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Etrian Odyssey / Sekaiju no Meikyuu (Impressions Post #106)
- Thread starter ethelred
- Start date
Narag said:
You have no idea, the only reason my guys are all so high leveled is because i took that mission was 3 hours away from 5 days and thought "hey I'll get the
egg and kill the wyvren
So if I have to redo it, I might as well fix my party while I do it.
Heres what I would probably change.Enduin said:
Ender(P): I would focus on defender and Smite. Also don't put anymore skill pts on Cure and Provoke
Bardock(L): Should just focus on one attack skill(Crush would be my choice) and put points on Hell cry.
Feradyn(S): Drop True shot and focus on Multi hit, Apollon, and First turn(Three very good skills against the bosses)
Setanta(M): Drop Scavenge and patch up. Focus on Salve 2 and Immunize. If you want a battle Medic Caduceus is a pretty good skill.
A Black Falcon
Member
speedpop said:
Agreed, it's great that during battle you can take some time to fill in the map, which you might not be doing while you're exploring...
ethelred said:
Absolutely. I really don't get it either... I'd say that EO is definitely the best game I've played so far this year, and it's pretty odd that it got such average scores. Oh, sure, it's only going to attract a limited audience because of its design. So? That doesn't make it any less great!
Error said:
The only "flaw" I can think of is that the game isn't as deep as a PC RPG would be. Oh well, it's more than good enough. The reviews really didn't make any sense.
Anyway, I've been going kind of slowly in the game, but have managed to get to floor 13, having just defeated the
ant queen (royalant)
golem boss (on floor 3)
Tetsuo9 said:
Yeah, as I said I just beat that boss with mostly lv37-38 characters, and my alchemist is also volt+poison. The key for me was multiple-hit attacks... Thor+Shocker really carried the day, I'd say. They use a lot of mana though, so having enough to kill them before you run out is crucial... the Troubadour's boost spells help too (Taranis for instance to boost your damage, and Shock for anyone attacking with normal attacks), and binding with my Darkhunter and Salve II, but Thor (or Thunder, when there is just the Royalant and none of its minions) from the Alchemist plus Shocker from the Landshnecht was the key for me. When you use those skills it doesn't matter quite as much that there are a couple of minions... as long as you can kill the thing before you run out of magic. 
Beaten the game!
I'm retiring my characters and creating a new party now, just for fun.
Anyways this is my first step into dungeon crawling RPG (bought the game because of NeoGAF hype) and it was such a great experience. Here's hoping Atlus would create more games like this.
The last boss was a little...predictable. It's a long fight, but repetitive. And now I've found the hole to the 6th Stratum, awesome!
I'm retiring my characters and creating a new party now, just for fun.
Anyways this is my first step into dungeon crawling RPG (bought the game because of NeoGAF hype) and it was such a great experience. Here's hoping Atlus would create more games like this.
heh. I've slowed down a little bit on this, only because I got to where I have to re-level some characters after retiring at 70. It looks like I'm going to go with a Protector, Landsknecht, Battle Medic, Troubadour and Survivalist as my main party, with an Alchemist replacing the Troubadour or Survivalist when necessary. Right now though, I'm mostly just trying to unlock special equipment and get my Dark hunter to 70 so I can retire her and have her reborn as a Survivalist (I just don't find the whip stuff useful on the bonus stratum anymore).
I never tried Caduceus before, since I went through the majority of the game with 3 front line fighters already, but now it's making me go for a Survivalist over a level 70 retired Dark hunter (going swords instead of whips) just so I can keep my Medic in the front line. It's amazing how flexible most classes are when it comes to skill builds, even if they don't have a whole ton of depth.
I never tried Caduceus before, since I went through the majority of the game with 3 front line fighters already, but now it's making me go for a Survivalist over a level 70 retired Dark hunter (going swords instead of whips) just so I can keep my Medic in the front line. It's amazing how flexible most classes are when it comes to skill builds, even if they don't have a whole ton of depth.
LTTP: It finally arrived this afternoon from Amazon. Game is great.
Went with an obvious Fighter / Paladin / Bard / Cleric / Wizard team. Don't know what to do with the Survivalist or Dark Hunter yet.
Loving the game so far. It's pretty hard if you don't take your time and choose your skills wisely.
Any basic beginner tips? Skill suggestions (stay away from x, it sucks; go for y as soon as possible)?
Went with an obvious Fighter / Paladin / Bard / Cleric / Wizard team. Don't know what to do with the Survivalist or Dark Hunter yet.
Loving the game so far. It's pretty hard if you don't take your time and choose your skills wisely.
Any basic beginner tips? Skill suggestions (stay away from x, it sucks; go for y as soon as possible)?
Pureauthor
Member
JayDubya said:
Protector, go Defender, Smite, Anti(___), in that order.
Medic, get to Cure III 10 and Salve III 10 as soon as possible. After that, Immunize 10 and Revive 1. Healing Touch is the worst skill in the game unless you're paired up with a Revenge Hexer. Also consider making a Combat Medic.
Troubadour - sucks early game unfortunately. Go for Bravery, Shelter, and Relaxing. 1 point in each of the elemental imbuing songs are good, too.
Alchemist - Poison is good until the 3rd Stratum, whereupon it becomes worthless.
Landsknecht - there's two different equally valid builds, but one gets outstripped by Ronin later. If you want a good all-rounder, go Swords and train up All-Slash, and the Chaser skills. Otherwise, go Axe and max out Crush. STAY AWAY FROM 2-HIT.
Dark Hunter - if you use him, go Whips and the bindings. Best when teamed up with Bind Hexer. Don't forget Ecstascy. If you really want him to use Swords for whatever reason, go Drain.
Survivalist - <3. Get Multihit, Apollon, 1st Hit to max as soon as possible.
A sword D is pretty good really late in the game, simply because until you take on some of the optional bosses, your swords will be way better than your whips, and the binds get tougher and tougher to land. At least in my experience they do. Also, it's a lot easier to work into a regular group, though on the other hand, whips will be good for the first 4 strata just because they have a much better binding rate than any other class's binds (except Hexers), even if you don't get to use Ecstasy much. I'm still not going to use a sword Dark hunter in my main party, but I want to give it enough time to grow into a fully awesome class.
Oh yeah. In my experience the most effective way, points-wise, to go for your Landsknecht is to go axes and hell cry. Axes offer tons of single target damage and can one-shot a lot of regular enemies, while swords offer multi-hit attacks that work best paired up with an Alchemist's own multi-target elemental spells. But it's a pretty steep investment just to unlock the so-called "chaser" skills (because they automatically strike after the appropriate elemental spell is used). And you can get away with a single point into HP Up for almost anyone early on, but I'd wait on it until level 30 or so to even consider it, because before then you're probably not going to see a significant increase. You don't need to max it out unless you do the bonus content. A single point adds 10% more HP, and the next big improvement doesn't come until 5 points, and then again at 10. That's actually the way nearly all skills work - either go for 1, 5, or 10 points if you want to use it. The only real exceptions are Toxins, Songs, and Curses. You can leave Toxins at 1 point, because the poison damage caps at 255/round, and you'll hit that cap just leveling the skill up to level 10.
edit: cleared up a little bit on the binding rate. I didn't want to imply a sword D could still bind... they can't. You go whips for binds, swords for status ailments/HP stealing.
Oh yeah. In my experience the most effective way, points-wise, to go for your Landsknecht is to go axes and hell cry. Axes offer tons of single target damage and can one-shot a lot of regular enemies, while swords offer multi-hit attacks that work best paired up with an Alchemist's own multi-target elemental spells. But it's a pretty steep investment just to unlock the so-called "chaser" skills (because they automatically strike after the appropriate elemental spell is used). And you can get away with a single point into HP Up for almost anyone early on, but I'd wait on it until level 30 or so to even consider it, because before then you're probably not going to see a significant increase. You don't need to max it out unless you do the bonus content. A single point adds 10% more HP, and the next big improvement doesn't come until 5 points, and then again at 10. That's actually the way nearly all skills work - either go for 1, 5, or 10 points if you want to use it. The only real exceptions are Toxins, Songs, and Curses. You can leave Toxins at 1 point, because the poison damage caps at 255/round, and you'll hit that cap just leveling the skill up to level 10.
edit: cleared up a little bit on the binding rate. I didn't want to imply a sword D could still bind... they can't. You go whips for binds, swords for status ailments/HP stealing.
Yeah, right now I'm looking at a:
Protector 5 (HP Up 1, DEF UP 3, Shields 2, Provoke1)
Landskneckt 5 (ATK UP 2, Swords 3, Cleaver 2)
Troubador 5 (Songs 2, Bravery 2, Shelter 2, 1 Unspent) - Thinking of getting "Take"
Medic 5 (TP Up 2, Healer 4, Cure 1)
Alchemist (TP Up 2, Fire Up 2, Fire 1, 2 Unspent) - "Chop?"
Also, what about all these Mine, Chop, Take skills? Just blow one on each?
And does the merchant only get new gear through you selling gear to them? Reminds me of the special deals in Final Fantasy XII. :lol
That might be why it's key to have those gathering skills, I'm thinking.
Protector 5 (HP Up 1, DEF UP 3, Shields 2, Provoke1)
Landskneckt 5 (ATK UP 2, Swords 3, Cleaver 2)
Troubador 5 (Songs 2, Bravery 2, Shelter 2, 1 Unspent) - Thinking of getting "Take"
Medic 5 (TP Up 2, Healer 4, Cure 1)
Alchemist (TP Up 2, Fire Up 2, Fire 1, 2 Unspent) - "Chop?"
Also, what about all these Mine, Chop, Take skills? Just blow one on each?
And does the merchant only get new gear through you selling gear to them? Reminds me of the special deals in Final Fantasy XII. :lol
That might be why it's key to have those gathering skills, I'm thinking.
Prime crotch
Banned
How does the retire skill bonus works? I'm thinking of retiring my entire party sooner or later for some extra poin and add a Ronin. Also what's wrong with 2-hit?
Pureauthor
Member
JayDubya said:
Some players just form a group of dedicated Survivalists solely for gathering skills - since they're the only class with all three of them.
So, yeah, don't bother with those skills for your 'main' team unless you're Resting them later.
Some notes:
Provoke sucks.
You might wanna invest a couple points in Volt, since some of the enemies in the 1st Stratum are weak to it. Overall, I found Volt and Fire extrememly useful in exploiting weaknesses, with Ice tapering off a bit.
EDIT: Since some people seem to be questioning why I'm not a fan of 2-Hit, it's because a) Luck-based skills suck. I'd rather have a point investment in something I know is reliable.
And b) speaking of point investments, regardless of the build you go, 2-Hit is going to waste you five points from the opposing build which could be used for something else.
In summation, assuming you max out 2-Hit, you're blowing 15 points for a 30% chance to do a second hit. Hardly worth it.
Pureauthor
Member
F.Guard and B.Guard will cause a shield to be thrown up around the front row and back row, respectively, thus mitigating some of the damage dealt on that turn. The guard boost increases as you invest more points in it. It can be helpful in a pinch, such as you have a Alchemist with dangerously low health and want hit can take a hit before the Medic heals him, you cast B.Guard that turn. (Note, F.Guard and B.Guard will go up at the beginning of the turn, regardless of the Protector's speed.)
Defender is a party-wide defensive skill. Initially it was believed to be inferior to Shelter based on the percentages put up by each skill at 10 points, but later it was discovered that Defender negates a percentage of your enemy's attack. Thus, against strong foes, Defender is invaluable. Couple it with the Medic's Immunize (the wording on that skill sucks. It boosts defense. All you need to now.) for the chance to laugh at bosses as they deal single digit damage to you.
Passive Block can be nice, but it's a case of Opportunity Cost - there are far better things to spend your points on.
Also, Provoke sucks, not only because it is luck-based, but because most of the later bosses use party-wide offensive skills, thus completely negating the point of Provoke.
Defender is a party-wide defensive skill. Initially it was believed to be inferior to Shelter based on the percentages put up by each skill at 10 points, but later it was discovered that Defender negates a percentage of your enemy's attack. Thus, against strong foes, Defender is invaluable. Couple it with the Medic's Immunize (the wording on that skill sucks. It boosts defense. All you need to now.) for the chance to laugh at bosses as they deal single digit damage to you.
Passive Block can be nice, but it's a case of Opportunity Cost - there are far better things to spend your points on.
Also, Provoke sucks, not only because it is luck-based, but because most of the later bosses use party-wide offensive skills, thus completely negating the point of Provoke.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
I hate whoever said this game wasn't a grind and Dragona.
I restarted playing this last week because I was itching for some old school goodness. This game completely delivers in everything. But, it absolutely IS a grind unless you find yourself making the most perfect and lucky choices early on.
I'm struggling to do the Queen Ant battle at the moment and will probably have to level everyone 1-2 times before I have a chance.
The ONLY thing I've really hated about the game so far was the quest where you had to spend 5 days in that 7th floor. I just ran back and forth in that healing-water room where battles never occur, but that still took over 20 minutes of "up, down, down, up, up, down down" until the quest was done.
Oh...and no quicksave. I would've legitimately handled 5 days in that floor without pussing out if I could just quicksave anytime.
Anywho...can't wait to get out of work and play some more. That bitchant is going DOWN.
I restarted playing this last week because I was itching for some old school goodness. This game completely delivers in everything. But, it absolutely IS a grind unless you find yourself making the most perfect and lucky choices early on.
I'm struggling to do the Queen Ant battle at the moment and will probably have to level everyone 1-2 times before I have a chance.
The ONLY thing I've really hated about the game so far was the quest where you had to spend 5 days in that 7th floor. I just ran back and forth in that healing-water room where battles never occur, but that still took over 20 minutes of "up, down, down, up, up, down down" until the quest was done.
Oh...and no quicksave.
I would've legitimately handled 5 days in that floor without pussing out if I could just quicksave anytime.Anywho...can't wait to get out of work and play some more. That bitchant is going DOWN.
Just finished mapping and clearing B2F, and man. This is a good game. It's grindy, and it's hard, and that's pretty much what I wanted.
Of course, part of the difficulty of this game is about how ridiculous it is to get your magic users up to snuff, it would seem.
I mean, the FOEs confusion debuff must take a lot of skill in that status clearing magic to get rid of. Those poison butterflies were pretty lethal until my guys could take a hit from them + 25 poison at the end of the turn. I can't imagine going "Combat Medic" when there's just so much I need my Medic to be able to do and he can only advance up one SP at a time.
At any rate, I'm guessing that "Rest" option would basically allow my characters to reuse all their L1 skill points and otherwise set them back to square one, with better gear, right? I pretty much screwed up to some small extent on all of them, but oh well.
And then, Retire ditches the character for a new one with slightly better stats, best stat boost if you retire a L70?
Of course, part of the difficulty of this game is about how ridiculous it is to get your magic users up to snuff, it would seem.
I mean, the FOEs confusion debuff must take a lot of skill in that status clearing magic to get rid of. Those poison butterflies were pretty lethal until my guys could take a hit from them + 25 poison at the end of the turn. I can't imagine going "Combat Medic" when there's just so much I need my Medic to be able to do and he can only advance up one SP at a time.
At any rate, I'm guessing that "Rest" option would basically allow my characters to reuse all their L1 skill points and otherwise set them back to square one, with better gear, right? I pretty much screwed up to some small extent on all of them, but oh well.
And then, Retire ditches the character for a new one with slightly better stats, best stat boost if you retire a L70?
I just wanted to ask EO veterans:
was I lucky while fighting the Royalant in floor B12?
It dropped an item that I then sold and it unlocked an extremly powerful weapon for a ronin ( hachi, I think it's called). It is actually the 3rd most powerful katana in the whole game and so early!! Floor 12!!!
I then looked and it seems the item the royalant dropped was indeed quite rare.
was I lucky while fighting the Royalant in floor B12?
It dropped an item that I then sold and it unlocked an extremly powerful weapon for a ronin ( hachi, I think it's called). It is actually the 3rd most powerful katana in the whole game and so early!! Floor 12!!!
I then looked and it seems the item the royalant dropped was indeed quite rare.
yeah, really lucky there. I still haven't gotten that rare drop... not that it matters for me, since I don't use Ronins anyway.
also, JayDubya, I really think the best way to go for gathering stuff is just making a team of survivalists and maxing them out in a different gathering skill. Or you could even max out all 3 skills later on when your main team can carry them to level 28. 5 people with the same gathering skill at level 10 gives you 99 uses, so you could have 99 mine/take/chop uses per day. Oh, and the per day thing is literally whenever it's dawn. You could go into the dungeon at 3AM (game time) and mine/take/chop away, then wander until it's 5AM and get your uses back without having to use the inn.
just general class tips from my experience:
The classes you start with are all really well balanced and not a single one of them is bad at all, but you don't need an Alchemist for the whole game. They're useful for some big damage, if you can keep them protected. Just like any other typical wizard. I used an Alchemist for the first 2 strata, then replaced him with a Landsknecht and had no trouble beating the game. Then in the bonus content you really do need an Alchemist, but by then it's incredibly quick to level one up. So if your Alchemist ever starts feeling like dead weight, just leave him/her at the guild hall and take along another fighter of some sort. Then later on in the game you can build up your Alchemist super fast with 1-2 other members.
If you stick with a Troubadour, don't bother with a Ronin when you unlock it later on, unless you replace your Troubadour with that Ronin. A Troubadour and Medic will fill up all 3 buff slots pretty fast, meaning your Ronin's gotta lose one buff (whichever one was cast first, I think) to get into their stance and use their stance specials. In my experience it's not worth it compared to having a Landsknecht getting the Bravery song from a Troubadour. That's not saying Ronins suck, just that if you have a party that does a lot of buffing, which is what the Troubadour is best at, then the Ronin isn't very compatible. A Ronin works fine for a party that doesn't have a Troubadour.
Hexers are niche in a lot of ways, because they basically do debuffs and binds, and their only real damage-dealing move is Revenge, although that does deal some great damage if you can keep their HP low. It's like the Revenge blue magic in FF6 where it does the difference between your HP and max HP as damage. Anyway, despite saying Hexers are niche, if you're really focused on making bosses as weak as possible, they're a good addition for that. With stuff like Frailty, they can lower the boss's damage even more while you have your defensive buffs up, and with Relapse they can essentially "refresh" a debuff so it will last another 5 rounds.
Despite all the S&M puns with the Dark hunter's skillset, they're more or less the "thief" class of this game. They don't really steal anything, but they're quick frontline fighters who don't have a lot of HP, but do have a big variety of skills and bring a little utility (binds or status ailments) to your group. But if you're not interested in one, they're really not required for the game at all. I think the only required class is a Medic, because it's pretty hard to get by healing otherwise without a ton of money from gathering stuff.
If I had to list my 3 favorite/best classes overall in my experience, it's Protector, Landsknecht, and Medic, in no particular order. Protectors' anti-element spells are great for the really late game stuff and required for the bonus content, Landsknechts are melee gods like d&d fighters, and with the best gear can typically one-shot something or deal massive damage to a group with allslash, and the Medic is by far the best class in the game. They have the versatility to be an uber healer, an uber buffer, and a damn good fighter, too, if you decide to go for Caduceus. But really, the only class I've used that I thought didn't fit in with my playstyle was Ronin, and that's just because I prefer big party buffs to individual buffs.
also, JayDubya, I really think the best way to go for gathering stuff is just making a team of survivalists and maxing them out in a different gathering skill. Or you could even max out all 3 skills later on when your main team can carry them to level 28. 5 people with the same gathering skill at level 10 gives you 99 uses, so you could have 99 mine/take/chop uses per day. Oh, and the per day thing is literally whenever it's dawn. You could go into the dungeon at 3AM (game time) and mine/take/chop away, then wander until it's 5AM and get your uses back without having to use the inn.
just general class tips from my experience:
The classes you start with are all really well balanced and not a single one of them is bad at all, but you don't need an Alchemist for the whole game. They're useful for some big damage, if you can keep them protected. Just like any other typical wizard. I used an Alchemist for the first 2 strata, then replaced him with a Landsknecht and had no trouble beating the game. Then in the bonus content you really do need an Alchemist, but by then it's incredibly quick to level one up. So if your Alchemist ever starts feeling like dead weight, just leave him/her at the guild hall and take along another fighter of some sort. Then later on in the game you can build up your Alchemist super fast with 1-2 other members.
If you stick with a Troubadour, don't bother with a Ronin when you unlock it later on, unless you replace your Troubadour with that Ronin. A Troubadour and Medic will fill up all 3 buff slots pretty fast, meaning your Ronin's gotta lose one buff (whichever one was cast first, I think) to get into their stance and use their stance specials. In my experience it's not worth it compared to having a Landsknecht getting the Bravery song from a Troubadour. That's not saying Ronins suck, just that if you have a party that does a lot of buffing, which is what the Troubadour is best at, then the Ronin isn't very compatible. A Ronin works fine for a party that doesn't have a Troubadour.
Hexers are niche in a lot of ways, because they basically do debuffs and binds, and their only real damage-dealing move is Revenge, although that does deal some great damage if you can keep their HP low. It's like the Revenge blue magic in FF6 where it does the difference between your HP and max HP as damage. Anyway, despite saying Hexers are niche, if you're really focused on making bosses as weak as possible, they're a good addition for that. With stuff like Frailty, they can lower the boss's damage even more while you have your defensive buffs up, and with Relapse they can essentially "refresh" a debuff so it will last another 5 rounds.
Despite all the S&M puns with the Dark hunter's skillset, they're more or less the "thief" class of this game. They don't really steal anything, but they're quick frontline fighters who don't have a lot of HP, but do have a big variety of skills and bring a little utility (binds or status ailments) to your group. But if you're not interested in one, they're really not required for the game at all. I think the only required class is a Medic, because it's pretty hard to get by healing otherwise without a ton of money from gathering stuff.
If I had to list my 3 favorite/best classes overall in my experience, it's Protector, Landsknecht, and Medic, in no particular order. Protectors' anti-element spells are great for the really late game stuff and required for the bonus content, Landsknechts are melee gods like d&d fighters, and with the best gear can typically one-shot something or deal massive damage to a group with allslash, and the Medic is by far the best class in the game. They have the versatility to be an uber healer, an uber buffer, and a damn good fighter, too, if you decide to go for Caduceus. But really, the only class I've used that I thought didn't fit in with my playstyle was Ronin, and that's just because I prefer big party buffs to individual buffs.
I just recently jumped into this game. I've read a lot of comments on recommended skills and builds, but I'm curious as to how useful Patch Up and TP Regen are. Right now I'm on B3F and I'd like to be able to stay down here a bit longer without having to run back to town and rest up. Does this get better? Should I be using items?
BTW, this game is fantastic.
BTW, this game is fantastic.
I wouldn't put more than 1 point into patch up, and not until that 4% (or whatever it is) HP recovery after battle actually makes a big difference. TP Regen is something I built up on my original Medic in the 30s I think, but my current Medic is Caduceus oriented, so she'll never get TP Regen. It is an awesome skill if you're just using your Medic as a healer, though. If you use a Troubadour with Relaxing, you can stop at level 7 TP Regen... from 1-7 you get an extra point of TP regen every odd level, but it takes from 7-10 to go from 4 TP/round to 5 TP/round.
Prime crotch
Banned
So about retire, anyone knows how that works? Do I get an extra skill point for every 10 levels or so?
captain wow
Member
Hi, im considering getting EO but dont know if id like it. One of my favourite games is shining the holy ark, which seems to be similar.
you get 3 extra skill points at 30, and then 6 for retiring at 70. by extra I mean in addition to the 3 you get when you start a new character. You also get a very small bonus to one stat (+1-3 depending upon what level you retire at). Basically it just removes the existing high level character and allows you to start up a new one with more skill points and slightly higher stats. Just make sure to unequip before you retire someone, because they take their stuff with them.
firex said:
Yeah, I think I'm going to max out the bonus XP skill (Divinity?) on the Troubadour and then not Retire him, but Retire everyone else and use him to level up all the "Children" of the previous party. :lol
Also, I imagine my "resource whore party" would be a good source of possible Retirees, though at this point I don't know just how hard it really would be to grind up to max level.
Just hit 18, just beat Fenrir, killed all the FOEs in the First Stratum, completed most the First Stratum quests.
Pureauthor
Member
Be prepared. There's a significant difficulty jump every Stratum.
Also, you won't be hitting the level cap - or even the point where you can start Retiring, for a while yet, so don't worry about it.
Also, you won't be hitting the level cap - or even the point where you can start Retiring, for a while yet, so don't worry about it.
Pureauthor
Member
Money problems persist until the 5th stratum, where a Mine Point near the entrance gives you obscene amounts of cash every runthrough.
Also, if you have a Protector, get him/her the Anti(____) skills to level 5 for all of them.
Also, if you have a Protector, get him/her the Anti(____) skills to level 5 for all of them.
Man, only 3 buffs per person makes it rough. Almost not worth having a Troubadour when I can't slam down all his buffs, and if I do, I can't use the Protector's team buffs or self buffs, or the Landsrect's either.
I'm thinking having both a Protector and a Troubadour is kind of redundant, even, from the perspective of tough boss fights, which is what I generally save my TP for anyway. Well, there's Bravery, which is good. And Relaxing.
I see what Firex means about the Ronin being kind of SOL in most parties when all his buffs would get overridden.
I'm thinking having both a Protector and a Troubadour is kind of redundant, even, from the perspective of tough boss fights, which is what I generally save my TP for anyway. Well, there's Bravery, which is good. And Relaxing.
I see what Firex means about the Ronin being kind of SOL in most parties when all his buffs would get overridden.
Hesemonni
Banned
Ok, I admit that I was a bit skeptical about Etrian Odyssey. Mostly because of the plot, or lack of it. But after a while I was all 'OMG OMG OMG OMMMGGG' with it. It's so easy to spend time with it and hell, it's the first DS game I've played while at work. Somehow I love mapping the areas and if it were possible to make your own little entries it would be a dream come true. And it could use a little graphics boost, mainly with FOEs and maybe some character encounters, but other than that : I'm loving it.
I'm currently on the 3rd Stratum with a rather unimaginative party lineup : P, D, L, A and M.
I'm currently on the 3rd Stratum with a rather unimaginative party lineup : P, D, L, A and M.
Spoilers regarding one of the early quest bosses, around B4F-B5F, so avoid if you're not far in.
My current active party ranges from Lvl 14-17 (though I have 2 of each of the starting classes - the others are just lower level). Right now, it's a Landstejahajk focusing on axes, a Protector focusing on party defense/F-B guard and wielding a cool new sword that I just found, a survivalist focusing on bow skills, a medic focusing on healing and TP regenerating, and a bolt/poison mage.
I was exploring B4-5F at my leisure. I warp back and save. After some further exploration, I find out Fenrir's lair. Kill one of his minions (?skoog), then walk a bit in. Whoops, encounter with Fenrir. I wasn't properly prepared, and I end up fighting big F. I realize I'm in no condition to defeat him, and escape doesn't seem to be an option. At least I get to listen to new boss music as F proceeds to kill as more and more of his minions join the fight.
Luckily, I had saved not too far off, so I save the map data and restart. This time around, I'm a tad bolder, and decide to test the waters with B3F's FOE, Mr Stalker. It's a long fight, but I end up victorious. I kill off the second Stalker as well. I then meet the Hexer lady and get healed up, and go hunt some more Stalkers. In the north-west area of B3F where there are 2 of them, I carefully approach one, hoping to kill it quickly before the second one engages me. While I'm one square away from initiating the fight, I end up in a random encounter instead. No worries, I can deal with them quickly. But then, being reckless, I don't actually finish the fight in one round, end up getting my medic poisoned, and get attacked by big S. It's a bad start, and should be tougher than the previous Stalker fights. A few turns in, I see a big red dot next to my square. Needless to say, the second Stalker quickly joins in. Realizing I'd be better off healing and retrying afterwards, I pull a hasty retreat and get to the Hexer. I come back ready, and this time fight off the two Stalkers. A good tough fight, but not too damaging. I collect the newly acquired treasure, then proceed back down to B5F.
I make my way quickly to B5F, kill off the first 3 skoogs, and then test the waters a bit further in, trying to kill as many of them as possible before going back to save and fight F afterwards. As I get towards the FOE that looks to be Fenrir, I move back and forth a bit. It moves towards me. Is F immobile - is that a skoog? I risk it and engage.
Well, sure enough, it's big F. After just fought the 3 skoogs, I'm not in the best shape. But I know I can't escape, so might as well try. This guy has a lot of hp. Nevertheless, I deal him a substantial amount of damage, while still keeping my party alive. I realize I might actually have a chance against him. That's when all the other nearby FOEs slowly inch towards my square. Knowing all too well there's no way I can beat F before the others jump in, I bide my time. Sure enough, there's 3-4 of them in the fight within a few turns. By then, I'm already running fairly low on TP all-around. I try to poison everyone at once with a spell, but I only succeed against one.
Since the fight's been going on for a fairly long time and I've been keeping constant pressure on damaging big F (also thanks to that fire oil item that I just picked up nearby), he eventually meets his maker. Hehehehe. Not sure if I can beat off the remaining FOEs, I have my party escape.
.... They can't. Desperately using all my items, I try to turn the odds around just to survive so that I can warp back to town. One by one, my characters fall. It was a close call, and I've lost a good amount of time/progress. That part is a tad frustrating, but the risk made the sense of desperation all the sweeter.
Since then, I've redone all that and warped back before fighting big F. That's for next time.
I love this game. Portable dungeon crawlers/JRPGs are awesome.
My current active party ranges from Lvl 14-17 (though I have 2 of each of the starting classes - the others are just lower level). Right now, it's a Landstejahajk focusing on axes, a Protector focusing on party defense/F-B guard and wielding a cool new sword that I just found, a survivalist focusing on bow skills, a medic focusing on healing and TP regenerating, and a bolt/poison mage.
I was exploring B4-5F at my leisure. I warp back and save. After some further exploration, I find out Fenrir's lair. Kill one of his minions (?skoog), then walk a bit in. Whoops, encounter with Fenrir. I wasn't properly prepared, and I end up fighting big F. I realize I'm in no condition to defeat him, and escape doesn't seem to be an option. At least I get to listen to new boss music as F proceeds to kill as more and more of his minions join the fight.
Luckily, I had saved not too far off, so I save the map data and restart. This time around, I'm a tad bolder, and decide to test the waters with B3F's FOE, Mr Stalker. It's a long fight, but I end up victorious. I kill off the second Stalker as well. I then meet the Hexer lady and get healed up, and go hunt some more Stalkers. In the north-west area of B3F where there are 2 of them, I carefully approach one, hoping to kill it quickly before the second one engages me. While I'm one square away from initiating the fight, I end up in a random encounter instead. No worries, I can deal with them quickly. But then, being reckless, I don't actually finish the fight in one round, end up getting my medic poisoned, and get attacked by big S. It's a bad start, and should be tougher than the previous Stalker fights. A few turns in, I see a big red dot next to my square. Needless to say, the second Stalker quickly joins in. Realizing I'd be better off healing and retrying afterwards, I pull a hasty retreat and get to the Hexer. I come back ready, and this time fight off the two Stalkers. A good tough fight, but not too damaging. I collect the newly acquired treasure, then proceed back down to B5F.
I make my way quickly to B5F, kill off the first 3 skoogs, and then test the waters a bit further in, trying to kill as many of them as possible before going back to save and fight F afterwards. As I get towards the FOE that looks to be Fenrir, I move back and forth a bit. It moves towards me. Is F immobile - is that a skoog? I risk it and engage.
Well, sure enough, it's big F. After just fought the 3 skoogs, I'm not in the best shape. But I know I can't escape, so might as well try. This guy has a lot of hp. Nevertheless, I deal him a substantial amount of damage, while still keeping my party alive. I realize I might actually have a chance against him. That's when all the other nearby FOEs slowly inch towards my square. Knowing all too well there's no way I can beat F before the others jump in, I bide my time. Sure enough, there's 3-4 of them in the fight within a few turns. By then, I'm already running fairly low on TP all-around. I try to poison everyone at once with a spell, but I only succeed against one.
Since the fight's been going on for a fairly long time and I've been keeping constant pressure on damaging big F (also thanks to that fire oil item that I just picked up nearby), he eventually meets his maker. Hehehehe. Not sure if I can beat off the remaining FOEs, I have my party escape.
.... They can't. Desperately using all my items, I try to turn the odds around just to survive so that I can warp back to town. One by one, my characters fall. It was a close call, and I've lost a good amount of time/progress. That part is a tad frustrating, but the risk made the sense of desperation all the sweeter.
Since then, I've redone all that and warped back before fighting big F. That's for next time.
I love this game. Portable dungeon crawlers/JRPGs are awesome.
I still use my Troubadour almost exclusively for Relaxing. That buff is so good, since it's a % of TP regen and it of course stacks with a Medic/Alchemist's TP regen skill. but it's true if you're using other buffs then you don't really need one. And I don't think they're as good for some of the really high level game stuff.JayDubya said:
I haven't played the game in a bit since I'm trying to clear up some other parts of my backlog (plus I'm kinda level grinding for the postgame stuff, and that doesn't hold my interest as much) but I don't think I have to retire anyone anymore. I already have a Landsknecht from my old retired level 70 one, a Survivalist from my retired 70 Dark hunter, and my combat Medic from a retired level 70 Medic. The only other class I'd maybe consider retiring, and it's only a maybe, is my Alchemist... if he gets to 70 and I have the heart to actually go through with it, anyway. It may not be bad for hunting for rare items, though, since I could get Scavenge with those extra points.
Personally, I don't recommend retiring unless you've got the retiree on an even multiple of 10 and you want a new character of a different class or something. I mean, my level 70 Landsknecht was made when I retired an Alchemist, just because I had 2 (before I could unlock retire, I'd made a new Alchemist I liked more). Otherwise you can just make a new character, or rest if you want to redo their skill build.
I don't think retiring really benefits some classes anyway... like my Protector and Troubadour. I've got more than enough points with a stock level 70 Troubadour to have the most important passive (if a character has it) in HP Up, and get all the important buffs I need (i.e. Stamina, Bravery, Relaxing). That's basically assuming I rest out of Divinity when my party's high enough level, though. As far as my Protector goes, it turns out the difference in damage reduction/defense increase from Defender level 10 isn't that big over Defender level 5, so that's 5 points you can save, and you only want the Anti-element spells at level 5 anyway, so that leaves a lot of points to get Smite for offense and HP Up/TP Up and maybe Shields (in case I get hit by a different element than whichever Anti I use).
A Black Falcon
Member
Well, I just reached the fourth stratum and am on floor 16 -- I just beat the floor 15 boss today. 'Harder than any enemy before' it said, hah... I almost beat it on my first try, only brought down by failing to use Salve II on my first turn, pretty much (thus losing a character on round 2 and never quite recovering from the mistake -- though I did comeclose and got the guy down to maybe 20% health before dying. I've found that Shock on all party members that attack + Taranis + Volt-focused Alchemist is a great combination... with Relaxing as the third upgrade skill used. With that combo, either with Shocker (which is cool, particularly with a hits-them-all skill like Thor for double hits on the whole enemy party) or normal attacks (seven points in double hit) the Landshneckt did a lot of damage. Maybe if I'd had more resurrect II items I could have won the first time... but I don't have those unlocked from the store yet and the I versions only bring you back with 25 health... anyway though, I came back and beat him easily the second time. It made it even easier when the Darkhunter did well and sealed both his head and feet. It kept trying over and over to use abilities that required one or the other... I beat it with MDL in the front row (levels 40-41) and AT in the back (levels 41 and 36). I've found that despite not having any HP or ATK up points the medic can survive the front row (there's no way that the weaker Alchemist could do that, though), and does more attack damage that way...),
. Wow... this game seems to get better and better the farther you get into it. I thought that stratum three, the
, was great, but this one seems even more interesting. And confusing, with more warps than ever... makes things interesting, though.
Really, this is by far the best game I've bought this year. I'd say it's most probably the best game of the year so far, but that doesn't mean much when almost everything major isn't out yet... darn Christmas-season deluge...
I beat it with MDL in the front row (levels 40-41) and AT in the back (levels 41 and 36). I've found that despite not having any HP or ATK up points the medic can survive the front row (there's no way that the weaker Alchemist could do that, though), and does more attack damage that way...),
the desert area
blue 'underwater-style' forest
Really, this is by far the best game I've bought this year. I'd say it's most probably the best game of the year so far, but that doesn't mean much when almost everything major isn't out yet... darn Christmas-season deluge...
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
Well, that was a bad idea.
Fought Dragon. Party died before I could do anything. Stupid lightning move did 2k+ damage to each party member. This feels like it'll be an impossible battle.
Pureauthor
Member
Yes, anti-ice is going to be ever-so helpful against the Lightning spell.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
Well, I think it was a lightning spell. It happened so fast I couldn't really tell. I was just...dead.
It almost made me want to stop playing, as it likely means I'm going to have to retire another character and grind them back up to level. I mean, navigating that last stratum is already an annoying bitch.
btw, the music in this game is really awesome. It must be played with headphones to be really appreciated.
It almost made me want to stop playing, as it likely means I'm going to have to retire another character and grind them back up to level. I mean, navigating that last stratum is already an annoying bitch.
Kinda wish the game would've stopped at Etreant. The end game really is a grind fest, and if you don't have the right builds you're screwed. Heh, I got to the 6th stratum w/o Immunize, but then I started reading how awesome it was and retired my medic.
btw, the music in this game is really awesome. It must be played with headphones to be really appreciated.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
sphinx said:
just make a dummy gatherer in the guild house and chop from that first location next to the geomagnetic point on the 5th stratum. Those items give you between 5-700 en each. Drywalls, Crystwalls, and stuff.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
sphinx said:Thank you very much!
Good stuff, here I come!!!
Yup. That quick and easy money made it possible for me to retire my medic and skip giving her revive and the refresh ability when i rebuilt her.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
JayDubya said:
Yup. I'd still max out salve II, but I don't think it's worth putting so many points into refreshing just to take care of a few rare status effects. Besides, if your medic were to get petrified, you'd be screwed where everyone can use items.
You're going to want every point possible in that final stratum. The hardest bosses allow little margin of error.
Also, (I'm sure you know this Sphinx), don't waste any of the gathering abilities on your main characters. Also, scavenge and some other abilities that don't really help in battle (sight) should be passed completely. At least, IMO. Gamefaqs and others here might have better advice.
Pureauthor
Member
Like you really need more than one point in Revive.
Also, the 'buy a tonne of items' method doesn't fly - in between lugging around really rare meds you already find in the Labyrinth, the story-related items, etc, you're going to need all the space you can get for picking up stuff in the Labyrinth, or you'll keep getting prompts to drop stuff.
Also, the 'buy a tonne of items' method doesn't fly - in between lugging around really rare meds you already find in the Labyrinth, the story-related items, etc, you're going to need all the space you can get for picking up stuff in the Labyrinth, or you'll keep getting prompts to drop stuff.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
Pureauthor said:
Late in the game you don't really need the item drops unless they're part of an item you need. I agree with putting one point in revive, but nothing more.