Let's Play Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold! Amphibious Freeloaders Need Not Apply

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Crosspeice: Aug 9, 2013

I like Force Breaks as one final push against a Boss or FOE, since once you use a Force Break, you also can't use the very useful Force Boosts multiple times during a fight.

Though if you go for a huge push and leave the enemy with a sliver of health, then it feels very anticlimactic. :v:

# ? Nov 17, 2015 22:53

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 05:16

Araxxor: Oct 20, 2012; My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

theshim posted:

Issen is a great trash mob/add clearer, unreliable against FOEs, and useless against bosses. Which, honestly, describes most of the offensive Force Breaks...which, unfortunately, runs a bit counter to the whole idea of "one big boom you can only pull out once" - those are the kinds of things usually saved for bosses etc. Just using the Force Boosts tends to be waaaaay more effective against bosses.

It's a great finisher against FOEs, since the success rate jumps up to 1000% once they drop below 20% of their HP. And I'm pretty sure resistances don't run lower than 10% unless the enemy in question is outright immune to it. Essentially, it's like Climax in the original game. Only far less broken.

I like the new Force system. It's far better handled than Force in the original game. (Oh hello there endless stuns, eternal bind lockdown, and the party taking absolutely no damage for the entire battle.)

# ? Nov 17, 2015 22:55

theshim: May 1, 2012; You think you can defeat ME, Ephraimcopter?!?

You couldn't even beat Assassincopter!!!

Dr. Fetus posted:

I like the new Force system. It's far better handled than Force in the original game. (Oh hello there endless stuns, eternal bind lockdown, and the party taking absolutely no damage for the entire battle.)

Yeah, the game is way better now that you can't just chug Axcela IIs and wear everything down.

# ? Nov 17, 2015 22:58

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

Speaking of Force, that happened to be the game mechanics post I was writing up!

Game Mechanics: Force, or "Atlus balances something smartly for once"

Let's go back to the original EO2 for a second. In that game, there was a specific mechanic called Force. Basically, every action a party member did would slowly fill up a gauge at the bottom of their command menu. When that gauge was fully filled, that character would gain access to their class's Force skill, a one-use-per-filled-gauge skill that ranged wildly in usefulness depending on the class. Some Force skills, like the Landsknecht's All Out, the Survivalist's Airwalk, or the War Magus's Invoke, were very useless and would not affect a battle that much. On the other hand, you had Force skills like the Protector's Painless, which completely nullified all damage and status ailments to the party for one turn, the Dark Hunter's Dominate, which was a guaranteed bind on every body part of the target, and the Gunner's Riot Gun, which was a guaranteed stun on one target, all of which could be used to completely snap the game's difficulty in half.

So, when the time came to make EO2U, Atlus decided to heavily rework the Force system to be less tedious and difficulty-breaking. Instead of having to slowly fill up a gauge that resets when you leave the Labyrinth, every party member starts with a fully-filled Force gauge, which is fully restored upon leaving the Labyrinth. Additionally, instead of just having one Force skill that resets the gauge, Force is now divided into two different commands:

Force Boost: Applies a 3 turn duration state (note: not buff) to the character, which is usually based around their class's natural strengths. Sets the Force gauge to 0 at the end of the duration.
Force Break: Very powerful actions that are analogous to EO2's Force skills, but usually not quite as powerful. Can only be used during a Force Boost. When the Force Break is actually executed, it instantly cancels the user's Force Boost, and "breaks" the Force gauge. What this means is the gauge cannot be filled up any further until you leave the Labyrinth, and the character is unable to use their Force in the meantime. If you issue a command to use a Force Break, but it is not actually used (due to the battle ending or the character being unable to act), the Force gauge is not broken, but it is set to 0.

The big takeaways from this are: Force is much less tedious to manage, benefits pretty much every class instead of just a select few, and opens up quite a few unique ways to utilize the system.

Let's go over each class's Force Boost and Breaks. Note that while Force Boosts do not require any body parts, Force Breaks do, and can thus be disabled by binds.

Landsknecht:

Force Boost: Full Charge. All sword/axe attacks and skills from the Landsknecht become critical hits (150% damage by default) for the duration of the Boost. This damage can be increased by leveling up the Fencer passive, which increases crit damage to 160% at level 10, and 170% at level 20.
Force Break: Full Gain. Uses the arms. STR-dependent. A severe damage melee Cut attack to one enemy. Damage starts at 800% at level 1, and ends at 2700% at level 99. Does not benefit from the effects of Full Charge.

Pretty decent all around. Full Charge is actually a very nice damage boost; remember that Force Boosts aren't buffs, so ATK UP buffs stack fully with them. Landsknechts can actually output some pretty serious damage with it.

Full Gain's also nice too, although it's pretty plain as far as Force Breaks go.

Survivalist:

Force Boost: Illusion Step. Greatly increases the Survivalist's evasion, and adds an extra attack to all bow attacks/skills for the duration. The damage on the extra attack scales up with the Survivalist's level, although I don't have exact numbers on it.
Force Break: Summer Rain. Uses the arms. AGI-dependent. 16 random-target high-damage Stab attacks; up to 4 attacks can hit one enemy. Has a very high speed modifier.

Illusion Step's evasion increase is actually really significant; a Survivalist under the effects of it will dodge almost everything thrown at them. In combination with Chain Dance (a Survivalist skill that increases the likelihood they'll be targeted for one turn, along with boosting their evasion), you can actually make a very effective dodge tank out of a Survivalist. The follow-up hit on bow attacks/skills is nice, but not really worth much.

Summer Rain is a pretty nice Force Break. It fills the niche a lot of Force Breaks do of being an effective panic button for encounters that are going badly or encounters you just don't want to deal with. It's also incredibly useful for certain boss fights later on, but that's for another time.

Protector:

Force Boost: Shield Protect. "Increases the effectiveness of Guard skills" for the duration. What this means is that while the Boost is active, for Front Guard, Rear Guard, Keep Guard, Heal Guard, and Sentinel Guard, any incoming damage to someone under the effects of those skills is not only reduced by what the Guard skill provides, but is then additionally reduced by 50%.
Force Break: Perfect Defense. Uses the arms. Nullifies all damage to the party for one turn. The party can still be affected by status ailments or binds while under the effects of Perfect Defense.

Shield Protect is...well, it's useful for Keep Guard and Sentinel Guard, which disable Guard skills for a turn and don't block quite as much as Front/Rear Guard do. For Front and Rear Guard though, they already block enough that Shield Protect doesn't do much for them.

Perfect Defense is where it's at, though. Even if it's not as obscene as Painless was (which completely cancelled status ailments and binds in addition to damage), it still has a lot of utility.

Dark Hunter:

Force Boost: Trance. Doubles all damage dealt by the Dark Hunter to enemies that have status ailments and/or binds for the duration.
Force Break: Rose Prison. Uses the arms. STR-dependent. Melee medium damage Cut attack to one enemy. Has a high chance to inflict head bind, arm bind, leg bind, and poison. The poison damage scales up with level, capping out at around 1600 at level 99.

Trance is a very, very nice Force Boost. Dark Hunters already have very high damage options against enemies that are disabled in some way, and a 200% boost (that, again, stacks fully with normal buffs) just makes it even more absurd.

Rose Prison is meh. While the chance to inflict the binds and poison is quite high, bear in mind it's still subject to enemy resistances, meaning it's not guaranteed and, more importantly, cannot bypass enemies that nullify a given bind type or poison, unlike Dominate in EO2.

Medic:

Force Boost: Steady Hands. Increases the effectiveness and turn speed of healing skills for the duration. Also cuts TP costs for healing skills in half.
Force Break: Medical Miracle. Uses the head. TEC and VIT-dependent. Heals the entire party for an incredibly large amount, removes all status ailments (including petrification), removes all binds, purges all debuffs, and revives any dead party members while also healing them.

Steady Hands is a decent Force Boost. Its problem is using it means you could potentially not have Medical Miracle.

Oh boy, Medical Miracle. Medical Miracle is an incredibly powerful Force Break; proper use of it can very easily turn around what would've otherwise been a crushing game over. Its only downside is you have to be very, very sure when you use it; using it at the wrong time will most likely result in bad things, and you probably kicking yourself as a result. It's worth noting that if you have Overheal active when you use Medical Miracle, and revive someone with it, they will be healed up to the maximum amount Overheal allows.

Alchemist:

Force Boost: Analysis. Increases damage that an enemy is weak to by 165% for the duration.
Force Break: Eschaton. Uses the head. TEC-dependent. Deals heavy to severe untyped (cannot be resisted) damage to all enemies. Damage increases with the Alchemist's level.

Analysis is very, very powerful. Like Full Charge and Trance, it works fully with normal buffs, and remember that you're already boosting your damage if you're hitting an enemy's weakness.

Eschaton is, much like Summer Rain, mostly useful as a panic button for random encounters. Note that it's incredibly slow, however, and it's possible for your Alchemist to die before Eschaton goes off.

Troubador:

Force Boost: War Song. Pauses the durations of the party's buffs, and prevents them from being dispelled by enemies for the duration.
Force Break: Crusade. Uses the head. Increases the party's damage by 50%, and reduces the damage they take by 50% for one turn.

War Song is nice enough, I guess. Not a lot of enemies in EO2U dispel buffs, though.

Crusade is incredibly loving powerful and enables a lot of really cheesy strategies where you can burst down a very high HP boss in a turn or two. Note that it's not a buff, just a temporary modifier, so it interacts without any caveats with buffs and Force Boosts.

Ronin:

Force Boost: Immovable. Pauses the duration of the Ronin's current stance for the legnth of the Boost. Also cuts the TP costs of katana skills in half.
Force Break: Issen. Uses the arms. STR and LUC-dependent. Attempts to inflict instant death on every enemy. If the instant death does not proc, deals heavy Cut damage instead. The instant death proc chance seems to be 100%, increased to around 1000% when an enemy is below 20% HP.

Immovable is a godsend for Ronin. Pausing stance duration is nice enough, but cutting TP costs for katana skills in half matters a lot to Ronin, who have pretty bad TP pools.

Issen is...interesting. It's pretty bad in boss fights, but is a pretty much guaranteed "get out of jail free" card for random encounters, and the <20% HP proc chance can even reliably kill FOEs.

Hexer:

Force Boost: Creeping Curse. Increases the likelihood of inflicting status ailments on an enemy for the duration. Also pauses the duration of enemy debuffs.
Force Break: Black Mist. Uses the head. Increases the length of any status ailments and/or binds an enemy has.

Creeping Curse is meh for random encounters, but incredible for FOEs and bosses. You can semi-reliably inflict even resisted ailments while Creeping Curse is active.

Black Mist is similarly powerful. If you can somehow fully bind an enemy and maybe throw a status ailment on, then throw Black Mist at them, you've pretty much won the fight; the enemy won't be recovering from those disables any time soon.

Gunner:

Force Boost: Action Boost. All gun skills will activate twice for the duration. The second activation deals around 60% damage of the first.
Force Break: Supreme Bolt. Uses the arms. AGI and LUC-dependent. Deals heavy to severe Stab damage to one enemy. Has a very high chance to stun.

Action Boost is effectively a 60% damage buff for the duration of the Force Boost. It has a very powerful interaction with a certain Gunner passive that we'll see later that boosts its damage even further, however.

Supreme Bolt not only deals significant damage, but the chance to inflict stun is high enough that unless an enemy completely nullifies stun, you can generally expect to stun them, giving you a free turn to do whatever you want.

War Magus:

Force Boost: War Edge Power. Activates all the extra effects of War Edge skills, even if the target doesn't have an ailment, for the duration.
Force Break: Fairy Robe. Uses the head. TEC and VIT-dependent. Heals the party, removes status ailments and binds, purges debuffs, and blocks all incoming status ailments (including instant death), binds, and debuffs for one turn.

War Edge Power is very useful against enemies that resist multiple status ailments, mostly bosses and FOEs. Not a lot else to say about it.

Fairy Robe...well, just read the bolded bit and you should get why it's powerful against a lot of bosses.

Beast:

Force Boost: Desperation. Triples the Beast's max HP for the duration of the Boost, and heals them to that amount when Desperation is initially enabled.
Force Break: True Endurance. Uses the arms. STR and VIT-dependent. The Beast tanks all of the party's damage for one turn. Nullifies binds and status ailments for the duration (except for instant death). The Beast cannot die during True Endurance outside of instant death. At the end of True Endurance, the Beast unleashes an all-target Bash attack based on the difference between their max HP and their HP at the end of the turn.

Desperation is what makes Beasts even better at tanking than they already naturally are. Not much else to say about it.

True Endurance is very useful for enemy attacks that are either designed to overkill your party, or have high-chance ailment/bind inflictions attached.

Sovereign:

Force Boost: Victory Vow. All Order skills target the entire party instead of one row for the duration of the Boost. Also cuts the TP cost of Order skills in half.
Force Break: Proof of Nobility. Uses the head. Restores around 40% HP and 33% TP to the party.

Victory Vow is useful not only for saving your Sovereign some turns casting buffs on both rows, but it's also good for Orders where the entire party having it is incredibly important.

Proof of Nobility's useful for sustain in both exploration and boss fights. Do note that's it not a heal on the level of Medical Miracle or Fairy Robe, however; it's fairly minor in comparison.

Highlander:

Force Boost: Hero Battle. Increases the damage of spear skills by 50%, and heals the entire party for 25% of damage dealt through spear skills for the duration.
Force Break: Gae Bolg. Uses the arms. STR-dependent. ~~Stab~~ Untyped, medium to high damage attack to all enemies.

Hero Battle's another Force Boost that increases the user's damage. The heal is actually pretty significant though; Highlanders tend to be very burst-heavy, so 25% of their damage is still a large amount.

Yes, Gae Bolg is bugged, in a good way though: it's untyped damage instead of stab damage. While this means you don't get bonus damage against enemies weak to stab, it also means it can't be resisted at all. Aside from that, it's another Force Break useful for clearing out groups of enemies.

Fafnir:

Force Boost: Transform. Doubles Fafnir's max HP, heals him for that amount, grants a 50% damage boost, enables several extra skills based on his normal skills, and grants several extra skills gained by progressing through Story mode. Transform's only negative effect is that it slows Fafnir's turn speed. Transform also changes whatever battle music is playing to this.
Force Break: Ignition Ray. Uses the head. TEC-dependent. Deals heavy to severe Fire/Ice/Volt damage to one enemy. Changes to Akashic Nova after a certain point in the story, which is basically Ignition Ray but all-target.

Hoo boy. You know how most Force Boosts have just been niceties that help a particular class do something? Transform is absolutely integral to how Fafnir works, and is the entire reason he is supremely broken. Fafnir relies on Transform so much he even has an entire skill tree, Force Mastery, dedicated to manipulating Force in various ways. I won't list all the skills that are enabled by Transform, but here's the ones granted by progressing through the story:

Meteor Smash: Deals heavy to severe Bash damage to one enemy. 3 TP. Can only be used once per Transform. Granted after defeating the 1st Stratum boss.
Power Cell: Grants Fafnir a passive chance to survive mortal blows with 1 HP. Granted after defeating ???.
Extend: Resets Transform's duration remaining to 3 turns. Can only be used once per Transform. 5 TP. Granted after defeating the 2nd Stratum boss.
Self-Regenerate: Restores 30% of Fafnir's max HP at the end of a turn. Granted after defeating ???.
Accelerate: Next turn, Fafnir will act first, and be able to perform 3 actions at once. Can only be used once per Transform. 15 TP. Granted after defeating the 3rd Stratum boss.

If you're looking at Accelerate and thinking "that sounds so incredibly loving broken," you have no idea. Transform turns Fafnir into...not even one of, he flat-out is the best damage dealer in the game (once you give him enough skill points in everything).

Ignition Ray/Akashic Nova are kind of boring by comparison. The only neat things about them is that they're Fire/Ice/Volt damage; whatever element deals more damage to a given enemy is what the attack is treated as.

So yeah, that's the Force system. Much improved from EO2 overall, even if it is basically balanced entirely around one class that's exclusive to Story mode.

(thanks to Hobgoblin2099, who reminded me that Meteor Smash is only once per Transform too)

Rea fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Dec 2, 2015

# ? Nov 18, 2015 00:35

Kinu Nishimura: Apr 24, 2008; SICK LOOT!

NO MORE GAMES

# ? Nov 18, 2015 00:44

Blueberry Pancakes: Aug 18, 2012; Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!

Meteor Smash is once per transformation, too.

alcharagia posted:

NO MORE GAMES

I hope someone saved that picture of Ravelope. :allears:

Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Nov 18, 2015

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:02

Logicblade: Aug 13, 2014; Festival with your real* little sister!

Being able to change the battle music is truly the Fafnir's most absurd power.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:09

Kinu Nishimura: Apr 24, 2008; SICK LOOT!

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I hope someone saved that picture of Ravelope.

What, this one?

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:16

Crosspeice: Aug 9, 2013

I think that might be my favorite thing I've ever made :allears:

I love the Force system so much, especially for the Story party, since they're fun to use and fun to quote. Aside from the Fafnir quote, there's a couple others.

: The ol' man's on FIRE!

: Get out of my way!

It's a shame you're not showing off Story mode, I really enjoyed it compared to EOU. The only bland character is Arianna, really, whereas Raquna was the only one I really liked.

: Danger... is... dangerous.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:26

BlackPersona: Oct 21, 2012

Ragnar Homsar posted:

Force Break: ~~Medical Miracle.~~ Healing Touch Uses the head. TEC and VIT-dependent. Heals the entire party for an incredibly large amount, removes all status ailments (including petrification), removes all binds, purges all debuffs, and revives any dead party members while also healing them.

Biggest mistake in the localization. :colbert:

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:36

Araxxor: Oct 20, 2012; My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

RIP Dominate/Rose Prison. Went from being one of the best Force skills in EO2 to being utter trash in EO2U. (then again, a lot of the Force Breaks in this game aren't worth it compared to the Force Boosts.) The bind chance definitely isn't guaranteed, and the poison damage is awful. I think it ticks for around 100 until you get to the 90s. Viper's Poison hits way harder than that! So I don't even know what the point of the poison is. And it's pretty much nothing compared to what Trance gives them.

Meanwhile, Riot Gun/Supreme Bolt basically gets off scott free. I'm pretty sure the success rate on that skill is 1000%, because I have never seen it fail unless the enemy in question is immune to stuns.

Proof of Nobility is pretty much a percentage based Heal/TP restore. 40% for HP, 33% for TP. I guess it could be useful in long fights. In short fights, it's pretty much one of the worst Force Breaks in the game.

Hoo boy, Fafnir. Dude is completely broken. Best damage dealer in the game, no contest. Story mode balances him out by sticking him in a jack of all trades party (Survivalist, Sovereign, Protector, War Magus) so he's probably not gonna demolish everything from the get go. If you could get him into Classic Mode, RIP everything, especially if you pair him up with a Troubadour. Oh yeah, Transform is also gained through the plot. He can't use his Force Boost until later in the game. In his base form, he's decent, I guess.

Ragnar Homsar posted:

Also changes whatever battle music is playing to this.

You really should listen to this if you haven't.

alcharagia posted:

What, this one?

I completely forgot about the Ravelope. I can't believe a series of damage tests I was doing ended up creating this thing.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:36

Crosspeice: Aug 9, 2013

Dr. Fetus posted:

I completely forgot about the Ravelope. I can't believe a series of damage tests I was doing ended up creating this thing.

Humanity does its best work when it should be doing something else.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:44

Cernunnos: Sep 2, 2011; ppbbbbttttthhhhh~

Dr. Fetus posted:

Hoo boy, Fafnir. Dude is completely broken. Best damage dealer in the game, no contest. Story mode balances him out by sticking him in a jack of all trades party (Survivalist, Sovereign, Protector, War Magus) so he's probably not gonna demolish everything from the get go. If you could get him into Classic Mode, RIP everything, especially if you pair him up with a Troubadour. Oh yeah, Transform is also gained through the plot. He can't use his Force Boost until later in the game. In his base form, he's decent, I guess.

If by "later in the game" you mean "about 10 minutes from the point we left off rather than from the start of the game" then yes.

I hope when we start actually using those ingredients that the Story Mode party's dialogue for it gets posted 'cause it's great. I believe Hobgoblin2099 made a text dump of the conversations.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 01:57

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

For the record, Fafnir is absolute garbage without Transform. His damage is mediocre at best, and while he's not fragile on the same level as Ronin and Alchemists, he's still about as fragile as Dark Hunters. Without Transform, Fafnir also has a skill tree dedicated to basically nothing (Force Mastery).

You know how much Fafnir's basic Sabre skills do at level 10? 255%. For comparison, Horse Slash reaches that exact same percent at level 5, and costs considerably less TP.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 02:13

Supremezero: Apr 28, 2013; hay gurl

Ragnar Homsar posted:

For the record, Fafnir is absolute garbage without Transform. His damage is mediocre at best, and while he's not fragile on the same level as Ronin and Alchemists, he's still about as fragile as Dark Hunters. Without Transform, Fafnir also has a skill tree dedicated to basically nothing (Force Mastery).

You know how much Fafnir's basic Sabre skills do at level 10? 255%. For comparison, Horse Slash reaches that exact same percent at level 5, and costs considerably less TP.

Sabre's tap weaknesses and proc the absolute monster that is Link Order. Horse Slash doesn't. :colbert:

Honestly, though, you might as well complain that Warmage is garbage without someone else causing ailments. It simply isn't designed to be that way in the first place, so who cares.

Supremezero fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Nov 18, 2015

# ? Nov 18, 2015 02:38

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

Supremezero posted:

Sabre's tap weaknesses and proc the absolute monster that is Link Order. Horse Slash doesn't.

Honestly, though, you might as well complain that Warmage is garbage without someone else causing ailments. It simply isn't designed to be that way in the first place, so who cares.

That was mostly a response to Dr. Fetus jokingly saying

Dr. Fetus posted:

Oh yeah, Transform is also gained through the plot. He can't use his Force Boost until later in the game. In his base form, he's decent, I guess.

Just want to make sure no-one tries to do something stupid like an Expert runthrough without using Transform. :v:

# ? Nov 18, 2015 02:43

Supremezero: Apr 28, 2013; hay gurl

Ragnar Homsar posted:

That was mostly a response to Dr. Fetus jokingly saying

Just want to make sure no-one tries to do something stupid like an Expert runthrough without using Transform.

Don't say that, someone's probably already done it in Japan.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 02:45

Araxxor: Oct 20, 2012; My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

I wouldn't say base Fafnir is terrible. He's... serviceable at least. Kind of has to be because until he gets enough SP to invest into his Force Skill tree, you're gonna have to deal with the downtime where Transform isn't available a lot. Doing a run without Transform is just plain crazy, though. He's your main form of DPS in Story. Flavio won't be contributing much damage-wise until much later, and Chloe can't carry the team forever. Later on, her support abilities are far more valuable than her offensive ones.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 02:48

Kemix: Dec 1, 2013; Because change

I will be fully honest, I only ever used my force boosts when I REALLY needed it and Breaks around boss fights when I needed a lot of burst damage really loving fast. Fafnir isn't that bad, specially when you bring his sabers up to around 10 or so. Also, the EXP that you get from quests? That poo poo can be TRIPLED by way of one of the grinding quests. How? Wait and see. And the XP of late/post game quests are huge to boot.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 03:33

Supremezero: Apr 28, 2013; hay gurl

Kemix posted:

I will be fully honest, I only ever used my force boosts when I REALLY needed it and Breaks around boss fights when I needed a lot of burst damage really loving fast. Fafnir isn't that bad, specially when you bring his sabers up to around 10 or so. Also, the EXP that you get from quests? That poo poo can be TRIPLED by way of one of the grinding quests. How? Wait and see. And the XP of late/post game quests are huge to boot.

Better yet, it affects everyone, including people you don't actually have in your party.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 04:18

theshim: May 1, 2012; You think you can defeat ME, Ephraimcopter?!?

You couldn't even beat Assassincopter!!!

alcharagia posted:

NO MORE GAMES

original character

do not steal

# ? Nov 18, 2015 04:34

Tyty: Feb 20, 2012; Night-vision Goggles Equipped!

Are you ripping the character portraits yourself? Just kinda curious because I'm having an absolute hell of a time finding EO2/3 character art for making bar convo portraits.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 05:21

Junpei: Oct 4, 2015; Can't post for 11 years!

Is the Grimoire stones mechanic in classic as well as story? Ditto for that cooking/diner place mechanic?

# ? Nov 18, 2015 05:40

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

Tyty posted:

Are you ripping the character portraits yourself? Just kinda curious because I'm having an absolute hell of a time finding EO2/3 character art for making bar convo portraits.

I'm getting character portraits from the EOU/EO2U artbook. I crop pages to 100x100, then resize appropriately and manually take out any backgrounds. If you want, I'd be willing to make portraits for you (I also have the EO3 artbook on hand).

I'd love to dig around in EO2U's innards, but if it's anything like what I read EOU is like, all of the game's contents that aren't the executable or Home Menu stuff are stored in one giant compressed file that I'm reasonably certain uses some ungodly Atlus-made scheme.

Junpei posted:

Is the Grimoire stones mechanic in classic as well as story? Ditto for that cooking/diner place mechanic?

Yes; we'll be introduced to the Ducal Restaurant next update. Grimoires will come later.

Rea fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Nov 18, 2015

# ? Nov 18, 2015 05:41

Junpei: Oct 4, 2015; Can't post for 11 years!

I understand why people think Fafnir is the main damage dealer in EO2U, but I can't say the same for EOU's Highlander. Arthur and Fredrica are good sources of damage too, right?

# ? Nov 18, 2015 05:52

Tyty: Feb 20, 2012; Night-vision Goggles Equipped!

Ricky is very good at damage yes, and Arthur does a fine job with evil eye suicide word (I made him into a hexer, due to the bug in the ailment formula where tec matters more than luc)

Ragnar Homsar posted:

I'm getting character portraits from the EOU/EO2U artbook. I crop pages to 100x100, then resize appropriately and manually take out any backgrounds. If you want, I'd be willing to make portraits for you (I also have the EO3 artbook on hand).

I'd love to dig around in EO2U's innards, but if it's anything like what I read EOU is like, all of the game's contents that aren't the executable or Home Menu stuff are stored in one giant compressed file that I'm reasonably certain uses some ungodly Atlus-made scheme.

Actually, I looked into it, and the thing I'm using to convert EO4's textures already has support for that compression format. I'm grabbing textures from EO2U right now.

They finally (unfortunately) changed the enemy data format from EO3's though

EDIT: Hm. It appears they changed the texture files too. They may just be encrypted.

Tyty fucked around with this message at 06:55 on Nov 18, 2015

# ? Nov 18, 2015 06:50

Blueberry Pancakes: Aug 18, 2012; Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!

The Legend of Ravelope continues on.

Junpei posted:

I understand why people think Fafnir is the main damage dealer in EO2U, but I can't say the same for EOU's Highlander. Arthur and Fredrica are good sources of damage too, right?

From my experience, EOU Highlander just cribs off of elemental damage with Spear Assist after setting up with Bloody Offense. I've heard people swear by the Charge skills, though.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 06:54

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

Tyty posted:

Actually, I looked into it, and the thing I'm using to convert EO4's textures already has support for that compression format. I'm grabbing textures from EO2U right now.

They finally (unfortunately) changed the enemy data format from EO3's though

EDIT: Hm. It appears they changed the texture files too. They may just be encrypted.

My assumptions about EOU were just based off what I read from some dude on the internet. Whoops.

Since it seems like you can't get data from EO2U, do you want me to just make some portraits from the artbooks I have? The EO3 one isn't scanned as well as the EOU/EO2U artbook, but it's usable. I can also give you my collection of EO2U portraits:

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:04

Supremezero: Apr 28, 2013; hay gurl

Ah, the great Etrian Odyssey Portrait Bazaar finally opens.

I'll trade you a cookie for those portraits.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:07

Araxxor: Oct 20, 2012; My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

Tyty posted:

Ricky is very good at damage yes, and Arthur does a fine job with evil eye suicide word (I made him into a hexer, due to the bug in the ailment formula where tec matters more than luc)

Actually, I looked into it, and the thing I'm using to convert EO4's textures already has support for that compression format. I'm grabbing textures from EO2U right now.

They finally (unfortunately) changed the enemy data format from EO3's though

EDIT: Hm. It appears they changed the texture files too. They may just be encrypted.

Yeah, not surprised at that. EO2U is a much bigger overhaul than the other EOs in terms of mechanics, so I'm not surprised at the change in data formats. A lot has changed between EO2U and EOU (Or PQ if you want to go that way.)

I decided to test things out, and it seems like accumulative resistance hasn't changed between games. Maybe. 4 applications on a enemy neutral to an ailment = immunity, so it might still be a -30% resistance there. Or -25%. Who knows. Couldn't tell you the exact odds on the skills though, since the ailment formula definitely changed in this game.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:11

Tyty: Feb 20, 2012; Night-vision Goggles Equipped!

Ragnar Homsar posted:

My assumptions about EOU were just based off what I read from some dude on the internet. Whoops.

Since it seems like you can't get data from EO2U, do you want me to just make some portraits from the artbooks I have? The EO3 one isn't scanned as well as the EOU/EO2U artbook, but it's usable. I can also give you my collection of EO2U portraits:

Honestly those portraits would work wonderfully, since I should just need party class ones. Thanks!

^^^A cursory google shows EOU has the same big clump files, and they're compressed with an unknown compression. PQ doesn't for some reason, using a different file format with a different compression.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:12

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8974580/eo2u_party_portraits.zip

Since you don't have PMs, might as well post it publicly. Includes all the normal EO2 portraits and the Sovereign alternate colors.

In other news, expect another update sometime in maybe an hour or two. (Can you tell my normal morning class got cancelled this week? :v:

)

Rea fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Nov 18, 2015

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:16

Kemix: Dec 1, 2013; Because change

Speaking of EOU1, what's the story party like there?

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:21

Araxxor: Oct 20, 2012; My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

Kemix posted:

Speaking of EOU1, what's the story party like there?

Gameplay wise? Eh, jack of all trades. Very basic, and kind of boring to play around. (Highlander, Gunner, Protector, Alchemist, and Medic) Story wise, there's only 1 interesting character (Raquna.)

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:24

Blueberry Pancakes: Aug 18, 2012; Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!

Kemix posted:

Speaking of EOU1, what's the story party like there?

Highlander (Party Support/Decent Damage)
Protector (Tanking)
Medic (Healing)
Alchemist (Elemental Damage)
Gunner (Piercing Damage/Elemental Damage/All Kinds of Stuff because Frederica was probably the most broken character in the game)

Seriously, Frederica was so overpowered, they had to make one of her abilities into the Gunner's Force Boost in EO2U. The same is the case with the Alchemist's Analysis.

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:40

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

Seriously, Frederica was so overpowered, they had to make one of her abilities into the Gunner's Force Boost in EO2U. The same is the case with the Alchemist's Analysis.

Atlus then turned right around and gave Alchemists Compression to make up for nerfing Analysis, which I'd argue is more overpowered than any version of Analysis ever was. :v:

# ? Nov 18, 2015 07:53

Rea: Apr 5, 2011; Komi-san won.

Update 3: Yggdrasil Cuisine

Alright. New day, new parts of the Labyrinth to explore.

...Asriel, it's 7 in the morning...

Labyrinths wait for no one.

Exploring while tired seems like a bad idea.

Well, we're not getting any less tired standing around. Let's go.

...Wait, do we still have that whip the other Dark Hunter gave us?

Rrm.

We still have two Hedgehog needles, too.

No sense in hoarding. Let's go sell them.

Yeah, I forgot to sell the 2 Rat Needles that Cass didn't need. Whoops. Selling them unlocks:

Kalinga (+30 ATK) is unlocked by selling 1 Rat Needle. It's...well, it's an upgrade from what the shop had to start with. I wouldn't personally spend money on it.

Harpoon (+27 ATK) is unlocked by selling 2 Rat Needles. Again, it's an upgrade from what the shop starts with, but is it really worth the money?

Now that that's over with, into the Labyrinth.

Alright, we're entering unmapped territory. Let's be careful that we don't run into--

More deer. Of course there're more deer. Why wouldn't there be more deer?

These, um, don't seem that difficult to walk around though.

Just wait for the Ragelope trailing behind the first one to pass by you before you walk forward here.

Rrrm?

Hm? You hear something, Ursa?

Oh.

SYSTEM: Wondering what it could be, you look closer and discover it's one of the hedgehogs you see often here. The spines on its back seem to be caught in the roots, preventing it from escaping. Under most circumstances, it would be safest to leave it where it is. Even if you were to render aid, it would not feel indebted to you--it may even attack out of instinct.

Please, let's just leave it. It could be related to the hedgehogs that nearly killed Ursa and I...

Rr-rrm.

Ursa? What're you doing?!

SYSTEM: Ursa carefully tugs on the hedgehog to pull its spines from the tree's roots... Surprised by your actions, the hedgehog squirms even more frantically, scratching Ursa's face terribly!

RRRRRGH!
SYSTEM: But Ursa remains undeterred through it all and successfully frees the hedgehog from the tree. The hedgehog immediately retreats to a safe distance and bristles threateningly. You hardly wish to fight, since you just saved the creature. You keep your weapons sheathed and stare at the hedgehog. When it realizes that you intend it no harm, the hedgehog scrambles away. Satisfied with your success, you return to the task at hand.

You stupid bear, what did you do that for? That thing could come back and try to kill us later!

Rrr.

I don't know what that means!

Another shortcut we can't use yet.

Uuuuggh. I know how these deer move now, but looking at them still stresses me out. _{Can I put down "emotional distress" as a surcharge?}

We've gotten around them fine so far, Realga...I'm sure we'll be fine.

Big caterpillar approaching, everyone.

Wha?

Crawler
HP: 200, STR: 12, TEC: 5, VIT: 8, AGI: 6, LUC: 9
Skills:

Ensaring Web: Uses the head. Attempts to bind each party member's legs, with a 70% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier.

Drops:

Normal: Small Nail. 75% chance. Sells for 15 en. 1 needed to make Leg Guard (immunity to leg binds). 3 needed to make Nail Whip (+26 ATK). 4 needed to make Amud Staff (+19 ATK, +8 TP, +1 TEC). 3 Carapace Pieces and 2 Small Nails needed to make Targe (+7 DEF). 5 Small Nails and 2 Ray Flowers needed to make Breastplate (+13 DEF, +5 HP).
"Crawler's twisted black nail. Widely used due to its hard outer surface."

Damage resistances:

100%

150%

100%

100%
Ailment and bind resistances:

100%

150%

50%

100%

100%

A caterpillar of unusual size that relies on its spinnerets to ensare adventurers.

Crawlers are massive pains in the rear end, especially if you run into one while you're doing the first mission. Remember how the Hedgehog and Mole had HP in the upper double digits and still took over a turn each to take down? Yeah, say hi to 200 HP. Running isn't even a very reliable option, because Ensaring Web can bind your party's legs, which disables Escape. On its own, one Crawler isn't that bad, but you can run into 3 of them at once. Your best option at that point is to just use a big all-target Force Break, because that's a fight you are unlikely to get out of unscathed.

P-please don't spit web at us. That's my job...

Spitting web is your job?

N-no, tying things--you know what I mean.

Rrrf!

Crawlers hit HARD. Bear in mind that's after the Hit-Taker damage reduction. A Crawler's basic attack would kill Asriel and probably Freyja if Ursa wasn't tanking.

Caterpillars are as flammable as spiders. Good to know.

Another level up.

Not a lot to comment on. I'm building towards Flame Grater on Asriel so he can contribute some multi-target damage (which our party is sorely lacking at the moment). I also took one point in Salve on Realga, and that's all I'll invest in it for now. Stardust's also building towards Compression.

SYSTEM: Perhaps some sort of key is necessary to gain entry...

RrrrRRRRRRGGGGHHH!

Don't think it's gonna open. I've seen these things in Tharsis before.

So how do we go through here without the deer catching us?

Let the group on the right go up the middle. Then we run.

I think the group on the left are catching up to us! Oh gods oh gods--

Calm down, Realga. They move as fast as we do. We're fine.

Rrr.

Think she wants us to go up here.

Wholly unnecessary for us. I guess if you didn't take Abigail's advice to buy one back in town this'd be nice.

Alright, we should be safe. Go!

I...hah...hate...these stupid deer...

Why are you terrified of them? They aren't aggressive towards us.

We spent an entire month at school talking about the dangers of FOEs as a frontline medic. Lots of illustrations of explorers and their medics gored by deer.

...How does that help you heal us at all? Why would they teach you this?

Got into a random encounter shortly after that. It's completely unremarkable, so let's use it to demonstrate Horse Slash.

Hyah!

The stairs must be over there.

Rrr, rr!

Ursa wants us to go the other way, I think...

'Nother materials point. Let's grab what we can and mark it down for the Byeahs.

...What ARE those...things, I guess, anyway?

Marion said they're some primitive type of automaton. Hence why they repeat "byeah" incessantly.

Mm. Heard some stories that there's an underwater city in the ocean to the south with a bunch of intelligent robots. Maybe they're related.

Um, are you sure you should take that story at face value?

The other ingredient you can find from 1st Stratum Take points.

Ignore the fact that I marked the stairs with a door; I fix it soon enough.

Rr!

Ursa...? Hey-hey-hey, wait!

Ursa? Realga?

We're fine! We're in the room where we got the token before.

Mark this on the map. Could be useful.

When you've drawn what the game considers a sufficiently complete map and reach the stairs, Floor Jump for that floor and that particular stairs becomes enabled. Essentially, Floor Jump lets you freely travel between floors you've completely visited. See this GIF:

Alright, new floor, new monsters...

I say we go back to town first. I'm tired after running from the deer...

Rrrrghh...rrf.

No luck?

Nrr.

And this is why Ariadne Threads are less useful than they used to be. If you're on a Floor Jump-enabled floor, you can just jump to the 1F down stairs and be back in Lagaard.

When we return to Lagaard:

Yes. What is it?

I am a member of the ducal guards. I have a message from the Minister to relay to you. There is something that the Minister would like you to do. If you could, please come to the Duke's Palace immediately. I haven't been told the details, but it seemed as thought he Minister was very troubled about something. He would appreciate it even if you come merely to hear him out...or so I'm told. I will be taking my leave now.

Is it another mission? We could use more funds.

Doubt it, but we don't have much choice.

I've been hearing a great many rumors about your guild. Now, I would ask your assistance on a specific matter. And that would be...to help run the Lagaard Cafe! Now, I'm not asking you to throw aside your weaponry and equipment in favor of the humble skillet, of course... What I would like you to do is colelct ingredients for certain recipes. These recipes were created long ago by a man named Apicius. He was a gourmet that revolutionized the culinary arts. High Lagaard's harsh climate is hardly suitable for agriculture, so Apicius had to turn to the Labyrinth for his ingredients. His cooking had a curious effect on his diners, energizing them and sparking unprecedented progress in High Lagaard. ...Unfortunately, everything was lost upon his sudden passing. He was a secretive man, and he ensured that all his recipes were hidden... Until recently, it was believed his recipes were lost to the ages. But only the other day, we stumbled upon a portion of his recipes by a happy coincidence! We wish to use these recipes to encourage the growth of Lagaard and the happiness of its people. But we require your help. I have already arranged for a cook... Ahem. Please enter.

_Eep.

Regina, what are you looking so cross for? Come now, introduce yourself.

...I am Regina Dubois. I have been given the chance to run my own cafe.

U-um, did we do something to ups--

Shush.

It's nice to meet you.

The pleasure's mine. I've heard about you. You sound like trustworthy explorers. ...I still have some preparations left for the cafe. You should come by the place once you're ready. I'll explain the rest there.

Now, Regina, don't be so rude to the explorers! ...I must apologize for my granddaughter's behavior. What can she be so cross about? She's usually not like this, I assure you. Allow me to give you directions to the cafe. I'll be entrusting the cafe and my granddaughter in your care, then.

The Renovating Shop's opened up now. And no, it won't be called that for long.

Impressive.

This...actually looks really nice to eat in.

...But first things first. I may be the granddaughter of the nation's Minister, but I'm a chef before any of that. There's no need for you to put on airs or act respectful for my sake. Just make use of me however you see fit.

Sure, Regina.

Thanks. Let's get down to business, then. First off, let me give you this.

What I just gave you...yes, those are the deciphered recipes that Apicius left behind. Coffee beans don't really work in High Lagaard's climate, so Apicius created this recipe so people could recreate the taste. I need two ingredients--Rye and Sugar Beet. I'd like you to find some for me from the Labyrinth. According to the recipe, blending these two ingredients together creates a drink that's identical to coffee in taste and scent... ...Of course, I plan to do my best in order to reproduce Apicius's recipes. Don't forget, Rye and Sugar Beet. I'm counting on you to get them. There's also one more thing that I should probably explain to you... From now on, I'll take responsibility for storing any ingredients you find in the Labyrinth, within the Ingredient Storage. Don't worry about it too much. Just stop by after you've gotten some ingredients.

Well, we got some Rye, but I think Sugar Beets are on the second floor.

Oh, I almost forgot. I need you guys to think of a name for this place. I want something good. Memorable. It's going to be the first thing people see when they come to the cafe. You got it?

Hm. I read this story about a human who fell down a hole and befriended some talking skeletons once...why not use that?

...Huh?

NYEH HEH HEH!!! SANS!!! I'M FINALLY POPULAR ENOUGH TO HAVE A RESTAURANT NAMED AFTER ME!!!

In all seriousness, though, this is yet another time to vote on something! In this case, the name of the Ducal Restaurant. Post your ideas and votes in the thread and I'll decide on a name sometime before or when the next update is ready.

Since we can't really do much at Papyrus until we can get some Sugar Beets, we might as well take the one quest that opened up from getting to 2F.

Oh, that one. That request comes straight from the Palace, so listen close. Yeh see, to decorate the roads near the Duchy, we use this pretty little ore called Amazonite. But those roads got damaged a while back. Needs repairin', but of course we don't have any Amazonite just layin' around... The Duchy's guards usually mine the stuff, but they're all tied up right now. So that's where yeh come in. Now, accordin' to the guards, yeh can mine Amazonite from the 2nd Floor of the forest. Yeh just need 1 Amazonite. Just pick it up, an' bring it back. Easy. Besides, yer Lagaardian citizens now, too! Jus' think of it as community service. G'luck!

But none of us know even the first thing about mining.

Again, we'll let the Byeahs take care of it.

And onto Sitoth Trading, where Abigail starts talking to us once we enter:

We're actually selling a new product today at this store! The product is called...um...the Blast Grenade! That was it! Um, it's used for... Just a moment please, it should be somewhere on this note that my dad wrote... Oh, here it is! Let me read it to you. Some of the monsters you'll encounter take a moment to prepare themselves before unleashing a powerful attack. If you throw this Blast Grenade while they're preparing, the blast will shock them out of their focus and leave them open! ...I'm not sure I completely get it, but...did it make sense to you?

I think so.

Wow, you explorers are so amazing! Oh, right! Here's some samples, so you can try them out first!

Dad told me to just give them to you, so don't worry about a thing. And besides, Dad says sometimes you've got to spend money to make money. I don't really get what that means, but knowing my dad, I bet it's a phrase that'll make everyone happy! Oh, um, sorry for talking so long. That's all I had to tell you. Please, take your time and look around!

I pawn off all the crap we got while finishing up 1F, which results in the following stuff being unlocked:

Remember that The item trade I was to unlock the Targe, which means the quest is done! Abigail will let us know when we leave the store.

Wakizashi (+36 ATK) is unlocked by selling 5 Carapace Pieces.

Mole Claw (+29 ATK) is unlocked by selling 3 Mole Claws. Unless you're using an offensive Beast, upgrading claws, unless they have extra effects, is generally not worth it.

Hide Gage (+4 DEF) is unlocked by selling 1 Soft Fur. Literally just 1 more DEF than the Thick Gages the store had at the start. I'll pass.

Targe (+7 DEF) is unlocked by selling 3 Carapace Pieces and 2 Small Nails.

Leg Guard (Immunity to leg binds) is unlocked by selling 1 Small Nail./i]

I buy a Wakizashi for Asriel due to how much of a boost it gives his ATK, and nothing else. Ursa has not used Attack once since the game started, so I'm not buying her a Mole Claw. Leg Guards are also a) unnecessary at this point, and b) very expensive at 1000en.

Oh yeah, remember the Binding Whip we got from the Dark Hunter at the bar? Remember how it's completely worthless? Abigail will gladly take it off our hands for a small amount of en. A change introduced in EOU and carried over to EO2U is the ability to sell unique weapons back to the store, which also puts the weapon in the shop's stock for a very low amount of en.

And like I said, when we leave the store:

I'll put it on the show floor today, so please have a look. It's my father's masterpiece! Oh, yes! I left the reward with Cass, so you can collect it at the Stickleback Bar. If I need anything else, I'll leave a request for you all on the notice board!

Hey there! Great work! Sorry to give yeh all the runaround. I've heard the whole story!

Shields can, by default, be equipped by Landsknechts, Protectors, and Sovereigns. We don't have any of those in the party at the moment, so it's useless at the moment.

While we're on the topic of quests, let's go take care of that Rock Water quest.

SYSTEM: It seems that water from some natural source has found an outlet, creating a small stream. After draining your flask, you fill it with the water flowing from the spring.

Aaaaand bottled.
SYSTEM: You have completed the quest! When you have the time, you should visit the bar to report your progress.

Well, well, look who's back. And yeh've got the Rock Water. It doesn't look like much, but I s'pose eve this is a blessing from the Labyrinth. We're a small town here, and I s'pect we'd lay over and die if it weren't for Yggdrasil. Another job well done, all of yeh. Here's the reward.

Analysis Scopes are consumables that adds the target to the Monstrous Codex, without you having to actually beat them. It's not that useful. Yeah, you can look at a monster's Info before you beat them, but there's very few instances where that's useful, especially given it requires using someone's turn.

Now that we've opened Papyrus, everyone in town has one-time Talk dialogue in response to it. Here's Cass's:

Yeh lot hear the news!? Sounds like they're openin' a state-operated shop, and it's a cafe to boot! The hell's the matter with 'em...? I know this place is a bar, but we make a lot of our cash from the food we serve at lunch. ...Hey, yeh lot. What say yeh go do some investigatin' fer me? Yeh don't want the old Stickleback to shut down... Yeh'll help, right? What!? The minister asked yeh to help at the cafe? Oh, c'mon! Who's more important to yeh, the Grand Duchy or old Cass!? ...Okay, yeah, the Grand Duchy. Dumb question. Dammit...! Guess I better start addin' some more dishes to the menu!

And here's Cass's normal 2F dialogue:

How're yeh? Seems yeh made it to the 2nd floor! I guess yeh're better than I thought... But yeh know, kids... I've seen plenty of explorers, and yeh lot still have a long ways to go. Well, let me tell yeh one piece of good advice to become a strong explorer. Don't die. ...And that's it. Pretty wise words, don't yeh think? Haw haw haw!

And since we reached 2F, the list of bar patrons has been updated! Let's talk to the new ones.

Adventurers in matching gear:

Hey, c'mon! You drinkin'!? Have a drink. We jus' got back from being burned to a crisp!

...Y'know? Okay, list'n up. There's that thing. *hic* Sunflower thing! Right? Y'see, that thing, is...friggin'...dumb. We thought "Oh, it's takin' a stance or something," but then it started to spew burnin' flames! We got *hic* roasted! A plant. Breathin' fire. 's ridiculous! Right?

Well, we eventually managed t'cut it down with swords, but seriously...it was rough.

...Duly noted.

We'll see Sunflowers once we go further into 2F.

Weary protector:

Gh...uuurrgh... W... Wa...ter...

Rrer.

Huh...w-w-water!? I-It's water!!! Yes! ...Thank you. You got me back on my feet... I'm Tramonte, a protector. I'm looking for rare things in the forest. For example, this thing. A Perfect Thorn! It drops if you defeat a Sunflower with an attack that's not physical, but... ...It's tough for me, of course, since I'm a protector. But I tried my hardest, because it's gonna make someone happy! Heh heh... Hope Lilly likes this.

Statuesque man:

I work, and work, and work...but I keep getting fired... ...Was it really that bad a mistake? It was just one wrong calculation... Bah, I'll think about it later. I need to find some food...right, then, I'll go defeat some Venomflies. ...Hmm? Why, you ask? It sounds unlikely, but Venomflies are actually edible. Although it doesn't look the prettiest. The Forest is a scary place, but even if I have no money, I can at least eat. It's not really that bad a place...

Venomflies are also a 2F enemy.

Girl in a white sundress:

Did you hear the rumor that the Duchy is financing a new restaurant? I...I'm really looking forward to it! ...After all, the restaurants in the area now are just bars and pubs for adventurers, so they're not the best for family dining... I hope that it's a place where everyone can sit down, relax, and enjoy a meal... Please, Grand Duchy, make it happen!

Over at the Explorers Guild, here's Marion's cafe dialogue:

Ah, I've heard the news. You're assisting with...a government-funded cafe, is it? The Minister's put a lot of trust in you. I know your exploration of the Labyrinth is difficult, but do the best you can. If you ever feel overwhelmed, you're always welcome to stop by. I don't mind taking a tea break now and then.

Her normal 2F dialogue:

Hm? Ah, you're the ones that established a new guild the other day. How's your exploration of the Labyrinth going? Hm, so you've made it to the 2nd floor. I'm pleased to hear that your exploration is proceeding well. Many explorers underestimate the Labyrinth and slink out of High Lagaard in shame. Then, too, many explorers vanish into the Labyrinth, never to return. Under no circumstances forget the ease with which the Labyrinth can claim your life. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Try to avoid any unnecessary risks.

Since I forgot to talk to Dubois before leaving the Grand Duchy earlier, here's his cafe dialogue:

Regina can be rather shy, but at heart, she is a very caring girl. I will be counting on your support, Guild Lumen.

Um, are you sure that "shy" is the right word?

Dubois's normal 2F dialogue:

Hm, explorers. Can I help you in some way? Ah, so you have reached the next floor. That is good news indeed. It looks as though you have proven yourselves to be capable explorers of the Labyrinth. Perhaps I may yet see the floating castle in my lifetime, eh? I am expecting great things from you.

Abigail's cafe dialogue:

Did you hear they're making a new cafe!? I heard they're planning on reviving a certain kind of cooking from a long time ago... Forest cuisine, or something? I really wish I could go... Their food must be so good...!

Her normal dialogue:

Oh, hello, everyone! It's great to see you all again... Hee hee, thanks for stopping by! Is your equipment still okay? If anything needs repair or gets dull, just tell me. I'll ask my dad to take a look at it! Um... My dad always says, "Adventurers' lives rest on their equipment!" Have you heard that before? We work hard to make things that everyone can rely on!

And to close out the update, Hanna's cafe dialogue:

Hey, did you hear? The Grand Duchy is apparently starting up a new store! Huh? You already knew? Well, that's disappointing. I thought I was going to be the first one to tell you! Now, it's just gossip, but I heard they're going to serve strange and delicious food there. If I wasn't busy running this in, I'd take Quona and go have a look myself! Bahaha!

And her normal 2F dialogue:

Look at you, you're all filthy! You've been out in the Labyrinth again, haven't you? Tch, you kids! Oh, stop being so lazy! Go back to your rooms to get changed and wash up for your dinner. And why don't you try touring the city instead of rushing to the Labyrinth next time? It might be a nice change of pace!

And a reminder that the name of the Ducal Restaurant is up for voting. Just post the name you want in the thread and I'll tally them up sometime before the next update.

Rea fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Mar 31, 2016

# ? Nov 18, 2015 08:58