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Etrian Odyssey Community Thread: The Ongoing Adventures of Fight and Heal

omlet

Member
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Welcome to the Etrian Odyssey Community Thread!
This is where explorers pool their talents.
It's something like a mutual aid society.

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The Etrian Odyssey games, known as 世界樹の迷宮 in Japanese (Sekaijyu no Meikyuu,
or Labyrinth of the World Tree), are first-person dungeon crawler RPGs published by
ATLUS on the Nintendo DS and 3DS for those gamers who are explorers at heart.

In essence, the games are about building a party exploring a multi-floor labyrinth,
learning the combat and skill system, conquering the challenges along the way, and
ultimately getting a truly rewarding sense of mastery and completion. Some imagination
is required to fully appreciate this kind of game because it will not hold your hand past
the city gates. The series rewards attention to detail, caution, and planning and
preparation, but also often rewards experimentation and thinking outside the box.

The games have stories but they are on the minimalistic side, giving you details
here and there and letting you fill in the rest with your imagination. The stories
have no strong ties to each other so you can play them in any order.

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One distinctive feature of the series is that the player draws their own map in-game as
they go using the bottom screen of the Nintendo DS/3DS. Each game has a few differences
in the details of the map-drawing interface, but all of them have the core system in
common, allowing you to indicate various floor types (normal, damage/trap, water, etc.),
walls, doors, treasures, pitfalls, enemies, and even free-form text notes.

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Each game has some level of auto-mapping option, such as the ability to automatically
paint a floor tile you walk on. If you do not like the mapping part of the game, auto-
mapping does most of tedious stuff and you just need to mark special icons or notes.


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Etrian Odyssey (NDS)
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The first game in the series, praised for its unforgiving difficulty, addictive exploration,
and great plot twist. Also disliked for that same unforgiving difficulty! Though in many
ways its remake renders this original irrelevant, this is where it all started back in 2007.

Etrian Odyssey II (NDS)
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Set as sort of an indirect sequel to the first game, EO2 is mechanically very similar to
the first game but adds a few classes and improvements to game balance and interface.

Etrian Odyssey III (NDS)
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Etrian Odyssey 3 made some major changes to the formula, some of which stuck around
for future games. This entry re-shuffled the class deck, reusing many skills and
mechanics of the previous games but mixing them among all new sets of classes, many of
which are still unique to the game as of this writing.

Etrian Odyssey IV (3DS)
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The move to the 3DS saw several improvements in the Etrian Odyssey series. Besides
better graphics and sound/music quality, several significant interface overhauls and
a better implemented and balanced subclassing system were introduced.

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl (3DS)
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Untold is the remake of the original game, nicely polished up for the 3DS. The original
game's content is still largely intact but class skills have been tweaked and overall
game balance has been adjusted to account for the now-standard level cap of 99.

This remake includes the controversial Grimoire system and Story Mode, where you use a
premade party and work your way through a story that fits into the original game's
minimalistic story (by spoiling the entire thing right from the get-go).

Please refer to FAQ section below for an important note about game modes in EOU.

Etrian Odyssey II Untold: The Knight of Fafnir (3DS)
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This will be the remake of Etrian Odyssey II that will use a similar formula as the
first Untold did; adding a Story mode along side Classic mode. This is the first game
in the series to have DLC.

Etrian Odyssey V (3DS)
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Announced on November 24, 2014, the fifth mainline instalment of the EO series has a planned
NA release for late 2017. Enhanced character creation is a highlight of this new entry.

Related Games

Persona Q (3DS)
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Persona Q is a Persona spinoff game that applies Persona-flavored SMT to an Etrian Odyssey
style of game. Much of the EO team was involved in the project and the Q in the name comes
from the "meikyuu" in EO's Japanese name sometimes being abbreviated as MeiQ. The game throws
characters from the casts of P3 and P4 into EO-style dungeon exploration.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon (3DS)
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Announced along with EO5, this is not one of the mainline games. EMD is a crossover
game in the Mystery Dungeon series that will feature Etrian Odyssey influence and characters.
This game is a rogue-like (or rogue-"lite") rather than have traditional EO gameplay.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 (3DS)
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A sequel to the first EMD game with new classes, features, dungeons, and story.
Releases Summer 2017 in Japan.

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Battles in Etrian Odyssey games are turn-based and encounters are, besides bosses, random.
You input your commands for each of the characters in your party and then the round of battle
happens based on turn order. This is repeated until one side or the other is dead. Time
passes while in battle just like it does while you are walking around the labyrinth.

While the battle system in EO will have many things that feel familiar to experienced RPG
players, there are some specific things worth noting about the battle system.

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FOE stands for Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens in English, or Field On Enemy in Japan.
However, this meaning can basically be ignored. The true meaning of FOE is fear.
Represented in the first three games as angry orange or red orbs on the map, FOEs are
powerful enemies that roam the labyrinth on the field itself (thus the Japanese name).

Nothing will teach you the fear of forgetting your Ariadne Thread quite as fast as being
trapped between two angry glowing orbs on a new floor of the labyrinth when you have no
idea what they even are and the only sure thing is that one of them is probably enough
to kill your entire party in their current state, much less two of them!

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Rather than being engaged via random encounters, FOEs are only engaged when you actually
bump into them. This might not sound so bad at first, but FOEs do not all obey the same
movement rules your party does. Some can move faster than you or can move through walls
or over obstacles. Some FOEs are passive and some will aggressively pursue you if you
move into their line of sight. The fun thing about FOEs is that they get to move around
while you are fighting or gathering and they can barge in and join a battle in progress,
even one against another FOE! If you do manage to kill them, they will respawn in a few
days, so beware!

The rule of thumb with FOEs is always avoid them when you are clearing through an area
for the first time. However, hunting FOEs is rewarding as you will get items from them
to unlock more powerful equipment, so always make a point to revisit areas to hunt down
the FOEs that previously frustrated your efforts.

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A target can only be suffering from one ailment at a time. Ailments also have a priority
system. Death > Curse > Poison > Sleep > Panic > Paralyze > Blind (at least as of EO4).
This means you can't apply Blind to a Sleeping target but you can apply Curse to a
Panicked target.

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Every type of attack in the Etrian Odyssey series has one or more properties: Slashing,
Blunt, Piercing, Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Untyped. Many enemies are weak to (and
likewise resistant to) one or more of a certain type of attack, so pay attention to enemy
weaknesses. The one exception is Untyped; nothing is resistant or weak to Untyped.

One thing to keep an eye out for is when your party is getting attacked you can identify
what kind of damage is being dealt to them by the graphics that display when your party
takes damage.
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Note the little slash over the character's HP box, indicating Slashing damage. Similarly,
blunt and piercing attacks will look like the same kind of effects when your party attacks
enemies, only smaller and redder. Paying attention to this kind of detail can help you
prepare for tough fights by equipping proper protective gear in advance.

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Binds are a different category of status effect in EO that are akin to the Disable/Mute
type of effects seen in some other games. The thing about Binds in EO is that they do
not count as status ailments and a target can have up to three binds applied at once.

Head Bind - Reduces TEC and disables any skill that requires Head (these are
things like magic skills and other "verbal" things like taunt and charge).

Arm Bind - Lowers STR and also disables any arm-based skills.

Leg Bind - Nullifies evasion, prevents Flee, lowers AGI, and also disables any leg-based skills.

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Buffs in Etrian Odyssey are multiplicative. You can't stack the same buff multiple times
but you can stack different buffs that buff the same thing. The buff (and debuff) limit
on both allies and enemies is three. If another buff is applied, the buff with the
shortest duration remaining is replaced. Same for debuffs.

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Chaser is a term to describe attacks triggered by other attacks. Certain classes like
Landsknecht, Dancer, Shogun, Ronin, and Buccaneer have skills that let them automatically
attack when an ally hits an enemy. Effective use of chasers can be quite powerful.

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Many enemies have special drops that can only be obtained by killing the enemy in a
specific way. This could be anything from something easy like "kill it with fire" to
something much harder to do like "kill while fully bound" or "killing damage must be
from poison." You can use the item Formaldehyde to make the enemies drop all their drops,
including conditional drops, no matter how you finish them off.

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Critical hits in the EO series deal additional damage, as you might expect. The
important thing to know about critical hits is that only normal attacks can crit!

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A party's formation is an important consideration. First and foremost, characters (and
enemies) in the back row take reduced damage. This means that although it may not seem
intuitive, a tank is often best off in the back row when taking hits for the party.

Other formation considerations include the targeting of enemy skills, which vary in how
they target your party. In the first three games you can change rows during battle at
the cost of a turn. As of EO4, changing formation in battle does not cost a turn and
utilizing that can be especially important in boss fights.

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Turn order is governed by a combination of the AGI stat, skills that increase speed, and
the equipment you are wearing. While the exact math varies by game, lightweight weapons
like daggers give you a turn speed advantage over using medium weapons like swords or
bows and even more speed advantage over using heavy weapons like spears or maces. Heavier
armor and shields also slow down your turn speed. Skills also all have their own hidden speed
that may or may not be affected by turn speed.

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Each character in Etrian Odyssey belongs to a class which defines their stat growth and skill
set. Classes in Etrian Odyssey games typically fall into one of three roles: Defence, Offence,
or Support. Some classes are a mixture but even hybrid classes tend to gravitate towards
one role. Most well-rounded parties will have 2-3 members purely for offence and a mixture
of support and defence for the other 2-3 party slots, but that's not to say you can't try
something unorthodox and make it work.

As your characters level up they will gain 1 skill point per level. This slow growth adds
gravity to your choice of where to spend your skill points. However, don't worry too much,
because by late in the games you will have plenty of skill points to get the stuff that is
important for that character. Many classes only need a few dozen skill points to pull their
weight and perform their role in the party and the rest can be spent on various enhancements
or experiments.

For more info on specific classes and party builds, check the wiki links at the bottom of
this thread. Doing some reading on GameFAQ will probably help, as well, but also feel free
to post questions, we're here to help. Just keep in mind that one of the great things about
this series is that many party builds can work and there is no real "magic bullet" or "best"
party except for in some specific situations.

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Starting in EO3, you can start a New Game Plus after clearing the game and carry over your
guild and most of your stuff.

One special note regarding the Untold remakes. When you NG+ you can switch between classic
and story mode. This allows you to use the story mode characters in a classic mode game,
but does not allow you to use your classic mode characters in a story mode game.
However, your classic mode characters will not be lost, so if you clear story mode and
start another NG+ into classic you'll have everyone back!

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Resting is the way to reset your character's skill points in EO. In EO1 this came at a very
high cost of going down 10 levels but was reduced to 5 levels in EO2 and 3, and then down to
just 2 levels in EO 4 and Untold. You'd better plan your skills out in advance because losing
10-or even 5-levels before reaching postgame could be a big setback. Resting also clears your
subclass selection in EO3 and EO4, allowing you to pick a new one.

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Retiring is basically the changing class feature of Etrian Odyssey, implemented thematically.
Retiring replaces one of your existing characters with a new character (but you can pick the
same class and name and pretend it's the same person) that has bonus stats and skill points
but will be lower level than the original character. Retire bonuses are not cumulative;
once you have retired a character at max level you can't get any more bonuses.

Retiring bonuses in EO1 are different (lower) than the rest of the series. Retiring bonuses
in EO2 are also tiered and of similar value to what is shown in the image below for 3, 4,
and Untold, but the level cap system in EO2 is different, which impacts retiring.
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In EO3 and EO4, once you reach a certain point in the game, you can set subclasses for all
your party members. This gives 5 bonus skill points and access to most skills from that class.
Subclassing can help further specialize a class by augmenting its natural skillset or it
can be used to give additional or enhanced role functionality to a party member.

In EO3, skills from the subclass can be raised to max rank, resulting in many classes having
extreme cases of identity crisis. In EO4, this was changed to only allow subclass skills
to be raised to half of their max rank for better class balance.

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Is "Fight and Heal" some kind of inside joke? - It comes from an old Game Informer "review"
of the original EO game where the unimaginative reviewer named his party members Fight and Heal.
You can read select quotes over here. Zweizer managed to dig up the whole thing.

Which game should I start with? - The answer depends on what you are looking for and
who you are asking. My recommendation is to start with one of the first two games and go in
order but if you are really wanting to be "eased" into the series, start with EO4 since it is
the best balanced and most newbie-friendly game in the series, excluding the Untold remakes.
Starting with EOU is not a bad idea, as long as you play Classic mode first on Expert difficulty,
just know that EO1-4 do not have all the same features (floor jump and running, to name a couple).

Help! I can't kill Hollow Queen in EO4! - Leg bind!

Are there other games like EO? - PersonaQ is a mix between EO and Persona (more EO than
Persona) and is probably the go-to answer for this question. Beyond that, the EO games are
heavily influenced by Wizardry. Other similar games include Generation Xth (PC), Labyrinth of
Touhou (PC), and The Dark Spire (NDS). In the broader genre of first-person dungeon crawlers
are games like Dungeon Travelers (Vita) and SMT Strange Journey (NDS). Parakeetman wrote up some
more info in a post in this thread here.

How do the game modes work in EOU? Do I need to play one or the other first? What about NG+?

!!!When you New Game+ you have the options to carry over your guild members, maps, money, items,
and grimoires, even between game modes!!!


You can play either mode first. My opinion is you should play classic mode first, despite the
game urging you to play story mode first. The game doesn't really give you details on how these
game modes interact so here are the details.

- If you start Story Mode first -
You are stuck with the story party. You can reclass into other classes after level 30, however,
class changing only changes the skillset and the character will continue to have stat growth of
their original class so I don't really recommend it. For EO1, by clearing story mode you will
get the drop required to make the best katana in the game...which you can't even use in Story mode!
You will also "unlock" Gunner and Highlander as class-change possibilities for classic mode, but
this isn't really anything very useful because when you NG+ into Classic mode you can use Ricky
and your Highlander.

- If you start Classic Mode first -
You can form any party you want, except no Gunner or Highlander (EO1) or Fafnir (EO2).
You can retire to change classes just like in any other mainline EO game to date. In EO1 you will not
have access to the strongest katana but you will not need it. EOU1 has a story-mode-only dungeon
that you cannot access in Classic mode. EOU2 has an extra dungeon that can be accessed from either
mode, so you do not need to play Story mode to get 100% item/monster data like you do in EOU1.

- If you NG+ from Story Mode to Classic Mode -
  • Ability to class change characters in Classic mode into story mode classes
  • Strongest attack power Katana from last boss of story mode (EO1)
  • Story mode cast can be mixed with classic mode members
- If you NG+ from Classic Mode to Story Mode -
  • Classic mode characters will carry over but cannot be put in your party
  • If you NG+ again back to Classic, everyone will be usable at that point
The only potential downside to starting with classic mode is that it would mean you'd need to actually
do two NG+ to get everything back together instead of just one, so this is an argument in favor of starting
with Story mode. However, if you want the purest experience or are not enjoying the story mode cast or
party restrictions, you really should play classic mode first, then power through story mode on NG+ after
that with endgame gear and grimoires. And then after that if you'd like you can NG+ again back to classic
and have ~everything~!

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Interview with series music composer Yuzo Koshiro
Into the Labyrinth - Fansite where you can find the helpful Skill Calculator programs for EO3 and EO4.
English Wiki
Guild card generator for EOIV - Get your guild card images off your 3DS SD card first.

Other OTs
EO3 OT
EO4 OT
EOU OT
EO2U OT (JP OT)
EMD OT
Persona Q OT

Thanks to Dandy Crocodile for working on the banners for the thread and spiritfox for the title and to everyone else keeping the conversation going!
 

Shun

Member
There wasn't an EO thread before this? What the hell?

This series is like god damn good. Dungeon Crawling heaven. Harder than SMT imo. Harder than the average Atlus RPG.
 
Yay! Community Thread!
This is one of the last remaining franchises that I call myself a fan of and also still look forward to and love each and every game.
It's simple but so satisfying. :)
 

omlet

Member
There wasn't an EO thread before this? What the hell?

There were OTs for III, IV, and Untold, and a few short-lived news threads here and there, but besides,no, that not that I know of. The OT for IV has kind of served as a general purpose series thread for a while where the idea for a community thread has come up there before but not really acted on until now.

By the way, if anyone sees stuff that needs fixing, let me know. I did review it a few times but I may have missed some things or gotten some facts wrong.

Just keep in mind that the post is at 23,975 characters long as it is and the limit is 24,000 so I don't really have room to add much!
 

Shun

Member
Etrian Odyssey III has the best classes, gameplay, story, everything period. EOIV was pretty damn good too.

I hope we get a EOIII 3DS remake before the 3DS isn't supported anymore.
 

eojoko

Member
Yep, I have IV and Untold, am planning to pick up II Untold assuming it's localized. I can't decide if I want to buy III DS for basically original retail price, or wait to see if it's remade and risk the DS version getting collector expensive. Great series though.
 

Hikami

Member
Only own/played Etrian Odyssey Untold.
Fun game, but ended up in the backlog so I've yet to finish it..

Pretty excited for EOII Untold though.
 

butzopower

proud of his butz
Crazy, I just started playing EO IV a few hours ago after sitting on it for a few months (think I picked it up on a sale?). So far I'm really enjoying it.
 
My favorite new series from last gen. I am not keen on the Untold direction, though, and will likely skip EOU2 and bide my time for EO5 if that gets made.
 

Aeana

Member
I love this series so much. I even like the Untold games.
And I am excited for Persona Q because it gives me more EO with a different skin.


It's really too bad that one of the most appealing elements of the series is no more, though. The FM music really added something special, and I will probably never get over it going away in EO4. And then the cancellation of the EO4 FM album. I can't. :(
 

butzopower

proud of his butz
In EO IV is there anything special I'm supposed to be doing with the rare enemies other than kill them? The game sort of hints at capturing them or something?
 
And I am excited for Persona Q because it gives me more EO with a different skin.

This piques my curiosity. The only SMT-related games I've played are the original PSX Persona and the Devil Survivor strategy RPG. Apparently I lied. I forgot I played a ROM of SMT2 for SNES, but I didn't complete it.
 
Always tempting that EOIV and EO:U goes on sale on the eshop every fortnight for $15. But I already have SMTIV sitting waiting for me and dungeon crawlers aren't entirely my thing (especially after playing thru Soul Hackers). Looks fun though, and nice OP there.
 

omlet

Member
In EO IV is there anything special I'm supposed to be doing with the rare enemies other than kill them? The game sort of hints at capturing them or something?

Nope, just kill them before they run away or kill you.

I love this series so much. I even like the Untold games.
And I am excited for Persona Q because it gives me more EO with a different skin.

Actually, I had a bit about PQ in OP originally but had to cut it for space. IMO it's still fair game for this thread until it gets its own OT since it's the same formula with some SMT flavor. However, the Persona CT also exists, so...

Always tempting that EOIV and EO:U goes on sale on the eshop every fortnight for $15. But I already have SMTIV sitting waiting for me and dungeon crawlers aren't entirely my thing (especially after playing thru Soul Hackers). Looks fun though, and nice OP there.

Despite some... structural similarities, SMT and EO are really very different kinds of games.
 
My favorite new IP of the recent years. It's difficult to express how much I love Etrian Odyssey but I'll at least list what makes the series so good for me. The mapping which makes every single step a small victory, the excitement of clearing a floor and adventuring into the unknown, the challenging battles, the NPCs slowly warming up to you, the constant treats that FOEs are, party customization, the amazing music, the art, and the amount of strategy that some bosses require to be defeated which is unmatched when it comes to Japanese Role Playing Games.

There's few series that are as rewarding and charming as EO, I'm glad we finally have a Community Thread to talk about how amazing the series, we can finally let the EO4 thread rest for a while.

Good Job at having the best Dancer in the OP.
 

Linkark07

Banned
Started with Untold, after that I played IV and currently III. So far, III is my favorite. And of course, waiting for Untold II.
 

Shizuka

Member
I own every single Etrian Odyssey game, yet I haven't played a single one of them. I've tried to start IV before, but after feeling I screwed up my party, I gave up. Does anyone have any suggestion?
 

omlet

Member
Good Job at having the best Dancer in the OP.

I wanted superior pink but I figured since I was calling the shots on most of the other sprite selections, I could let that one go since you did ask in advance :p

Started with Untold, after that I played IV and currently III. So far, III is my favorite. And of course, waiting for Untold II.

If you liked Untold on expert mode you will probably enjoy II as well. Not quite as polished due to age and DS hardware but it's a fun game and it has some of the best non-battle BGMs in the series.
 

daydream

Banned
Nice thread!

I own all of these (except Untold 2, obviously) but I've only played the first one. :p Shameful, I know but at least I support the series (love the gameplay, character designs, etc.).
 
I own every single Etrian Odyssey game, yet I haven't played a single one of them. I've tried to start IV before, but after feeling I screwed up my party, I gave up. Does anyone have any suggestion?

you can't really screw up in EO, you can always lose 2 levels and respec your members.

Any team can finish the game, even if some certainly make it easier. I recommend to have a Fortress and a Medic or Dancer for the early game. My team at the very beginning was(not optimal, just giving an example):

Landsknecht / Fortress / Dancer
Runemaster / Nightseeker
 

Shizuka

Member
you can't really screw up in EO, you can always lose 2 levels and respec your members.

Any team can finish the game, even if some certainly make it easier. I recommend to have a Fortress and a Medic or Dancer for the early game. My team at the very beginning was(not optimal, just giving an example):

Landsknecht / Fortress / Dancer
Runemaster / Nightseeker

Should I stick with IV or try Untold? I remember I had:

L/F
R/M/(Archer? Hunter?)
 
Should I stick with IV or try Untold? I remember I had:

L/F
R/M/(Archer? Hunter?)

I'd stick with IV if it's your first game of the series, I'm not a big fan of Untold and I recommend you to play it after 4 anyways..

Your team is okay even if the Sniper(that's what they are called) aren't that great in the early game. I personally prefer the passive healing of the Dancer than the Medic's, as I feel like just having items around can do their job. The Landsknecht is not that amazing at first but they are really strong in the mid game; meanwhile they are great for just doing some damage and lowering your enemies attack, the Runemaster was always my MVP(I recommend you to invest in Volt stuff and then passive stuff like extra mana).

I gotta run to work so I can't write a huge post, I'll answer any questions you have.
 

Bulzeeb

Member
I started EO4 a while ago as my first game in the series and now I am hooked, the gmae its really great, anyways, I just beat the boss of the second big area and got a new class, how far am I into the game?
 

omlet

Member
I own every single Etrian Odyssey game, yet I haven't played a single one of them. I've tried to start IV before, but after feeling I screwed up my party, I gave up. Does anyone have any suggestion?

Well, EOIV is probably the best place to start if you're not a stickler for playing things in order, so I'd say push on with IV. Can't give specific party advice without knowing what your party is.

I can, however, say that a balanced party of tank, healer, and 3 attackers or 2 attackers and 1 support in EOIV will be able to clear the entire game including postgame. I beat the entire game 100% with the same party I started the game with (admittedly, I was a series vet by the time I got to IV so I had a pretty decent idea what to do).

Personally I think the number one trap new players fall into when starting an EO game is picking a Landshark in their starting party thinking their balanced stats make them a good pick but they're really not very good without a party built around taking advantage of their chasers at mid/late game. They are durable at early game, so there is that going for them.

Also, "starting over" as in starting a new game is basically NEVER a good idea in EO (unless you're doing New Game+). If you ever feel like you need to start fresh with a different team, just go to the guild, recruit some new characters, give them the best gear you can get, and go from there. Takes less time than starting a new game, guaranteed. Plus you still have your other team around to swap in and out later if you want.


I started EO4 a while ago as my first game in the series and now I am hooked, the gmae its really great, anyways, I just beat the boss of the second big area and got a new class, how far am I into the game?

EOIV has 6 main mazes and 13 smaller cave dungeons. So you're about 1/3 into it in terms of ground covered, but not in terms of time. Added to OP, thanks.
 

Griss

Member
My first one was EO2 and I loved it. Then played the first but didn't quite beat it, and a bit of the third. Really need to buy a 3DS version, since I loved both demos. There's something about map drawing that's just right up my alley.

It's really too bad that one of the most appealing elements of the series is no more, though. The FM music really added something special, and I will probably never get over it going away in EO4. And then the cancellation of the EO4 FM album. I can't. :(

What's FM music?
 

Linkark07

Banned
If you liked Untold on expert mode you will probably enjoy II as well. Not quite as polished due to age and DS hardware but it's a fun game and it has some of the best non-battle BGMs in the series.

I was thinking about but in the end I decided to wait for Untold II.

Was reading the classes description and noticed you added almost the same characters model I have in my current party for III with the exception of the Zodiac.
 
Love EO but never finished a game in the series, simply because they are massive. Hope to change this with Persona Q, which is basically another EO in my books, with my favorite characters in the mix. I can't wait to play it.
 

RMI

Banned
Great OP. I've only played EO4 and EOU but already this is one of my favorite series ever. I love the map making and team management. Also there is some amazing music in this series; really top notch stuff.
 
Great OP. I've only played EO4 and EOU but already this is one of my favorite series ever. I love the map making and team management. Also there is some amazing music in this series; really top notch stuff.

THIS. Some of the best OST tracks I have listened to have come from an EO game.
 

omlet

Member
L/F
R/M/(Archer? Hunter?)
Ah, you posted your party. Heh, not surprised you have Landshark and Sniper, common picks since they are "familiar" class types. You can make this party work, and to be honest it's going to be a good party at late game if you build your party's skills out properly, but you're going to have a hard time early game with no ailments, no binds, and no buffs; you basically just have fight & heal lol. To be honest, most parties don't really start to feel powerful until you hit the Mastery skills. Your party will be a good Linker party if you stick with it. One alternative would be drop the Sniper for a Dancer or Nightseeker.

What's FM music?

The "synth" music style from the first three games. I did not have room in OP to talk about music :(

I was thinking about but in the end I decided to wait for Untold II.
Yeah, might as well at this point, I guess.

Was reading the classes description and noticed you added almost the same characters model I have in my current party for III with the exception of the Zodiac.

;) I picked a few of my favorites and left the rest to Dandy Croc since he was working on the banners.
 
I remember getting everything in EOIV done except for like one treasure chest and maybe a few drops. Unfortunately that save data was destroyed when I had to delete the game to make room on my 3ds before I got a new and better sd card. I think my end party was

I/F
M/R/A
 

omlet

Member
I remember getting everything in EOIV done except for like one treasure chest and maybe a few drops. Unfortunately that save data was destroyed when I had to delete the game to make room on my 3ds before I got a new and better sd card. I think my end party was

I/F
M/R/A

Too late now, I know, but you can back up SD data to a PC with a card reader (another thing I didn't have room for in the OP) :(
 

spiritfox

Member
My first one was EO2 and I loved it. Then played the first but didn't quite beat it, and a bit of the third. Really need to buy a 3DS version, since I loved both demos. There's something about map drawing that's just right up my alley.



What's FM music?

It's basically synthesized chiptunes, in this case created with the PC-88 soundchip. It is pretty retro in style, and I also wished the EOIV FM album came out.
 
I am an absolute slave to this series and have played each and every one.

Gonna pick up IV again today as my old copy was lost in an accident and its my favorite one of them anyway. Gonna do some different things with my team too.
 

Bytes

Member
7 years later and I still can't get passed
the sixth stratum
in the original Etrian Odyssey. My characters are already max leveled and yet it's still incredibly difficult.
 

jdkluv

Member
Very nice OT, omlet! Subscribed to hell and back!

So far I only own EO1 DS, but this is a series I always wanted to get into. The thing is I've been wayyyyy too hooked with Brandish* as of late - which, judging from what I played of EO1 (read: not too much), I'd say that Brandish was definitely the kind of feel (along with stuff like Wizardry) that the Etrian Odyssey team was going for.

*To say that Brandish games were 95% of my gaming life this year wouldn't be an overstatement, lol.

What's FM music?

In short: your Mega Drive-style music.

In "long": It's a form of audio synthesis where the timbre of a simple waveform (such as a square, triangle, or sawtooth) is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator frequency that is also in the audio range, resulting in a more complex waveform and a different-sounding tone that can also be described as "gritty" if it is a thick and dark timbre. It sounds clear, has great bass and treble, and with the right attitude can produce great music.

For the Etrian Odyssey series, Yuzo Koshiro used a sequencer called Cubase for composing the music for the first three DS games. He recorded the samples from the PC-88 (an old Japanese computer) he used to compose music in the 80s/90s, and then pulled the data into Cubase to make Etrian Odyssey's music.

In the case of Etrian Odyssey IV, Koshiro dropped the musical style of the three previous games (which was a part of the series' identity that fans always loved) for live performed music. The Untold remakes also feature live-performed arrangements of the music, as well as an option to play with the original PC-88-style music.

Note: I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'll edit (read: polish) this post in a few hours. :<
 

Griss

Member
The "synth" music style from the first three games. I did not have room in OP to talk about music :(

It's basically synthesized chiptunes, in this case created with the PC-88 soundchip. It is pretty retro in style, and I also wished the EOIV FM album came out.

In short: your Mega Drive-style music.

In "long": It's a form of audio synthesis where the timbre of a simple waveform (such as a square, triangle, or sawtooth) is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator frequency that is also in the audio range, resulting in a more complex waveform and a different-sounding tone that can also be described as "gritty" if it is a thick and dark timbre. It sounds clear, has great bass and treble, and with the right attitude can produce great music.

For the Etrian Odyssey series, Yuzo Koshiro used a sequencer called Cubase for composing the music for the first three DS games. He recorded the samples from the PC-88 (an old Japanese computer) he used to compose music in the 80s/90s, and then pulled the data into Cubase to make Etrian Odyssey's music.

In the case of Etrian Odyssey IV, Koshiro dropped the musical style of the three previous games ( which was a part of the series' identity that fans always loved) for live performed music. The Untold remakes also features live-performed arrangements of the music, as well as an option to play with the original PC-88-style music.

Note: I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'll edit (read: polish) this post in a few hours. :<

Thanks guys. I always loved the original EO style of music, but could never put my finger on what made it sound so unique. Now I know. Sad that it's gone.

So... if it is in fact gone, how could there be an FM album from EOIV? Someone running the EOIV OST through a converter or some such?
 

ToastyFrog

Inexplicable Treasure Hate
OP, you are a champion of the people. God bless you.

I feel like Persona Q should get an honorable mention in the first post, though. The battle mechanics are a hybrid of Etrian and SMT, but the mapping and exploration and subquest structure is 100% Etrian Odyssey. I suspect most people who are into Etrian are also into SMT and will pick it up anyway, but it definitely scratches the Etrian itch... albeit in a new and different way.
 
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