script posted:

If HP is below 11% and someone has the Plague, cast Overeat. (Targets party members with the Plague.)
If HP is below 76% and someone has the Plague, 49% chance to cast Overeat. (Targets party members with the Plague.)


From 100% to 91% HP:
-29% chance to cast Tie Up. (Standard targeting.)
-30% chance to cast Fumes. (Standard targeting.)
-41% chance to cast Cold Wave. (Standard targeting.)

From 90% to 41% HP:
-Cast Hard Scale on turns that are multiples of 5. (Targets self.)

-Cast Overeat after using Hard Scale. (Standard targeting.)

-Else:
--9% chance to cast Fuming Snort (Standard targeting.)
--50% chance to cast Fumes. (Standard targeting.)
--41% chance to cast Cold Wave. (Standard targeting.)

From 40% HP to death:
-If at least one party member has the Plague:
--49% chance to cast Overeat. (Targets party members with the Plague.)
--30% chance to cast Cold Wave. (Standard targeting.)
--10% chance to cast Tie Up. (Standard targeting.)
--11% chance to cast Fumes. (Standard targeting.)

-If at least one party member has a body part bound:
--9% chance to cast Overeat. (Standard targeting.)
--30% chance to cast Cold Wave. (Standard targeting.)
--40% chance to cast Fumes. (Standard targeting.)
--21% chance to cast Fuming Snort (Standard targeting.)

-Else:
--49% chance to cast Fuming Snort (Standard targeting.)
--20% chance to cast Tie Up. (Standard targeting.)
--10% chance to cast Cold Wave. (Standard targeting.)
--10% chance to cast Fumes. (Standard targeting.)
--11% chance to cast Overeat. (Standard targeting.)

Leviathan is a bit of an interesting boss. It has a couple of strong elemental attacks, but more interestingly, it’s the only enemy in the entire game that has access to an accuracy debuff. And the penalty on that is rather steep, so it can’t really be ignored that easily. Since it’s not Leviathan increasing its own evasion, you can’t just Ad Nihilo the problem away. Though Prince/sses do have access to Inspire, which can dispel the debuff. Arbalists also have access to Pop Flares, which can be used to dispel the debuff, or prevent it from landing in the first place. And if you don’t have access to those skills, you can always make use of Unihorns, which will dispel debuffs on the entire party.

Plague is also the status effect to watch out for here, as Leviathan loves to go after infected party members with Overeat. Which will not only kill the party member, but heal Leviathan for a very large amount, undoing all your hard work. Tie Up is also really inconvenient to be hit by, but the binds it inflicts are not as much of a priority to get rid of compared to what Plague does for Leviathan. Hard Scale is also pretty annoying to deal with since it effectively neutralizes your physical damage dealers, but by now, you should know how to deal with enemy buffs.










Starting off, I buff up Rose and Charlotte’s offenses, and have Sidney put up Pop Flares as a safety net to stop the accuracy penalty from Fumes later on.



This battle is off to a good start, as Squire buys me a free turn.



The worst part is that I’m actually getting used to this.



Swim all you wish, you’ll fall soon enough.





Thanks for the cover. Now, get a load of this!







Aaaaand, it’s off!



Gonna take the time to Berserker Vow again. I don’t trust Squire to protect the party, so I’m using Aegis Shield.



Gonna have Susan debuff Leviathan for even more damage, and to stop Hard Scale in its tracks.



And another defense debuff, why not?



A flawless defensive formation!

...I can think of a few ways to get past it.

Shhh.



Yeah, definitely a good thing I broke out Aegis Shield, since Line Guard wouldn’t have been enough to save Rose and Charlotte.





Hmm hmm hmm, denied!



Ohoho, is that a weak point I spy?



Hey, don’t leave me out on the fun!





Gonna have Rose and Charlotte charge up for their big attacks.



Susan will prevent Fuming Snort from landing on the front row.



And I’ll have Sidney heal up Rose. Charlotte has Endure, so she’ll likely be fine if anything happens.



Well now Charlotte’s completely safe.



Have some regal protection!





I’ve been getting some real good setup turns.



Pills here.

Ahh, thanks a lot! But uh, you couldn’t have given that to Charlotte first?

Ehhh, she seems fine.

M-medic? Anybody? Please!?



I-I would appreciate some medical assistance!



Hang on, you’ll get your turn.





Time for Rose and Charlotte to unload their attacks.





Misery loves company!

Charlotte rolled all 10 hits here, and dealt a total of 7476 points of damage.





Okay, I really need medical assistance!





Mmph mmph mmph!

Rose dealt a total of 3963 damage with that Blade Rave.



A queenly reward for your troubles.

Ah, finally. Thank you, MEGAQUEEN!



That assault took off a good chunk of Leviathan’s HP.



Oh, this is gonna set me back. While Pop Flares can deal with the accuracy debuff, the back row doesn’t have Prevent Order on them.



Oh that’s just gross!



...Too little, too late, princess.

I’m a QUEEN, thank you very much!



And Squire spends the turn being useless.

Oh dear, I don’t like the way that sea beast is looking at me. Protect me, oh valiant knight!



...You incompetent fool!





SUSAN!

R-Rose, calm down. I didn’t see chewing, so there might still be hope for her...

Hey, why weren’t ya protecting us!?



...

Squire, you suck.

Really? You just did that?

Uhhh, ya’ll better work fast. That lump in its neck just got down to its stomach-

AAAAAHHHHH!







Oh goodness, that was quite the gastrectomy.

PWA! Oyyyyy... I’ll have to take a long, long bath when I get back.

Oh, Susan! You really had me worried there for a sec- I’m not hugging you while you’re covered in that.

...On second thought, maybe not.





Nothing too much to that fight. Just make sure you have a way to deal with Fuming Snort, since that can turn the fight in Leviathan’s favor.

You know, I was just wondering... What was it like being inside a monster’s stomach?

...Really Sidney? Really!? You really asked that!?

Uhhh...

But if you insist, I would be more than happy to divulge the horrific secrets of STOMACH ACID to you!

Oh, is that what happened to your hair?

Snrk. You know, you actually look kind of better that way.

Oh, hush.





Based on what you saw of the client’s skill, he should do just fine fighting in Yggdrasil.

Oh, and do pet the lizards and lynx. They’re quite harmless.

Yeah uh, do the exact opposite of she just told you. They’re anything but.

As everyone celebrates, you set sail toward the ocean city to accomplish the task at hand.







Sounds like he was quite frustrated about being stuck in Ugarit. His future will be much brighter. Ah, I almost forgot. He asked me to give this to you.





This shield reduces all elemental damage by 10%. Quite handy, and it only has 1 less DEF than her current shield.

Oh, and upon completing any of the sea quests after getting the equipment from them, he says this instead:


Another job well done. The chart’s nearing completion, and the ocean city’s restoration is nearly done.

Unfortunately, I forget to spend Rose’s skill point for a good while. Anyways, I tried to take on the 2nd sea quest, but I failed at it numerous times. So I decided to adjust my party’s equipment a bit.





Oh come on, I don’t need glasses!

Look, Rose. We’re getting kind of worried about you. You seem to be missing your attacks quite often.

Yeah, and you’re kind of bumping into a bunch of stuff- ooh! I think these’ll work! Why don’t ya take a look for yourself?

What the-!? Goggles!? Really!?

Oh, what’s the harm? I do believe they’ll- snrk, make you look better. Pfft.

Look, Susan, I don’t need you to be butting in right now.

Actually, I’m Cassandra. Susan’s behind you.

...Tch, fine!

Namely, upgrading Rose’s weapon and getting her some Target Goggles since she kept whiffing her attacks, even without the Fuming Snort debuff.



And increasing MEGAQUEEN’s speed a bit, since Leviathan keeps outspeeding her. Alright, now we’re sufficiently prepared to take on the next sea quest.





Toma again? Wow, that guy never gives up, huh?

You have to admire his tenacity for treasure hunting.



This is the team I’ll be taking along for this fight. Doubling up on Princesses may seem questionable, but Dezerte only really cares about the front row. So I’m bringing in Susan so the back row can be covered as well.



And here’s my Limit setup. I’m bringing along Aegis Defense since Cassandra herself can already handle the elemental attacks. As for why I’m bringing along Lucky Hammer, I’ll bring that up when it becomes relevant. So, let’s do this.







Then, you spot a gigantic shadow approaching your ship at tremendous speed! That’s no ordinary fish! This must be the beast you are here to destroy! With a quick glance, you and the client prepare to fight! The gigantic sea dragon leaps from the water, cloaked in waves, as if meeting you for the fight!

Wow, that thing’s belly healed fast.

No matter. We’ll just take it down again!





Round 2!







Instead of having Rose and Susan do anything, I’m having them defend. This is so they can survive the incoming attack, since I need to have Cassandra use Bunshin, and there’s no way for them to survive otherwise.



This should take care of the Plague component from Fuming Snort.



I can’t do this alone.

Don’t worry, help has arrived!





Ouch! Ooh! Hot hot hot!

I’M ON FLAMES! :supaburn:



Now I’ll have Rose use Berserker Vow.



MEGAQUEEN will buy the team a free turn with Aegis Defense.



While buffing Rose up.





And the Cassandras will restore their own TP, since I’m expecting this battle to take a while.



Eh, it’ll do.







And Leviathan just wasted its turn.



I’ll have the Cassandras defend the party while Rose keeps on getting buffed up.







Your waves are nothing against my shield!

If you were wondering how I guessed what Leviathan would do perfectly during that portion of the fight, I’m very familiar with how the beginning of the fight plays out and what I have to do to deal with it due to several previously failed attempts and the way the game’s RNG works.



I’m not super reliant on healing items for this fight since Toma’s pretty good at keeping people topped off.







Though at this point in the fight, I had no idea what Leviathan was going to do next, so I only had one objective in mind. Which was protecting Rose to ensure that I could actually kill Leviathan.



Oh, don’t you think I forgot where your weak point was!



Alright, let’s see how much damage Rose deals with her new sword once she goes to town on Leviathan.





Man, does Faye appreciate how much you do for us?

Not when all this started, but I think she’s coming around on that.

Seriously, it’s really not surprising that the Anti skills weren’t in EO4 after this.





Don’t even think about eating Susan again!

Wow, what a difference an equipment upgrade makes. She dealt a total of 5966 points of damage there, and that was only with 4 hits.





After another Charged Blade Rave, Leviathan’s health is pretty low. So now is when I’m gonna try to go for its “conditional” drop.

Alright, so Leviathan’s 3rd drop isn’t really a conditional. It’s just a random drop with a 20% chance of dropping. Kind of like Ghost Ship and the whole Navel Ram deal, only Leviathan’s drop has a higher drop rate. But remember that we got the Lucky Hammer Limit from these Sea Quests, which forces any enemies killed with it to drop all their items, no matter what. So we’re meant to use Lucky Hammer to snag the drop, but Leviathan doesn’t make it easy for us. For one thing, it’s resistant to Strike attacks, and Lucky Hammer deals Strike damage. The other thing to note is that if anyone happens to catch the Plague while Leviathan’s HP is below 11%, Leviathan will cast Overeat on them. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, since it would be easy to kill Leviathan at that point. On the other hand, specifically killing it with Lucky Hammer, which has negative priority, is much harder to pull off because of that. Yeah, they basically implemented a whole routine just to make snagging the Tsunami Fang even harder. Thanks, Atlus. :atlus:




So my plan is to basically weaken Leviathan with an uncharged Blade Rave and-





OH COME ON!

How does anyone’s breath get that cloudy!?

I can think of a lot of reasons. Though none of them are pleasant.



Fortunately, I came prepared for this. I brought along Unihorns since I don’t have Sidney with me, so that will dispel the accuracy debuff.



I grant you all, the gift of sight!





But I’m the queeeeeeeen!

Um, whoops. I’m sorry about that.

Hey, at least you weren’t wasting your time doing nothing.





Now this should weaken Leviathan enough-



...Ah son of a gun, I overestimated how much HP it had left. This really sucks, if I just used Lucky Hammer, I would have gotten the drop.

You just HAD to get in one last potshot on Susan, didn’t you?





:psyduck: I. Um. What? I failed to snag the drop with Lucky Hammer. Yet I got the drop anyway due to chance. Okay then, I’ll take that.





The client steps forward to collect some of the sea dragon’s blood.

Are you done yet? We need to be heading back soon.

It seems they got what they came for. You set sail for the ocean city to report your victory and return the clients to port.







...

We went through all that, just to cure his cavity?

At least he got some practical usage out of it?

Look at it this way, we may have a promising career in dentistry after this.

Hmm, the queen of teeth. Not an exciting title, but I’ll claim that throne anyway.

I suppose his greed is one thing, but at least he must be happy to have a stiff drink without pain. This was left for you from the client. I guess she’ll be getting new armor soon.





Nothing particularly special about this piece of equipment, but it does provide a decent boost to defense.

Now as for the next Sea Quest, unfortunately that one also had several failed attempts. There wasn’t really much I could do with the team selection I had, so I had to break out the secret weapon...




Accessorizing. Yes, this will do nicely. The Slice Amulet will help with Overeat, but it won’t save anyone if they have the Plague while Overeat targets them. The other 2 amulets are for Leviathan’s elementals. Tie Up doesn’t really do much damage wise to be worth worrying about. This won’t completely snap the fight in half, but it gives me quite a bit more wiggle room. Look, the other alternative was grinding more, and I didn’t feel like doing that!



Since I already completed this Sea Quest through the exploit, I won’t have to do any of these fights a 2nd time for the equipment.

Is that thing still alive and kicking?

Probably. We should finish it off this time.



This is the team I’m bringing along for this fight. Susan has access to buffs, and can prevent anyone from contacting the Plague in the first place. Sidney can preemptively deal with Fuming Snort, and will serve as our damage dealer.



Offense isn’t a huge concern for me in this fight. I’m more concerned about surviving it, so these are the Limits I’m taking along.







After a few moments, the captain of the pirate ship offers an audacious smirk and points to the distance. You turn around to find the sea splitting before you, revealing a dreadful sea dragon!

Why are these sea monsters always so persistent?

Who knows? But if they want more beatdowns that badly, I’m all for it!

This must be the beast you are here to destroy! You draw your weapons and prepare for the onslaught!





Round 3!







Starting off by buffing up the damage dealers in this party, and having Sidney put up Indomitable. He needs that Limit more since he’s pretty fragile. Susan is durable enough to live through Leviathan’s attacks more easily.



You? Kill me? I’d like to see ya try!



You might have noticed that Leviathan always went for Fumes on the 1st turn, and that any NPCs that could block it would always do so. Yeah, that’s due to the quirk of the RNG in this game since I tackle these sea quests in separate sessions.





Sumitomo’s damage output with Pincushion is very lacking, so you’re better off bringing your own damage dealer for this fight.











Also, there’s a prophecy in action.



Yer gonna love this! Trust me. And I think I just broke my neck.









The other benefit to using Berserker Vow in this fight is that Taquion is more likely to defend the party if Leviathan uses an elemental attack with someone at low health.





Stacking more damage multipliers.



Marked for death!



Well, let’s see how Sidney does despite Leviathan’s Pierce resistance.









OH COME ON! :argh:





No.





Ho ho ha ha!



Look lively!

Decent damage despite Leviathan’s Pierce resistance. Though the Double Action proc was definitely helpful in boosting the damage done.



Yeah, if it wasn’t for that, Leviathan would be dead right now. That’s the power of Arbalists for you.



Now’s the time Leviathan’s gonna start breaking out Fuming Snort, so I’m gonna start preparing for that.



You have nothing to fear with me around!



Speak of the devil.





Ya really gotta work on yer reaction times.

Zip it.





Hee hee hee! It’ll take more than that to throw off my aim!

Thank goodness for Proper Form.





Leviathan’s pretty close to dying, but with that Fuming Snort debuff on everyone, there’s a good chance that Sidney will miss his next shot.



Time to bust out the flares.



Your pathetic plague ends here!



Ooh, looking a little cloudy here. Let’s clear that up!





You’re only delaying the inevitable.

Just let me kill you already! :argh:



And I can do this allll day!



This is just kicking me while I’m down.







At the very least, Leviathan can’t take much more of this.





I will NOT be your personal snack this time!



Might as well use this since MEGAQUEEN’s not looking too good.



Oh, maybe that wasn’t necessary.





YEEOOOW! Hot hot hot, oof! I’m okay!

Or maybe it was. And it turns out that Flame Amulet wasn’t enough to save Sidney. At least he had Indomitable up.



That wasn’t enough!? I thought I had that for sure!

If Leviathan hadn’t used Overeat all those times, it would be dead by now.





Ohoho, does it hurt to see your efforts undone so easily? Does it!?

Sheesh, what’s got you so worked up?

A queen does not forget her grudges so easily.



At least this fight’s pretty much over.





Ah hee hee hee! That ain’t gonna save ya now!

I already had Pop Flares up, so all Leviathan accomplished was dispelling an uneeded accuracy boost.







Good riddance, you stupid sea beast!





:psyboom: ...I really didn’t need a second Tsunami Fang there. But okay.

Anyways, Leviathan isn’t too bad, the only real problem is Fuming Snort. If you have a way to deal with that, you can deal with it fairly easily.






The pirates return to their ship after thanking you... After seeing off your dignified allies in war, you set sail toward the ocean city to report in.







Learning about others is the best way to learn about yourself. The marines will have to work harder. But you all did well, too. The pirates delivered this for you.





Increases resistances to all binds by 20%. To be honest, I’d rather increase someone’s bind resistance to one type of bind by 50% instead of having this low all around resistance increase. If binds are really a problem for someone, most of the time it’s only one specific kind of bind that shuts them down. Anyways, let’s see what Leviathan’s drops make.





We still don’t have the weapon the Dragon Fang unlocks, since there’s a drop from a 6th Stratum enemy we need to take down first to get it. But let’s see what the Tsunami Fang unlocks.



It makes the Trident, which is the ultimate Spear. Which only Cassandra and Fang can make use of. Not really a super great ultimate weapon, but at least it comes with some defensive forges. Though since I got 2 of them, I guess Cassandra and Fang could be trident buddies or something like that.

And that’s it for all the Sea Quests for now. We’ll tackle more of the 6th Stratum next time.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
Overeat does quadruple damage if you have a status effect and heals the user for octuple the amount of damage?

Yeah, that's definitely a dick move.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Pretty nice series of bosses. I like that they break things up for these more puzzly affairs with fixed NPCs.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

Overeat does quadruple damage if you have a status effect and heals the user for octuple the amount of damage?

Yeah, that's definitely a dick move.

The healing is only twice the damage dealt, and it's only really a dick move if you're trying to go for the Tsunami Fang with the Lucky Hammer method.

The real thing to look out for is the accuracy debuff, since no enemy in the game other than Leviathan has access to one, and that can trip you up if your party has no way to deal with debuffs.

werbear
Jan 14, 2017
Am I overlooking some mechanic or did you push out Charlotte's Berserker Vow in your first fight?
If I'm counting correctly she should have had four buffs used on her (BV, Attack Order, Pop Flares and Prevent Order in that order) before any of them had the chance to run out or got used up.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

werbear posted:

Am I overlooking some mechanic or did you push out Charlotte's Berserker Vow in your first fight?
If I'm counting correctly she should have had four buffs used on her (BV, Attack Order, Pop Flares and Prevent Order in that order) before any of them had the chance to run out or got used up.

Only Attack Order got pushed out. It was the only buff that I didn't refresh, so it got counted as the oldest one. Refreshing a buff causes it to be counted as a new buff in EO3. I changed my plans partway through the fight and decided I'd rather have a safety net than extra damage. Unlike the other 2 Sea Quests, I won that one on my first attempt, so I had no idea how much I could get away with there.

RareAcumen
Dec 28, 2012




At least the random drop procced often instead of requiring you to do it more than necessary.

werbear
Jan 14, 2017

Dr. Fetus posted:

Only Attack Order got pushed out. It was the only buff that I didn't refresh, so it got counted as the oldest one. Refreshing a buff causes it to be counted as a new buff in EO3.

So that's it.
Did this got changed in later titles ore way I always paranoid about my buff order for no reason?

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!

Dr. Fetus posted:

The healing is only twice the damage dealt, and it's only really a dick move if you're trying to go for the Tsunami Fang with the Lucky Hammer method.

Oh, was I interpreting it wrong? I was under the impression the way it worked was:

- Character has 500 HP and Plague status.
- Leviathan uses Overeat, dealing 300 damage.
- Because Plague is in play, that's boosted to 1200 damage.
- Because that character takes 1200 damage, Leviathan recovers 2400 HP.

But instead, since they only have 500 HP, it'd only recover 1000 HP since that's all of the dealt damage?

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

Oh, was I interpreting it wrong? I was under the impression the way it worked was:

- Character has 500 HP and Plague status.
- Leviathan uses Overeat, dealing 300 damage.
- Because Plague is in play, that's boosted to 1200 damage.
- Because that character takes 1200 damage, Leviathan recovers 2400 HP.

But instead, since they only have 500 HP, it'd only recover 1000 HP since that's all of the dealt damage?

Well Plague would boost that to 1500 (quintupled, not quadrupled) and Leviathan recovers 3000 damage from that, no matter what.

werbear posted:

So that's it.
Did this got changed in later titles ore way I always paranoid about my buff order for no reason?

It changed in EOU. The main reason is because the buffing system was changed slightly for that game. Namely that if you try to overwrite a buff with a weaker or stronger one, that won't work. What just happens instead is that the buff duration gets increased, nothing more, so it's not really counted as a new buff.

The main reason for that is the Boost system, which would allow you throw down a stronger version of the buff and then you can maintain the boosted version by casting the weaker version instead, which was nice of ATLUS. The tradeoff is that if you want a stronger version of the buff, you have to wait for the buff to wear off first before applying it. Fairly important to keep in mind if you're using a Troubadour, as their buffs no longer have infinite duration in that game.

For the record, this was only for EOU. EO2U went back to what EO3 and 4 did.

werbear
Jan 14, 2017
That's good to know.
I always made sure to apply lower priority buffs first but if reapplying the strong buffs keeps them safe I don't have to be so paranoid about ordering - especially when if comes to area targeted vs. single target buffs.

RegalStar
Jul 17, 2016
For those playing along at home, I found that a Monk deals with this thing a lot better than a Hoplite can since the guesswork involved in trying to guard against its attacks is annoying. Even with the third one (with one of the NPCs being a monk), I tried bringing a Hoplite and a Gladiator and failed several times, then I replaced the Hoplite with my Monk and succeeded in one try.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Class Showcase: Ninja



Ninjas were known as Shinobi in Japan. And as for what this class does, well... To be honest, this class wasn’t really designed well from a gameplay standpoint, and it’s really obvious from looking at this class that a lot of the class design in this game was focused on the themes of the class instead of balancing from a gameplay standpoint. While this did make for a more memorable class roster compared to the other Etrian Odyssey games, a few classes ended up suffering from a gameplay standpoint, such as the Ninja and Yggdroid. Though unlike the Yggdroids, who were just bloated with gimmicks, Ninjas are fairly usable. Just kind of lackluster.

At any rate, there’s not really a good comparison for what class from EO1 and 2 Ninjas are similar to. But as for what the class can do, they’re kind of a jack-of-all trades, master of none sort of deal. They have access to a few damage skills, and can inflict ailments and function as a support.

Mind you, Ninjas do have their high points. For one thing, they’re actually one of the strongest classes in the early-game, as their toolkit at that point can make life so much easier for the player. The difference between the Ninja’s stats and the power of the available weapons compared to the other classes at that time isn’t that big, so they’re pretty good damage dealers during that time. Unfortunately, they fall off damage wise shortly after, and are typically used for supports after that. What they do excel in is crowd control, as their ailments can be used to make dealing with random encounters easier by either disabling them or instantly taking them out of the fight. Granted it’s not much, but at least it’s something. Though once subclassing comes around, they do jump up in usefulness, as there are plenty of options they can take to make them relevant again.

Now for whatever reason, Atlus USA didn’t really bother to localize most of the skill names for the Japanese themed classes during the DS era of Etrian Odyssey. Instead they were just romanized (and in EO1 and 2, replaced with different Japanese words.) And this stopped once Etrian Odyssey entered the 3DS era. I’ll be putting the translated versions of the skill names next to the romanized skill names. (Also goes for one of the Monk’s skills, as well as a few of the Shogun’s skills.) Most of these translations for the Ninja’s skills will come from Etrian Mystery Dungeon, as the Ninja was in that game, and most of their skills were in it.

Equipment:
Weapons: Katanas, Knives, and Books.
Armor: Light Armor, Clothes, Helmets, Gloves, Boots, and Accessories.

Despite the fact that Ninjas can wield Katanas, they don’t really work with most of their skills. They need to use Knives in order to use most of their skills. In fact, you can pretty much blame Ninjas for being lackluster thanks to Knives. They have much lower attack power compared to other weapons, that their damage output ends up being lower than most other dedicated damage dealers. If Knives were stronger, Ninjas would actually make for good damage dealers past the first Stratum. (This is also what I meant by the class design being focused on themes, as there really is no reason gameplay wise for them to use a Katana.)

Stats



Statwise, Ninjas are very fragile. Their HP is incredibly low, and they have the lowest VIT stat in the game, so they fall to physical attacks very easily. However, they can take hits from elemental attacks more easily, since they do have a decent TEC stat. They do have the highest AGI stat in the game, so they're the fastest class. Combined with their high LUC and TEC stats, their attacks are very accurate most of the time, and they can evade attacks more often than other classes would. But while their STR is on par with the Buccaneer's, their damage output is hampered by the fact that their best damage skills require them to use a Knife, which have far lower attack power than most other weapons. Their ability to equip a Katana is useless since it can't be used with their better damage skills.

Keburi no Sue (Smoke Powder)
Skill Type: Class Skill
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

This class skill eliminates the back row penalty for melee attacks, allowsing the Ninja to deal the full amount of damage with melee attacks from that row. Increasing the skill level also decreases the TP cost of all the Ninja's skills.



Notes:
  • No matter how many levels this skill has, the TP cost of skills can never go below 1.
  • Has no effect on Front Mortar or Long Stride.

In the early game, you want at least one point into this skill. It's what makes Ninjas very strong at that point. You pretty much have a melee attacker that can attack from the back row. And early game, this is what lets Ninjas be incredibly useful, as this lets you avoid putting them on the front row, where they would get mauled. This skill is also what makes the Ninja a decent support, as they’ll be able to cast skills more often than any other class thanks to the reduced TP cost. Though this isn’t a great skill to max out early on since they want other skills first. The best time to max this skill out would be around the mid-game.

Something else to keep in mind is that when subclassing, a few skills from other classes only decrease the TP cost and do nothing else. Meaning that leveling up those skills can be entirely redundant, or become less desirable to level up because of this skill.

Knife Mastery
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

This weapon mastery skill increases the damage output of regular attacks when using a Knife. Higher levels increase the damage output.

If the user cannot equip Knives normally, this skill enables them to do so.



Notes:
  • Does not affect skills.
Take this for the skills it unlocks, not for the miniscule damage bonus that only applies to regular attacks.

Senpuku (Concealment)
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N.A

This skill increases the Ninja's evasion to all attacks. Increasing the skill level increases the evasion bonus. Has no effect on skills that only inflict debuffs or ailments.



A pretty decent passive. Combined with the Ninja's naturally high evasiveness, you could probably turn them into a dodge tank with this and Kumogakure. Though some attacks have really high accuracy values, so they won’t likely be dodged even with all the evasion boosts available.

Karuwaza (Acrobatics)
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: Kumogakure – Level 3, Sarutobi – Level 3

Every time the Ninja dodges an attack, they recover TP. Increasing the skill level increases the amount of TP restored. Does not activate if an attack was blocked. (i.e. through the use of an Aegis Limit, Sarutobi, or a Parry.)



Notes:
  • Stacks additively with other evasion boosts.
This, combined with the Ninja's Class Skill, pretty much guarantees they'll have infinite TP. Ninjas tend to avoid attacks often, so they'll be recovering a lot of TP in dungeon crawls. Though I don't know if maxing it out is a good idea. The amount of TP restored at level 10 is kind of overkill, unless your Ninja is making use of high TP skills, or is using Bunshin a lot.



Kubikiri (Beheading)
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: LUC, TEC
Prerequisites: Suikyou – Level 3, Makibishi – Level 1

Whenever the Ninja uses a regular attack, they have a chance to instantly kill their target. The infliction rate increases as the skill level increases.



Notes:
  • Does not work with skills.
  • Stacks multiplicatively with Death forges.
  • Works with all weapons. The Ninja does not even need to have a weapon equipped to make use of this passive.
  • If the Ninja has a way to attack multiple times with a regular attack, this passive has a chance to go off for each attack.
A neat little passive. It can be a nice way to help your Ninja contribute to your team by picking off troublesome enemies in random encounters instantly. Izuna has a higher chance of pulling that off, but that skill does cost TP.



Nikudan (Human Bullet)
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: STR
Prerequisites: Otori – Level 3, Bunshin – Level 1

If the Ninja dies, they'll send out a kamikaze Fire attack at the enemy that killed them. Higher levels increases the damage dealt and hit rate.



Notes:
  • Damage is dealt after dying. Meaning that if the Ninja is the last one in the party to die, the attack will not go off. (And the party will get a game over.)
  • Counts as a melee attack, meaning that without Keburi no Sue, the kamikaze attack will deal half damage if the Ninja was in the back row.
  • Etheric Charge has absolutely no effect on this skill.
  • Only triggers once per battle per unit.
  • Can trigger for newly created Bunshin clones, but not decoys or other types of summons.
Kind of a gimmicky passive. For one thing, while it does have a high damage modifier, it’s difficult to deliberately get this to go off. I mean it triggers with the Ninja’s death. And while Otori can provoke enemies into attacking them, it’s not guaranteed. Unless you’re trying to kill off a clone, trying to deliberately kill off your Ninja is probably a bad idea since you’d be left with a smaller party. I wouldn’t bother maxing it out. It’s too situational, and there’s not really any good ways to capitalize on it. It is a prerequisite for a stronger skill, though.



Kagenui (Shadow Bind)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Knife
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR, LUC, TEC
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: Knife Mastery – Level 1

The Ninja attempts to bind an enemy to their shadow, which deals Slash damage and has a chance to inflict Leg Bind. Increasing the skill level increases the damage dealt, infliction rate, and hit rate.



It’s a decent early game damage skill, and can later be used for utility. Though leg binds are kind of a questionable bind to make use of in most cases, as their effects compared to other binds tend to not have much of an impact. There are a few post-game fights that this skill would be useful for, so if you lack a Wildling, feel free to make use of this skill instead.



Izuna
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Knife
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR, LUC, TEC
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: Knife Mastery – Level 3, Kagenui – Level 3

The skill has the Ninja strike at an enemy, dealing Slash damage and attempts to Petrify them. Higher skill levels increase the damage done, infliction rate, and hit rate.



Considering how petrifying enemies is just another form of Instant Death, this is just a more powerful version of Kubikiri. But it does cost some TP to use. If you want your Ninja to have a reliable way to pick off enemies, feel free to take this skill. It still deals okay damage even if the petrification doesn’t go off.

And if you're wondering why Izuna isn't translated here, that's because Izuna isn't really a word. It's really more of a name.



Takanoha (Hawk Strike)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Knife
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR
Target Type: Random
Action Speed: +9
Prerequisites: Knife Mastery – Level 5

The Ninja strikes at random enemies on the field, dealing Slash damage to each one. Increasing the skill level increases the number of hits, damage output, and hit rate.



Notes:
  • The total damage output at each level is 160%/170%/170%-255%/180%-270%/190%-285%/190%-380%/200%-400%/210%-420%/315%-420%/330%-440%
  • The average damage output is 160%/170%/212.5%/225%/237.5%/285%/300%/315%/367.5%/385%
It’s the Ninja’s best damage skill. Well, best damage skill that isn’t Tagen Battou. It’s also far less costly, and doesn’t require setup so your Ninja can deal damage instantly in random encounters if they need to. In most circumstances, this would honestly be a really good skill. Sadly, it’s a fairly mediocre way of dealing damage compared to most other good damage skills since knives have low attack power.



Tagen Battou (Drawing Slice)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Knife
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR
Target Type: Random
Action Speed: +9
Prerequisites: Knife Mastery – Level 10, Nikudan – Level 3

The Ninja joins forces with all of their clones in the battle to randomly attack all enemies with Slash damage multiple times. After the attack is finish, the Ninja and clones merge together. If there are no clones in the battle, then the skill deals a small amount of damage.



This skill has 2 special formulae to determine the damage output.

If there are no clones in the battle, then Damage per hit = 0.5 * Base Damage * Skill Multiplier

If there are clones in the battle, then Damage per hit = (Base Damage * Skill Multiplier) * (2 ^ Number of clones)

All possible damage multipliers for this skill are listed in the table below.



Notes:
  • When the clones merge, they will create a new unit on the party slot the caster was at. This new unit does not have the cloned state.
  • When the clones rejoin, all of their HP and TP is added together and transferred to the new unit.
  • Any special properties or attributes on the caster, such as buffs and debuffs, will transfer over to the new unit.
  • Damage is dealt before the clones merge.
    • This means if that the caster dies through Curse damage, the remaining clones, if there are any, will not merge.
  • Also affects decoys and forces them to disappear. However, the decoys’ HP and TP will not be added onto the caster’s HP and TP and will not affect the damage output.
  • The music cuts out briefly when this skill is cast. (Only a cosmetic effect.)
And here’s the Ninja’s actual strongest damaging skill. In fact, it’s the strongest damaging skill in the game. Though in order to have multiple clones you need to be running a party that has less than 5 members, which is really not ideal. As a result, the high damage versions aren’t really practical to make use of since you’re essentially gimping your party to nuke down an FOE or boss. While the high damage versions can be used to cheese bosses and kill them in a few turns, they’re only useful for the big fights since you’d be running a very small party while exploring the labyrinth. Though if you’re doing a solo run for whatever reason, this skill can be an easy way to cheese bosses there, provided you can set up all those Bunshin clones without any of them dying.

Now Tagen Battou’s damage doubling for each clone was just something clowny the dev team implemented. The skill is quite usable even with only 2 clones, which is what would be used in most normal parties. On average, a level 10 version can hit for 1320% damage, which averages out to 660% damage per turn, which is more than what Blade Rave can deal. The only downside to this skill is the amount of setup time needed to cast it constantly, and the massive TP cost. Not even Keburi no Sue can really help with that, and the Ninja doesn’t really have that great of a TP pool.



Fukubari (Ninpo: Daggers)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: STR, LUC, TEC
Target Type: Multi
Action Speed: -3
Prerequisites: N/A

The Ninja spits poisonous needles at up to 3 different targets, dealing Pierce damage and has a chance to inflict Sleep. Increasing the skill level increases the damage dealt, infliction rate, and hit rate.



Notes:
  • No matter what weapon is equipped, the attack is always considered to be ranged.
Well I guess if you need a source of reliable Sleep, this skill would be nice. Though out of all the Sleep inducing skills available to you, this one has the lowest infliction rate compared to Lullaby and Call Owl. Though Fukubari doesn’t have the downside of putting the user to sleep, and doesn’t require an empty party slot to use.



Suikyou (Ninpo: Mirror)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: LUC, TEC
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -9
Prerequisites: Fukubari – Level 1

This skill has the Ninja target a single enemy. If the enemy has an ailment, that ailment is then reflected to all other enemies in the battle. Increasing the level increases the infliction rate.



Notes:
  • Does not work with binds.
Don’t be fooled by the ridiculously high infliction rate at level 10 (Yes, it really is 999%), this skill isn’t all that amazing. First of all, in order to even use it, another enemy with a status effect has to be in the battle. That means it’s useless for most bosses, since most of them fight alone. You might be able tag an FOE with it if you get into a random encounter near one and inflict a status on an enemy before the FOE joins in, but there aren’t many situations where you can really take advantage of this skill.



Makibishi (Ninpo: Caltrops)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: LUC, TEC
Target Type: Row
Action Speed: +0
Prerequisites: Fukubari – Level 3

The Ninja lays down a bunch of poisonous caltrops around a row. If an enemy attacks that row, they'll step on the caltrops, taking a fixed amount of Slash damage (with damage randomization added on) and has a chance to get Poisoned. Increasing the skill level increases the damage the caltrops deal, the infliction rate, and Poison damage.



Notes:
  • The damage is fixed and cannot be affected by buffs or debuffs.
  • The counterattacks can never miss.
  • The counterattacks can only activate for each enemy once per turn, no matter how many times they attack the chosen row.
  • The counterattacks will not activate if anyone in the chosen row dodges or negates the attack.
  • The damage the counterattacks deal is affected by the enemy’s Slash resistance.
    • However, Singularity will not activate if the enemy is weak to Slash attacks.
  • The counterattacks are melee attacks, meaning that without Keburi no Sue, the counterattacks will deal half damage if applied to the back row.
This skill is beyond worthless. Those numbers are not damage multipliers. They are actually the amount of damage they deal. And there is no way to increase that amount aside from using it on enemies weak to Slash attacks. Yeah, 90 damage. That would be nice for the first two floors! Past that point, the skill would drop in usefulness heavily! Even by poison damage standards, this skill is awful! Take it if you want Kubikiri, but do not max it out. There is pretty much no use for this skill at all unless you’re that desperate for Poison damage for whatever reason.



Kagerou (Ninpo: Mirage)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 5
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Summon
Action Speed: +6
Prerequisites: N/A

The Ninja summons a decoy to attract the enemy's attention. Increasing the skill level increases the decoy's HP and TP, and decreases the TP cost of the skill.



Notes:
  • The decoy does absolutely nothing, and cannot be controlled.
  • The decoy comes with a provoke effect (has an aggro value ranging from 3 to 5), making it more likely to be targeted by enemies.
  • The TP stat is merely cosmetic and is not actually used at any point.
  • Aside from HP and TP, the decoy shares the same stats with the Ninja.
  • Decoys can partake in Limit skills, and their stats will even be used for the calculations for those if needed. However, they cannot be used to fulfill amount of required party members needed to cast them.
  • Multiple Decoys can be summoned at once.
  • The decoy disappears from battle when it dies.
  • The decoy's death will not trigger Nikudan.
  • The decoy cannot be healed, nor can it be affected by buffs or debuffs.
  • Kaishaku will not activate if the decoy falls under the HP threshold.
  • Decoys cannot be summoned if there are no empty slots in the party.
  • Decoys only disappear when dying or if the person who summoned the decoys casts Tagen Battou.
This is honestly a very handy early game skill. While the decoys fall off in usefulness past the first Stratum, they can help you get past the very rough early-game. If the Great Lynxes or any other bothersome are giving you trouble during the time period that your party hasn’t really come together yet, you can have your Ninja cast this to get those enemies off your back for a turn or so. Later on you’ll want to make use of other summons, but it doesn’t hurt to invest in this at all, as Kagerou is a prerequisite for Bunshin, a much better summoning skill.

Otori (Ninpo: Divert)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: +6
Prerequisites: Kagerou – Level 1

The Ninja selects an ally and causes enemy attacks to be more likely to target them for 4 turns. Increasing the level increases the maximum aggro value.



Notes:
  • The minimum aggro value for all skill levels is 3 and cannot be raised.
  • Does not stack with other provoke skills. They will be overwritten instead.
  • Only works on single (also includes attacks that deal splash damage) and random target skills. Does not work on row target or AOE attacks.
    • Multi-target attacks are somewhat affected, but only one attack can be drawn due to their targeting nature.
Essentially, this is the same skill as the Hoplite's Provoke. The main difference is that it can be cast on anyone in the party instead of only the Ninja themselves. It's pretty handy against a couple of bosses, but it'll help a lot in the early game to keep the heat off of your more fragile party members. Whether you max this skill out after that point is up to you.



Bunshin (Ninpo: Clone)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 1
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Summon
Action Speed: +6
Prerequisites: Kagerou – Level 3

The Ninja creates a perfect copy of themselves, though the current amount of HP and TP they have is split between them and their clone.



Notes:
  • The clone is a fully controllable unit, and has access to the caster’s stats, skills, equipment, and passives.
  • Any conditions the caster has (such as status effects and buffs) will not transfer over to the clone.
  • The TP cost is applied before the split.
  • The HP loss cannot kill the Ninja.
  • More than 1 clone can be active at a time.
  • Places both the caster and the cloned unit in the cloned state if it’s not applied to them already.
    • Units that lose all their HP in the cloned state will simply disappear instead of dying.
    • If only one clone remains, its cloned state will be dispelled, meaning that they will die when they run out of HP instead of disappearing.
  • When the battle ends (either through winning or running away), any remaining clones will merge together in the earliest available party slot, so their HP and TP will be added together.
  • Clones can partake in Limit skills, and their stats will even be used for the calculations for those if needed. They can also be used to fulfill amount of required party members needed to cast them.
This skill is actually kind of gimmicky and not all that useful. The only real use this skill has is letting the Ninja make use of Tagen Battou. I mean having 2 Ninjas early can help since they can make a portion of the first boss a lot easier as this skill can be used to get around its main gimmick. But as a summon, they’re kind of lacking compared to animals. A Ninja doesn’t exactly contribute all that much to big fights, and using them in small fights is kind of a waste of time since that could be spent just doing other more important actions right off the bat.

Now if we’re bringing subclassing into the equation, this skill goes from kind of gimmicky to one of the best utility skills in the game. Bunshin on a Prince/ss can be used to get buffs on everyone in one turn. Or you could have double up on Monks for 2 healers. Hoplites get the most out of this skill since they benefit so much from Bunshin. Double Line Guards, double Bodyguards, and doubling up on Anti skills can all help keep your party safe and possibly generate free turns. However, while Bunshin can be fantastic for supports, it’s not exactly great at boosting damage. Physical damage dealers can take Gladiator as a subclass and Berserker Vow + Charge provides a bigger damage boost than Bunshin would, and in a 5 man party, you can only have 1 clone active. The only damage dealing class that can make use of this skill well is the Zodiac, and that’s because there aren’t that many elemental buffs in the game. Of course since the Ninja doesn’t have to subclass to get this skill, this allows them to be very versatile in what roles they can play since several subclassing choices would benefit heavily from Bunshin.

Sarutobi (Ninpo: Flight)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 5
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Leg
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Self
Action Speed: +60
Prerequisites: Senpuku – Level 1

When used, this skill has a chance to negate any physical damage the Ninja takes for the current turn.



Notes:
  • The nullification is checked for after the accuracy check.
  • Cannot nullify elemental or Almighty attacks.
  • Cannot nullify skills that don’t deal any damage.
Not really a great skill. There aren’t too many situations where you would want to use this unless you’re trying to turn your Ninja into a dodge tank. And later on, enemies start getting access to AOE attacks and such, making this skill not really great for that purpose since this only protects the Ninja.

Kumogakure (Ninpo: Smoke)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Leg
Stats Used: HP
Target Type: Self
Action Speed: -3
Prerequisites: Senpuku – Level 5

Sacrifices half of the Ninja’s current HP in order to increases their evasion for 4 turns. Increasing the skill level increases the evasion boost.



Notes:
  • The HP loss cannot kill the Ninja.
  • Stacks additively with other evasion boosts.
Well I guess you could try turning your Ninja into a dodge tank with this. Stacking a max level Kumogakure with a max level Senpuku gives them an evasion of 110, and that’s enough to avoid most attacks in the game. The only problem is that this only works on the Ninja. Once AOEs become more common, this skill really can’t used for dodgetanking since there’s no way to force the Ninja to protect the rest of your party as well.

On the other hand, this skill is a lot more useful in solo runs since avoiding attacks is a lot more valuable there, and with Senpuku, it can be very hard for enemies to actually land a hit on you in that case. And the only enemy attacks in the game that can’t miss are counterattacks. Granted that’s the only situation this skill is really useful in.

Tonsou Jutsu (Escape Technique)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 5
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Leg
Stats Used: AGI, LUC
Target Type: N/A
Action Speed: -10
Prerequisites: N/A

The Ninja attempts to escape with everyone. If successful, the party will be sent back to the stairs or the Submagnetic Pole, depending on which one was used last. Higher levels increase the escape rate and decrease the TP cost.



Notes:
  • Can be used even when cornered by an FOE.
  • Cannot be used in other inescapable situations.
If you actually managed to get cornered by an FOE, this can get you out of that situation. But outside of those kinds of situations, this skill is kind of limited and redundant. Escape rates in this game are really generous, so I don't consider this a stellar skill. And if you're careful about not getting cornered by FOEs (Which is actually a lot harder to pull off than it is in EO2), this doesn't really do much for you.

Subclasses:

Prince/ss:

With Bunshin, you can also effectively turn the Prince/ss’ order skills into AOEs instead of row target skills. Ninjas also have decent TEC, so they can also make pretty good use of Protect Order.

Gladiator:

Ninjas have a decent enough STR stat to be good damage dealers. They’re just stuck with using one of the worst weapon types in the game. A Gladiator or any other damage dealing subclass can get rid of that weakness, letting the Ninja contribute more to fights by taking the subclass’ attacking skills instead. Though with a Gladiator subclass, you can make use of Berserker Vow Charged Tagen Battous, but honestly, that class combination would be far better the other way around. Though it is an option you can take. And they’re also better at using Nine Smashes since Ninjas have some of the best accuracy in the game, though they don’t have enough accuracy to offset Nine Smashes’ miss rate completely at higher levels.

Hoplite:

Hoplites are mostly stat independent, so this can be a good subclass for Ninjas. The only problem with a Hoplite subclass would that the Hoplite is incredibly skill point hungry, and the only real benefit to Ninja/Hoplite is that they use less TP. Oh, and Ninjas can’t make good use of Bodyguard, or they’ll get pasted for their troubles thanks to their awful durability.

Buccaneer:

If you ever wanted to make a pirate ninja, now you can make your dreams come true! In all seriousness, this is actually a really good class combination. Namely because of Pincushion. Since the Ninja has the highest AGI stat in the game, they can make good use of Pincushion. And thanks to Keburi no Sue, they can equip Rapiers, which deal more damage than Guns, so they can use stronger Pincushions from the back row. The only downside is that this class combination misses out on using Berserker Vow and Charge, so they’re ultimately not better than the Buccaneer at using Pincushion. (Though is that really a matter of Ninjas being bad, or that Gladiators are just too good?)

Monk:

Ninjas have a decent enough TEC stat that they can make for effective healers, and Bunshin can effectively give you a backup healer in case something happens to one of your clones. The Ninja’s high AGI also ensures that they can get their healing off before the enemy attacks. Unfortunately, the Ninja’s STR stat is low enough that turning them into a Punch Monk would be a bad idea.

Zodiac:

The Ninja’s TEC is also decent enough for them to become ninja wizards. Though that’s not really why most people take a Zodiac subclass. The real reason why Zodiac is a popular subclass is because of Dark Ether. A max level Keburi no Sue reduces the TP cost of a max level Dark Ether to 1, allowing you to spend only 1 TP to ensure that a row spends absolutely no TP in a fight. With Bunshin, you can expand that to your entire party. Sounds pretty broken, right? Well, it is a bit cheesy for the mid and late game. Unfortunately by post-game, this little cheese tactic falls off heavily in terms of usefulness. By that point, your party should have much more manageable TP pools and access to Amrita IIIs, which recover all of a party member’s TP. Oh and you’re essentially sacrificing a party slot to make use of Dark Ether spamming, meaning that for boss fights, you’re fighting with a 4 man party. Which is quite frankly, suicide.

Wildling:

Possibly one of the worst subclassing choices you can make, unless you are that desperate for ailments. A Ninja’s animals will be faster thanks to their high AGI, and do deal more damage thanks to Ninjas having higher STR than Wildlings. However, the Ninja has lower LUC and TEC stats than the Wildling, making their animals worse at inflicting ailments, which is the point of using most of the animals in the first place. Really not a good trade off, and the other options for subclassing will give your Ninja more of an impact. Though there is Primal Drums, if you want to make use of that.

Arbalist:

Not really a class combination I would recommend. The Arbalist has little to offer a Ninja since Ninjas can’t really make good use of Front Mortar. If you’re wondering why that’s the case, Keburi no Sue doesn’t work with Front Mortar, so Ninjas can’t fire off powerful shots from the back row. And Keburi no Sue makes an Arbalist subclass redundant since it already turns the Ninja into a ranged damage dealer.

Farmer:

If you're making a farming team, you'll want 5 Ninjas with a Farmer subclass, since their Class Skill reduces the TP cost of all skills, making them far better Farmers than Farmers. For a main team though? I really wouldn't recommend it unless you have to have field skills for some reason.

Shogun:

Endure is honestly the only thing a Shogun has to offer a Ninja. Anything the Shogun can do support wise a Prince/ss subclass can do better, and a lot of the Shogun’s damage skills are lackluster. Especially since Ninjas can’t make use of 5-Ring Sword since they don’t have access to Second Sword.

The Ninja can be a versatile class if you know what to do with them. However, their versatility comes at a price in that many of the roles they can take on are done better by another class. Though this doesn’t make them an outright bad class, just a little less desirable to use.

Araxxor fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Jul 9, 2017

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Dr. Fetus posted:

And here’s the Ninja’s actual strongest damaging skill. In fact, it’s the strongest damaging skill in the game. Though in order to have multiple clones you need to be running a party that has less than 5 members, which is really not ideal. As a result, the high damage versions aren’t really practical to make use of since you’re essentially gimping your party to nuke down an FOE or boss. While the high damage versions can be used to cheese bosses and kill them in a few turns, they’re only useful for the big fights since you’d be running a very small party while exploring the labyrinth. Though if you’re doing a solo run for whatever reason, this skill can be

quote:

Notes:
  • The minimum aggro value for all skill levels is 3 and cannot be raised.
  • Does not stack with other provoke skills. They will be overwritten instead.
  • Only works on single (also includes attacks that deal splash damage) and random target skills. Does not work on row target or AOE attacks.
  • Multi-target attacks are somewhat affected, but only one attack can be drawn due to their targeting nature.

I get that this is the Ninja showcase, but there's no need to be mysterious here, you can complete your sentences and lists :v:

Crystalgate
Dec 26, 2012
If there are clones in the battle, then Damage per hit = (Base Damage * Skill Multiplier) ^ (2 * Number of clones)

This should probably be Damage per hit = (Base Damage * Skill Multiplier) * 2 ^ Number of clones

Efe
Feb 2, 2016

I make alive things dead and sometimes the other way around.

Dr. Fetus posted:

Kubikiri (Beheading)
  • Works with all weapons. The Ninja does not even need to have a weapon equipped to make use of this passive.

From the party's perspective, I can't help but imagine the confusion when your Ninja keeps trying to take monsters' heads off with blunt weapons or even their bare hands. Until it works, that is.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
I don't think you added a translation for Izuna.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Oh, and the ailment recovery formula for EO3 finally got found out. (Thanks Violently Car!)

Ailment Recovery Formula posted:

First, check how many turns it has been since the ailment has been applied. If the ailment was applied this turn, skip recovery. All stats refer to the recovering character. The stats of the ailment applier are not used at all when determining recovery.

A = LUC - (Level * 0.58 + 5.7)
B = A random number between 0 and 10
C = Turns since ailment was applied

If A is less than or equal to -10, then D = B * C
If A is greater than -10 but less than 10, then D = B * C + (sin (A * 0.14) * 20 + 20)
If A is greater than or equal to 10, then D = B * C + 40

Add the values for Waking Chakra to D. If D is greater than 80, then D = 80.

Roll a number between 0 and 99. If this number is less than D, recover from the ailment.

This formula means that no one is guaranteed to recover from a given disable on any turn. If you're particularly unlucky, it's possible for the disable to last for the whole battle. And Waking Chakra can help stack the odds in your favor, but it's not guaranteed to cause it to wear off. Unfortunately, many bosses and FOEs have a high enough LUC stat that the odds for the disable to wear off are particularly high. So most of the time, inflicting something on them means that the following turns tend to be a coinflip on whether they wear off or not.

Blaze Dragon posted:

I get that this is the Ninja showcase, but there's no need to be mysterious here, you can complete your sentences and lists :v:

Crystalgate posted:

If there are clones in the battle, then Damage per hit = (Base Damage * Skill Multiplier) ^ (2 * Number of clones)

This should probably be Damage per hit = (Base Damage * Skill Multiplier) * 2 ^ Number of clones

Oh, whoops. Fixed.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I don't think you added a translation for Izuna.

There's none. Izuna's not really a word, so much as it is more of a name. Though I added a brief note on that in the showcase.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.




Aw, hell. We're not getting out of this, are we?



Don't worry, we're safe!





...Are you @#!%ing me.



Behold, the dreaded ping pong situation (that's no longer possible in the 3DS games.) that you're probably not gonna see in the LP, so here's an example of it.

Oh and in case you were wondering, they're completely immune to instant death and petrification. So Alice could not have saved them.

Araxxor fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Jul 12, 2017

Blademaster_Aio
Jan 22, 2017

The ping pong situation is awful.

So glad the later games did away with that stuff. And the orange fluff ball.

For a game that prioritises picking your battles, it sure made running away from those battles hard.

WarpedLichen
Aug 14, 2008


That sucks - but oddly appropriate that the enemy was the Dreamsmasher.

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Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Don't mind me, just pushing the update to the next page.

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