Toss a Wire To Your Squirrel: Let's Play Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard!

Put your Let's Plays in here.
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Dare you brave the second Yggdrasil Labyrinth?

The second of the old school RPG series of Etrian Odyssey, first released in 2008, a year after the first game, is a tough as nails, minimalist dungeon crawler where you pick a party of five crazy classes and map the many floors of the labyrinth. The first game was a pretty mean experience that made sure you knew what you were doing, and was very rough around the edges. It was still a very satisfying, but basic experience, to see where the series began. EO2 has a lot of improvements, features an entirely new labyrinth and three more classes, it's a wilder, but improved sequel.

Or at least, that's what I would've said back during the last LP of this game. It's been nearly SEVEN years since then and we've torn this game apart to see how it ticks. And folks, this game is a barely held together mess of hilariously bad class balancing, strange AI, various glitches, and overall poor coding constructs. You're unlikely to really notice much of it in a casual playthrough, and most of the worst bugs were fixed in the localization, but there's still so much to go over and it's a fucking trip, lemme tell you.

This will be a narrative SSLP with viewer submissions, and is very much intended to be a sequel to my SSLP of the first game, which I'll refer back to quite a lot, ESPECIALLY because the original guild will be joining us for this ride, to show off a few things here and there. This isn't exactly how it works in the game, you can link your guild through a password system, but it changes very little, so I'll be spicing it up a bit. Joining me for this second journey into madness will be Rea and Araxxor, big thanks to them both for helping me with a variety of things, these LPs take a lot of time to prep!

We've seen these games already so spoilers are perfectly fine!

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Part 1: Welcome to the Town of High Lagaard!
Part 2: Finding Our Feet
Part 3: The Second And... Last?
Part 4: Dodging for Deer Life
Part 5: Stalking Stalkers
Part 6: The Eyes Have Blindsides
Part 7: Running From Raptors
Part 8: Cheesing the First
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Part 9: Everything tastes like burning
Part 10: Foul Thorns Underfoot
Part 11: Three Day Fun
Part 12: Revenge is a dish best served bullshit
Part 13: Down and Up Nine and Eight
Part 14: Tenth Floor, Ten Doors
Part 15: Hellion of an End
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Part 16: cronch cronch cronch cronch cronch
Part 17: Slippery When Wet But Not In That Way
Part 18: A Small Loop
Part 19: Talkative Lot

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Common Passives
Landsknecht Overview
Survivalist Overview
Protector Overview
Dark Hunter Overview
Medic Overview
Alchemist Overview
Troubadour Overview
Ronin Overview
Hexer Overview
Gunner Overview
War Magus Overview
Beast Overview

Araxxor's Jank Odyssey

Loyalty
EO1 Mechanic Corrections

:siren: BONUS :siren:

Edda's Arrival
Holly and Lavin: Sword or Axe


By Huckebein on Discord, already the guild is resonating with peeps.
Last edited by Crosspeice on Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:23 am, edited 16 times in total.

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Part 1: Welcome to the Town of High Lagaard!

Image :siren: Now Begin Your Adventure! :siren:

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Image Welcome one and all to my new LP. Yes, I can't believe it either, it's time for the only game Atlus ever made, Persona 5!

Image Weird that they called the first Persona "Persona 5."

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Image Eventually, the waves overtook even the last five islands... and the castle was all that remained.

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Image Ah of course I'm only joking, if this really was Persona 5 this opening crawl would be an hour long and every character would comment on it seven times over.

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Image Etrian Odyssey II is... one hell of a fucking game let me tell you. Developed pretty quickly after the modest success of the first game, this one also has a special place in my heart. It's not as hard as the last game but it's not as, shall we say, stable. It's unbalanced, ambitious and just a little bit buggy, and I love it so. Joining me again are the two cool peeps from the last game!

Image Hi, I'm that lady, Ragnar Homsar (Rea), that needs to finish her EOU LP and paused an EON LP to do an LP of Fire Emblem: Midare Setsugekka. I haven't actually played much of EO2 itself, but I got into all of this nonsense because of the old EO2 LP, and my first LP was of the remake of this game, so this'll be interesting.

Image We're back on this bullshit again, huh? Hi I'm Araxxor, I did an LP of this game previously. Can be checked out here. Also did some other EO related stuff, but eh, who cares about that? You're all here for EO2! Though we'll be calling back to EO1 a lot so you may want to read Cross's LP of it. Or not, up to you. Anyways, right off the bat there's already a big improvement from EO1. The font is now just using the default system font instead of the really hard to read EO1 custom font. Yeah that font wasn't received too well, so Atlus USA just opted to use the default system font from here on out. This game is certainly a ride, as it was basically very undercooked due to being rushed out the door. This resulted in issues. Several issues. Still the game is a pretty solid product despite being extremely rough around the edges.

Image And any game text will be represented by the gallant Sir Narrate, they're very dedicated.

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Image If you were wondering, yes, if you wait long enough, Jack Frost Gunner, the closest we get to a mascot for this series, will walk into the town and the opening credits will start again.

Image I'm sad that the title screens got less dynamic as the DS games went on (even if EO3's one is really pretty), and eventually just stopped with the 3DS games.

Image Technically there's also the blonde Protector. Her design even got reused for a one of the portraits in EO4 and one of the few designs to get their own DLC portrait in one of the later entries.

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Image Legends say that the central city of Lagaard is home to Yggdrasil, gateway to the floating castle. The residents of that metropolis have discovered a labyrinthine dungeon within the legendary tree. High Lagaard's Duke is currently researching the Labyrinth to find the truth behind the floating castle. The castle and the Labyrinth drew adventurers to High Lagaard from far and wide... But none among them were able to master the Labyrinth and find the truth of the ancient legends. You are among the legions of explorers eager to penetrate the Labyrinth's mysteries. Your quest is to find the floating castle and make your fortune. The city of Laagard [sic] awaits!

Image Hum de hum, come along you two, we'll be late for breakfast! And don't drop any of the food! Ah, hello there, please excuse us.

Image Huff, huff, yes dear...

Image Freakin slave driver... sigh... but so pretty...

Image Land Spread Up North

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Image Wait is this the city of Lagaard in High Lagaard, or is this Central City, the capital of High Lagaard? We know in the remake the town is way larger than you really see due to the restaurant but- oh whatever.

Image All around you as you step into the city of Lagaard is the bustle and chatter of the square. It seems that the city is full to bursting with explorers. Since you yourself came to make a name as an explorer, you should register at the Explorers Guild.

Image 1,210... 1,211... hmm, I think I see Karin at the entrance, though she is upside down... and looks completely different.

Image That's a new explorer, dear, and you're upside down. Better get some more hanging crunches in if you want to break your record!

Image Ah~ Crabapple for the porridge~ the only food~ that Ro guy finds~

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Image Have you, perchance, led another guild in some other town? If so, surely you have a password from those days as a memento of your adventures. Now is the time to speak up! If not, pay it no mind and head for the Guild.

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Image God, was one destroyed town and a native genocide not enough? Now the guild from EO1 can canonically erase another city off the map??? So for clearing the main game of EO1, you can get a password that you can then put into this game to give a few small benefits. And I mean small, the time it takes to input the damn password takes longer than the content of a password game. We'll be skipping this for now but I only needed to go like two minutes in to show off the differences, so everything past this update will be in a password game, unless I mention otherwise.

Image But what are the benefits? What does the password bring over? Well don't get excited, what's actually used in this is the name of your guild and whether or not you got the Town Medal, story completion, or Town Crown, 100% completion, since we'll receive those at the start. It does bring over the names of your party, their level and their weapon, but those are completely unused, and also completely ignores their class, portrait or other equips, which would seem as important. If you think that's a little weird and underbaked... folks, this is only the fucking beginning.

Image This kinda thing would've worked better on the 3DS, where you can save extra data to system memory. Or if the DS had Stop n' Swop capability. EO4 did allow you to save extra data containing similar things to the EO1 password, I believe, but none of the later games actually used it. EOU also lets you save extra data for later games to import, and EO2U does actually use it! Your EOU characters and the skills they had on grimoire stones (the ones that had equivalents in EO2U) show up occasionally as NPCs you can trade grimoire stones with. Riveting.

Image Even if you haven't played EO1, you can still opt to do a password game if you so wish. There are plenty of usable passwords floating online somewhere. Since passwords are only given out after beating the main game, the only real difference in passwords is "did they 100% the game or not?" and that's pretty much it. And if you're a European who imported the American version of the game, you'll be forced to do that since EU passwords are incompatible with NA copies of the game. (While EO1 did get released in Europe, EO2 and 3 did not.)

Image The Ones Engraved in Legends

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Image Nothing else to do but head for the Explorers Guild.

Image Ah! Excuse me, I didn't see you there, new explorers are just too small these days, gahahaha!

Image Try not to scare the newbies you lumbering oaf. They looked like they were starting a new guild, ah the memories.

Image Yeah, I remember hating every second of it, sis.

Image And yet here you are, ready for another round. Enough gawking at the weak, non-muscular people, Lavin and Ro should be back with breakfast. I hope it's not Crabapple porridge again...

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Image I see... If you want to work as an explorer, you must first establish a guild. The Guild is a support network for explorers to help one another in the Labyrinth. Let's see... Today is the 1st of Emperor. Would you like to establish a guild?

Image Earlier EO games apparently stated the possibility of you as a self-insert or whatnot being something you could do. Either that or you're the guild manager and whether you personally got your hands dirty or not was up to you.

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Image Enter the desired name of your guild on this line.

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Image Since this Etrian Odyssey SSLP will have viewer submissions and votes, wow, shocker, we're gonna need a name for our guild. You have the option of keeping the guild name from before in a password game, but as you've seen, we'll be using those nine crazy crackers for a few interesting demonstrations, ehehehehehe.

Image Oh yeah, the guild name from the password also carries over but it doesn't really matter as you can change it if you so wish.

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Image Well, that aside, it's time for you to induct explorers into your guild. There is nothing preventing you from registering yourself as a guild member, of course. But there is one rule you should know. Guilds in Lagaard are not allowed to exceed 30 members.

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Image 30 is a big step up from the 16 last game, it's like I can put two whole guilds in this. We'll register in a moment, as well as put the first party into a formation once submissions are done, but let's chat.

Image I wonder if the increase from 16 to 30 was down to the dev team being able to justify the cost of getting larger SRAM on the cartridge, or just more efficient use of the space available.

Image All registered explorers must be legitimate Lagaardian citizens. Only confirmed citizens have the Grand Duchy's permission to enter the Labyrinth. Don't worry... we don't inquire into your past. If you prefer, you can even use a fake name. Whether you're a foreign king in disguise or a wanted man on the lam... it makes no difference here, so long as you're willing to challenge the Labyrinth.

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Landsknecht Overview

Image There's 12 classes, up from 9, and we'll unlock the last one pretty early at least, so please submit for all of them! Ah shit we start with the Landy. So this was a pretty good class last game, dependable damage, switched between swords or axes depending on the situation and could take a few hits. Great all rounder. Unfortunately any class that was pretty good last game got hit many, many times with the nerf bat, while the mediocre to bad classes got buffed to fuck, really making this game unbalanced to fuck.

Image This is an extremely unfortunate trend with EO2's class balance. It's super reactive and most classes from EO1 are now in the opposite extreme power wise. This also means that player experiences with this game can be very very uneven and differ vastly from player to player in the bad way. So forget most things you know about EO1's classes, cause several things about them no longer apply in this game.

Image And that's the main issue with the Landy, they're much worse than before, don't do a lot of damage, their axe skills are mostly terrible and Ronin got super buffed, so if you want a frontline attacker, just use them instead. Now Landy does have some Chaser utility which takes a bit of party composition, but in the right circumstances they can return to their full glory. What a shame this class is so bad, I loved using them last game. Also Force Skills are a new mechanic, build up a meter, use the cool move. They're pretty slow to charge and they usually humiliate bosses if you grind them beforehand so it's not a great system. But the Landy's skill is... fine.

Image Landsknecht occupies a weird design space for a series that is as focused on classes that specialize in useful things as EO. I've been working on and very off on an EO2U redesign hack for about 2 years now, and I just don't really know what to do with Landsknecht.

Image Landsknects are your jack of all trades, master of none unit whose main upside is that they're easily slotted into most parties. At least, that's what they were in EO1. In EO2, they've been nerfed into the ground so hard that the Ronin basically takes up this role instead. I really wish I was joking, I try to be nice to classes and skills but the DS era of EO was really rough in terms of design. Just read the class overview for more details. If you really insist on using one, well listen to the game, stick em in the front line and hope they work out nicely. They can fit very nicely into elemental parties due to their unique Chaser mechanic, but that's about it. Their Force Skill is an alright nuke. Throw it out if you have it.

Image Force skills are basically your new meter mechanic in this game. Instead of your skills getting a power boost every now and then, you get access to an innate super move you can break out. Very rarely. As the meter builds up super slowly. The general trend is that damage Force skills tend to be the weaker ones, while more supportive effects are either the stronger ones or outright broken. I'll go into more details later, but overall I'm not a fan of this mechanic.

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Survivalist Overview

Image Here comes the nerf bat! Survivalists were also fantastic last game, they could deal heavy damage and tank in the front, supported in the back and were just wonderful. Their STR got nearly HALVED in this game so they're now mostly support and mediocre ones at that. They can do pitiful damage, can barely inflict ailments and still have the amazing utility of letting an ally go first. Their Force Skill lies to you, it boosts evasion, not speed, which is actually much better. But that's all it does, so it's pretty bad in comparison. This is probably the worst class in the game but there's competition!

Image Atlus evidently really struggled with finding a unique Thing for survivalists beyond "fast," since it took them until EO2U to design the class in a way that was fun to use beyond just dealing damage.

Image Oh, Survivalists. This game was where they were at their peak and... let's not speak of what happened to them in EO2. Oh wait, this is that game. Sigh. Survivalists were your dedicated ranged attackers in 1. However due to poor balancing, they were even greater. They were basically a master of all, best damage, extremely good support capabilities, you name it. So while they deserved to be nerfed, Atlus took it too far and nerfed them into complete and utter uselessness. Their damage is shit. Their support... well they can manipulate turn order which is conceptually powerful but that's the only redeeming feature they have, otherwise the rest of their support kit is shit. And their defenses are also shit! Do not listen to the game. While you could have front line Survivalists in 1 due to their defenses being really good, that's no longer the case in this game! A front liner Survivalist will get pasted in seconds due to their nerfed defensive stats. Their Force Skill is probably the worst one in the entire game. It gives a sizeable evasion boost, but compared to all the other effects, it's really weak in comparison.

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Protector Overview

Image Thankfully this class is still good. Protectors got hit in their STR, but otherwise are amazing tanks with F. Guard, an actual Provoke, and the all important anti-elemental skills. They require a lot of investment that doesn't really show until late in the game, but you'll be glad you have one. They're not as necessary due to burst strategies and the like, and they're a bit useless outside of defending, but they're still very nice to have. Also Painless is one of the best Force Skills, guaranteed invulnerability and it can be done every other turn with Axcela IIs? Hell yes my dude.

Image The return of the necessary evil.

Image Oh finally, a class that didn't get nerfed to uselessness. Their defensive capabilities were rather questionable in 1, but they were pretty decent damage dealers for a support. But in this game, Protectors got some sizeable buffs in their defensive kits, at the cost of no longer really being able to contribute meaningful damage to a fight. However while they're good defensive supports, they're not a mandatory pick for a party, due to the game being much faster paced and placing more emphasis on offense rather than defense. So if you want to skimp out on a Protector, you can! Yes, even in the post-game. They have one of the best Force Skills in the game due to it granting invincibility for the current turn.

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Dark Hunter Overview

Image Now we get to one of the classes that was ridiculously buffed. Dark Hunters were pretty okay last game, mainly stuck to swords since binds weren't all that great and had some interesting skills to work with. In this game pretty much everything they did got massively buffed. Whips can be dependably used due to Dominate, they can remove pretty much every FOE from the field when they're below half health, they can counter any kind of damage even if the attack is nullified and oh yeah Dominate is the second best Force Skill in the game because NO enemy resists its effect, they will get fully bound, no question. It's kinda fucking insane how good this class is now, but the fact it's only the second best class in the game says a lot about how busted some of these classes are.

Image I'm of the opinion that EO2 Dark Hunter is incredibly badly designed, mostly because Dominate and Hexer are busted enough that the standard DH infliction skills almost feel like afterthoughts, but that's just me.

Image AHAHAHAHA, now we get to the real power! Dark Hunters were okay offensive units in 1, but they are far stronger here! To the point where they are one of the best offensive units in their game thanks to their amazing counter skills. Several mechanics changes also skyrocketed Dark Hunters to the top. Ailment resistances aren't one stat anymore, so they can actually use a variety of disables now instead of only the best ones. Whips and Swords now share similar skills, which ended up making Whips the clear winner of the two since it inherited some skills that were previously locked off to it. Oh and they can completely shut down any enemy in the game with their Force Skill by completely binding them. Yeah they're really good.

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Medic Overview

Image Understandably Medics got the nerf bat, they were ridiculous last game, able to heal, defend the party, cure status and revive, and even smack some heads in. Their STR took a hit, so no more whacking, while Immunize got snapped, haha pop culture. Now they heal super fucking well, and it's not that necessary to bring them, War Magus heals less but has more utility and burst strats and broken classes means turtling and surviving isn't that useful. Full on full heals, emergency Nectalls and their OH SHIT panic button of a Force Skill still make them a great class. But now they only do one thing. It's a really good one thing though!

Image Hang on, don't worry, guys, I'll get my turn eventually with the incredibly dense steel my staves are apparently made out of. It's not a problem!

Image In EO1, it was basically suicidal to go without a Medic since they had an amazing defensive buffs, along with being one of the strongest offensive units in the game. Yes, really. However they're not so much necessary in this game due to some rather severe (but deserved nerfs.) Unfortunately the nerfs also made them less flexible, which is a rather annoying trend with class design in the Komori directed games. The class is a healbot? Yeah they're staying a healbot, and any attempts to deviate will be slapped down. And same goes for classes that fall into other roles. They can heal and uh, basically do nothing else. They're really good at that job though, and their Force Skill is a great panic button for when things go wrong.

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Alchemist Overview

Image Alchemists haven't changed much, which is a small problem since they weren't that amazing last game, main draw being the only class that used the TEC stat, while that's definitely not the case in this game. What did change was the magic formula, as explained in the overview, meaning this class hits the ground fucking running, nuking anything in its path, until the formula catches up to them and they then do mediocre damage in the postgame. Also they require A LOT of TP for their skills and get pretty outclassed by the Gunner in utility, as well as having useless physical elementals. Their Force Skill is a big ol' nuke, which is nice, but have some problems holding them back.

Image Sadly, it takes Atlus until EO4 to learn how to balance a spellcaster in a way that doesn't have their damage drop off by endgame. And then they somehow unlearnt that lesson for EON. Which frustrates me, I always like using spellcaster classes.

Image Your standard mage class. Not much to say about their incarnation in 1 but there were some rather big changes in 2. The magic formula got changed in an absolutely bizarre way which causes bizarre scaling issues. And prepare to be packing a ton of TP restoratives as their skills eat up far more TP in this game! While this class is powerful, they're also incredibly clunky to use since they have to stop to recharge several times during Labyrinth explorations. They can annihilate most big fights, but this game isn't just about those, there's still the Labyrinth to consider. Their Force Skill is a powerful nuke that can cheese earlygame bosses and FOEs. Unfortunately no matter which way you cut it, they become utter shit in the post-game due to some baffling internal math.

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Troubadour Overview

Image Another class that's pretty static is Troubadours, they mainly just laid down Bravery and could do whatever after that, maybe Relaxing for TP. In this game, well, they lay down Bravery and due to their nerfed STR they can't even contribute with chip damage. They lost Relaxing, which is the biggest difference, and some of their skills like Shelter and Health got buffed for the better, but uh yeah they're very similar. Their Force Skill would be pretty great, except the DEF aspect is bugged and doesn't do anything, while the ATK buff is the first to get wiped so can't be stacked with Bravery. A pretty lame one for a pretty lame, but still perfectly fine class.

Image It's Foe Requiem, not Foe's Requiem, fuck!!! That skill has been gone for almost two years now and that still irritates me!

Image FOE Requiem.

Image Your buffing class. In EO1 they were one of the most important classes in the game. They're far less so here. In fact in some cases they can be outright detrimental. They ate some nerfs from EO1 like losing their TP recovery skill, Relaxing, which is a huge nerf. And the loss of the Boost mechanic was a huge hit to Troubadour buffs since their buffs in this game were scaled around their level 10 skills from 1. Imbues also losing their damage boost was a huge nerf to that mechanic as well.

Image Otherwise they mostly play the same way, lay down some buffs and uh... twiddle their thumbs since their chip damage is no longer meaningful since they are locked to buffing only. Like I said, a very annoying trend with the Komori directed EO games. Their Force Skill is a huge set of big buffs, which sounds great in theory. But they eat up all your buff slots, and bosses in this game get angry if you have too many buffs. Also 1/3rd of it is bugged. Fun. And once again, don't listen to the game. The Troubadour ate some nerfs to their defenses so like the Survivalist, they'll be vaporized on the front lines.

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Ronin Overview

Image God this class is ridiculous. Ronin were unlocked midway through last game and had to setup before doing much, only excelling in single target damage and usually didn't replace the Landy you'd used for most of the game. Also only Overhead was worth bothering with. In this game, every negative about the class is basically gone, except for Overhead being the best and most oppressive stance. Those stance skills became passives, they have great elemental crowd control, deal terrifying damage with Midareba ATK buff stacks, and the Landy got nerfed into irrelevance, so Ronin have no competition. It's insane how tweaked this class become, their main negative is, again, only the Overhead stance is worth using, and their Force Skill is mainly for big damage, the ID chance is pretty bleh.

Image Ronin were still pretty busted in EOU—even if you throw Highlander and Gunner into consideration—and then just kinda went limp in EO2U, where Atlus seemingly forgot to adjust the damage their skills did as everyone else's went up. The EON incarnation's pretty interesting, at least!

Image I won't deny that big numbers are always fun, but a class dominating the entire damage dealer space like Ronin does always eats at me, because I have brainworms.

Image You wanted your jack of all trades front liner class you could fit into any party? Say no more, Ronin is here to fill that need! They were overly specialized in single target damage in 1, and had to waste a turn setting up. Along with being unlocked super late to the point they weren't an appealing class to use for most casual players. Here they come out swinging from the get-go since they no longer need to waste a turn setting up and can shred enemies with ease. They're also pretty beefy too thanks to certain passives. In short, they have completely obsoleted the Landsknecht with their mere presence. Their Force Skill is alright, an AOE attack with a chance of instant death. Throw it out whenever you have it I suppose.

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Hexer Overview

Image Here it is, the best class in the entire series. That might be a big statement considering all the other busted classes in this series, as well as how godawful the Hexer was last game. They were unlocked way too late, didn't do much against FOEs/Bosses and had their best utility be ATK reduction in the early game, where they couldn't be used. But yeah, all their skills got big buffs and they get the three best skills in the game, Torpor, Revenge and Dampen. Add in Poison, Scavenge, Frailty, maybe a bit of FEAR TREE, maybe some binds, all of this combined make an absolutely bullshit class that can deal ridiculous damage, neutralize crowds of enemies, and remove and replace resistances. Why they decided on all this, who knows, but even with its issues, their useless mastery skill, their low stats and their mediocre Force Skill, due to its randomness, it doesn't matter. If you want to crush the game's difficulty, this is the class for you.

Image I really wish I could, like, do an interview with EO2's class designers, because the degree to which hexers are broken in this game is almost a legendary failure of balancing, in my opinion. I mean, the interview would mostly consist of "why did you feel Hexer needed this tool," but getting specific answers for each would be enlightening. I'd especially like to probe the reasoning behind Dampen, because there's hints in certain boss AI patterns that Atlus knew Dampen was way too good.

Image This class is billed as a debuffer and inflicter but they are so so much more in this game! In 1 they were alright, but were massively held back by being unlocked way too late. So they ended up bad by virtue of being expired milk. Here they get their revenge on the concept of game design by having amazing debuffs, very strong forms of crowd control, and having the most powerful guaranteed damage skill in the entire game. No class in the series comes close to the sheer bullshit the Hexer sends out to every bit of game design in this product. Oh and their Force Skill is about as unreliable as it sounds.

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Gunner Overview

Image After all this nerfing and buffing we've reached our first new class. Gunners are great! They're slow as shit and pretty squishy, but they deal great elemental damage and fire off crazy crowd control, they're Survivalist 2! They can get risky and die in a single hit for the chance of beeeeeg damage and then can even bind, poorly, or heal ailments, potently, and are overall a pretty wonky class that somehow works pretty well. Their Force Skill can be a bit slow but guarantees a safe turn no matter what, incredibly potent with others like Painless and Dominate. Damn this game is busted...

Image Gunners' design has a lot of good ideas in it, just kind of let down by a failure to balance the numbers appropriately. Still a good and pretty fun class to use.

Image Gunners are the first of the newbies boy do they make a good first impression! Not satisfied with Survivalists or Alchemists? Go with these bad shooters. They completely obsolete Survivalist as a ranged attacker due to their sheer offensive power, and come with elemental coverage to boot if you don't feel like inducing an addiction to Amritas in an Alchemist. They're pretty squishy, slow, and inaccurate, but a worthwhile party member all the same. They've also got the best offensive Force Skill in the game as Riot Gun induces a guaranteed stun, which can buy you a free turn. This class is great, it's my new favorite class amongst this cast after Atlus bored a Survivalist-shaped hole in my heart.

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War Magus Overview

Image Next new class is another wonky one that still works out great despite all the weirdness. War Magus have worse, but faster healing than a Medic, which isn't a massive downside, and can combo really well with ailments and binds to do some funky sword fun. They're a weird mix of skills that don't really do much together, but they are absolutely bigger than the sum of their parts, from great buffs to kicking enemies while they're down, to acceptable healing for most of the game, War Magus are a good class that does separate things well. Their Force Skill is pretty naff, it's not as good as the Medic's, and offers turtling strategies not used very much if you're able to use Force skills.

Image I like War Magus, it's an interesting concept and implementation of a support with damage capabilities. I do think EO2U and EON both did the idea way better, though.

Image War Magi are a jack of all trades master of none- wait what do you mean all the specialized versions of the roles got nerfed into the ground!? Um... Yeah. They end up being a master of all by default, but they sure don't feel like it with how weak their skills are. EO2's game balance, everyone! Their strength lies in their flexibility and that they do their roles better than the specialized classes because those classes got nerf hammered way too hard. Though you'll namely use them for buffing and healing. Not a super noteworthy class but it's hard to suggest better options because there aren't any. Such is the game that is EO2. Their Force Skill is an alright panic button coming with some defensive potential to boot. Fortunately unlike the other 2 "either-liners", this class can genuinely work on the front or back lines due to having actual defense stats.

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Protect their owners with teeth and claws.

Force Skill: Salivall
-Heals the Party's HP and status ailments.

Fierce creatures best used in the front.

Beast Overview

Image Shamelessly stolen from the original EO2 LP until I get far enough to select this class myself. Beasts are... bad? Like they're kind of a meme class that can actually work as an alright physical tank, but like I mention seven billion times in the overview, Loyalty is such a dangerous skill that it forces two paths, one with and one without. And it's not good in either role, being outclassed by the Protector or the myriad of crazy physical attackers. If Loyalty worked properly this class would've been a nice, anti-elemental lacking wall to the Protector, but it can either be a fine enough tank or the glassiest of cannons that dies a bit too easily due to various bugs. This class can work, you'll have the entire 2nd stratum to show your stuff, but damn it's a hard class to figure out. Their Force Skill is a nice heal, but not as much of an OH SHIT button as H. Touch. It's overall weird, this class is weird, please stop.

Image Much like I wish we could do with Hexer, I wish we could probe the minds of the EO2 designers to find out why Beast is like this. The decisions behind it are as perplexing as whatever the reasoning could possibly be for why Dampen and Revenge are the way they are. EO2 Beast was so bad that everything beyond the absolute most basic idea of "damage-redirecting tank with some attack skills" was thrown out, and the class redesigned from scratch in EO2U. It's much better there!

Image Am I allowed to sue for theft? That's a thing with LP theft, right?

Image Beasts are the only unlockable class this game, but don't worry. They're unlocked pretty early on. Unfortunately what's behind the lock is very lacking. Due to some very hack job programming, then ended up being a bizarre auto tanker who is terrible at that jobs unless you specifically craft your party to accommodate for it. They're supposed to serve as an alternative to the Protector but they're not really great at it either due to lacking defensive abilities, or they die all the time because you took Loyalty. Unlike Protector they do have some decent offenses, but you can't use that to its full potential because it's locked behind Loyalty. At least the Force Skill is pretty useful, even if it's a weaker version of the Medic's. This class could have been good or even overpowered, but alas bad programming practices got in the way of that big time.

Image And that's all 12, it's time to get our guild and start our brand new adventure in High Lagaard, I'm suuuuuuuper stoked!
Last edited by Crosspeice on Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Introducing Guild Nidhogg:

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Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach
Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting
Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers

Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face.

Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money.

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Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum
Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance)
Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close)
Description:

While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home.

Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right?

...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it.

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Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forum
Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story
Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted.

Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent.

As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time.

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Name: Sonia by Verant SA Forum
Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money
Dislikes: Bats, Candles

Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless!

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name: kathy by kyasarintsu discord
likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye)
dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior
description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea.

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Name: Corinth by AweStriker LP Beach
Class: Alchemist
Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people
Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings

Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to.
He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference.

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Name: Juthro, by Prexot LP Beach
Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings
Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances
Description:
It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times.
He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else.
But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time.
He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?)

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Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach
Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels
Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason

Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?”

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Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum
Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles
Dislikes: Not kicking people

For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however.

Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again.

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Name: Aleksandra (Aleks) by Blaziken386 SA Forum
Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets.
Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets.

Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially.

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Name: Alastor by marshmallow creep SA Forum
Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks
Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports

Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it.

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Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forum
Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls
Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned,

Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing.

But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization!

Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really!

Image as our Loyalty Beast demonstrator, Fs in chat.
Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum
Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her
Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths

Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship.
Last edited by Crosspeice on Fri Mar 12, 2021 1:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Portrait: Gunner 4
Name: Ava, Female
Likes: Cleanliness, Science, Seafood, Cats, Money
Dislikes: Blood, Loud Noises, Being Touched, Sweets
Description: Ava's a doctor looking towards innovative new ways to heal allies from long range - surgery and being up there with all the blood and guys just doesn't sit right with her. However, this squeamishness comes secondary to her intellectual curiosity, and she seeks to enter the labyrinth in order to collect more monster materials that could lead to new medical inventions. Her research into ballistic medicine delivery also led to some new experimental types of weaponry, and while she'd never release those to the public, she's not exactly averse to using it to meet her own goals either. Ava's defined by her meticulous nature and single track mind, and this can often lead to her being misunderstood, something she doesn't really bother to correct. She's not antisocial per se, she's just her and that's how she be.
Last edited by Erisin on Tue Mar 09, 2021 8:57 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Portrait: War Magus, 2
Name: Rosaria
Likes: Rose-petal tea, the scent of mud after it rains, sewing dolls and clothes, big words, people who get upset about big words, and dolls.
Dislikes: Scrubbing mud off her boots after the rain, running out of materials, people who get upset about big words, and fire.
Description: A humble witch from what can charitably be considered a village just a few hills and valleys off High Lagaard's edge, Rosaria's witchcraft is her *hobby*. Her craft is sewing cloth dolls, as well as any sort of other items made of felt, silk, wool, or any other such material she may have on hand. Most of her creations end up enchanted in one way or another for fun, typically animated and given rudimentary life, and in fact High Lagaard has a few hidden cloth dolls in every place, as they tend to run off. She considers this them moving out, though there are a few that always stick around, waiting in her pockets or her large bag of sewing materials and implements. Rosaria is a very humble person, not really one for amassing wealth or attention; aside from sewing, reading big books and learning magic, the only thing that she'll really chase is a new, esoteric tea to try.

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Protector 4 (Pink-haired one)
Name: Cecily Rindel
Likes: Meeting new friends and poking them into improving themselves, taunting and clowning on enemies, intense dedication to work and rest (though she has hobbies like playing games and journaling, she also just loves sleep), surprising people, gossiping
Dislikes: Pedantry, self-righteousness or putting oneself down, blind dedication to honesty or law, confrontational people (especially publically and/or needling into other people's business), glorification of sacrifice
Description: Cecily's a wanderer who's seen way more death than anyone as young as she should, having left her home in the outskirts of unrestored badlands as a late teen after woefully inadequate training and service for her country (such as it was). She's certainly not the gentle and timid person she once was, but she refuses to decide whether the change was "good" or "bad" — it simply is, and she likes herself (and the possibilities of new countries) just fine, thank you very much. Unfulfilling odd jobs and friendships that went sour (admittedly not helped by her rough conduct) led her to High Lagaard, where she's very eager for a second chance at keeping others safe, making and keeping new friends, and having a damn fine time of it all.

Cecily doesn't open up too quickly, but she's still usually warm and perhaps too familiar and jokey. She can tone it down when people seem legitimately upset or uncomfortable and she gets quite severe (sometimes with a white-hot wit) in situations or subjects she dislikes. Feel free to throw in ~s aplenty, but not constantly, yeah~?

(I like what I read of your EO1 LP! Hopefully I'll get to follow along with this one and comment on the way :> )
Last edited by Alfa/Polaris on Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Almost a legendary failure of balancing" is a pretty good way to describe EO2o in general IMO. At least it's not the JP version and the Survivalist's force skill actually works. Enough negativity about this game from me though, have a bad character idea.

Portrait: Hexer 3
Name: Harold
Likes: Tea (most flavors at any rate), soft music, cleanliness, solitude, reading (primarily horror and mystery novels)
Dislikes: Vulgarity, pettiness, heavy manual labor, mud, intimacy in general
Description: A down-on-his-luck insignificant son of a rather large noble family who was thrown out for being a general disappointment after one too many attempts at arranged marriage fell apart. He's actually not that bad a person once you get to know him; his manners are impeccable and he treats everyone fairly, he's just antisocial to a fault and only really got into this adventuring thing because it seemed better than starving at the time. Plus the hexer arts had a certain appeal to someone like him, even if the customary outfit is a little odd.

It seems like the beast really could be a pretty decent class, at least if loyalty wasn't so broken. A passive tank that just sits there taking hits and dealing damage would be pretty fun, potentially even borderline broken, but loyalty ignores any kind of tankiness so they just die.

Araxxor's EO2 LP was my first exposure to the EO series so I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this.

Portrait: Beast 1
Name: "Patch"
Likes: Mushrooms, lounging, chin-scratches
Dislikes: hard work, solitude, bells
Description: Long ago in Lagaard, there was an explorer so rude and lazy that they could never find a guild to keep them. They once enraged a hexer of great renown, and were abandoned in the labyrinth. Shortly thereafter, they stumbled across a patch of the juiciest-looking mushrooms they had ever seen. They ate their fill, but soon found themselves dizzy. They stopped for a nap in a moonlit clearing, and awoke in a savage, inhuman form. For years they wandered the labyrinth, trying to find a way to fix their condition; but they have long since decided that it is probably a lost cause. All the time alone has made them rethink their ways, but their vices are hard to give up even after all these years.

Portrait: Landsknecht 4
Name: Holly
Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting
Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers
Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face.

Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money.

(this was originally a joke entry of drunk scottish woman since Landsknecht in this game is an underwhelming class but I decided to flesh it out a bit, I'm keeping the details on the submission light since it's more fun to let people fill in the blanks themselves although I do have my own ideas on what her crimes are and why her swordmanship is so good)

Been lurking this place for a while now, and this seems like a good reason to finally join up. I’ll always enjoy a good EO LP.

Class: Ronin, portrait 4
Name: Eleanore
Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels
Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason
Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?”

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Jank Odyssey: Loyalty

Welcome to the first installment of the many coding horrors that were in EO2. The game had a ridiculously small turnaround time from EO1 being released only 1 year and 1 month after the Japanese release period. To put it bluntly, it was basically rushed out the door hard, and it shows in several places. Not only were several balancing and design decisions questionable, the Japanese version of the game was infamously buggy to the point where localization had to clean up several of the bugs, and these changes got backported to Version 2 cartridges of this game back in Japan. Even then, localization and the Version 2 incarnation of the game didn't catch all of them. These kinds of updates are going to be focusing on the various glitches and coding horrors you can find in this particular entry.

Let's start out with Loyalty, the skill that heavily brings down the Beast's usefulness and doesn't even work with most of their skills or even their stats. The reason Loyalty is utter shite is because it was lazily coded. You see, the EO1 and 2 engine handles redirecting damage in a fucking bizarre way. Granted there weren't any way to forcibly redirect damage instances in EO1.

When Loyalty activates, it converts the damage amount into a typeless damage attack which is then applied to the Beast. This is why Loyalty ignores the Beast's stats as the damage redirection kicks in after the enemy's attack is run through the damage formula, and it doesn't do it again for the Beast. The source of this attack then gets changed from "came from an enemy" to "comes from nothing" which is part of why it breaks several interactions. Nearly every single defensive skill is coded to work on enemy attacks only, however Loyalty converts it to recoil damage instead, which many defensives do not work on. So there's no "attack" to protect against, it's mechanically recoil damage, and the math doesn’t get redone to account for that.

And even if say, the Anti skills did activate on Loyalty procs, they couldn't do anything because it's untyped damage.

This why outside of Loyalty, true redirection skills did not exist in the first 2 games. It’s stupidly jank as fuck. From EO3 onwards, damage redirection works exactly as you would expect. Changes the target who takes damage instead of doing that entire bizarre song and dance.

Consider this the first of many many coding horrors in this game. I have such sights to show you.
Last edited by Araxxor on Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That’s... kind of incredible, really. I already knew this game was broken in several ways from reading the old LP, but as a programmer I very much enjoy learning about the technical details of exactly how it’s broken. Looking forward to seeing what other horrors you have to show us. :allears:

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Submissions so far!

Landy: 2 submissions

Portrait: Landsknecht 4
Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach
Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting
Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers
Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face.

Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money.

Class: Landsknecht
Portrait: 4
Name: T.J. by ajkalan SA Forum
Likes: Sharing tips and little secrets, being appreciated, eavesdropping
Dislikes: Lies, littering, cellars
Description: T.J. is a local, and knows the streets of Lagaard in and out (and over - there are not many rooftops she has not explored). Giving tours to all the new explorers has earned her a little gold, but watching all these adventurers seeking fame has awoken feelings of local pride in her. She's taught herself some swordplay by watching practicing adventurers, and what she lacks in formal training she makes up for in keen observation. Furthermore, she's picked up some useful knowledge about the Labyrinth from listening to explorers at the inn, so even if she's not entered it yet she'd be useful as a guide to a novice guild. Seeing a promising group of adventurers at the Explorers Guild, T.J. takes the opportunity to join their ranks and show that she, and the city as a whole, can discover the secrets of the Labyrinth as well as any out-of-towner.

Protector: 2 submissions

Protector 4 (Pink-haired one)
Name: Cecily Rindel by Alfa/Polaris LP Beach
Likes: Meeting new friends and poking them into improving themselves, taunting and clowning on enemies, intense dedication to work and rest (though she has hobbies like playing games and journaling, she also just loves sleep), surprising people, gossiping
Dislikes: Pedantry, self-righteousness or putting oneself down, blind dedication to honesty or law, confrontational people (especially publically and/or needling into other people's business), glorification of sacrifice
Description: Cecily's a wanderer who's seen way more death than anyone as young as she should, having left her home in the outskirts of unrestored badlands as a late teen after woefully inadequate training and service for her country (such as it was). She's certainly not the gentle and timid person she once was, but she refuses to decide whether the change was "good" or "bad" — it simply is, and she likes herself (and the possibilities of new countries) just fine, thank you very much. Unfulfilling odd jobs and friendships that went sour (admittedly not helped by her rough conduct) led her to High Lagaard, where she's very eager for a second chance at keeping others safe, making and keeping new friends, and having a damn fine time of it all.

Cecily doesn't open up too quickly, but she's still usually warm and perhaps too familiar and jokey. She can tone it down when people seem legitimately upset or uncomfortable and she gets quite severe (sometimes with a white-hot wit) in situations or subjects she dislikes. Feel free to throw in ~s aplenty, but not constantly, yeah~?

Class: Protector
Portrait: 4
Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forums
Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story
Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted.
Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent.

As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time.

Survivalist: 3 submissions

Class:Survivalist
Portrait: 3
Name: Alexander by GiantRockFromSpace SA Forums
Likes: Beautiful vistas, fame, woodcarving.
Dislikes: Danger, effort, squirrels.
Description: Claiming to be a renowed explorer and brilliant adventurer, Alexander's reputation amongst the people of High Lagaard quickly took a nose dive after multiple guilds kicked him out on grounds such as "unable to shoot things in front of his nose", "having the sense of direction of a blind sloth" and "running away at the slightest sign of danger". That said, despite never even reaching further than the first floor of the labyrinth, his uncanny ability to sniff out danger and the fact no team he's travelled with has ever been slaughtered by the horrors of Yggdrasil has made him an inside joke amongst explorers as the perfect member for new, inexperienced guilds to discover first hand the hardships of the dungeon; at Alexander's lament.

Portrait: Survivalist 3
Name: Stitch by Toyotasomi no Miko SA Forums
Likes: Exploration, archaeology, pranks, drawing (and similar activities, such as painting)
Dislikes: Scary things
Description:

Stitch was always that problematic child who refused to follow directions, but he's kind of gotten over that in more recent years. What's in the hand behind his back? Shhhhhh, that's just how he greets people. There's no buzzer button or anything on it, why would there be? But besides that, he's gotten curious about some places, such as this place called 'Etria' with a whole bunch of ruins at the bottom. Score! Time to head there and see what's there to learn about the past.

Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up in some town with a big ol' tree that's probably got a ton of dangerous monsters in it .Unknown to him, Etria's tree also had monsters in it. Darn Albuquerque ruins everyone's directions. Hopefully the archery classes he took a few years ago for self defense don't fail him... Maybe he'll get some help from some other folks nearby?

Portrait: Survivalist 3
Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum
Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance)
Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close)
Description:

While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home.

Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right?

...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it.

Dark Hunter: 3 submissions

Port: Dark Hunter 3rd portrait (white hair one)
Name: Alexander (or just Alex) by blitz Discord
Likes: Insects, high-energy/spicy food, and the stars.
Dislikes: Thunderstorms, the indescribable fear of being watched when you're alone, deep waters, falling flat on his ass as he slips.
Description: Alexander, the poor boy, likes rushing headlong into most things due to slight stubbornness. As they say, "The end justifies the means", and their means is being unafraid to try new things. (Alex goes by he/they pronouns as well, if you're willing to include it.)

Class: Dark Hunter
Portrait: 2
Name: Sonia by Verant
Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money
Dislikes: Bats, Candles
Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless!

Class: Dark Hunter, portrait 2
Name: Gillian by theshim SA Thread
Likes: Solitude, fishing, philosophical debate on choice and sapience with a few close friends, cooking
Dislikes: Expectations, romantic relationships, her father, spicy food, this god damn whip
Description: Gillian was a fairly normal girl growing up - a little bit of a shut-in, but not terribly so. Then her god damn father gave her this god damn whip and everything went to hell. Insisting it was a family heirloom, her father presented her with a whip he claimed to be magical and told her it was her duty and destiny to battle the forces of evil with it. Of course, he presented it to her in an arcane ritual coinciding with a full lunar eclipse, so of course she ended up absorbing the power of that god damn whip and now any whip she touches becomes imbued with deadly power, cutting and restraining targets with ease - something she was quick to discover when her god damn father kept forcing her to train with whips. Now she's been kicked out of the house to go on "a brave and perilous journey to vanquish the evil in this world!" and is not to be welcomed back until she's proven herself a capable and righteous adventurer. Without the money or skills to travel far from High Lagaard, it seems the labyrinth is the only path forward for her.

Is definitively and absolutely not a Belmont.

Medic: 2 submissions

Class: Medic
Portrait: 4
Name: Suika by BraveLittleToaster SA Forum
Likes: Drinks of all kinds, always non-alcoholic. Also patching up her group.
Dislikes: Any kind of flying creature, no matter what species or context or genus.

Description: There are a surprising number of cynical Medics out there, something Suika never quite got the memo on being. Explorers would often need the help of her talents, and so healed they would be. And not merely explorers, but everyone that had ails, no matter how small or large. An en pinched was a life wasted, as far as she was concerned. The only luxury she allowed herself was a wide range of experiences with non-alcoholic drinks, especially her favored and frequently used drinking canteen filled with something nobody else ever got a taste of and was never explained, but whatever it was, she sure enjoyed it. Turned out healing and treating indiscriminately and burning through your supplies at the expense of not only yourself, but other fellow Medics, can leave you looking a bit mad in their eyes. So she decided to give the prevention side of her job a try, and went off to join a newly founded guild and take on the Labyrinth with them. Conquering it would surely prevent explorer-related injuries from the Labyrinth when they were done there, after all.

name: kathy by kyasarintsu Discord
medic 4
likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye)
dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior
description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea.

Alchemist: 1 submission

Name: Mona by Slaan SA Forums
Class: Alchemist
Portrait: 4
Likes: Medics, campfire food, merchants and traders, comfortable clothes
Dislikes: Cats, reptiles, hexers, taking orders

Story: Mona is a Medic! No, really. Wait, why are you putting on a gas mask?

Mona as a kid wanted nothing more than to be a Medic. She excelled in school. She helped out at the local healer. She even carried around bandages to sell to the other kids.

The problem? She just doesn't have the talent for chemistry. Every time she follows a recipe or spell for a healing potion or antidote or unguent it ends up exploding, becoming poisonous or otherwise dangerous. She's hoping some on the ground experience in the labyrinth will help her overcome her issues.

And if not, at least she can find some new ingredients for her famous rice dishes!

Troubadour: 1 submission

Class/Portrait: Troubadour 1
Name: Adrian by Jade Rider SA Forums
Likes: Innovation, unconventional solutions
Dislikes: Hecklers
Description: A talented young musician. Having mastered more traditional instruments, lyres, lutes, flutes, pipes, and whatnot, he quickly set about finding new and exciting ways to practice his art. Exotic instruments, however, tend to be quite expensive, and well, let's be blunt, his insistence on experimental music doesn't get him a lot of gigs. So when he overheard a group of adventurers bragging about the vast riches of the labyrinth, he set out to join a guild. His... uh, eclectic array of cobbled-together hybrid instruments and offbeat genres of music may not be "conventional" or "good", but there's no denying it gets results.

Ronin: 2 submissions

Portrait: Ronin 4
Name: Jeff by Like Clockwork SA Forum
Likes: Fancy sword moves, posing dramatically
Dislikes: Public speaking, squirrels, practicing the basics
Description: Jeff (or rather, "near-inaudible muttering that sounds vaguely like Jeff") is a tiny, reedy nerd with a pot-metal sword who listened to too many heavily embellished stories from extremely drunk adventurers in pubs and got some weird ideas about what it meant to be an adventurer in the process. They're terribly shy normally, struggling to keep an audible volume for longer sentences, but their tendency towards loud, dramatic gestures helps make up for it. Telling them they have to learn how to do things like "properly hold a sword" to do the cool flashy stuff without nearly removing their foot in the process will make them very sad, but will probably prevent impromptu amputations.

A Jeff that is desperately trying to not become Generic Town Guard #385 by being chuuni af.

Class: Ronin, portrait 4
Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach
Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels
Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason
Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?”

Hexer: 2 submissions

Portrait: Hexer 3
Name: Harold by RandomKesaranPasaran LP Beach
Likes: Tea (most flavors at any rate), soft music, cleanliness, solitude, reading (primarily horror and mystery novels)
Dislikes: Vulgarity, pettiness, heavy manual labor, mud, intimacy in general
Description: A down-on-his-luck insignificant son of a rather large noble family who was thrown out for being a general disappointment after one too many attempts at arranged marriage fell apart. He's actually not that bad a person once you get to know him; his manners are impeccable and he treats everyone fairly, he's just antisocial to a fault and only really got into this adventuring thing because it seemed better than starving at the time. Plus the hexer arts had a certain appeal to someone like him, even if the customary outfit is a little odd.

Hexer 4
Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum
Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles
Dislikes: Not kicking people

For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however.

Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again.

Gunner: 2 submissions

Portrait: Gunner 4
Name: Ava, Female by Erisin LP Beach
Likes: Cleanliness, Science, Seafood, Cats
Dislikes: Blood, Loud Noises, Being Touched
Description: Ava's a doctor looking towards innovative new ways to heal allies from long range - surgery and being up there with all the blood and guys just doesn't sit right with her. She's meticulous in her studies and However, this squeamishness comes secondary to her intellectual curiosity, and she seeks to enter the labyrinth in order to collect more monster materials that could lead to new medical inventions. Her research into ballistic medicine delivery also led to some new experimental types of weaponry, and while she'd never release those to the public, she's not exactly averse to using it to meet her own goals either.

Class: Gunner is new, so we've gotta have one of those, yeah?
Portrait: 2
Name: Aleksandra by Blaziken386 SA Forum
Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets.
Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets.
Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially.

War Magus: 3 submissions

Portrait: War Magus, 2
Name: Rosaria by Angel LP Beach
Likes: Rose-petal tea, the scent of mud after it rains, sewing dolls and clothes, big words, people who get upset about big words, and dolls.
Dislikes: Scrubbing mud off her boots after the rain, running out of materials, people who get upset about big words, and fire.
Description: A humble witch from what can charitably be considered a village just a few hills and valleys off High Lagaard's edge, Rosaria's witchcraft is her *hobby*. Her craft is sewing cloth dolls, as well as any sort of other items made of felt, silk, wool, or any other such material she may have on hand. Most of her creations end up enchanted in one way or another for fun, typically animated and given rudimentary life, and in fact High Lagaard has a few hidden cloth dolls in every place, as they tend to run off. She considers this them moving out, though there are a few that always stick around, waiting in her pockets or her large bag of sewing materials and implements. Rosaria is a very humble person, not really one for amassing wealth or attention; aside from sewing, reading big books and learning magic, the only thing that she'll really chase is a new, esoteric tea to try.

Class: War Magus
Portrait: 3
Name: Alastor by marhsmallow creep SA Forum
Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks
Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports
Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it.

Portrait: war magus 4
Name: Marina by clockwork chaos SA Forums
Likes: umami flavors, bright colors, mom, swearing, explosions, girls

Dislikes: fancy stuff, privileged rich people, alcohol, toxic masculinity, getting misgendered

Description: freshly graduated from war magus college, and god was it boring. She just wants to use her skills and see how strong she can get, explosions and magic and stuff yeah!!
Overshadowed by a rich, loving, stifling family and doting older sister, she wants to make a name for herself and she can do it on her own mom!

(Marina is trans but if you don't feel comfortable writing her that way, i'll understand)

Beast: 5 submissions

Class - Beast
Portrait - 1
Name - "Patch" by SilDre LP Beach
Likes - Mushrooms, lounging, chin-scratches
Dislikes - hard work, solitude, bells
Description - When the elders of lagaard were children, there was an explorer so rude and lazy that they could never find a guild to keep them. They once enraged a hexer of great renown, amd were abandoned in the labyrinth. Shortly thereafter, they stumbles across a patch of the juiciest-looking mushrooms they haf ever seen. They ate their fill, but soon found themselves dizzy. They stopped for a nap in a moonlit clearing, and awoke in a savage, inhuman form. For years they wandered the labyrinth, trying to find a way to fix their condition; but they have long since decided that it is probably a lost cause. All the time alone has made them rethink their ways, but their vices are hard to give up even after all these years.

Class - Beast
Portrait - 3
Name - worms (no caps) by ant Discord
Likes - eating good, killing monsters
Hates - everyone else in the guild, acting defensively
Description - A dumb wolf that can talk that's overly critical of others. Text is stylistically written without caps or punctuation. Is only on a guild because they're bored and they have nothing better to do. Only contributes to fights with Rampage and refuses to do anything else, even if it means constantly dying due to Loyalty. Will never learn.

Portrait: Beast 3
Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum
Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her
Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths
Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship.

Class: Beast
Portrait: 1, the White Tiger
Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forums
Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls
Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned,
Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing.

But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization!

Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really!

Portrait: 1
Name: Hecate the Beast by Kemix SA Forum
Likes: Belly rubs, catnip, affection, eating forest squirrels to keep the population down
Dislikes: Forest Squirrels duping adventurers, hateful people, animal abusers
Description: Hecate, being a saber toothed tiger of all things, one would expect a monstrous beast that enjoys ripping and tearing adventurers apart at speeds that would make even the local Ronin blush. Not so true with her. She was originally raised from a small kitten by a guild of adventurers as a sort of mascot for their group, fully domesticated by the time she could adventure with them and very affectionate and friendly with the local townies...even if she had a habit of using the local tavern as a sorta-kinda scratching post once she got bigger. Unfortunately those happy days ended when her group, having slowly adventuring through the first stratum, had a run in with one of the local forest squirrels...and one can expect with them, their only lifeline was taken from them right before their time of need of it. She had escaped from the FOE that tore through the rest of her guild, leaving her to fend for herself in the upper parts of the first strata...and fend she did, growing to full size before long and hunting down any squirrels she could find, less for sustenance and more for a deep ingrained hatred of the creatures that helped to kill her owners, she would hunt them down almost exclusively (though she did give the other monsters of the first strata a good deal of trouble if only to get a little variety in her diet) and do everything she could, if nothing else, to keep other guilds from sharing her guild's fate.

First time posting, let's see how this character I painstakingly squeezed out of my ass over the course of two hours will be received.

Portrait: Troubador 1
Name: Juthro, Male
Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings
Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances
Description:
It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times.
He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else.
But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time.
He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?)



...Unrelated, do you realize that you misspelled "Odyssey" in the thread title?
Last edited by Prexot on Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
Since I can edit the thread title, I don't know what you're talking about.

I really love how amazingly stupid the internals of loyalty are, couldn't they just done something like "taunt but a passive" instead of that ridiculous nonsense?

User avatar
Gespenst wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:54 am
I really love how amazingly stupid the internals of loyalty are, couldn't they just done something like "taunt but a passive" instead of that ridiculous nonsense?
The issue with that is that Provoke is aggro manipulation, not true damage redirection. This means instead of facetanking all hits of an AOE, it would essentially do nothing. And a Beast that could actually use its defensive stats would be super strong in that case, but alas.

User avatar
Name: Corinth
Class: Alchemist
Portrait: 1
Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people
Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings

Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to.
He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference.

User avatar
Submissions are closed!

33 total submissions what the heck!

Landy: 2 submissions

Portrait: Landsknecht 4
Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach
Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting
Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers
Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face.

Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money.

Class: Landsknecht
Portrait: 4
Name: T.J. by ajkalan SA Forum
Likes: Sharing tips and little secrets, being appreciated, eavesdropping
Dislikes: Lies, littering, cellars
Description: T.J. is a local, and knows the streets of Lagaard in and out (and over - there are not many rooftops she has not explored). Giving tours to all the new explorers has earned her a little gold, but watching all these adventurers seeking fame has awoken feelings of local pride in her. She's taught herself some swordplay by watching practicing adventurers, and what she lacks in formal training she makes up for in keen observation. Furthermore, she's picked up some useful knowledge about the Labyrinth from listening to explorers at the inn, so even if she's not entered it yet she'd be useful as a guide to a novice guild. Seeing a promising group of adventurers at the Explorers Guild, T.J. takes the opportunity to join their ranks and show that she, and the city as a whole, can discover the secrets of the Labyrinth as well as any out-of-towner.

Protector: 2 submissions

Protector 4 (Pink-haired one)
Name: Cecily Rindel by Alfa/Polaris LP Beach
Likes: Meeting new friends and poking them into improving themselves, taunting and clowning on enemies, intense dedication to work and rest (though she has hobbies like playing games and journaling, she also just loves sleep), surprising people, gossiping
Dislikes: Pedantry, self-righteousness or putting oneself down, blind dedication to honesty or law, confrontational people (especially publically and/or needling into other people's business), glorification of sacrifice
Description: Cecily's a wanderer who's seen way more death than anyone as young as she should, having left her home in the outskirts of unrestored badlands as a late teen after woefully inadequate training and service for her country (such as it was). She's certainly not the gentle and timid person she once was, but she refuses to decide whether the change was "good" or "bad" — it simply is, and she likes herself (and the possibilities of new countries) just fine, thank you very much. Unfulfilling odd jobs and friendships that went sour (admittedly not helped by her rough conduct) led her to High Lagaard, where she's very eager for a second chance at keeping others safe, making and keeping new friends, and having a damn fine time of it all.

Cecily doesn't open up too quickly, but she's still usually warm and perhaps too familiar and jokey. She can tone it down when people seem legitimately upset or uncomfortable and she gets quite severe (sometimes with a white-hot wit) in situations or subjects she dislikes. Feel free to throw in ~s aplenty, but not constantly, yeah~?

Class: Protector
Portrait: 4
Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forum
Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story
Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted.
Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent.

As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time.

Survivalist: 3 submissions

Class:Survivalist
Portrait: 3
Name: Theodore by GiantRockFromSpace SA Forum
Likes: Beautiful vistas, fame, woodcarving.
Dislikes: Danger, effort, squirrels.
Description: Claiming to be a renowed explorer and brilliant adventurer, Theodore's reputation amongst the people of High Lagaard quickly took a nose dive after multiple guilds kicked him out on grounds such as "unable to shoot things in front of his nose", "having the sense of direction of a blind sloth" and "running away at the slightest sign of danger". That said, despite never even reaching further than the first floor of the labyrinth, his uncanny ability to sniff out danger and the fact no team he's travelled with has ever been slaughtered by the horrors of Yggdrasil has made him an inside joke amongst explorers as the perfect member for new, inexperienced guilds to discover first hand the hardships of the dungeon; at Theodore's lament.

Portrait: Survivalist 3
Name: Stitch by Toyotasomi no Miko SA Forum
Likes: Exploration, archaeology, pranks, drawing (and similar activities, such as painting)
Dislikes: Scary things
Description:

Stitch was always that problematic child who refused to follow directions, but he's kind of gotten over that in more recent years. What's in the hand behind his back? Shhhhhh, that's just how he greets people. There's no buzzer button or anything on it, why would there be? But besides that, he's gotten curious about some places, such as this place called 'Etria' with a whole bunch of ruins at the bottom. Score! Time to head there and see what's there to learn about the past.

Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up in some town with a big ol' tree that's probably got a ton of dangerous monsters in it .Unknown to him, Etria's tree also had monsters in it. Darn Albuquerque ruins everyone's directions. Hopefully the archery classes he took a few years ago for self defense don't fail him... Maybe he'll get some help from some other folks nearby?

Portrait: Survivalist 3
Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum
Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance)
Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close)
Description:

While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home.

Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right?

...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it.

Dark Hunter: 3 submissions

Port: Dark Hunter 3rd portrait (white hair one)
Name: Alexander (or just Alex) by blitz Discord
Likes: Insects, high-energy/spicy food, and the stars.
Dislikes: Thunderstorms, the indescribable fear of being watched when you're alone, deep waters, falling flat on his ass as he slips.
Description: The inexplicable need to visit a new area brought Alexander to High Laggard, and he's pretty open about it. The poor boy likes rushing headlong into most things due to slight stubbornness; As they say, "The end justifies the means", and their means is being unafraid to try new things. (Alex goes by he/they pronouns as well, if you're willing to include it.)

Class: Dark Hunter
Portrait: 2
Name: Sonia by Verant SA Forum
Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money
Dislikes: Bats, Candles
Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless!

Class: Dark Hunter, portrait 2
Name: Gillian by theshim SA Forum
Likes: Solitude, fishing, philosophical debate on choice and sapience with a few close friends, cooking
Dislikes: Expectations, romantic relationships, her father, spicy food, this god damn whip
Description: Gillian was a fairly normal girl growing up - a little bit of a shut-in, but not terribly so. Then her god damn father gave her this god damn whip and everything went to hell. Insisting it was a family heirloom, her father presented her with a whip he claimed to be magical and told her it was her duty and destiny to battle the forces of evil with it. Of course, he presented it to her in an arcane ritual coinciding with a full lunar eclipse, so of course she ended up absorbing the power of that god damn whip and now any whip she touches becomes imbued with deadly power, cutting and restraining targets with ease - something she was quick to discover when her god damn father kept forcing her to train with whips. Now she's been kicked out of the house to go on "a brave and perilous journey to vanquish the evil in this world!" and is not to be welcomed back until she's proven herself a capable and righteous adventurer. Without the money or skills to travel far from High Lagaard, it seems the labyrinth is the only path forward for her.

Is definitively and absolutely not a Belmont.

Medic: 2 submissions

Class: Medic
Portrait: 4
Name: Suika by BraveLittleToaster SA Forum
Likes: Drinks of all kinds, always non-alcoholic. Also patching up her group.
Dislikes: Any kind of flying creature, no matter what species or context or genus.

Description: There are a surprising number of cynical Medics out there, something Suika never quite got the memo on being. Explorers would often need the help of her talents, and so healed they would be. And not merely explorers, but everyone that had ails, no matter how small or large. An en pinched was a life wasted, as far as she was concerned. The only luxury she allowed herself was a wide range of experiences with non-alcoholic drinks, especially her favored and frequently used drinking canteen filled with something nobody else ever got a taste of and was never explained, but whatever it was, she sure enjoyed it. Turned out healing and treating indiscriminately and burning through your supplies at the expense of not only yourself, but other fellow Medics, can leave you looking a bit mad in their eyes. So she decided to give the prevention side of her job a try, and went off to join a newly founded guild and take on the Labyrinth with them. Conquering it would surely prevent explorer-related injuries from the Labyrinth when they were done there, after all.

name: kathy by kyasarintsu Discord
medic 4
likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye)
dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior
description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea.

Alchemist: 3 submissions

Name: Mona
Class: Alchemist by Slaan SA Forum
Portrait: 4
Likes: Medics, campfire food, merchants and traders, comfortable clothes
Dislikes: Cats, reptiles, hexers, taking orders

Story:

Mona is a Medic! No, really. Wait, why are you putting on a gas mask?

Mona as a kid wanted nothing more than to be a Medic. She excelled in school. She helped out at the local healer. She even carried around bandages to sell to the other kids.

The problem? She just doesn't have the talent for chemistry. Every time she follows a recipe or spell for a healing potion or antidote or unguent it ends up exploding, becoming poisonous or otherwise dangerous. She's hoping some on the ground experience in the labyrinth will help her overcome her issues.

Mona is pretty sure that her issues come from a Hexer hexing her when she annoyed one as a child, so she hates all Hexers. On the other hand, she greatly respects merchants and traders for their hustle and ability to make a buck.

And if not, at least she can find some new ingredients for her famous rice dishes!

Name: Trishula by Level Seven SA Forum
Portrait: Alchemist 4
Likes: Coffee with extra cream, her pet cat Dew, Triangles
Dislikes: Coffee with extra sugar, BIRDS , Circles
Description: Raised in a family of scholars, the discovery of knowledge came as naturally as breathing to her. Many myths were proven or debunked, many mysteries solved in due time. Yet years of research into the tales of the floating castle could not answer this question that haunted her. To solve the mystery, Trishula vowed to find the castle no matter what it took. She just had to know the truth.

Did the ancients have their tea with sandwiches or biscuits?

Name: Corinth by AweStriker LP Beach
Class: Alchemist
Portrait: 1
Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people
Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings

Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to.
He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference.

Troubadour: 4 submissions

Class/Portrait: Troubadour 1
Name: Adrian by Jade Rider SA Forum
Likes: Innovation, unconventional solutions
Dislikes: Hecklers
Description: A talented young musician. Having mastered more traditional instruments, lyres, lutes, flutes, pipes, and whatnot, he quickly set about finding new and exciting ways to practice his art. Exotic instruments, however, tend to be quite expensive, and well, let's be blunt, his insistence on experimental music doesn't get him a lot of gigs. So when he overheard a group of adventurers bragging about the vast riches of the labyrinth, he set out to join a guild. His... uh, eclectic array of cobbled-together hybrid instruments and offbeat genres of music may not be "conventional" or "good", but there's no denying it gets results.

Class/Portrait: Troubador 1
Name: Kristina by Jadecore SA Forum
Likes: (Most) performing arts, instruments you can play while dancing, junk food, novels, knickknacks and antiques
Dislikes: The opera, catacombs, simps
Description: Back when she was a teenager, Kristina used to actually be something of a big name in her homeland's high art scene, the ballerina urchin with incredible elegance. As she got older, however, the strictness of the lifestyle and the constant eyes on her gave her a certain pressure to evolve and break out, working on combining performing music with her dance. That ended... well, she got quite a lot of positive press, but the specifics of The Opera Incident and the constant badgering of suitors for the young star resulted in Kristina robbing the opera house and fleeing the country. Finally having money of her own and no expectations hanging over her head, Kristina adopted a new name and decided to dedicate herself to trying new things and experiences. She can engage with the arts on her own terms, collect things that interest her, eat all the sweets she wants... and if she explores this labyrinth, an interesting new challenge in and of itself, then she can probably avoid anyone who might have tried to follow her.

Portrait: Troubador 1
Name: Juthro, Male by Prexot LP Beach
Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings
Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances
Description:
It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times.
He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else.
But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time.
He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?)

Class: Troubadour
Portrait: 2
Name: Fiara by NyoroEevee SA Forum
Likes: most animals, when plans "follow the script", the thrill of the stage
Dislikes: disorganization, her own innate talent for improv, Furyhorns
Description: Fiara was an actor and playwright for an up-and-coming Lagaardian acting troupe, that saw moderate success until the day the troupe's leader decided to set their next stage in the early layers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, "To spice things up and add an edge of danger for thrill!" Surprisingly, the troupe adapted better than they had any right to, owing to the athletics required for their performances. However, the opening day of this new performance would be met with tragedy, when the climax act, a heroic battle against some Hedgehogs, was interrupted by a sudden appearance of a Furyhorn, the FOE's Step attack sowing confusing across the actors. Fiara only vaguely remembers the events, only coming to lucidity right at the end as the sole survivor of the fight with the small audience miraculously unharmed. Cobbling together a swift ending for the play before hastening the crowd back to town, Fiara was left with shattered hopes and the corpses of her fellows. After burying her comrades, Fiara ended up drifting aimlessly for a while before deciding that joining a Guild and exploring the Labyrinth would be the sole path she could pursue in an attempt to find a modicum of closure, a grimmer part of her believing that the worst that could happen would be following her troupe's fate in the place they fell. Two goals she seeks to fulfill are to use the experiences from exploration to pen a final magnum opus play as a memoir to her troupe, and to discover what sort of curse seems to have replaced all of her armor props for her famed "Crusade Climax Scenes™" with tissue paper...

Fiara usually maintains a bright, peppy stage persona fitting her outward appearance, but lurking just below surface level is a sarcastic, jaded perfectionist who is usually dealing with her latest case of writer's block.

Ronin: 2 submissions

Portrait: Ronin 4
Name: Jeff by Like Clockwork SA Forum
Likes: Fancy sword moves, posing dramatically
Dislikes: Public speaking, squirrels, practicing the basics
Description: Jeff (or rather, "near-inaudible muttering that sounds vaguely like Jeff") is a tiny, reedy nerd with a pot-metal sword who listened to too many heavily embellished stories from extremely drunk adventurers in pubs and got some weird ideas about what it meant to be an adventurer in the process. They're terribly shy normally, struggling to keep an audible volume for longer sentences, but their tendency towards loud, dramatic gestures helps make up for it. Telling them they have to learn how to do things like "properly hold a sword" to do the cool flashy stuff without nearly removing their foot in the process will make them very sad, but will probably prevent impromptu amputations.

A Jeff that is desperately trying to not become Generic Town Guard #385 by being chuuni af.

Class: Ronin, portrait 4
Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach
Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels
Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason
Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?”

Hexer: 2 submissions

Portrait: Hexer 3
Name: Harold by RandomKesaranPasaran LP Beach
Likes: Tea (most flavors at any rate), soft music, cleanliness, solitude, reading (primarily horror and mystery novels)
Dislikes: Vulgarity, pettiness, heavy manual labor, mud, intimacy in general
Description: A down-on-his-luck insignificant son of a rather large noble family who was thrown out for being a general disappointment after one too many attempts at arranged marriage fell apart. He's actually not that bad a person once you get to know him; his manners are impeccable and he treats everyone fairly, he's just antisocial to a fault and only really got into this adventuring thing because it seemed better than starving at the time. Plus the hexer arts had a certain appeal to someone like him, even if the customary outfit is a little odd.

Hexer 4
Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum
Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles
Dislikes: Not kicking people

For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however.

Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again.

Gunner: 3 submissions

Portrait: Gunner 4
Name: Ava, Female by Erisin LP Beach
Likes: Cleanliness, Science, Seafood, Cats, Money
Dislikes: Blood, Loud Noises, Being Touched, Sweets
Description: Ava's a doctor looking towards innovative new ways to heal allies from long range - surgery and being up there with all the blood and guys just doesn't sit right with her. However, this squeamishness comes secondary to her intellectual curiosity, and she seeks to enter the labyrinth in order to collect more monster materials that could lead to new medical inventions. Her research into ballistic medicine delivery also led to some new experimental types of weaponry, and while she'd never release those to the public, she's not exactly averse to using it to meet her own goals either. Ava's defined by her meticulous nature and single track mind, and this can often lead to her being misunderstood, something she doesn't really bother to correct. She's not antisocial per se, she's just her and that's how she be.

Class: Gunner is new, so we've gotta have one of those, yeah?
Portrait: 2
Name: Aleksandra by Blaziken386 SA Forum
Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets.
Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets.
Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially.

Portrait: Gunner 1
Name: Luis Cortez Almira (though he goes by Cortez, ftr.) by Kinu Nishimura SA Forum
Likes: Fishing, good vibes (whatever that means,) the solitude of a nice sunset, collecting bar stories from drunkards
Dislikes: Overly pushy bureaucrats, heat waves, invasive species, chocolate before 4 pm (there's a deep meaning behind it).
Description:

A few years back, in a territory somewhere to the west of High Lagaard, three siblings had an equal claim to the throne when their father, the king, mysteriously died. The nobles supported one—the merchantry, another—and a dedicated group of peasants, the third. A bloody civil war broke out, sending this nameless territory into chaos. However, though the nobles and merchantry were far richer than the peasantry, they had one advantage—the lay of the land. People began to tell tales of one sniper in particular, a simple fisherman who took up his rifle and disappeared into the wilderness, picking off invading forces to the nearby village. Such a terror was this Hero of Almira that the peasantry as a whole began to fall behind the third sibling, and an uprising against the upper-class in the name of true egalitarianism began.

Through this overwhelming force, this bloody civil war ended mere months after it began, and the dispute ended. However, when the new king—the one remaining noble, who would soon get to work improving the territory such that something of this nature would never occur again—called for the hero on whose back the war had been resolved, they found his previous home abandoned with a simple note that stated that he was going to go find somewhere to fish.

Of course, you'd never hear any of this from Cortez, who's a man of few words who's been wandering about the countryside for some time now, stopping in fishing holes across the landscape and then packing back up. He has a good memory, and his quiet demeanor means he serves as a sounding board for many a wayward soul's bar stories, which he seems to have a head like a steel trap for. He's also rather concerned about whether a situation 'vibes', whatever that means—it's some sort of intricate scale for how much a situation lets him think that pretty much only makes sense to him, considering that he's been in the midst of a warzone and casually continued thinking to himself about a formation of birds he'd seen the other day, but fishing over at a lake a bit to the south with no sound at all really got to him.

If you asked him why he was trying to climb the tree, he'd probably just say 'might be a nice lake up there' or something. He's not a huntsman by trade, exactly, but those scant few who've seen him at work with his gun know he's more than capable of handling himself in the wilderness, so all of the monsters up there probably don't even register as an occupational hazard. People oftentimes take all of this to mean that he's an antisocial weirdo, but this isn't quite true. He's perfectly fine with socializing. He's a perfectly harmless, benign weirdo who happens to be a crack shot and unsettlingly good at blending into places. Bohemian, if you will. Really living la vie boheme.

War Magus: 3 submissions

Portrait: War Magus, 2
Name: Rosaria by Angel LP Beach
Likes: Rose-petal tea, the scent of mud after it rains, sewing dolls and clothes, big words, people who get upset about big words, and dolls.
Dislikes: Scrubbing mud off her boots after the rain, running out of materials, people who get upset about big words, and fire.
Description: A humble witch from what can charitably be considered a village just a few hills and valleys off High Lagaard's edge, Rosaria's witchcraft is her *hobby*. Her craft is sewing cloth dolls, as well as any sort of other items made of felt, silk, wool, or any other such material she may have on hand. Most of her creations end up enchanted in one way or another for fun, typically animated and given rudimentary life, and in fact High Lagaard has a few hidden cloth dolls in every place, as they tend to run off. She considers this them moving out, though there are a few that always stick around, waiting in her pockets or her large bag of sewing materials and implements. Rosaria is a very humble person, not really one for amassing wealth or attention; aside from sewing, reading big books and learning magic, the only thing that she'll really chase is a new, esoteric tea to try.

Class: War Magus
Portrait: 3
Name: Alastor by marshmallow creep SA Forum
Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks
Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports
Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it.

Portrait: war magus 4
Name: Marina by clockwork chaos SA Forum
Likes: umami flavors, bright colors, mom, shinies, swords explosions, girls

Dislikes: fancy stuff, privileged rich people, alcohol, toxic masculinity, getting misgendered

Description: freshly graduated from war magus college, and god was it boring. Always referred to by her last name or things like 'her father's child' or '-big sis-'s shadow', never just Marina, and she's sick of it! No more last name, no more family ties - just Marina!
She wants to use her skills and see how far she can go and how strong she can get with just herself and friends she makes, swords and magic and explosions and stuff yeah!!

Living life constantly overshadowed by a rich, loving, stifling family and an especially doting older sister, she wants to escape her noble heritage and make a name for herself and she can do it on her own mom!
Imagine, when everything's done everyone will be talking about Marina! Yes!! Marina!!

(Marina is trans but if you don't feel comfortable writing her that way, i'll understand)

Beast: 5 submissions

Class - Beast
Portrait - 1
Name - "Patch" by SilDre LP Beach
Likes - Mushrooms, lounging, chin-scratches
Dislikes - hard work, solitude, bells
Description - When the elders of lagaard were children, there was an explorer so rude and lazy that they could never find a guild to keep them. They once enraged a hexer of great renown, amd were abandoned in the labyrinth. Shortly thereafter, they stumbles across a patch of the juiciest-looking mushrooms they haf ever seen. They ate their fill, but soon found themselves dizzy. They stopped for a nap in a moonlit clearing, and awoke in a savage, inhuman form. For years they wandered the labyrinth, trying to find a way to fix their condition; but they have long since decided that it is probably a lost cause. All the time alone has made them rethink their ways, but their vices are hard to give up even after all these years.

Class - Beast
Portrait - 3
Name - worms (no caps) by ant Discord
Likes - eating good, killing monsters
Hates - everyone else in the guild, acting defensively
Description - A dumb wolf that can talk that's overly critical of others. Text is stylistically written without caps or punctuation. Is only on a guild because they're bored and they have nothing better to do. Only contributes to fights with Rampage and refuses to do anything else, even if it means constantly dying due to Loyalty. Will never learn.

Portrait: Beast 3
Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum
Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her
Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths
Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship.

Class: Beast
Portrait: 1, the White Tiger
Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forum
Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls
Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned,
Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing.

But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization!

Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really!

Portrait: 1
Name: Hecate the Beast by Kemix SA Forum
Likes: Belly rubs, catnip, affection, eating forest squirrels to keep the population down
Dislikes: Forest Squirrels duping adventurers, hateful people, animal abusers
Description: Hecate, being a saber toothed tiger of all things, one would expect a monstrous beast that enjoys ripping and tearing adventurers apart at speeds that would make even the local Ronin blush. Not so true with her. She was originally raised from a small kitten by a guild of adventurers as a sort of mascot for their group, fully domesticated by the time she could adventure with them and very affectionate and friendly with the local townies...even if she had a habit of using the local tavern as a sorta-kinda scratching post once she got bigger. Unfortunately those happy days ended when her group, having slowly adventuring through the first stratum, had a run in with one of the local forest squirrels...and one can expect with them, their only lifeline was taken from them right before their time of need of it. She had escaped from the FOE that tore through the rest of her guild, leaving her to fend for herself in the upper parts of the first strata...and fend she did, growing to full size before long and hunting down any squirrels she could find, less for sustenance and more for a deep ingrained hatred of the creatures that helped to kill her owners, she would hunt them down almost exclusively (though she did give the other monsters of the first strata a good deal of trouble if only to get a little variety in her diet) and do everything she could, if nothing else, to keep other guilds from sharing her guild's fate.

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Thank you everyone for submitting, damn 33 is a lot! This was really hard!!! I wanted to accept everyone so I didn't let anyone down, which is incredibly terrifying to me, but I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this guild!

Introducing Guild Nidhogg:

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Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach
Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting
Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers

Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face.

Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money.

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Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum
Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance)
Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close)
Description:

While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home.

Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right?

...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it.

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Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forum
Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story
Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted.

Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent.

As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time.

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Name: Sonia by Verant SA Forum
Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money
Dislikes: Bats, Candles

Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless!

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name: kathy by kyasarintsu discord
likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye)
dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior
description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea.

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Name: Corinth by AweStriker LP Beach
Class: Alchemist
Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people
Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings

Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to.
He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference.

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Name: Juthro, by Prexot LP Beach
Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings
Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances
Description:
It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times.
He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else.
But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time.
He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?)

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Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach
Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels
Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason

Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?”

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Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum
Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles
Dislikes: Not kicking people

For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however.

Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again.

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Name: Aleksandra (Aleks) by Blaziken386 SA Forum
Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets.
Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets.

Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially.

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Name: Alastor by marshmallow creep SA Forum
Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks
Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports

Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it.

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Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forum
Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls
Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned,

Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing.

But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization!

Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really!

Image as our Loyalty Beast demonstrator, Fs in chat.
Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum
Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her
Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths

Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship.

And there we have it, guess I actually need to start playing the game now huh. Again this was really hard to choose and I loved every submission, really truly!

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F to the Loyalty Beast indeed. A moment of silence, or several, for their impending future deaths. My commentary on the Beast writeup is finally up if you want another perspective on what the fuck they're in for.

Congrats to all who made it in though!

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Oh, I totally forgot I even had an account here. This is one of those janky, strange games that's really dear to me. I sadly didn't get to be on the commentary team but at least I did manage to get a character in.
With our expanded knowledge of the game, there's going to be quite a bit more strangeness to discuss this time around. It's gonna be great.

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Part 2: Finding Our Feet
Part 2: Finding Our Feet

Image The Ones Engraved in Legends

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Image It's time to properly get started with Guild Nidhogg! This will be in a password game, but for the new guild, they'll have the fresh save dialogue to keep consistency. We'll get re-introduced to the Edda guild after this with the password dialogue.

Image Wriggling maggots! I shall grind you to paste in my jaws!

Image Whoops, entirely different Nidhogg.

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Image I recommend the Flaus Inn as a base of operations. You can rest or store things there. But your first stop should be the Duke's Palace. That's all I have to say. Farewell.

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Image Hmm... seems everything is in order. Very well, little ones, I am Alastor, and you will do well to remember it. I'll keep you alive and perhaps slice an enemy or two. State your name and proposition.

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Image You talk a lot fer such a wee lad! I'm Holly a... lumberjack, so you best be relyin' on me! Whatever you might've heard from o'er guilds is not true! I wouldn't know how to use a killer penguin anyway...

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Image Killer penguins is something I've gotta see! Name's Logan, I'm an expert hunter and gatherer, though I prefer keeping my distance. The Grand Duchy's tasking us with cataloguing the Labyrinth, so I expect everyone's full co-operation!

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Image Heh, sounds easy, I could do that in my sleep! I'm Lily, the great knight, paragon and protector of all! Heh, sounds like the textbook example, right? Well that's all me, baby, I know everything there is about shields, but, uh, don't count on me leading the pack, get it?

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Image Well someone's confident, but we all have to be here, I'm Sonia, and slaying's my game. You've probably heard of my family, the Slicer's, so you should expect the same expertise from yours truly. Also, uh, if you happen to find some treasure, I can tell its worth, so you can trust me!

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Image mmmmmm...

Image Pah, sleeping so peacefully. If only we could all be so lucky.

Image Mayhaps I could give her a little kick?

Image oh, it was my turn? i was just resting my eyes. kathy. like being clean, busting skulls and sleeping. i'm not so uncouth as to nod off at the drop of a hat. i could use a hat. got any sweets?

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Image Sweets are the last thing on my mind. Corinth, pleased to meet you. I'm no stranger to fighting, but would prefer to keep it to a minimum. I'm pretty adept with my gauntlets, but I'm not using them unless I have to. And stop looking at me so much!

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Image Well I can see in your eyes you've been through a lot, but then again so have I. I remember this one time, far beyond this simple hamlet, when I had such an innocuous encounter with a-

Image Please keep it brief. Says here your name is Juthro.

Image -but of course we only had seven sparrows. Hmm? Yes?

Image Just introduce yerself ya daft cunt!

Image That's what I was doing! You see, there was a tortoise that could only speak this dead language called "français" and-

Image Oh c'mon, c'mon, we don't have all day. It's my turn!

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Image I'm Eleanore! If you want something sliced, I'm your gurl! I can defeat anything in my path and have come from the brink of death more times then you can say "prodigy"! You lot better not hold me back!!!

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Image Shout any louder and I'll kick you! Hart is the label in which I am named, I'll be right behind you. One square exactly. Until you get out of my circle. Also keep that damn mutt away from me!

Image Grrrrrrrr...

Image don't be mean to the guildmaster's pet. very fluffy boy.

Image You have two names on your form, is the strange presence I see within you Sophia?

Image Yeah... hi. Long story short, an awry spell trapped a Ragelope in my body. I can control the eyes and mouth when I want, but this moron decides where to go. Sorry in advance for the kicks, he can't help it.

Image She's quite the nag too. Still don't agree with these things called "clothes".

Image YOU TAKE THOSE OFF AND YOU'LL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN!

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Image It would be appearing that this is quite the energetical guild. I am Aleksandra Herkoff Gorbalena... uh... the 7th!

Image Aleks, got it.

Image I'm from more over the field from here so the culture is rather differential. I am hopping we can be good friends. Hoopling? Uh, hoping! Yes.

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Image Excellent, glad we can all get acclimated like this. I believe if we start in this formation we can work well, so we shall head out shortly.

Image This creature is following me out...

Image The Guildmaster said our guild isn't ready to handle these Beasts yet. Shame, I've worked with tigers many times. Stay here, boy.

Image Hrrrrmph!

Image Land Spread Up North

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Image Larger guild means longer introductions, let's start the show!

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Image Well, welcome to Lagaard! There are lots of inns here, but my place is the best! You're explorers, right? Great! You'll fit right in. Try to get along with the other guilds!

Image Ah... hotel blankets. How... quaint.

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Image The inn is where you sleep and recover your HP and TP, but not death or petrification. Sleep for 5am, Nap for 6pm, this game has a lot more time sensitive events compared to the last game, so it's important. We can also store items for 100en apiece and is great for powerful items we'll get early but won't use. Can't use it to store useless event items though.

Image Takes the EO team until 2016 to realize that maybe it'd be a good idea to have the inn cure everything with one function, instead of curing incapacitation being its own button.

Image They also fixed the fucked up inn fees to actually account for everyone in the party this time instead of only the first 4 party members. Time of day was a barely used mechanic in 1, but it's more important here. Annoyingly so unfortunately. On the plus side, storable items makes things much more convenient from this game onwards. Especially since key items no longer eat up your inventory slots.

Image Huh? What's wrong? Aren't you going into the Labyrinth today? Hmph! Lazy children... are you sure you can handle the Labyrinth? I wouldn't want guests of mine to be eaten by monsters, so don't let it happen!

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Image A subdued, cold place for the healing arts. Paradise.

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Image This is Lagaard Hospital, where we treat wounded explorers. We also deal with Sitoth Trading to provide medicine and other supplies. I'm looking forward to working with you.

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Image Since you now buy healing items from the shop, this place is nearly useless, no wonder they rolled this feature into the inn next game and dropped it entirely. Still, if you don't want to fork out a Nectar or Refresh/Theriaca BX, you'll be coming here if an exploration goes south.

Image This is where you bought consumable healing items in the last game, but they moved that feature to the shop so uh, it's just... there. To revive or de-petrify people. Yeah that got dropped in the next game, and here's it's basically just a glorified screen for certain quests outside of that. Also say hi to our next resident Trauma Center cameo, Derek Stiles!

Image Insert standard observation of Dr. Stiles being, well, Dr. Stiles from Trauma Center.

Image Can I help you? If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. The Labyrinth...? Have you even entered it yet? Well, if you're looking for tips, I recommend taking at least one healer with you.

Image You have a choice between Medic and War Magus which is definitely helpful, but unlike in EO1 it's no longer outright suicidal to not bring a healer along.

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Image Katana, katana, katana!!!

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Image This is my father's shop. He makes equipment in the back, and I sell them up front. I'm just an assistant here, but I'm always on the job! Don't forget about me!

Image You can sell items obtained in the Labyrinth and buy the goods created from them. When buying items, you can press the Y button to jump to the next type of item. When selling items, you can use the Y button to sell multiplies of the same item. You may switch between party members on the bottom screen with the L or R buttons.

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Image God I really missed these QOL stuff last LP. Selling multiple items at once, equipping straight onto your party, jumping to the next type of item, so good. You don't really miss it until all of those are gone.

Image Selling multiple items is still kinda jank and won't hit parity with basically every RPG since the late 90s until EO4.

Image Oh, you must be about to enter the Labyrinth, huh? Just wait until you see it! I've only been to the entrance, but I was still amazed! The lush greenery... those beautiful flowers... oh, but be careful! There are also a lot of dangerous monsters in the forest! You could be eaten! You look strong, so I'm sure you can handle them, but be careful anyway!

Image That's two town NPCs that have specifically referenced being eaten now. There are far worse fates to be had inside the Labyrinth than being eaten.

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Image First order of business is getting weapons to replace the godawful Daggers that every class except Medic and Hexer come with, they have Wands, which are also awful. Since we can divulge into every aspect of this game, that is what I shall! In other posts. The main thing you need to know is that weapon speed modifiers are very important, and explains a lot of some of the jank with weapons that probably puzzled you.

Image Why do I bring this up immediately? Well, the Dagger and Wand are a -3 speed modifier, whereas a general sword is a +20 speed modifier. There are some weapons that have a unique speed modifier, and even a unique accuracy, we'll get into those when they come up, but otherwise weapons are as so: Swords give 98% accuracy, +20 speed; Staves give 98% accuracy, +0 speed; Axes give 95% accuracy, -5 speed; Katanas give 99% accuracy, +3 speed; Bows give 99% accuracy, +10 speed; Whips give 99% accuracy, +30 speed; Guns give 96% accuracy, -5 speed and Claws give 96% accuracy, +0 speed.

Image So here's why I'm detailing this now, the speed modifier formula is multiplicative, and there's only one factor in the formula that can be negative. You can see where I'm going with this. Or actually, you can't, because the developers did notice such a thing and made so if the final result was <1, it would just be 1. Firstly it means you're not gonna be as slow as you think you are, but the main problem is that if you have a negative speed modifier of any kind your final result will be 1, making all other factors like AGI and skill speed completely pointless. Now, early on you are able to claw your way back to a positive, so those factors become a, well, factor, but as AGI and skill speeds get higher and it puts you further into the negatives, you're getting that +1 speed modifier for most of the game. It's pretty annoying for weapons like guns and axes which will have a negative most of the time. And half of the staves, because fuck you.

Image The EO games design equipment speed modifiers in a less bad way starting with EO3, and then they continue to get tweaked bit by bit with every game after, with the same core system from EO3.

Image Unfortunately, speed is still an incredibly fucked up mechanic in this game. Where last game you were prone to having random results, this game instead basically boosts fast characters and makes sure that slower characters stay slow. Also fun fact, speed is literally an unfinished mechanic on top of being really fucked up. I'll detail more about this in a Jank Odyssey update.

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Image EO2 is the game that seems to least understand how powerful equipment boosting every stats at once is, it kinda owns. Eagerly looking forward to rediscovering the power of this game's ultimate sword.

Image And while we're equipping stuff, the Town Medal/Crown is your reward for clearing the main game/100% the game in EO1. It's a nice early boost, I'll put this on Alastor since I want more healing and it doesn't really matter this early on. The Town Medal is a little worse at HP+5, TP+5, All Stats+1, but considering how much of a pain it is to 100% EO1, it's perfectly fine. We'll be shoving this in storage soon enough. Anyway, here's all the weapons we can get right now:

Kukri - Sword, ATK+18 - A short blade that's curved like a sickle.
Staff - Stave, ATK+15, TP+5 - Two-handed staff used by forest explorers.
Francisca - Axe, ATK+18 - An easy-to-use small axe.
Sasuga - Katana, ATK+20 - Has a sharp edge despite its small size.
Sling - Bow, ATK+16 - Swung around one's head to let loose stones.
Plain Whip - Whip, ATK+17 - A slender weapon used to stop enemies.
Fire Gun - Gun, ATK+21 - A simple firearm that holds a single shell.

Image If you're coming from the later games, you're gonna want to discard some of that knowledge on gear prioritization as they don't really apply here. While weapons are important in this game, weapon ATK isn't really a super important part of the damage formula so you only want to upgrade weapons once in a while instead of whenever you can.

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Image Buying weapons for all 5 took pretty much all of our money, but was worth it. While Hart doesn't benefit much, only getting +3 to speed, he also gets TP+5 and it's a stave that doesn't have a negative speed modifer, so it's good enough for me! We can't afford anything else except for a couple Medicas, but we'll be fiiiiiine, probably.

Image +5 TP is, like, an extra use of a skill earlygame. That's pretty decent.

Image If you're playing a password game, you definitely want to stock up on these. Probably around 5 or so, though you can get away with less if you have a healer in the party. If you aren't playing a password game, don't bother buying any medicinal supplies right now and save those for equipment! And no I didn't mix up my statements, I meant what I said. You'll see why shortly.

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Buckler - Shield, DEF+5 - A small shield, designed to deflect attacks.
Hairpin - Helmet, DEF+3, TP+3 - Hair clip made of shaved wood splinters.
Thick Gage - Gloves, DEF+2, STR+1 - Gloves worn by starting adventurers.
Leaf Boot - Footwear, DEF+2, AGI+1 - Basic sandals made from forest leaves.

Image Armour isn't anything special still, but the various helmets/gloves/shoes are more appealing this time due to having better stat boosts than last game. You can end fights very quickly due to all the many ways to cheese this game, but due to how the damage formula works, it's very worth getting armour later on, when the big enemies do the big damage. It's not something you'd know to do without knowing the numbers, but it is important, everything was rebalanced from EO1, but like usual, got balanced a bit too far in the other direction.

Image Armor on the other hand, is far far more important! The amount of damage armor cuts down on is huge due to this game's absolutely bizarre damage formula. You definitely want to upgrade armor whenever you can as the amount of survivability it grants is exponential! To the point it got nerfed super hard in EO3, and wouldn't get good again until EO5. Ugh.

Image Then EO3 just broke armor with bizarro moon math that no sensible designer should've ever conceived. Then EO4 used the same bad math. And then EOU somehow designed even worse math, which EO2U also used.

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Image To add to this there's also Accessories. Last game they were pretty pathetic and didn't really help you much, but they got a needed boost this time, there are some real good accessories in this game and some are even better than advertised!

Image EO2 doesn't have the "complete nullification of an entire damage type" accessory cheese that EO3 is infamous for, but it's got some real ridiculous shit of its own.

Image Unlike the later titles, you can stack accessories in this game. Enjoy it while you can.

Image The Wind Shall Summon Heroes

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Image What is this strange, tangy smell?

Image ...the thought of a drunk Ragelope seems terrifying and hilarious all at once.

Image Haven't seen yeh before... s'pose yeh're an explorer, come to see the Labyrinth. Then yeh're in the wrong place! Go talk to the bigwigs at the Duke's Palace first. That's the rules for yer type! Whaddaya doing, just standing there? Hurry up and get to the Duke's Palace!

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Image Ah quests... they were bad in EO1 and they're bad here. Thankfully they've dropped some of the more extreme item drop quests, but there's also a lot of quests in long chains that stretch all throughout the game, including one quest that will sit in the list for a very, very long time. It sucks and I don't want to do them, but here we are.

Image Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the one questing this time. EO2's quests are still really awful, that much did not change from EO1 sadly. And in some respects they're even worse! You'll see why when we take some quests later.

Image At least we've got Cass, who owns. His accent got toned down to the point of nonexistence in EO2U, sadly.

Image Fun fact, Cass's Japanese name is Antonio.

Image What? Aren't yeh done with yer first mission yet? Don't lie to me! I see through yeh! They'll let me know one yeh're done. So get to it already, and come back then!

Image The Beautifully Noble Land

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Image We've had enough pleasure for now, onto the main event.

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Image I am Minister Dubois, faithful servant. My duties range from managing the citizens to overseeing exploration of the Labyrinth. You are, I see, another band of hopeful explorers come to make your mark in the forest. However, only official citizens of Lagaard are allowed past the Labyrinth's 1st floor. You must pass a test of our devising in order to register as a citizen.

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Image I believe we are all in agreement.

Image You bet! This is gonna be the challenge of a lifetime!

Image We must be in great standing to be alieving our dreamings.

Image Anything that let's me kick something!

Image Anything that gets me my body back!!!

Image This whip won't slay by itself you know.

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Image You see, it is the Duke who wishes that the Labyrinth be explored. Our ultimate goal is to find the legendary floating castle. Perhaps it's only a myth. But chasing a myth should be the very fabric of life for an explorer, shouldn't it? If you find the floating castle, you will be greatly rewarded. Possibly even ennobled. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, you must accomplish this mission and prove yourself.

Image At the Grand Duchy, you can undertake tasks called Missions. By accepting and completing these missions, you will receive various rewards. To take a mission, select "Accept missions" and read the description beneath.

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Image Always so much talking, but we're nearly done. This is where plot is, hopefully with less native murder and centrist attendant. This is also where you'll report the various monsters, items and gear from the labyrinth, but you shouldn't do that and we'll go over it later.

Image If you thought 100%ing EO1 was awful, 100%ing EO2 is probably just as bad! If not worse in some respects!

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Image You have undertaken a mission to create a basic map of the Labyrinth's first floor. It is essential that you master mapmaking skills before going too far into the Labyrinth. Go forth to the 1st floor and speak to the guard on duty for more details. When you have proven your worth in this challenge, report back to me... I will confirm you as citizens of the Grand Duchy and approve your travel through the forest. Take this parchment. It is blank now... but someday you will fill it with the forest's secrets.

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Image Like I said before, key items no longer eat up your inventory slots, so that's nice. 60 items means 60 normal items this time.

Image Oh yes... it may be wise to visit the inn and Sitoth Trading before venturing into the Labyrinth. If you are not properly prepared for exploring, your journey will be all the more difficult.

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Image Our touch screen has been unlocked, now it's time for the actual game! Wow!

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Image It's night time, can't interact with the pole, story of my life, and can only go to the first stratum. Let's begin.

Image Ancient Forest

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Image Ahhhh, it's so nice to be back. I've missed this flora, maybe just a quick snack...

Image You better not, I hate the taste of grass!

Image You are always focussing on the ground, when the labyrinth is so pretty up there.

Image I appreciate your acceptance in starting late, my complexion and light do not mix.

Image I've done plenty of work in the night, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a great shadow watching us even now.

Image A shadowy figure?! I'll kick your ass!

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Image This forest maze exists within Yggdrasil, the tree that looms over the town of Lagaard. As you marvel at its beauty, a guard appears before you.

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Image I'm in the Grand Duchy's guard corps. We help explorers like yourself on missions.

Image The guard takes a hard look at you before speaking again.

Image I'll get right to the point. Shall we begin your first trial to become an official citizen? It's a simple task. I'll lead you to a certain area of the Labyrinth. All you have to do then... is find your back here.

Image The guard turns and takes a few steps before beckoning you to follow.

Image Come. Your adventures in the Yggdrasil Labyrinth are about to begin.

Image Keep up, Hart.

Image I am attempting... but that damn bell he's using to ward off monsters... ugh, such a racket.

Image Working with what is usually my prey is... gonna be interesting.

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Image The guard scans your anxious faces and softens in an attempt to encourage you.

Image It's not so bad. Just draw a map and you'll find your way back to town with no trouble.

Image The guard points to the brand-new parchment clutched tightly in your fists.

Image Why don't I give you a quick lesson on how to orient yourselves?

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Image Simple tutorial, no need, we'll go in depth in a moment.

Image Enough chitchat, then. I'll be waiting for you at the entrance to Lagaard. I look forward to seeing you return safely, map in hand.

Image And with those words, the guard leaves you alone in the forest.

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Image But just before we begin, because it's never that easy, this was the password version, here's the clean start:

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Image Oh, yes... I almost forgot. Something for novice explorers, just in case.

Image The guard rummages through his pack and doles out a supply of medication to the party.

Image x5

Image The forest can be more dangerous than it looks. Always be on your guard while inside it.

Image The guard's cheery warning echoes ominously alongside the clanging of his armor as he leaves.

Image Yeah. In a non-password game, you get a big amount of help at the start. That's why I told you not to buy any Medicas on a non-password save. If you're using a password save? You're veterans, get fucked. Did you think importing your EO1 save was going to be all sunshine and rainbows? Ohoho no! This is Atlus we're talking about here!

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Image Finally, the game begins. Compared to the first game, we've like tripled the amount of mapping tools, such as different map colours, being able to draw at the borders of the screen, and mother FUCKING ARROWS! Of course there's still plenty missing from future games, but this is so nice. God last game was kinda terrible, huh?

Image God there are already so many improvements in the mapping tools. You were stuck with 1 color in EO1, no arrows so shortcuts had to be marked weirdly. And drawing on the edges of the screen was impossible and you have to scroll the zoomed in map screen in one direction to do so. They definitely improved on a lot from EO1 at the very least.

Image It's really hard to convey this in screenshots, obviously, but EO2 still has the really finicky line drawing "hit detection," for lack of a better term, from EO1. I've tried revisiting EO1 and EO2 and just get frustrated at the games not registering that I've drawn a line on the map. EO3's a little better about it, and then EO4 and on seem to have completely rewritten the mapping code with line drawing hit detection I've never had an issue with.

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Image Hold up, bitch, the tutorials aren't over until I say so. How you spend your inital 3SP will help your first foray a fair bit. I've gone for the pretty bog standard team for this game in R/D/W/G/H, though I've put Alastor up front to help spread damage around a bit better. Please refer to the class writeups to see how each skill works, but to begin with, Eleanore will head for Orochi and Kienzan, I'm not looking at anything else until then. Sonia has a lot of very powerful, but pretty late skills, so I'll get Viper and work towards Climax. Alastor will be healing for a while, since it's very important, but will pick up Warmight pretty quickly, before Salve. Aleks will get all 3 elemental shots and then head for Richochet and Medishot. Finally Hart has many illegal things, but we'll go for Torpor and Revenge for randoms. I'll hold off on Poison and Dampen until later. Quick and dirty, but it's not too important to start with.

Image Torpor's a good option for early hexer contribution until you can max out Poison, yeah.

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Image Maybe just a quick nibble while she's not looking- hmm? Hey guys, check this out!

Image As you stroll through the forest, you spot brightly hued flowers at the base of a tree. Their vibrant color stands out against the forest green, as if luring you to them. You wonder what the harm could be in bending over to take a closer look. You are torn between examining the flowers and proceeding with your journey.

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Image Image Meh.

Image I should be getting these for my candeleers, uh, right?

Image You can look so long as you don't bend at the hip, Hart, use your goddamn knees!

Image I'll pick this one!

Image You lean in close to the flowers, noting carefully their structure and color. Suddenly, the blossoms begin to twitch, as if reacting to your presence! At so close a distance, you receive a faceful of pollen. You back away quickly. However, Eleanore inhaled the pollen and begins to sneeze uncontrollably!

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Image This *achoo* will NOT *achoo* DEFEAT *ACHOO* *ACHOO*

Image After some time, Eleanore's sneezing fit finally stops. You take this as a warning not to be so careless as you progress through the forest.

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Image Aside from a red nose, you're perfectly fine.

Image An insurmountable challenge five steps in, but I have surpassed it!

Image Whatever let's you sleep.

Image A big interruption so soon, but this is why I started at night, this is the event during the day:

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Image But they seem to be weakened from the harsh sun, and have not emerged from their buds. You sigh, sure that they would have been beautiful blossoms, and continue your journey.

Image As an aside, this is as far as I bothered with the non-password game, so anything from this point on is the actual save we'll be using. But yeah, a weird first event you could encounter. Either you come back here later after first seeing this, and get a reward of a HP loss, thanks game, or you somehow know to start the game at night and get penalized for your efforts. Weird.

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Image It's a flying box!!!

Image With some of the usefulls.

Image Maybe the next one will be jewels...

Image Treasure chests still don't actually open when you take their contents. Gotta wait until EO3 for that.

Image The First Campaign

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Image The circle in the corner went from blue to green to orange to red, so it's time to battle.

Image Come at me, fools!!!

Image I'm glad to be on the opposite side of miss wide mouth there.

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Hedgehog

HP: 45
STR: 7
VIT: 7
TEC: 6
AGI: 14
LUC: 12
Level: 2
Exp: 79

Skills
Needle: Uses the Head. Deals 120% Stab damage to a single target. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
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Disable Vulnerabilities
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Drops
Rat Needle: 50% chance, sells for 5en.
1 required for Falcatta - Sword, ATK+20 - sells for 150en
2 required for Green Leaf - Clothing, DEF+9, AGI+1 - sells for 110en
FIFTEEN required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en

Conditional: Kill before turn 2
Long Pin: 50% chance, sells for 15en
7 required for Hindi - Bow, ATK+36, AGI+3, LUC+3 - sells for 560en
3 required for The leathersmith's request

Image The enemy approaches! We don't really have any skills to use, but the regular attack will be fine to dispatch these. There's no more level correction so that early stratum enemies kick your ass and are then pathetic later on, the code is in the game, it just doesn't do much of anything. Instead it's a more even playing field, since enemy stats are also scaled way the heck back from before. No more 400+ ATK enemies later, cap is 99. Also, just to give me even more work, enemies now have individual resistances to the various ailments, though as you start to notice when poring over the data, it doesn't make that much of a difference. Oh well, it's the first enemy you'll likely encounter, so let's kick its ass.

Image Like Cross said, level correction as a mechanic is completely gone, so just use the level stat here as a benchmark of where your party should be level-wise when fighting enemies instead. The code is still in the game, but all it's used for is to reduce monster damage by 20%. Also separate ailment resistances, hooray! Not sure why that was all stuffed into one stat before.

Image Hedgehogs are going to be one of the 2 trash mobs you'll run into at this point in the game to help ease you into the battle system. Not much really to them. Curiously enough, they're one of 2 enemies in the entire game that are weak to Bashing attacks.

Image The groundwork for how enemies function in the rest of the series is laid in EO2, but not actually used all that well.

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Image Hmph, I'm more than just a pale face!

Image Of course since I decided not to buy armour, the enemies will hurt quite a bit, but as you saw from the damage, it'll only be an issue if 3 enemies gang up on one person. What are the chances of that?

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Image I still think I should draw the map...

Image We were having you the option, but Alastor said he'll do it since you put the pencil between your teeths.

Image Ugh, I can still taste the rubber...

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Image Here's the craziest addition to the series, using L or R let's you walk like a crab! I'll use it every now and then so we don't have the top screen constantly looking at a wall, nor try and explain how the guild is walking like that, but it's so niiiiiiice. Can you see even with its flaws how much I love this game after playing the first one?

Image The lack of sidestepping in EO1 is so bizarre. Surely between all of the Wizardry, Might & Magic, etc. games, Kazuya Niinou played at least one of them that had sidestepping?

Image The lack of sidestepping and the lack of a quick save function were bizarrely touted as features in EO1. This was instantly dropped in the 2nd game probably because missing those QOL features was really stupid.

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Image You need glasses old man, hiyah!

Image While flattering, I'm only 310, hardly that old.

Image Oh yeah, get used to whiffs in this game. Everyone has an eyesight issue in EO2 due to how accuracy works in this game.

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Image Everyone's doing around the same damage, so 3 attacks takes out a Hedgehog, easily netting us the conditional. Like before I'll be using AR codes to get drops when I fancy because you might have noticed we need 15 of one and 10 of the other to get all the drops. That is distressingly common and it's a right pain.

Image The experience curve got a complete rework in this game, which is why you're seeing different numbers there compared to EO1. This would be the standard that would be followed for the rest of the franchise until Etrian Odyssey Nexus reworked the level curve to accommodate its game pacing.

Image Good news, items have higher drop rates than in EO1. Bad news, you have to grind a lot more to unlock shit!

Image EOU for some reason saw fit to keep some of the dumbass drop requirements from EO1, but EO2U mercifully reworked all of the bad ones from EO2. I think the only remnant is...it was either the sky metal helm or the angelic cap requiring 30 of something.

Image Okay, I went back and checked, it was the sky metal helm. Gods, ronin do not fare well in EO2U.

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Image Lily looked around nervously when she told us about the labyrinth's doors. It can't be that bad, right?

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Image Their petals sway in the breeze as the aroma grows stronger. You wonder if it would be so bad to take a brief rest here amidst the fragrant blossoms.

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Image I sense something afoot, shallhaps we-

Image Too late for that.

Image Image Aaaaahhhhhhh~

Image A small break couldn't hurt.

Image You decide to stretch out and rest amongs [sic] the sweet-smelling blossoms.

Image Hey, watch out behind you!

Image Who are you?! And what are those... purple... butterflies... oh shit.

Image But your experiences as members of Edda gives you an uneasy feeling about this. And indeed, it isn't long until other forest denizens are drawn to the sweet pollen! As you turn around, you spot a pack of butterflies that were drawn to the flower's pollen. Worse, these are no ordinary butterflies--it's a swarm of dangerous Venomflies! They're almost upon you! Draw your weapons and fight!

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Image Oh... this is gonna be painful...

Image Damn flyingbutters, I haven't finished researching medicinal bullets yet.

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Venomfly

HP: 57
STR: 8
VIT: 8
TEC: 12
AGI: 9
LUC: 9
Level: 5
Exp: 204

Skills
Poison: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Poison on the entire party. Has a 35% base infliction chance, deals 20-30 damage and has a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
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Disable Vulnerabilities
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Drops
Bug Wing: 35% chance, sells for 11en.
1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I
1 required for Hard Vest - Clothing, DEF+11 - sells for 180en
1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
1 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from a single target - sells for 100en
4 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en
6 required for Hindi - Bow, ATK+36, AGI+3, LUC+3 - sells for 560en

Conditional: Kill with Volt
Lymph: 80% chance, sells for 20en
3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en

Image The real Etrian Odyssey starts here. In a password game you're fighting these no matter what, but for the first event you're likely to come across, little bit mean there huh game? It's a cute reference since in a non-password game you recover 10HP if you say yes, no fight there at all. Still, so long as Sonia doesn't take damage she'll be just fine. That is the wombo combo of this enemy, especially since we don't have any real armour to speak of.

Image Venomflies are back and they want you! This is a callback to a very nasty event in EO1 at the start of the game, and if you're on a password save, the only way to avoid this event is to never go into this room. Yeah, makes you wonder if a password game is even worth it. Venomflies got a very nasty upgrade. Their poison was single target in 1, here it's AOE! This makes them incredibly vicious and high priority targets to take out!

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Image You feel your bodies crack!

Image I would like you to be zapping!

Image Frailty doesn't reduce the enemy's resistances by much at all this early, but I'll max this skill eventually and want Hart to do something early on. Oh hey Sonia doesn't have enough health to survive-

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Image Oh that's a lot of blood...

Image No need to be particularly in worry, I'm here with- oh it's over.

Image 3rd fight and I'm exp desynced. While Aleks does have a negative speed weapon, since it's still very early, she can get just enough to be faster than +0 Hart. But later on as Aleks gets more AGI and skill speed, Hart will be outspeeding her in pretty much all cases.

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Image Well better to use it than not...

Image Ugh, I need to find a way to avoid that. But who was that long haired saviour?

Image Ah, hello, just looking out for newbies. Everybody gets one. Bye.

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Image The mineral water that flows here is crystal-clear and shimmers beautifully in the sun. You stop for a while to enjoy its brisk refreshment, then resume your journey onward.

Image Neat!

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Image Ugh, if there's nothing worsened than an animal, it's a cold animal.

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Woodmai

HP: 45
STR: 6
VIT: 7
TEC: 6
AGI: 7
LUC: 6
Level: 2
Exp: 84

Skills
Shell: Doesn't use a body part. Reduces all physical damage by 50% for 5 turns. Has a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
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Disable Vulnerabilities
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Drops
Husk Shard: 50% chance, sells for 6en.
1 required for Green Leaf - Clothing, DEF+9, AGI+1 - sells for 110en
2 required for Amud Staff - Staff, ATK+18, TP+18 - sells for 130en
3 required for Husk Shard - Headgear, DEF+5, TP+5 - sells for 90en
THIRTY required for Maimai Bat - Staff, ATK+37, TP+10 - sells for 420en

Conditional: None

Image Considering there's 4 enemies on this floor, we got pretty lucky encountering only half of them. Woodmai just kinda sit there and don't do much, so you should take them out last. As you can see with the drops we need THIRTY to get an alright stave, gonna be a waste of my time. However, due to how often you'll encounter this damn thing throughout the stratum, it's pretty likely you'll get this long after it's useful.

Image Woodmai are the other trash mob I was talking about. Some of their turns will be spent drawing out the battle instead but it won't matter too much at this point in the game since they go down pretty easily.

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Image Three, three hits to death, ah ah bleh...

Image Who heals the healer.

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Image Why game. Just why. Our levels won't be exciting for a while, Eleanore is 2 levels from an actual attack, Aleks picks up Iceshot, the last of the three, and Hart will get Torpor next level.

Image Yeah the gang up situation still happens in this game since enemies decide who they want to attack at the start of the turn instead of on their turn. The next game would fix this issue but you'll have to deal with enemies potentially really hating a certain party member on a given turn.

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Image That's the area we need to map. Not hugely exciting and has some questionable events, but at least it can be done in one go.

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Image Ah! Made it back safely, I see.

Image The guard's voice is cheerful as he looks over your progress on the map. After looking at your map, the guard's cheerful voice emanates from his helmet.

Image I'd say your mission to create a map of the Labyrinth's 1st floor is a success. The Minister will grant you citizenship to High Lagaard and full access to the Labyrinth. My part is done. You may go on from here, but I suggest your report to the Minister first.

Image The guard finishes his speech and steps aside, allowing you to reach the stairs back to town. You may go back to Lagaard now or continue exploring the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.

Image I'm glad that's over and out with. Going in such an elongated path was nervelacking.

Image Nervewracking, and yes, it's weird, but I'm getting used to this. Especially when you act normal!

Image Our first exploration was a roaring success! Good work everyone!

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Image Exactly, Alastor, it was hard, but it was my pleasure.

Image I am looking forward to the napster.

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Image The maps the game gives you always have something wrong... and gotta paint under the stairs because I'm not a goddamn SAVAGE. Next time we'll get some armour and properly explore the first floor!


Didn't even run into the third F1 enemy and got desynched EXP bars anyways, EO2o, always a delight.

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Common Passives
Common Passives

Image Along with all the various skills a class has, all of them have a variety of common passives that you have to scroll past every time you want to use SP. Unlike EO1, where some classes got some of these skills, every class now has each of them, letting you choose what you want on them. It's not hugely exciting, but it's still worth a look.

HP Up
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Image A HP boost might not seem important, but with how useful armour is in this game, you tend to have a lot more to work with, and a ~50% boost is damn nice. Of course this is amazing for Hexers getting to 999HP but also works great on vaguely tanky classes that don't care about the other passive stats like STR Up or AGI Up, like Protector or War Magus. Dark Hunters love it too to survive various Bait hits, as do non-Loyalty Beasts, though they have other passives to go for if you want.

TP Up
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Image But the star of the show is definitely this skill, double your TP stat? Why the fuck not!!! Pretty much every class wants this due to more expensive skills being thrown around, and for some classes like Alchemist, it's practically required! Some like Troubadours and Survivalists don't really care about this all too much, since you also need to invest a good amount to get worthwhile amounts. Can't put one point for that 10% boost like before, so they're both definitely lategame options, but definitely don't turn your nose up, these are two very nice passives to have.

STR/VIT/TEC/AGI/LUC Up
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Image Next up are some weird ones, for the most part these are only really point sinks that you take to get other skills. They are useful if you're gonna go all out, 10 points of STR never hurt, but various equipment can also do such a thing while you invest elsewhere. Should definitely stop when you do reach the skill you want and then continue later if you wish, though some classes don't have that option, and if you have a skill that requires, say, AGI Up 7, do you really need to put in those last three points? I would definitely recommend going for HP Up or TP Up first, but it can be worth filling these out later on, especially for classes that aren't particularly varied.

Image As for the specifics, obviously STR Up and TEC Up are nice to get on the specific classes that use it, especially if they don't need much else, like Ronin and Alchemist. VIT Up doesn't make or break defensive classes, they prefer the armour and accessories, but Protectors and Beasts might as well get them. AGI Up and LUC Up are a little harder to recommend since their benefits aren't immediate. 10 extra LUC to inflict and resist ailments doesn't really amount to much, so only take it if you have to, while AGI can help but if you don't go before the enemy you've wasted your time. Easy to ignore on the molasses classes. But yeah, only stuff to grab at the end of the game, unless you need it as a prerequisite, but still important to get.

Esc Up
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Image Now for one point, an escape boost. Eh, okay? Unlike later games it's not massively difficult to run away, it's nice to get this on someone who you can depend on to run if need be, but it doesn't work when you're trapped by FOEs and is otherwise pretty whatever. Take it if you want.

Chop/Mine/Take
Chop innate to: Survivalist, Dark Hunter, Alchemist, War Magus
Take innate to: Survivalist, Medic, Troubadour, Hexer, Gunner
Mine innate to: Landsknecht, Survivalist, Protector, Ronin
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Image It's gathering time, for your gathering party, completely ignore these otherwise. Sure you could put a point in these to get some items but they nerfed the cash you can get from gathering and you would prefer not to get into the gathering ambushes while you're out and about anyway. Just use the Survivalist for your gathering needs, they're not that useful for much else. While the Beast's skill is neat, it requires more to unlock, they can't reduce the encounter rate and their low AGI means they can't run from ambushes as much as they'd like.


User avatar

Landsknecht Overview, F
Landsknecht

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Can equip: Swords, Axes, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Shields

Image How the mighty have fallen. Ah, excuse me, I'll be saying that a lot as we go over each class. Landsknechts were pretty good attackers in 1, they could mix between line clearing swords and heavy single target axes, they were great in all situations, if you planned properly. Just send them at the enemy and do work, and that's still the case in 2, except they don't do as much damage, their skills got nerfed a bit too hard, they have godawful TP for how much their skills cost and unlike in 1, Ronin are available from the start and it's so hard recommending them over Ronin. They can take some hits and have some interesting utility, but some of the big powerhouses from 1 did not transition smoothly.

Image Oh god, EO2's class balance is sure something. Everything good from EO1 got nerfed into the ground, and oh boy Landsknecht did not survive the beating from the nerfhammer. It's really hard to recommend using this class when Ronin is better than them in almost every single way. Rarely has a class in the series been completely and utterly outdone by another class in the same game, but EO2 Landsknecht is the biggest textbook example.

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Image Now you might compare these stats to how they were in 1 and go, wait a minute, they're pretty much the same at level 99, what's the big deal? Well that's the problem, I've included the level 99 stats for a fun comparison, it is practically impossible to reach there, since you can only increase the level cap past 70 when you retire. And it increases by 1. So you get to level 71 and retire. So you get to level 72 and retire, repeat for hundreds and hundreds of hours because it takes so much exp to get to that point, since you're going through every single level every single time. So level 71 is the acceptable limit and you can see how much more mediocre a lot of classes are. Still, stats did get scaled properly so 99 is the cap for (nearly) everything, but the Landy's skills got reworked as well so the damage output just isn't as impressive.

Image In any case, the stats here mean the Landy is a pretty beefy, pretty fast class. It does above average in every aspect except TP, which it beats out the Ronin by ONE POINT. That's kinda pathetic and the main issue with exponential skill levels is TP pretty much always increases, and skills cost a lot more than they did in 1. This makes Landys pretty okay in most aspects but they run out of steam quickly. They sit solidly in the middle of overall stat averages, so they're as exciting as they seem.

Image TP Up is pretty much a must to ensure that Landsknechts don't run dry and don't need to develop an Amrita addiction to keep going. That stat passive should be one of your first priorities when you get around to boosting their stats. They'll also get a nice hefty defensive bonus out of HP Up, which is a must if you plan on having them use War Cry. Maxing out STR Up is an absolute must in order to keep their very middling damage competitive. The rest of the stats are basically take it or leave it. VIT Up can be okay, but it won't help much if you're using War Cry. If you're using Axes, don't even bother with AGI Up, it's worthless there. Not that Axes are that worth it in this game.

Common Passive Unlocks

STR Up: Lv1: Brawn, War Cry
AGI Up: Lv1: Hypercut

Image Here's just a quick thing so you can see what passives you need to invest in for specific skills. It's usually nothing extravagent, especially because 1 point doesn't really amount to much in this game, but the skills can sometimes be very good. War Cry was amazing last game, not so much this game and Brawn is pretty hard to use, while Hypercut isn't anything special, so, uh, invest in a Landy's passives when you fancy, there's no real rush.

Swords/Axes
Swords Unlocks: Lv1: Cleaver; Lv3: Tornado; Lv5: Allslash, Hypercut, Blazer, Freezer, Shocker, 2-Hit; Lv7: Riskcut; Lv8: Counter
Axes Unlocks: Lv1: Deathaxe; Lv3 Silencer; Lv5: Brawn, Lifeaxe, Blazer, Freezer, Shocker, 2-Hit; Lv7: Stunner; Lv8: Counter
Passive
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Image The mastery skills are much simplier this time around, there's no kind of variation, they are all trap skills, with Healer being the exception, of course. Because they boost damage by a tiny amount, invest as much as you need and don't go any further, waste of time. Lv5 is when most of the good stuff gets unlocked, so feel free to stop there. Due to how Landys can't really invest in both trees as effectively, you can only stick to one, but some useful skills require investing in both. The Chasers give Landys some unique utility that doesn't get outclassed in damage by the Ronin, somewhat, while Counter is a passive Bait so can be useful. Not really worth all the extra SP to unlock it, but it's something.

Image As for which tree to invest in, it's Swords. Axes weren't very useful in 1 outside of Crush and both them AND Landys have been nerfed since then, so it's a really sad state of affairs. The sword skills were still nerfed, of course, with Allslash being the worst hit, but we'll get to that in a moment, sigh. For both trees, Riskcut and Stunner are shit so stop at Lv5, there's really no point going further.

Image Yet another gutting, and the beginning of the end. Mastery skills used to be worth something in EO1. Then they got heavily nerfed and started an ugly trend of being nothing more than point sinks that uh, never really ended in the series. Better than masteries in EO3 I suppose where the damage boost only affects regular attacks and nothing more. Eugh.

Image And yes, Axes really aren't worth bothering with in this game. Go with Swords, they're just far better. For you EO1 veterans, no, it's really not worth hybriding in this game. All the Axe skills are completely terrible this time around, so it's really not worth the effort to pull something like that off this time. And if you're thinking why not just use Axes for when you're using Chasers... it's really not worth it at all. Weapons in 2 have their attack power divided by 3 when going through the damage formula, and the gap between Swords and Axes isn't that big, so that's a very miniscule damage boost you're looking at there. Chasers already need a specific party setup to get the most out of, and dealing with the hassle of being locked out of Sword skills is really not worth a tiny damage boost. Not only that starting from EO2, weapons have their own speed modifiers as well. And Swords come with a massive speed boost while Axes come with a big speed penalty. So Axes are really not worth using in this game!

Image Once you grab all the skills you uh, might as well finish off their skill build by maxing out the mastery of the weapon you're using. Hey, what are you gonna be using that SP for, Riskcut?

Counter
Prerequisites: Swords Lv8, Axes Lv8
Has a chance of countering physical damage, even if damage was blocked. For conditional drops, solely uses the equipped weapon to determine damage type. Passive.
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Image Here's a good skill you'll never get to. You shouldn't invest in Axes, so getting it to Lv8 to unlock this is such a waste of SP, along with getting Swords past Lv5. Still, what you have is good, even if it's just an "oh, neat" moment that you can't rely on. Unfortunately you need the Landy to be targeted AND then have it activate for it to even work, so it's definitely a poor man's Bait. It'll happen less likely than you think, especially since it doesn't work for elemental damage, which is everywhere lategame.

Image It's an alright passive I suppose. An effective 35% damage reflect against physical attackers, but it's a very low priority skill to pick up. A small little thing. If a Protector defensive nullifies an attack, Counter will still deal the full amount of damage it would have dealt to the Landsknecht. Not a huge thing, but it's kind of neat I guess.

2-Hit
Prerequisites: Swords Lv5, Axes Lv5
Normal attacks have a attack of hitting twice. Passive.
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Image Great, this is back. It has a slightly higher chance of proccing than in 1, but putting 10SP into this is such a waste considering normal attacks are pretty whatever and Landys struggles to stand out as it is in the damage department. No.

Image Regular attack boosts were trash in EO1, and they're still trash here. I mean take it if you want, but this is like the last thing you should be investing in if you even pick it up at all. It's harder to make arguments for taking regular attack boosts as the series goes on, because the gulf between regular attacks and damage skills just gets bigger and bigger. Not helped by imbues no longer boosting damage from 2 onwards, which was a huge nerf to regular attacks.

Cleaver
Prerequisites: Swords Lv1.
A single target Sword attack. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Boy oh boy that's a lot of random numbers, huh. You can see EO2 skills in action here, it starts off pretty bad, then shoots up in all aspects past level 5 until it becomes pretty good. Except all attacking skills do this so it makes this pretty mediocre. Every aspect changes at each level specifically so I have more work to do and for no other reason, like skills look completely different from 1 to max level that it's such a hassle to jump through 9 hoops in order to make something good.

Image Anyway, enough grouching, it's Cleaver, it's as exciting as it was last game, both Tornado and Allslash do more overall damage than it, but it's one saving grace is that it does the most damage to a single enemy out of all the sword skills, if you don't invest in any axe skills. That's its one saving grace, and it's not a great one, but that's one more than it had in the last game!

Image This is technically the "best damage skill" in the Swords branch by virtue of dealing the most amount of damage out of all of them, but it's really not worth investing in this one at all. Why? Oh just take a look at the next skill.

Tornado
Prerequisites: Swords Lv3.
A single target Sword attack with splash damage. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Oh hey it's Cleaver but more overall damage. Sure, okay, against a single target Cleaver does slightly more damage, but Landys are pretty ineffective against single targets anyway, so what does it matter. Unlike the last game, it's not a worse version of Allslash but it depends on how lucky you are. This time these skills are in contention and the difference is mostly minimal.

Image For 5% less damage you get a ton more crowd control. Nobody bothers with Cleaver because that 5% less damage will really not make or break anything, and it's just far better for dealing with randoms, and Tornado is generally agreed to be the best skill in the Landsknecht's aresenal. "What about Allslash?" you EO1 vets may ask. Oh ha ha ha haaaaaa... *sobs*

Allslash
Prerequisites: Swords Lv5.
A multi target Sword attack to 2-4 enemies, cannot hit the same enemy twice. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.
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Image How the mighty have fallen. This was THE skill to beeline in 1, it did have a bit of investment to reach as well, but since it's much easier to get to in this game... that means it's much, much worse. No matter the level it'll always do 2-4 hits, whereas last game it became 3-4 at the last level. It's also 40% weaker, so with the overall lower power level, this skill struggles to sweep through enemies. Because the chance to roll 2 hits is so likely, if you want to have a decent chance of at least doing SOME damage to a third enemy, Tornado is your best bet, but when this skill hits 4 times, it really helps the rest of the party clean up. It's still... usable, but fuck me, going over this skill is so goddamn depressing.

Image Holy shit this skill got gutted. And gutted to uselessness really. This is pretty much a trap skill now, as Tornado is just far better for a Landsknecht to use. Just look at that atrocious TP cost! You'll be running your Landsknecht dry in randoms by spamming this! To further illustrate how bad this is, a level 10 Allslash will hit 2.67 enemies on average. Yeah. And the average damage dished out is equal to 400.5%. When Tornado can consistently dish out 415% damage in total if there are at least 3 enemies on the field. Absolutely not worth it, and as much as it pains me to say it, you should completely ignore this skill.

Hypercut
Prerequisites: Swords Lv5, AGI Up Lv1.
A single target Sword attack. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.
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Image W-Woah, so fast! That's its only interesting aspect, it's a weaker but faster Cleaver against a single target for less investment. Like wow, whatever. If you only go one path, then Landys have SP to spare, so it's really not a big deal. But if you are spending SP on axes then, uh, why are you getting this skill as well to save on Cleaver, when axes are better than this skill? Like yeah it's fast, and that's something a few skills try to differentiate themselves, but EO isn't really a series about going before the enemy, so they're usually pretty pointless.

Image Landsknechts already have a huge speed boost anyways when using Swords, so this skill is kind of redundant really. I guess if you're that desperate to snipe a particular enemy in a random encounter? Not worth a pickup to be honest.

Riskcut
Prerequisites: Swords Lv7.
A single target Sword attack that increases in damage the lower the user's HP. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Here's another skill archetype, ones that do a cascading amount of damage depending on the user's HP. It's relatively easy to set up with pain floors, but there's only one skill like this that's at all useful BECAUSE it doesn't use this godawful scaling. Like wow, if you have your Landy at 1HP they do less damage than Hypercut. This is the issue with some Lv5 skills, they scale similarly to a L10 skill, but just... stop halfway and are worse for it. Sometimes they scale properly, but when they dont... WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT???

Image Welcome to DS era Etrian Odyssey. Where you will constantly be baffled at how any of this garbage went through. This skill is straight up worse than Hypercut in every way. A conditional damage skill at its maximum potential is somehow worse than a fucking basic damage skill. Great skill design there! As insult to injury, it's SP efficiency is even worse than Hypercut's, as you need to spend 1 more SP than you would in Hypercut's prerequisites to unlock this skill!

Deathaxe
Prerequisites: Axes Lv1.
A single target Axe attack. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.
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Image After all the riveting swords skills, here are the riveting axe skills. Compared to Crush, the go to axe skill in the last game, Deathaxe has comparable power but due to lower Landy stats and no real weapon mastery, it does less damage in comparison. It's fine in single target conditions, but considering it does barely more damage than a max level Cleaver, at the cost of making you slower and less accurate, is it worth the tradeoff? Well there's another axe skill that's stronger, even if it has its own downsides, so up to you.

Image I guess this is one of the better axe skills? The ones with additional effects aren't exactly worth using, so this is probably one of the better ones if you don't choose to go with Brawn.

Silencer
Prerequisites: Axes Lv3.
A single target Axe attack that has a chance to inflict Head Bind. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Here's some "utility" for your Landy, a skill weaker and slower than Cleaver but can inflict Head Bind. Hey, those are useful, but inflicting ailments and binds is now influenced by your LUC compared to enemy LUC, only slightly mind you, base rate is still very important. Since Landys have below average LUC, they don't help this skill much and it's better to rely on someone else to inflict binds, there's a bit of choice in this game at least. Now if you do miss your first bind, you becomes more likely to land your second and on attempt, so it's more likely than you think, but also seems like a waste of a Landy's time unless you're going for Ecstacy strats or whatever.

Image Binds are also not as easy to land in this game on the big fights due to lower bind susceptibility multipliers in 2 compared to EO1. I don't think it's worth it unless you are that desperate to make use of a Dark Hunter's Ecstasy skill.

Brawn
Prerequisites: Axes Lv5, STR Up Lv1.
A single target Axe attack. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Alright, here's a Lv5 skill that scales properly! Oh, it makes you go last in most cases, that's not great! Yeah this has the strength behind it to make Landys do some pretty alright damage, they just have to wait for everyone else to deal damage first, so you finish off the last of the enemy's HP, wasting the higher power of this skill. Up against bosses, yeah it's great, though going dead last is usually a bad idea due to stuns and ailments and the like, or dying before you can get it off. It's pretty risky, but maybe that's what can make this class even slightly interesting.

Image Pretty much the strongest Axe skill. You'll have to pick between this and Deathaxe, depending on which downsides you want to deal with, lower damage or even lower speed. A Survivalist with 1st Turn can easily deal with the speed penalty this skill has but uhhh, that means you're using both a Survivalist and Landsknecht on the same team, which is a horrific idea in this game. The reason being that both of those classes suck ass.

Lifeaxe
Prerequisites: Axes Lv5.
A single target Axe attack. Decreases in damage the lower the user's HP. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.
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Image So this is a skill that gets worse the lower your health is... for some reason. On a class that is pretty good at taking hits, on a weapon that makes you slower and more likely to take damage before you attack, that when it fulfills the requirements is the weakest axe skill. ????????????? Fuck off. Just fuck off.

Image This is literally worse than every single Axe skill, why would you take this garbage?

Stunner
Prerequisites: Axes Lv7.
A single target Axe attack that attempts to inflict Stun. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Moving on from... that, we have another questionable skill. Again, axes slow your Landy down and they have above average AGI, so they're not likely to go before the opponent, especially since it doesn't have a great speed modifier either. It has a really good infliction rate and no enemy is immune to Stun, but there are far, far better ways of doing this than using a slow, weird skill. And that was all the axe skills! Boy... they're really not good still, mainly because most of them are from the last game, where they also weren't good! Funny that.

Image Really not worth it. Axes come with a big enough speed penalty that it's unlikely to see the Stun go off a lot of the time due to the Landsknecht being outright slower than their target. Yeah, they made this skill even worse than it was in EO1 due to mechanics changes. Funny how those can screw certain skills over.

Blazer/Freezer/Shocker
Prerequisites: Swords Lv5, Axes Lv5.
A single target Fire/Ice/Volt attack on an enemy that was just dealt that respective damage. Sword/Axe skill, uses the Arms.
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Image Now for some real interesting skills. Chasers finally get off the ground in this game compared to whatever they were trying to accomplish last game. At max level, you can dish out a lot of damage, especially if an enemy is weak to that element. HOWEVER, while this is really nice utility, it's quite the investment, so it better be good! Also because there's no multihit elemental attacks, you're limited to 4 chases on a single target if you're using an all element team, which is a poor idea due to how fragile they can be, or 9 chases from party wide attacks against multiple enemies, which, hey, does more damage than Allslash at least! It's something I'll try since our Landy will be sword locked, but it'll take quite a bit of time and quite the team composition for slightly higher damage from a mediocre class. Not recommended, but can work.

Image Also yes, at the first 2 levels, there's a very small chance your Landy won't even follow up the attack! Great!!!

Image Chasers went from being conditional damage attacks in 1, to what we know Chasers in the series today. Smack a target with an element, and they'll be hit with a follow up of that same element. And this time, multiple follow ups can happen as long as there are multiple triggering attacks. Though you aren't guaranteed to get multiple follow ups, and the chances of getting more follow ups go down the more successful follow ups you have.

Image If you're looking for a reason to take a Landsknecht, this is pretty much the main selling point. Chasers can output a ton of damage... which unfortunately requires lining up the party with multiple Alchemists, Ronin, and Gunners. Outside of those specific parties, Chasers aren't worth it, and by extension, Landsknechts altogether.

War Cry
Prerequisites: STR Up Lv1.
Increases the user's ATK and decreases the user's DEF for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.
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Image Okay, we've ditched Hell Cry and focused on the good buff. Due to how tanky Landys are, War Cry is very helpful in making their damage even remotely useful... is what I would say in EO1 where it was amazing! In this game it's complete trash due to how much it ruins your DEF, halving it compared to last game where your DEF reduction actually got better as you invested in it. It has a great boost to STR, so if you're able to make use of it before you die, great! It's better to just use a Bravant or even a Troubadour's Bravery or War Magus's Warmight. Because there's a few ways to get around the awful DEF drop, I find there's really no need to use War Cry, but then I also find no need to use Landsknechts, so what do I know?

Image Oof. You pretty much need this skill to deal with the Landsknecht's middling damage, but taking 50% more damage really puts a dent in the Landsknecht's defenses. They also changed how damage buffs work in 2. Instead of affecting their attacking stat directly, they now increase the final damage dealt by a certain amount, and that would be the standard that would be followed for the rest of the series. As for how much this increases the Landsknecht's overall damage by since this is self cast only, it increases it by -12%/-7.2%/2.4%/16.8%/36%. Yeah, the first two levels actually decrease the overall damage the Landsknecht can do. And for self-damage buffs, it's better to let the buff wear off entirely before reapplying it, otherwise you'll decrease your overall damage output further if you try to reapply it on the last turn.

Unbound
Prerequisites: None
Removes binds from a single target. Heal skill, uses the Head.
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Image Oh shit, Arm Heal got an upgrade! You could nearly call this a skill now. It does have some utility, having other ways to remove binds can be useful depending if your healer is also bound, but there's a few obvious issues. You can't use this skill if you're head bound, surprise, surprise, and if your healer has a head bind, so will your Landy, most likely, due to their lower LUC. Also your Landy could just attack instead while someone else in support heals binds with skills or Theriaca As. It's a much better skill than before, but it's still bad.

Image If you do take this skill, it's really not worth leveling beyond 3, as being fully bound isn't exactly common in this game, and dispelling 2 binds at once is more than enough in a lot of cases. Could be a handy backup in case you're out Therica As I suppose.

All Out
A multi target Sword/Axe attack, cannot hit the same enemy twice. Sword/Axe Force Skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Last up is the Force Skill, they're very powerful, but because they take a while to charge, you usually don't see them during a regular outing, unlike Boost. They're also ridiculously powerful and you can easily cheese bosses by grinding Boost beforehand and absolutely humiliating them with the right ones. We won't be doing that. Much. But how does the Landy's hold up?

Image Well, it's fast and does a lot of damage. And that's it. It's as interesting as the Landy itself, it's a perfectly fine class, but it's outclassed by a lot of different classes and doesn't do anything very, uh, classy. It got nerfed while others got buffed, the class disparity in this game is one of its major issues. And that's a real shame cause this class was pretty damn good, but now it's decidedly... average. You don't want to be average in this game.

Image All Out is okay. Nothing particularly remarkable, but it is their strongest damage skill, and you might as well use it whenever it's up.

Image As for the Landsknecht themselves, as you can see, they went from being a pretty good class in EO1 to near the bottom of the barrel in EO2. While some classes fared a lot better than in 1, Landsknecht wasn't one of them and I'm sad to say that this isn't even the worst of it.


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Edda's Arrival, bonus narrative, wow!
Edda's Arrival

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Image Phwaaaah! We finally made it, High Lagaard!!!

Image Huff, huff, oh thank god, if this tree was gonna be the same size on the horizon for the fourth day in a row I was gonna murder everyone.

Image Same...

Image Stiff upper lip everyone~ for it is the day~ we meet our guild~ or rest and wait~

Image Not... gonna... make it...

Image Don't worry babe, I got you. Good thing you're still so light, eh?

Image I am going to sleep for forty days and forty nights.

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Image Now where should we go?~ Hmm?~ A squirrel~

Image Oh hey, you guys made it. Not that I was waiting for you lot or anything. It was sis that was worried. Yeah. Just her.

Image Of course you're here first...

Image GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! I knew Cheese wouldn't let me down! Where have you been?! I've been so worried about you idiots!!!

Image Still not a huggy person, erk, so crushing!

Image What were you so worried about. ...how long have you guys been here?

Image Wow you lot finally made it, I knew you'd be along soon enough, gahahaha!

Image Certainly took your sweet time, nice to see everyone in one piece.

Image While being late is honourable, I will make an exception this time because I really missed you!

Image No, seriously, you were acting like we died! When did you lot get here???

Image Uh... well... it was kinda...

Image Two months. TWO MONTHS! How could you take so long? We thought you HAD died!

Image ...WHAT??? I thought I was keeping track of the time pretty well...

Image We did get a little sidetracked along the way, damn Armoroad. You guys came straight here?

Image Liana said no distractions... not even the pretty coastal place.

Image And you see the results.

Image Well it was definitely worth it~ Aah the stories we could weave of our adventures, they could fill a whole book~ One time we found ourselves in a place called Bollywood-

Image Riveting. Get unpacked you lot, we've got a labyrinth to explore.

Image Oh what?! We just got here, we've been walking all day!

Image Then we'll start tomorrow! There's no better time to start then as soon as possible!

Image You must be registered as soon as possible too, we need your half to complete our guild and get the paperwork sorted! That I do not need to read!

Image Ugh, fine. Paperwork does sound fun...

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Image Ah, is it you? Then you must be here to explore the Labyrinth, I assume. Guild Edda... yes, the legendary explorers who saved the town of Etria.

Image My revisionist history travelled faster than I thought~

Image Tell me about it.

Image Well, you're welcome to use the name you're already know under... I'm sure many explorers here would be eager to sign up with your guild. Or, you could change the name and go incognito. It makes no difference to me. Either way, explorer, I must record the formation of your guild on this 1st of Emperor.

Image Image

Image It's perfect.

Image The fuck's a Nidhogg?

Image Nothing much, what's the Nidhogg with you? Hehehe... OW!

Image Very funny, dear, we'll stick with our original name and get unpacked. Come along, we can rest and plan from there.

Image Karin didn't even make it that far.

Image Zzzzzzzzzz...

Image Oh yes... I have something for you, since you led Guild Edda in those days. It's in honor of all that Edda accomplished. You're worth of it. I expect that you'll achieve the same level of renown here in High Lagaard.

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Image Ah dammit tossing this into the ravine didn't work, I can't get rid of this crap ever since it touched the pearl! Maybe if someone else picked it up... hup!

Image I say it is time for brunch! Honourably!

Image Very well~ So long as it's not made from Crabapples, it's all we could find the last few days~

Image Prepare for a surprise.

Image Hmm? Someone left this nice little crown here. It feels cursed in some way, like it could talk. But that would be preposterous... though I would not mind such a thing. And what was that group going on about? Nidhogg? Interesting...

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Image Huh? You're from Edda? You saved the town of Etria? Hmmm... ohhh, yes, of course! Even I've heard of you! But I don't know much beyond your name... well, I'm sure you're no different than my other guests! Bahahaha! Lagaard has lots of inns, but my place is the best! You'll fit right in. Try to get along with the other guilds!

Image Ah, we've made it. I'm... glad...

Image Woah there. Huh, damn, you really are light. I'll be fine to carry everything upstairs.

Image Mmmmmmmmmmm... eat shield...

Image Thanks, chum, I'm fine to explore the town, I'm used to long hikes. Besides, wanna become as familiar with this place as Etria.

Image Man it's weird seeing those two be so friendly to each other.

Image I myself will sit the fuck down and enjoy some music~ It's been about three hours and I'm getting withdrawal~

Image Alright you lot, get settled! We're heading into the labyrinth tomorrow!

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Image Know something interesting? It seems Edda, the ones who saved Etrian, are here... wait... that was you!? Wow... haha, my apologies! You're a hot topic of conversation around Lagaard lately. This is Lagaard Hospital, where most explorers end up sooner or later. In addition to treating wounds, we provide medicine and other supplies to Sitoth Trading. If you should be injured in your journey, don't hesitate to see us.

Image Uh, right, I was just asking where the bar was, I imagine that's where everyone else has gone. Getting a new sword sounds like a nice idea though, now where would it be. Oh there it is, let's- ah, sorry! Oh, she just kept walking...

Image why doesn't that guy just look where he's going...

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Image Huh...? Oh! You must be... you're from Edda, right? Did you change your name? Well, I'm still a big fan! Oh, let me explain how this store works. Well... first of all, my father owns the shop. Him and his staff make equipment in the back, and I sell it to you explorers. I'm just an assistant, but I'm always here! Don't forget!

Image Got any axes? ...what do you mean I'm the first person to ask that?! Axes are great! Hmm? Hello squirrel.

Image Ugh, there you are, sidetracked as usual, I see. Come on, the bar is this way.

Image Alright fine, I'll come back later, let's get- GAHHHHH!!!

Image Hmm?

Image Woah, you surprised me! Aren't you a cutie.

Image Hehe...

Image Stop fraternising with the weird amount of animals this place has. A lot of them don't like squirrels for some reason.

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Image What've yeh decided to call yerselves here? Not that I really care, but... yeh should go see the Minister at the Duke's Palace first. He'll lay out the rules for yeh. No back-talk! Just do as I say!

Image I'm only getting a drink, I'll go to the fancy place later. May I borrow this chair?

Image Don't touch me.

Image Eyyyyyyyyyy, Lavvyyyyyy, ya made it!!!

Image This place is full of weirdos, but I'm parched.

Image I'll get you something, but Liana said be a dear and accept the mission at the Palace. She even said pretty please.

Image ... ... fiiiiiiiine. You know, even my legs get tired too.

Image No they don't you weird, endless machine.

Image Those guys are pretty loud, heh, typical tourists. Though they look like they're on the start of a grand adventure.

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Image I believe I recognize you... you were once known as Edda, weren't you? Yes... you carry a different aura than other explorers. You were in Etria, yes? Oh, but I have not introduced myself. I am Minister Dubois, the Duke's faithful servant. My duties range from managing the citizens to overseeing exploration of the Labyrinth. Before you begin exploring, you must become an official citizen of Lagaard. You must pass a test of our own devising in order to register as a citizen.

Image Uhuh... yeah... hmm, really... yes, yes, I'll take the mission, get me outta here!

Image Hmph, there's a guy with no appreciation for this place. Ahh, soon I'll start my encyclopedia here... what heaven. Hmm?

Image Alright, alright, ye blackmailin' bastards I'll join a guild! And ye're not getting any more info outta me!

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Image Ugh, that took forever, but at least I'm done. Hmm, where the hell am I? Excuse me? Where's the pub from here?

Image Hmm? A what?

Image A pub! The place of drinks!

Image Ah yes, quite a fascinating place, Stickleback, see you might think it was based off a hedgehog, but actually the original owner just had a very course and hairy back.

Image Oh, no kidding? No, wait, where is it? Give me directions!

Image Well, if you want to find it, all you need to be is lost. Farewell.

Image The hell did he mean by- oh wait it was right behind me. He could've just told me that...

Image Image Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

Image You remember that I'm just a sword? I don't get drunk anymore. Ah, you're back, here's your pint.

Image Ahhhh, finally, that was a hell of a day. I met some right weirdos you know, wonder if I'll see them again. No matter, cheers!


I forgot how ridiculous the scaling is on this game's version of TP Up and I'm not sure if they were actually thinking.

Also f for landsknect, died so that the ronin could live.

User avatar
Image Could I speak with you for a moment? It seems you've traversed every last corner of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. You've encountered every beast there, and retrieved every one of Yggdrasil's treasure. Your unrivalled accomplishments have helped my work in many ways. Alas... with nothing left to discover, I fear no explorers will flock to Etria any longer.
Everyone in Lagaard: You're the guild that saved the town of Etria!
:psyduck: This was super jarring to several players who played a password game because it's such a whiplash and not true considering what happened in EO1. Given that your guild committed genocide and ruined Etria's economy and livelyhood in the first game. Then again considering those crimes, historical revisionism wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them I suppose. :v:

Also what the fuck is with Riskcut and Lifeaxe? Like those 2 skills are literally worse than most skills in the respective branches. Also oh god EO2 Landsknecht. They used to be so good. :smith:

User avatar
Jank Odyssey: AI Oddities

Consider this a megapost of the numerous enemy AI oddities found in this game so Cross doesn't have to link to every single individual writeup I will be posting after the relevant updates in the future, as I won't be posting all the numerous fuckups in EO2's enemy AI all at once.

The first thing I'll be getting into is the Gashtor/Raptor (their enemy data points to the same AI script file, so they behave the exact same way in battle)
Gashtor/Raptor wrote:If the party is blindsided, and flag 1 is not active, activate flag 1, then:
-90% chance to cast Fangs. (Targets the front row.)
-10% chance to cast Fangs. (Targets the back row.)

If HP is below 50%:
-79% chance to cast Fangs. (Targets the front row.)
-21% chance to cast Fangs. (Targets the back row.)

Else:
-69% chance to cast Fangs. (Targets the front row.)
-31% chance to cast Fangs. (Targets the back row.)
There's nothing wrong with this enemy... at first glance. In fact most FOEs in the game (And some random encounters) are more likely to perform a nasty action if they manage to blindside you, which makes sense considering how fearsome they are and that getting an FOE to walk into you back is meant to be a punishment for poor positioning. All well and good, but there's one major problem with this.

It doesn't work properly. The FOE system in EO2 is frankly a glitch ridden mess, and talking about all the intricacies now would be irrelevant and rather spoilery, so I'll save that for another time. You see, when an FOE manages to walk into your back and grants them the free blindside... the enemy doesn't actually realize they've blindsided you and the game actually skips that routine entirely. The only way for the FOE to realize that they've blindsided you and use the proper routine, is for both of you to run headfirst into each other and have the game roll a natural blindside that way. Which was most likely not the intent given that almost every FOE was designed to eviscerate you upon blindsiding you. It would be an odd piece of design if it only popped up on a fairly uncommon occurrence.

Also on a related note:
Furyhorn/Furylord wrote:If the party is not blindsided and flag 1 is not active, cast Step. (Targets Landsknechts, Protectors, Dark Hunters, Ronin, or Beasts.) Activate flag 1.

If HP is below 75%:
-75% chance to cast Step. (Targets party members that aren't confused.)
-25% chance to use a regular attack. (Targets party members that aren't confused.)

Else:
-50% chance to cast Step. (Targets party members that aren't confused.)
-50% chance to use a regular attack. (Targets party members that aren't confused.)
The Furyhorn and Furylord are the only FOEs in the entire game to show you kindness if blindsided. Or rather naturally blindsided. Dunno if that was due to a typo, but compared to how many other FOEs will gleefully jump at the chance to get first blood, it's kind of odd.
Trigourd wrote:If the party is blindsided, and flag 1 is not active, cast Pain. (Standard targeting.) Activate flag 1.

If flag 0 is active, deactivate flag 0, then: [NOTE: Flag 0 can't ever be active in this fight, causing this block of code to go completely unused.]
-69% chance to cast Pain. (Standard targeting.)
-31% chance to use a regular attack. (Standard targeting.)

If HP is below 30%:
-59% chance to cast Pain. (Standard targeting.)
-41% chance to use a regular attack. (Standard targeting.)

If HP is below 60%:
-39% chance to cast Pain. (Standard targeting.)
-If Pain does not get cast, 59% chance to cast Whisper. (Standard targeting.)
-Else, use a regular attack. (Standard targeting.)

Else:
-29% chance to cast Pain. (Standard targeting.)
-If Pain does not get cast, 69% chance to cast Whisper. (Standard targeting.)
-Else, use a regular attack. (Standard targeting.)
Not only does does the Trigourd suffer from improperly functioning blindside routines, there is also curiously a routine that checks for an entirely non-existent flag that can never be set. Quite a few enemies have this issue. Unused routines perhaps, or maybe an error in coding somewhere?
Last edited by Araxxor on Thu Apr 28, 2022 2:55 am, edited 2 times in total.

On the other hand "no one will come to this labyrinth filled with useful materials (and drywall) and interesting wildlife (and horrible giant blood cells)" isn't exactly the most convincing way to tell the player that you just made a town go bust either. Really, EO1 plot just feels like a pair of reheated takes on the nature of old-school WRPG murderhobos and manages to fall flat on the delivery in one of the dumbest and honestly offensive ways possible so I can understand wanting to put some distance from that because seriously that was just shameful.

EO2 asking people to pretend that didn't happen is hecking ridiculous though.

The "you saved Etria" thing is hilarious to me because it would make sense as a method to avoid spoiling the first game, but it's a password game thing, anyone seeing it should have already seen all of EO1. There's absolutely no reason to shy away from spoilers.
also the fact that it does make a good amount of sense... In the context of the re-make's story mode.

Man, some of the numbers in these games are just outright baffling. Sure, let’s have a risk/reward skill that deals more damage the less health you have left... but then have it deal less damage than most of your other skills even when it’s at full power? You can’t even make the argument that it costs less skill points, since Hypercut is also a five-point skill that both does more damage and is faster.

User avatar

Part 3: The Second And... Last?
Part 3: The Second And... Last?

Image Beautiful and Sublime Lands

Image

Image Alright, I'll have a look at this, thank you. Hmm... it's fine enough, sure you couldn't add some colour to it?

Image No.

Image

Image I hereby name you explorers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, and citizens of High Lagaard. As I mentioned earlier, you have but one goal. Climb the Yggdrasil Labyrinth and discover the lands said to lie in the skies above. I expect great thing from you from here on out, members of Nidhogg. Ah, I nearly forgot. Take this token of the Duke's esteem, and keep up the good work.

Image Image

Image Well, it seems that you've begun your exploration of the Labyrinth in earnest. We support explorers in whatever ways we can. You are free to keep whatever you find there, or sell it to Sitoth Trading. That should do for your initial orientation... do you have any questions?

Image Yes, where is the manshun you are having for-

Image Ah, wait, first... about those items and monsters you encounter in the Labyrinth... we ask that you file reports on them here. We have lived in Yggdrasil's shadow for some time, but there is much we don't know. Any scrap of information you can bring back may be of use. The official guard corps are posted, of course, but they are not tasked with exploration. What we need is data on the Labyrinth's monsters, the items they drop, and your equipment. We will save these records, which should help the guard corps with their task. Adding to our store of knowledge about the Labyrinth is every explorer's duty. Good luck.

Image Image

Image That old geezer doesn't /2 talk, eh?

Image If he gives us money, he can talk as much as he wants.

Image You get used to it, I've created a small page on what you've described. Look good to you?

Image Woah that drawing is an exact match, that's some talent!

Image Image

Image So for whatever reason they decided that to 100% this game you should unlock all the gear as well. As you've already seen from the unlocks, that's not an easy, or interesting task, you can imagine how bad it'll get later. There's never much reason to 100% any EO game, we only do it because... well, I dunno actually. Why DO we do it? And why am I gonna do it for this LP? Ah fuck!!!

Image New to this game is the Gear Registry which... Yeah. Thought unlocking all item drops was a pain? Now you have to unlock all equipment as well! Seeing all monsters and item drops is much less of a hassle in comparison as if you're missing an item drop, you just hunt down the monster. And if you're missing a monster entry, the monsters are mostly grouped by Stratum, so it's feasible to find a place to search. Gear on the other hand doesn't give nearly as many hints on top of being a huge grind, which means this part is easily the biggest roadblock in 100%ing EO2. Thankfully this nonsense did not last past this game, as it was dropped instantly in EO3, and wasn't even a requirement in the game's remake.

Image 100%ing EO games isn't usually too much of a hassle. It's really just making sure you complete the post-game on top of seeing everything. There are a few bottlenecks here and there but it's not usually too much more demanding than the amount of effort it takes to kill the post-game superboss. Unless you're playing a DS era title in which case the bottlenecks are fucking massive, like getting the drops to make the Shinryuu Sword in 1, the fucking Gear Registry in 2, and killing 3's post-game superboss! (Yes that last one deserved its own mention, just trust me on that one.)

Image Extremely glad that the Gear Registry was not brought back in EO2U for authenticity reasons, even though it'd be a much easier ask in that game.

Image Image

Image Truthfully, I'm not sure how I feel about explorers spending so much time in the Labyrinth. Injuries are frequent, and it's our job to patch them up. It would be best if you could avoid getting hurt at all.

Image Ah, that's much better, figured you'd be working here as soon as you could.

Image obviously, gotta clean up any mess you lot get into...

Image

Image It's only 100en per item! We've got space, so use it as much as you want!

Image You can store up to 99 items, however consumables don't stack and each individual item eats up a slot. The payment happens when you store an item, not when you take it back, so make sure you have some money on hand if you really need that bag space.

Image

Image Sorry, but I have to check.

Image

Image Where did you even put it?

Image I dunno, I grabbed it without really thinking when you were gonna kick it out of the duke's hand!

Image Oh... sorry, but I don't think this is the permission I'm looking for. Once you have permission, I can sell you some special items. They're really helpful! So get permission, then come back and show me, okay? A-Are you sure you don't have it...? Maybe it's buried in all the stuff you're carrying? I mean, I was sure you had finished the training mission, so I thought... sorry! I really, really wish I could sell you this, so I have to nag you about it. Are you absolutely sure you don't have permission?

Image It was at the bottom, under a... swimsuit?

Image Hey, you never know!

Image Swimsuits would've been very helpful in the hot springs quest in EO2U.

Image Don't ask.

Image

Image Like this Warp Wire. It lets you come back to town from the Labyrinth at any time. When you plan to enter the Labyrinth, you should always make sure you have one.

Image Image

Falcatta, requires 1 Rat Needle - ATK+20 - One-handed sword whose weight is in its tip.
Green Leaf, requires 2 Rat Needles, 1 Husk Shard - DEF+9, AGI+1, sells for 110en - Clothing covered in hard shells.

Image Definitely don't leave for the labyrinth without two! Yes you heard me, last game was mean, but it never took your Warp Wires from you. This game isn't so nice! Also hey, we can see what we else we need for an item when we've met one of the prerequisites.

Image Other games you can get away with only having one if you make sure not to be forgetful.

Image Actually, no, he means "three."

Image The Wind Doesn't Draw Heroes

Image

Image Of course most of the guild would be here. Better order some expensive wine for our first successful exploration.

Image Better tell us all about it, yeah? ...any danger behind doors?

Image Now that you mentioning it... I will also take some fancy wine, Earl Grey, right?

Image That's tae ya daft cunt!

Image And it was nice and quiet a moment ago...

Image Before you get too comfortable, there is a noticeboard here of people's problems, we best get to solving them!

Image

Image I get a lot of requests here, and I put them all up on that bulletin board over there. Usually it's stuff like, "Pick this up" or "Defeat that." Pretty damn lazy bunch, if yeh ask me... but the reward is usually well worth the trouble. So it's a great way to pick up a little something here and there. Got it?

Image You can take Quests here in the bar, which are optional jobs or requests. There are many types of Quests, each with its own reward. Select "Accept quests" from the menu to see the details.

Image "Reward is well worth the trouble." Yeah I beg to disagree. On the other hand, like Rea said, you get to interact with Cass a lot during these and he's the best part of EO2 questing, so it's not all bad. He's definitely a lot more fun to interact with than Valerie from EO1.

Image

Image It was my first taste of death... I would rather ignore it entirely.

Image Ahh... well, all I can say is, take it slow. If yeh die, it's curtains for yeh. The Labyrinth's huge, but it'll keep. Take it easy, and go at your own pace.

Image

Image Ah some money as a reward... poor imbues.

Image Ah, yeh'll take the quest, then? Great, great, good to hear it. This one's from the restaurant down the way. The man there's in powerful need of Rock Water. It's bracing stuff, but yeh can only find it in the Labyrinth. Yeh don't have to go too far in, mind. Should be able to get some on the 1st floor. Just bring back some of that water and the job's done. G'luck!

Image ...Is that water in the physical form of a rock, or water from a rock, or water on a rock, or...

Image (Don't worry, I'm doing a bit, I'm not that absent-minded. Just mostly.)

Image

Image Are you organizing your guild wisely? Make sure you divide the party's duties evenly. You may also choose to form specialized team. A main team, one to gather items, and so on. That's all the advice I have for now. Never underestimate the Labyrinth.

Image We could definitely use a gathering party, but it is imperative we find the right candidate, so be on the lookout.

Image Alright, I'll find one in no time at all, just you watch! But it's not like one's gonna walk right past.

Image Ah, excuse me, I need to gather some breakfast.

Image Hmm... that guy... have I seen him before...? Well back to looking for a gatherer! Can you gather items for us?

Image Sigh...

Image Byeah.

Image Did you sign up a good crew?

Image Woodland Ruins

Image

Image There's a lot more dialogue in this game compared to before, so we're finally getting into the second exploration.

Image Possibly one of the biggest improvements to the series to add more life to the game. Town dialogue now updates after every floor instead of just after you finish a Stratum. Adds way more life to the NPCs and town you regularly interact with, and unlike in 1 everyone has something new to say instead of the guildmaster being doomed to talk about making a good crew over and over.

Image The games just get more and more dialogue-heavy as they go on. Except EO5, that walked it back a noticeable amount.

Image

Image Signs are meant to be kicked!

Image At least let us read it first!

Image A warning is written on it to explorers who challenge the Labyrinth: "Do not disturb the monster in the hall! Your curiosity will be your undoing!" It seems one of your predecessors wrote this warning... you cannot grasp its meaning, but you resolve to keep it in mind as you press onward.

Image You've been in the labyrinth before, any idea what fearsome creature this could be?

Image Well when you're by yourself, anything is fearsome, so I'll tell you if I see it, cause I'll kick its ass this time!!!

Image

Image I am the viewing of something!

Image Even for me it takes a moment to figure out what you are saying...

Image You crane your neck to see a hole in the tree, just above your reach. It's difficult to tell, but it seems that a gleaming jewel is inside the hole... a jewel like that would make a worthy souvenir of this trip.

Image

Image I can gallop up there in just a- oh you're already halfway up.

Image Mine, mine, mine, mine!

Image Eleanore reaches into the hole and gropes around... it seems that a hard, jewel-like stone is inside the hole. Eleanore firmly grasps the stone and pulls it from the tree.

Image

Image Oh I thought it was a shiny new book. You can have it.

Image Mmm, my pleasure!

Image If you do this event at night you'll be placed into an encounter with 3 Crawlers, which is not a battle you want to get into when you're starting out!

Image What the- the only mention of this I've found is in your LP seven years ago, how the hell do you remember this shit???

Image

Image Woodmai are so nice to see because they don't kick our ass.

Image

Image Ahah, there it is! Time for a rematch, bitch!!!

Image It barely reaches my knee, how did this thing nearly kill you?

Image
Mole

HP: 51
STR: 8
VIT: 8
TEC: 5
AGI: 8
LUC: 7
Level: 3
Exp: 123

Skills
Claws: Uses the Arms. Deals 120% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 150% Image 100% Image 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Earth Nail: 40% chance, sells for 8en.
1 required for Kalinga - Axe, ATK+21 - sells for 160en
5 required for Spike - Axe, ATK+33, +0 speed - sells for 220en

Soft Fur: 45% chance, sells for 6en.
1 required for Hide Gage - Gloves, DEF+4, VIT+1 - sells for 80en
2 required for Jerkin - Light Armor, DEF+10 - sells for 120en
3 required for Hard Vest - Clothing, DEF+11 - sells for 180en

Conditional: None

Image These were the first monsters we encountered last game, but here they're not as scary since you can't fight as many of them initially. They definitely hurt, but if we focus on them we can take them out no issue. They only use Claws when on low health, it's not really worth mentioning the enemy's AI for the most part, it's very basic, like their one skill they often have.

Image They can use it at high health, but only 10% of the time. Moles are basically slightly stronger trash mobs, but not as scary in EO1 since they don't really group up until later. The level mechanic is gone so that's not beefing them up either.

Image Oh yeah, enemy AI got redone in this game, so a lot of the issues that plagued them in 1 are gone, though some oddities did slip through.

Image The most notable thing about monster AI in this game is that Atlus switched off monsters basically being state machines using data tables (seriously wtf, that only works for games with very simple AI, like Doom, it doesn't work in an RPG), and instead rewrote the AI system to use their proprietary FLOW scripting system, which became the standard for both monster AI and, starting with EO3, event scripting in the series. It eliminates most of the really serious errors like "Primevil uses a non-existent skill."

Image Image

Image Don't think, just kick!

Image Mmm, auto, I've missed thee.

Image

Image The secret to healing classes is investing in the mastery skill to keep your healing cheap and more potent. Obviously not a huge issue for a class like War Magus, but I want to get Salve sooner, though I'll get Warmight before that.

Image Enjoy healing passives being more valuable than higher levels of the active skills while it lasts, it basically goes away with EO4.

Image
Image Image

Image It is the very surprising that this is the faster.

Image I didn't even know my body could move side to side like this. Let's never mention it again.

Image Eleanore could use the slightly higher DEF, but she's not using TP just yet, so Sonia can use Viper more. It doesn't actually inflict anything because I'm heading for Climax for the most part, but hey it does more damage than her regular attack!

Image
Image Image

Image GAHHHHHH FUCK!!! You think that can stop me, huh, I'll kick your ass!

Image Literally all of your bones are broken, do not move!

Image
Crawler

HP: 90
STR: 12
VIT: 10
TEC: 5
AGI: 8
LUC: 10
Level: 4
Exp: 152

Skills
Web: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Arm and Leg Bind on the entire party. Has a 25% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 150% Image 100% Image 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Small Nail: 70% chance, sells for 14en.
1 required for Nail Whip - Whip, ATK+19 - sells for 130en
1 required for Steel Pin - Headgear, DEF+5, TP+5 - sells for 90en
1 required for Green Boot - Footwear, DEF+6, AGI+2 - sells for 120en
1 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en

Conditional: None

Image If you're unlucky on your first venture, you could encounter this monster. It will fucking obliterate you, and it is always the first thing you go after, even Venomflies. Thankfully if it can't kill Eleanore in one shot, then we're past the point of it killing anyone, and if it goes for Web you got lucky. With Alastor's quick healing we're not in much danger, but it'll get complicated when it shows up with other enemies.

Image Crawlers are basically the floor bullies of the first floor, and my my they're quite the toughie! Just look at those beefy stats in comparison to the previous 3 trash mobs! Definitely take them out first or they'll paste your party into the ground. The only saving grace is that they have a 25% chance of wasting their turns using Web instead of smacking your party. They also serve as a slightly harsh introduction to binds, though thankfully they can't really capitalize on your party being bound.

Image And if this enemy, or any other encounter is too tough for your party to currently handle? Well there's no shame in running. Feel free to use the escape command whenever your party is in trouble, or you think they're about to get into trouble. Making sure to live to fight another day is a skill that will help you survive a lot longer in the Labyrinth and helps avoid getting a paid vacation to the game over screen.

Image The binds are just salt on the wound, this thing has no business being this strong, especially given that it could theoretically be the first monster you encounter. At least Great Lynxes are saved for the later parts of B1F in EO3.

Image
Image



Image Hmm, don't have the ability to pick something off the ground, but I could use a small snack.

Image Hrrk, desire to eat grass... stronger than influence over him... noooooooooooo!

Image Funny dialogue inspired by this wonderful artwork by Huckebein on the EO LP Discord, the first artwork for any of my LPs and this is my nineteenth one! Ah that's kinda depressing.

1F A1 Take Point

Ambush Chance: 1%
Ambush Encounter:
100% Raflesia x1

Tiny Bloom. 70% chance. Sells for 25en.
1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending - sells for 500en
2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en
3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en

Sour Fruit. 25% chance. Sells for 30en.
1 required for Ward Chime - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - sells for 200en
2 required for Guard Sole - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - sells for 200en
3 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en

Green Nut. 5% chance. Sells for 75en.
1 required for Blaze Oil - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked
1 required for Freeze Oil - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked
1 required for Shock Oil - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked

Image Anyway, here's gathering spots, they've been nerfed a fair bit from last game, but they are easier to utilise at least. Due to the Survivalist's Stalker skill, they can easily reach any gathering spot in the game without any encounters and can farm a full pack with little issue. Though there's a few wrinkles to this now, the money you get from gathering has been reduced slightly, and most of the spots are pretty out of the way to stop you easily grinding materials. It's still worth it, but there's other money methods that are faster when you get the setup.

Image Also, this is the introduction of gathering ambushes, each time you gather there's a chance a nasty enemy, or gaggle of enemies will blindside and fuck you up. You can get around this by training your gathering group so they aren't so fragile, something that's easier to do later on, or just admit to this eventuality and try to run away. It kinda sucks to have to reload from a save and gather again, but it's also not a big deal due to how quick it is to get back, just be luckier next time!

Image Sadly, gathering ambushes are here to stay. I'm not a fan of them, personally, especially in fixed-party games like the story modes of the Untolds and both Persona Q games. They unnecessarily punish you for taking advantage of a system the game puts there and demands that you use for important consumables. As mentioned before, they're even worse in EO games where you're stuck with non-gathering characters.

Image As for the first gathering point you can find in the game, hot damn this floor has good ones! These are items you want to get asap due to how incredibly useful they are. Well, Nectars are a little expensive this early, such is life without a Medic, and the oils are completely useless, rip imbues. Also have you wondered why the various ailment gas items aren't very useful in letting you net conditionals? They're based on level 1 Hexer skills, in a game with exponential scaling, without a later upgrade with a better infliction chance. NEVER use the Gas items, they are absolute dogshit.

Image Oof. Gathering was a great way to make money in EO1, and now it got hammered. It's still a viable way of doing so, but the primary moneymaking meta moved onto... something different for this game. You'll still need to gather from these to make unlocks, which is the most important part of them now. Definitely get some Tiny Blooms as Nectars and the Thericas are easily the most important consumables to get unlock. The importance of having death and disable dispels cannot be understated here. The rest aren't great. If you knew how god tier the imbues were in EO1... yeah that's sadly no longer the case in this game, the oils are not worth it outside of conditional drops.

Image Also the big nerf, ambushes. In EO1 you just had a chance to find nothing. That got replaced with a monster encounter which is flagged as a guaranteed blindside. Which is basically just Atlus doing a sledgehammer nerf while giving you the middle finger. It's also a huge nerf to gathering on your normal team, as well, if your gathering team gets ambushed you can just reset. An annoyance, but not a big deal. But if you took gathering skills on your main team and got ambushed while you were a good portion through a floor? Yeah this just adds in another wrinkle your main team just really does not want to deal with. Last thing you want is to wipe because the RNG said fuck you.

Image This is the last game where Nectars are easy to get, even if they're more expensive individually. Trust me, you'll miss it.

Image Image

Image Eventually this damn toxin will work...

Image Still, we are having the easy times, I am gladding we are cohesing as a group.

Image :siren: Fresh Blood and Darkness :siren:

Image

Image But after passing through an old ruin and entering a hall, you feel a strong presence...

Image Was this what nearly killed you before? I can give it a good kick for ya.

Image Hmm... nope! Never seen it before in my life.

Image You peer into the next hall and witness a dreadful monster sitting in the room's center! You wonder, though, if it might be wounded... it doesn't seem to budge from its position. You ask yourself if you are confident enough if your skills to challenge the creature. If not, you muse, it might be best to walk away as quietly as you came...

Image

Image We will worry about such a monster later, but since we're close to the entrance... hmm... yes, I see...

Image Ohoh, good eye, I'll clear this out in no time!

Image Image

Image Woah, what's this shortcut doing here so early? Last game the first one we found was the FIFTH FLOOR, otherwise you had to walk the entire length of the stratum if you wanted to get anywhere. It was one of my biggest issues with the game, aside from a variety of other things.

Image The shortcut design thankfully got much better after EO1. It was just dire in that game. Ridiculously long stretches of walks just to reach a specific destination, oy.

Image All hail the holy shortcut, savior of players from tedium.

Image

Image And with motherfucking arrows, I can also label them properly. Ah, bliss.

Image

Image Image Image We can beat it!

Image Image Image No we can't!

Image That's 3-2, cause Sophia doesn't count, we win!

Image I love democracy.

Image Image

Image Actually we can't beat this- URK

Image At least leave a body behind for me to fix!

Image
Gashtor

HP: 300
STR: 17
VIT: 17
TEC: 17
AGI: 17
LUC: 17
Level: 9
Exp: 0

Skills
Fangs: Uses the Head. Deals 150% Cut damage to a single target and attempts to inflict Paralysis. Has a 50% base infliction chance, a 100% accuracy modifier and a 150% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 125% Image 100% Image 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 10%
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 50% Image 10%

Drops
None

Conditional: None

Image Surprise, surprise, this enemy that teaches us that maybe you should avoid these floating orange balls of death, is something to be avoided because it will completely annihilate you. Now with some cheese you can Force and Viper this thing down pretty early, otherwise 300HP is a lot to chew through when you do like 10 per hit. One saving grace is it takes 5 turns to kill you, so we'll try and properly beat it up later.

Image The Gashtor basically serves as a soft demonstration to the signature mechanic of the Etrian Odyssey series, the FOE. There's also a shortcut nearby so you can immediately get back to where you were in case this thing causes a wipe after you learn the very harsh lesson that FOEs are not to be trifled with. It doesn't even move around either just so you can see how it functions in the dungeon.

Image Oh what's that? You're a seasoned FOE killer from the EO1 or EO3 days or so and think you can take these things? Your enthusiasm is appreciated but let me just tell you this right now. DO NOT FUCK WITH EO2 FOES! They are on an entirely different league of deadly compared to the FOEs in the rest of the series! They will all be happy to feast on the delicious 5 course meal you send their way when fighting them!

Image Take note of the EXP it gives, by the way.

Image

Image This isn't going in well, so since it cannot be chasing, we should be leaving.

Image At least some of us are sane.

Image Aww, fine, I can slay it later, I'm sure.

Image In case the sheer overkill damage they deal to you didn't hammer it in, the pathetic damage you deal and the barely visible dent you put in their health bars should probably tell you that fighting FOEs at first sight is a bad bad idea!

Image Woodland Ruins

Image

Image You turn and see a lone guard jogging in your direction.

Image You guys are explorers, right? Yeah, I've seen you before... what are you doing back here?

Image What is you talking ab- OH, the quest we accepted. Why, I was so distracted by Cass's wide and plump neck that I completely forgot about it!

Image After telling him of your current errand, he nods and begins to speak.

Image I know just the place, in the southern area. It looks like a dead end, but you can't miss it.

Image You thank the guard and begin anew your search for the spring.

Image I was gonna do the quest after reaching the second floor, cause I'm really not in a rush, so I didn't know the game told you about it. There's quite a few quests where the game goes "wrong way idiot", but they're not all listed on the Gamefaqs maps, especially this one.

Image Huh. I didn't know this either. There isn't really a text dump available for EO2 to reveal these kinds of things to us, sadly.

Image

1F C3 Take Point

Ambush Chance: 1%
Ambush Encounter:
100% Raflesia x1

Sour Fruit. 70% chance. Sells for 30en.
1 required for Ward Chime - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - sells for 200en
2 required for Guard Sole - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - sells for 200en
3 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en

Tiny Bloom. 25% chance. Sells for 25en.
1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending - sells for 500en
2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en
3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en

Green Nut. 5% chance. Sells for 75en.
1 required for Blaze Oil - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked
1 required for Freeze Oil - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked
1 required for Shock Oil - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked

Image One other negative about gathering is the variety of spots is really, really boring. On the dedicated floor, one spot has one item as the most common one, and the other spot is the opposite. Any additional ones throughout the stratum just tweak the numbers, maybe make the 5% drop 25% instead. Thoroughly predictable and uninteresting.

Image It does make item hunting for unlocks easier, but uh, you're never really told which points are the best to gather from. It's just something that you either have to figure out or you just think all gathering points are basically the same. In short not a well communicated mechanic. Most players don't even realize there are different rates for different nodes throughout this series. Oh and this point really gets the short end of the stick. Tiny Blooms are easily the better item to be going for than those discount field skills.

Image Image

Image Oh hey you finally landed something.

Image I did?! Uh, well, of course, as expected of Sonia Slicer, ohohohoho!

Image

Image Up those stairs is my mortal enemy, I'll win this time!!!

Image I guess we are to be going in that way.

Image

Image Here's a new floor! I only did this to remove last floor's aggro, back down we go.

Image
Image Image

Image Ooh, wonder if I could shoot webs from my mouth?

Image That's not how it works.

Image Image

Image Next level... Eleanore finally gets an attacking skill. Also like with Viper, Torpor will be pretty ineffective until we actually put levels into it.

Image Vast Lands Spreading in the North

Image
Image

Image Ugh, warping is some dark magic...

Image But at least we finished the first floor! We should have a- hmm? It's that guy!!!

Image Do do doooooo, lots of materials for the guild I mostly like.

Image I am needing to resting so will go to the inn.

Image I'll go to the bar, get the taste of grass out of my mouth...

Image Very well, we shall reconvene with the rest of the guild momentarily. Where's Eleanore off to?

Image Heyyyyyyy, mister material! Did you find all that in the labyrinth?

Image Huh? Me? Uh, well yeah, it's what I do.

Image Alright! ALRIGHT!!! We're looking for someone like that for our guild, wanna help us?

Image Uh, don't get so close... I mean, I could, but I have another guild I do this for, so I'm not really interested. See ya.

Image Ah, wait, don't go... uhhhhhh... we'll pay you!

Image ...r-really? Do guilds like that... exist?

Image Of course! You seem really skilled, here's some cash upfront and we can sort the rest out later, okay? ...are you crying?

Image N-No! I'm just surprised. Sure, I'll help you out! ...are you crying?!

Image I'm just... so... happy!

Image M-Me too!

Image Image WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Image

Kalinga, requires 1 Earth Nail
Nail Whip, requires 1 Small Nail - ATK+19 - A whip tipped with monster nails.
Amud Staff, requires 2 Husk Shards - ATK+18, TP+8 - The crystal on its tip acts as a magical focus.

Image

Hard Vest, requires 3 Soft Fur, 1 Bug Wing
Jerkin, requires 2 Soft Fur - DEF+10 - Body covering made from the fur of forest beasts.
Steel Pin, requires 3 Husk Shard, 1 Small Nail - DEF+5, TP+5 - Hair clip made from a forest bug's claws.
Hide Gage, requires 1 Soft Fur - DEF+4, VIT+1 - Easy-to-use gloves that prevent slipping.

Image Oh, hello! It's so good to see you again! How is your equipment? If you have any problems, I'll see if my father can fix it. He always says that the key to victory is good equipment! So please take good care of it!

Image Cripes, now I'm imagining an EO with equipment durability. Horrifying.

Image

Image Why don't you get up to your room and change those clothes? You should relax once in a while! Walk around town! Life's not all about exploring.

Image

Image So you've reached the next floor... I see. Well, congratulations. Just don't forget that the Labyrinth is a very dangerous place.

Image

Image Payment, huh?

Image That, ahem, is what she said.

Image I'll pay yeh in drinks, howzat?

Image I'll pay you in silence.

Image I think money will be fine, we do require your service after all. If you could get some spring water for this quest, I would appreciate it.

Image On the bottom right, you can't miss it, unless you are missing.

Image Right, uh, thanks. Weird feeling being wanted, I'll be back in a flash!

Image Heh, by yourself stalking the labyrinth, sounds like an adventure. One he's familiar with, too.

Image

Image Listen, though... you're a tiny fish in a big pond. There's a lot of other explorers in the world out there. But if yeh want to get stronger, I've got some advice for yeh. Don't die! Got it? Haw haw haw!

Image

Image I see you've reached the 2nd floor... good, good. Everything seems to be going smoothly. Most 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. That's all the advice I have for now. Never underestimate the Labyrinth.

Image

Image Ah, that looks good, thanks a lot!

Image as if i'd trust them to clean up the mess they make with this.

Image In a rarity for the series, we're done with this floor. No secret area, no revisiting another part from another floor. We're done!

Image Not too often you're truly done with an earlygame floor on the first visit, but that's actually the case here. And unlike in EO1, some of the nonsensical unlock triggers, such as a passage only opening up when you reach a specific floor, or one opening up when you examine a specific wall, are now gone from this game, and the rest of the series. If you have to do something to unlock a passage, it's now much more obvious, like a quest trigger or something.

Image

Image Wonderful! You may yet have what it takes to explore the Labyrinth. I hope you can discover the floating castle before this old body collapses. Good luck.

Image

Image It seems that water from some natural source has found an outlet, creating a small stream.

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Image You take a moment to enjoy its cool, refreshing taste... it's a sensation like no other. After draining your flask, you fill it with the water flowing from the spring.

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Image I've got a new guild counting on me, this is my chance to not mutter to myself while doing these tasks and being weird! ...like I'm doing right now. Hmm.

Image Image

Image We've got our gathering party, so it's time to grind them on bosses to give them exp and nice gathering skills. Or I could use an exp cheat, either works.

Image Image

Image It's like I'm not even there!

Image Now outside of getting pasted by gathering ambushes, we're set for the rest of the game. At max level, any tile with a danger value of 4 is now 0, because the game rounds down, which is most of the tiles in the game! But of course we still have that one issue...

Image Image

Image Why do I hear boss music...? Ah fuck.

Image
Raflesia

HP: 220
STR: 20
VIT: 15
TEC: 12
AGI: 12
LUC: 15
Level: 16
Exp: 831

Skills
Pollen: Uses the Arms. Attempts to inflict Poison on the entire party. Has an 50% base infliction chance, deals 28-42 Poison damage and has a 100% speed modifier.
Freeze: Uses the Arms. Deals Ice damage to a single target, with splash damage, with a spell power of 40 and damage multiplied by 105%. Has a 99% accuracy modifier and a 50% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 75% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 150% Image 0% Image 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Huge Petal: 30% chance, sells for 24en.
1 required for Wildflower - Collar, DEF+38 - sells for 450en
1 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en
2 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en
3 required for Hide Aspis - Heavy Armor, DEF+12 - sells for 325en

Conditional: Kill with Slash damage
Gum Vine: 50% chance, sells for 30en
5 required for Briar Whip - Whip, ATK+42, VIT+1, AGI+1 - sells for 520en

Image This is a monster that we won't be encountering until the end of the stratum, but surprise, here it is to kick your ass. If you can beat this, then you'll get a nice chunk of exp and some early drops. But of course you need other drops for later items and you're blindsided and thus likely in a dangerous situation. An annoying wrinkle to gathering, but with how low the chance is, it's not a massive deal, especially because a team of gatherers is good at running away if nothing else.

Image Yeah this is basically just Atlus giving you the middle finger. And if you get really unlucky, you'll get wiped immediately. Oh and if you're coming from a later game where gathering ambushes got a pretty heavy nerf, gathering ambushes in this game don't function like those. In later games ambushes are just a guaranteed blindside with the floor's standard encounters. In EO2 however? Atlus specifically crafted a set of "FUCK YOU!" encounters for each and every single gathering point in the game. On top of every single one of those being guaranteed blindsides. Some enemy formations being impossible to see outside of gathering ambushes as well. So gathering ambushes in EO2 go well beyond an inconvenience and are straight up designed to cause party wipes! Basically, never gather with your main party, only do it with a dedicated gathering team if you don't want to lose a lot of progress!

Image Image

Image Still, it's very likely to just attack on the first turn, so you'll be able to run away with 4 people next turn. Ro only survived due to his higher level, I did not put any armour on him, because I'm doing this to get money to buy armour!

Image Image

Nectar, requires 1 Tiny Bloom - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending
Shock Oil, requires 1 Green Nut, must be restocked - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - Weapon oil to change its element to volt.
Blaze Oil, requires 1 Green Nut, must be restocked - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - Weapon oil to change its element to fire.
Freeze Oil, requires 1 Green Nut, must be restocked - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - Weapon oil to change its element to ice.
Ward Chime, requires 1 Sour Fruit - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - Its repellent chime decreases the encounter rate.
Guard Sole, requires 2 Sour Fruits - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - Insoles that lower the damage sustained from trap floors.
Therica B, requires 3 Tiny Blooms, 1 Bug Wing - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - Serum made from moth venom to restore a comrade's status.
Therica A, requires 2 Tiny Blooms - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target, sells for 100en - Mixture of forest ingredients to remove a comrade's bonds.

Image We need a few runs of this if we want to bring some Nectars along. Otherwise you can wait to grind money later, it's not a big deal. I'll be doing this a fair bit since I'll be outfitting 12 characters instead of 5, but such is the LP life.

Image Nectars are more expensive in the first two games but thankfully don't need to be restocked like in the later games. While it hurts for the earlygame, I honestly preferred that over making them a cheap restockable. But yeah, bring Nectars along if you can, deaths basically stop exploration trips cold and Nectars let you keep going in spite of those.

Image

Image You're welcome.

Image Wha-?! I have yet to finish one glass, how did you do that so quickly?

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

Image

Image The first of many wonderful "rewards". Anyway since that's done we can access the quests we unlocked from reaching the second floor. Didn't know that was a thing either!

Image I believe it's just this quest that bottlenecks the rest of the quests in the game. Which is probably why that had a guard nag you about the wrong direction, as you can't do any other quests if you don't get this little tutorial quest done. Later quests only bottleneck their own quest lines instead of every single quest from a later floor.

Image Image

Image There's a craftsman been here for a dog's age. He's a mite odd, but damn good at his job. He makes clothes from animal skin, but it's a tough needle that can pierce them hides. Shouldn't be too hard to find a beastie that'll drop the Long Pins yeh need. G'luck!

Image Image

Image Yeh know Sitoth Trading, of course. The dry goods store just out front... exactly. Never seen Sitoth myself, as the man's obsessed with his job. He never leaves the workshop. Nah, this one's from his girl Abigail. She wants to help yeh lot out by making new weapons. How can yeh refuse a girl like that? I put it up straightaway, but... well... to be honest, I wasn't listening too close. Yeh'll have to go ask her what she needs.

Image Image

Image I haven't got much details for yeh, but it sounds like they need a strong landsknecht. Other'n that, the Duke's men seem a mite... recalcitrant about the whole affair. Ahh, but I'm sure they pay well, and that's what counts, innit? But don't get all puffed up just because yeh're the man they're looking for!

Image Ooh, ooh, I'm recalwhatever.

Image Recalcitrant: a person with an obstinately uncooperative attitude. Not heard such a word since my time with the-

Image Obstintater? Whazzat?

Image

Image C'mon, don't let me down now. Come back with a landsknecht that yeh think can do the job, all right? I'm counting on yeh!

Image Regardless, seems like you need a bit more adventuring experience to be accepted. Not like I need anything of the sort, o-of course.

Image Ack, fine, I'll be back fer this!

Image Sure game, encourage early players to train up a Landy, what can go wrong? It is recommended to still have one of each class for a variety of reasons, but you can see how they slowly phase out this kind of thinking later in the series.

Image Oh boy. These kinds of quests are kind of infamous in the playerbase, but not for the reasons you'd think. Just don't take these quests until you are ready to instantly clear them right away, just trust me on this! Not only that, but there's actually a hidden level requirement you have to reach to get the maximum reward. In this case, the game really wants a level 10 Landsknecht. So if you want the best rewards, you'll have to leave these quests in the backlog.

Image

Image Whew! I'd never made a request with Cass before, so I wasn't sure if anyone would take it... my father's very busy, so I'll have to give you the materials list myself. Umm... here it is. What we need is... 1 Bug Wing and 1 Bent Twig. Once you have the materials, sell them to me. The reward is on top of the sale price.

Image Image

Image Did a couple more runs to fill out our bag space and upgrade everyone from fucking Tweed. We can reach 2F without a single encounter if you're lucky, so that's nice.

Image

Image Lots of doors, Lily told us to be wary, I don't believe she's wrong...

Image You seem to be edging more now.

Image I don't think that's the right wording, but keep trying.

Image

Image I can feel it... the presence of that which nearly slayed me. I will have my revenge!

Image I mean, I can just look over slightly and see the massive deer, though not ones I'm familiar with.

Image Be careful everyone, I have heard tales of these deadly Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens from Juthro, we should not-

Image FOE?

Image FOE!

Image Image Image Image Image Image FOE! FOE! FOE! FOE!

Image Democracy is still in effect.

Image Sigh... I figured this would happen, I can only heal you so much.

Image :siren: A Sudden Gust of Wind that Calls for Death :siren:

Image

Image Hmm, well, we're fighting this thing, so let's help Eleanore with her revenge.

Image ...never seen this before in my life.

Image Then what were you talking about before???

Image
Furyhorn

HP: 420
STR: 18
VIT: 18
TEC: 16
AGI: 18
LUC: 16
Level: 8
Exp: 0

Skills
Step: Uses the Legs. Deals 80% Cut damage to a single target, with 75% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Panic. Has a 30% base infliction chance, a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 125% Image 75% Image 75%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 10%
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 50% Image 10%

Drops
Deer Hide: 25% chance, sells for 203en
1 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en

Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en.
1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en
1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en
2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32, +40 speed - sells for 260en
2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en
2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en
3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en
5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1

Conditional: None

Image Now for the first definitively FOE you could accidentally walk into and get slaughtered. You can see that it's slightly stronger than the Gashtor and will obliterate multiple people at once. You can't see the path they take unless you walk it yourself, so take your time and try not to end your exploration early by running into an FOE, they're much better avoiding compared to last game. They're still worth fighting later on, but only to get their drops, since as you can see, no experience.

Image Furyhorns are where the FOE related kid gloves start coming off. For one, they actually move around. And secondly, they will slaughter you even harder. Where you had at least 5 turns to escape from the Gashtor, you only really have around 2 to run from a Furyhorn. And in some cases that will be impossible and the only thing you can do is to accept your death.

Image Also another global change to FOEs other than beefing them the fuck up, FOEs in EO2 no longer give out experience points! (Reverted in EO3 onwards.) They're basically obstacles to be avoided, not monsters to fight! You basically can't go toe-to-toe with an FOE until a long while after you first encounter them as they will gladly fuck your shit up! In short, only fight FOEs when you absolutely have to, it's just not worth it otherwise. They're a complete waste of time that will gladly pummel you until their last breath in the process.

Image Extremely big step up from their equivalents in EO1. Wait until they get the ability to panic the entire party.

Image Image

Image Another monster to exact my reve-GRK!

Image I am thinking we are the fucked.

Image Image

Image No worries, I'll pop it to snooze! ...yeah we're boned.

Image If only this was avoidable. I hate you all.

Image Once Again Until the Day of the Challenge

Image

Image Darn, looks like my ironman ended quicker than I expected, sucks, but what can you do? With EO2 over, guess I can move onto my next LP, Pokemon White 2!

Image Ah, if only it were that easy.

Image In case the Gashtor didn't hammer it in, Furyhorns will harshly teach you the lesson that FOEs are not to be trifiled with! Especially in this game when FOEs are easily at their strongest in the entire series!

Image é


wait raflesias resist cut of course they resist cut why did i forget this fact thanks eo2

Nice art though.

User avatar

Part 4: Dodging for Deer Life
Part 4: Dodging for Deer Life

Image Woodland Ruins

Image

Image So, what have we learned?

Image Image Image Fear the deer...

Image Now we have some directionings to choose.

Image Left! ...uh, I don't know why, still getting used to this new nose.

Image Image
Image Image

Image My work here is done!

Image But you didn't do anything...

Image

Image CHA-CHING

Image Upon closer inspection, there are a number of shining coins lying amongst the roots. Could another explorer have dropped them? You are tempted to retrieve them, but you have to wonder about the circumstances.

Image

Image Oh, uh, that's not a lot. Here, all yours.

Image Please do not pick random things off the ground, that could have been a trap.

Image They should be of the more lukertive variance.

Image You pick the coins out from the tangled roots of the trees. Their total worth is 100en... a careless adventurer must have simply dropped them here. Heartened by the lucky find, you return to your investigation.

Image

Image Woah, 1/5th of a Nectar, so generous!

Image A slight callback to EO1's triple Mole ambush event. Only this time we don't get attack. Lotta Etrian Odyssey 1: Opposite Edition going on here, huh?

Image

Image Can't believe this monster didn't listen to me! Are we not of the same kindling?

Image Because you're a Ragelope, they're Furyhorn, different species.

Image That makes sense.

Image

2F D4 Mine Point

Ambush Chance: 3%
Ambush Encounter:
100% Raflesia x1

Amazonite: 70% chance. Sells for 30en.
1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en
1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en
7 required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en
5 required for Paint the town blue

Aragonite: 25% chance. Sells for 35en.
1 required for Luck Beads - Accessory, LUC+10 - sells for 200en
5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2, +15 speed - sells for 350en
7 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en

Garnet: 5% chance. Sells for 100en.
1 required for Power Ring - Accessory, STR+5 - sells for 200en
1 required for Apt Piece - Accessory, TEC+5 - sells for 200en

Image Mine. Now there were a lot of bad accessories last game, but the ailment/bind resist ones in this game are super good, 50% is pretty crazy for one slot and really helps against certain enemies. They won't always be useful, but it's worth sacrificing the slot to help out, since you won't miss the helmet or shoes. It's not always necessary if you have a burst strat, but it's still damn good. STR and TEC stacking through various equipment is also a cheeky way to make some classes less shit and big classes even bigger.

Image Oh nice, we're really getting to the good shit now! This is why you still want gathering parties despite the nerfs to gathering. While they do provide a decent amount of cash flow, the real benefit is the unlocks! And the gathering unlocks in this game can be really damn good! Accessories also got a lot more powerful starting with this game. Just look at those stats and effects! Base infliction rates from enemies are really high in this game, so a status accessory can help a ton! You can stack 2 of each to gain immunity to that disable as well, but be warned. Unlike EO3 through EO2U, armor is actually really damn good in this game, so while you can accessory stack, it's not a good idea to do so outside of some specific strategies.

Image If you don't get a rush of happiness from seeing a character's damage stat go up, then we can't be friends.

Image

Image Oh for- what did we JUST talk about?

Image Lily did say to look around doors...

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Image It's not a massive deal if you do run into an FOE, but if you don't flee first turn, someone's probably getting pasted. Also this is when we should talk about getting screwed because you can't flee! I turned to the right to face the FOE coming towards me and when I fled I moved one step back. You can see how that might be a problem if an FOE is coming towards a wall when it runs into you, so you turn to face it... and now your back is against the wall. And since you can't move one space back to flee... you're just fucking screwed. This is when in-battle warp skills are useful, but otherwise you better kill the opponent. I know I'm gonna get screwed by this eventually, so let's see if we'll die from it!

Image And this is another thing that elevates EO2 FOEs above the rest of the series. A big change made in 2 was that you turn to face the FOE when you run into it. This means it's much easier to get cornered by simply making bad movements compared to EO1 and 3 where you can only get cornered by letting an FOE jump in on a battle. All you can do at that point is to fight your way out, or to accept your death. EO2 can be one of the more brutal titles in the series for that very reason. But as for the reason why you turn to face FOEs is because sidestepping can possibly cause you to break the FOE system by running into an FOE while facing a weird direction, so that was basically their bandage solution to that issue. They properly fixed it by EO3 by making it so that you face the direction you were actually moving in if you run into an FOE avoiding cornering issues entirely. And by EO4 the FOE system got a complete overhaul so it was completely impossible to get cornered in battle by any means.

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Image In the den of so much prey I can't hunt, such a weird feeling.

Image It is fine to be admitting you are the frightened.

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Image Wonder what exciting prize is this far out of the way- aw, rocks.

Image You know I can sense your emotions, stop getting excited for grass to eat!

2F E1 Mine Point

Ambush Chance: 3%
Ambush Encounter:
100% Raflesia x1

Aragonite: 70% chance. Sells for 35en.
1 required for Luck Beads - Accessory, LUC+10 - sells for 200en
5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2, +15 speed - sells for 350en
7 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en

Amazonite: 25% chance. Sells for 30en.
1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en
1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en
3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en
7 required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en
5 required for Paint the town blue

Garnet: 5% chance. Sells for 100en.
1 required for Power Ring - Accessory, STR+5 - sells for 200en
1 required for Apt Piece - Accessory, TEC+5 - sells for 200en

Image Exciting stuff. Note that the ambush chance has increased from last floor, because why not?

Image The deeper you go into a Stratum, the more likely you are to get ambushed at item points. Take care not to wipe to the wildlife there.

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Image Hyah! You could really work on your singing voice!

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Image Шокирует! I am thinking I need the ears of plugs.

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Image Holy divine water that hurts! But it seems like I will survive.

Image Since it was going after Aleks in the turn order, then oh baby you know it was going for Poison.

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Image And then this is the best thing a Crawler can go for. Scary fights, but we're doing alright.

Image Woof, these encounter formations are pretty brutal early on. Already they're sending the heavy stuff after you. At least level correction is gone, I don't want to think how much more bloody this game gets with that in place.

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Image Ah, a cute little animal. I will be shooting it.

Image Wait, wait, wait! Don't worry little guy, we're not gonna hurt ya.

Image You can barely make out a squirrel-like animal in the shadow of a large plant. The rodent doesn't seem to fear your party, and it chirps brightly as it approaches. It seems as though it wants you to pet it. You wonder if you should oblige the creature...

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Image Hmm, I'm not sure we should trust this creature, it is of the labyrinth.

Image In that case why should we trust you? I slay many creatures, but it means you appreciate the gentler ones.

Image Agreed, I'm gonna bring him back with us, he'll be called Conker! Ah, hey, that tickles, what are you- ah, the pack!

Image You reach out to the small animal... but it takes the opportunity to run up your arm and onto your body! From there, it jams its head into your backpack and runs off with something in its mouth. You hurriedly rummage through your pack to see what it was the thieving rodent stole... it was a Warp Wire, one of an explorer's most essential tools! It's too late for you to catch the animal by now... you sigh, and move on with your journey.

Image Well at least we know squirrels are evil.

Image Bah, it's a good thing I always pack two, just in case. Come now, let's get moving everyone.

Image Conker...



Image Hehe... suckers. Though next time steal something that wouldn't screw them over too much, okay Ymjdnjdnfj? But otherwise, good work- uh, what, really? ...sigh, fine, good work... Conker.

Image Welcome to EO2, enjoy your stay!

Image Eheeheeheeheeheeheeee!

Image Just you wait until EO5, where they put in squirrel enemies that can burn your Ariadne Threads in battle.

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Image How many of these damn dirty deer are there?

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Image Oh god I feel this twice over! Gonna need to reduce the connection more strategically.

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Image So Atlus is being a little generous in letting you get a Warp Wire to replace the one they just stole from you. They will not be this generous again, so always, ALWAYS carry two wires. This is mainly useful in case you forget to buy one, I've got it ingrained in my mind over something unimportant like my little sister's birthday, but if you're really worried getting screwed over in an event, have three. Thankfully this is the only game where it's notorious, there's a lot less squirrels in later games.

Image Also, wow, it nearly took two floors, but Eleanore has an actual attack. She'll be using it a lot because Kienzan or Midareba take a WHILE to get to.

Image The sheer power move of Warp Wire dickery. You kind of have to admire some of the sheer gutpunches this game comes up with! I have to wonder who came up with the idea of screwing with the players' lifelines like that, it's just so gloriously jerkish! At least they're being generous in this instance so you know to look out for future instances without being punished too hard.

Image I'd say "if you don't carry two Ariadne Threads into the Labyrinth, then we— Wait I already did this joke," but unfortunately my LPs mean that I am extensively on the public record as not having followed my own advice.

Image And the Ronin's slow start is one of their few balancing factors.

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Image A quick rest and recovery is necessary, and then we shall return unto the night, mwahahahaha.

Image You wanna be slayed or what?

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Image That's most of the optional parts of the floor explored, now onto the next part to get distracted by. Seriously this floor is fucking short if you gun it.

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Image Ahah, this is the one that I must take revenge on!

Image Of course it was the big cacti rather than the deering that nearly killed you.

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Cactoid

HP: 90
STR: 13
VIT: 10
TEC: 7
AGI: 8
LUC: 9
Level: 7
Exp: 314

Skills
Needles: Uses the Arms. Deals 60% Cut damage to a single target 2 times. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 150% Image 100% Image 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Cactus Pin: 45% chance, sells for 14en.
1 required for Wakizashi - Katana, ATK+25 - sells for 180en
3 required for Spike - Axe, ATK+33, +0 speed - sells for 220en

Cactus Log: 40% chance, sells for 17en
1 required for Green Boot - Footwear, DEF+6, AGI+2 - sells for 120en
2 required for Nail Glove - Gloves, DEF+6, STR+1 - sells for 150en

Conditional: None

Image A pretty whatever enemy since it's like a Crawler, but wasn't encountered last floor, so isn't that scary. It'll only go for Needles past half health and having a Fire weakness is a bad idea with the cookie cutter team. Honestly, both this and Crawlers aren't that threatening anymore, and we'll have no problem against them from now on.

Image These are basically the muscle of floor 2, but as long as you weren't running from every battle, they shouldn't be too bad to deal with. With a properly outfitted party, even Needles shouldn't OHKO from full HP. They also don't get placed in any scary formations on this floor so they aren't too troublesome.

Image These things got upgraded to FOEs with an actual discernable gimmick in EO2U! Exciting.

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Image Oh sweet salty christ, no.

Image Not that I hated being on the receiving end of all these gut punches back in my EO2 LP, but I gotta say there's something surreally funny about watching those happen to someone else in their LP.

Image Image

Image I think we're in a bit of trouble here!

Image Don't worry, we can put them to sleep. Oh it didn't work.

Image What a surprising!

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Image Well thanks for the res, let us get the fuck out of here!

Image Affirmative.

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Image Ugh, all I wanted to do was show off this fun little locked door, and the new icon associated with it! But unfortunately this hell corridor has some very nasty encounters and our team isn't the tankiest, so getting 2HKOed by Crawlers can quickly turn into a terrible time. Since there's no level correction, enemies can remain scarier for longer, especially if they come in groups of 3 or, shudder, even 5.

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Image Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff.

Image That is an... interesting way to smell the ground.

Image He's still getting used to knees. J-Just don't look.

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Image It seems that the path continues beyond the wall... you search for a way past the wall, but the forest is too thick and it seems to be no use. Even if you could climb the wall, the branches are too high for you to reach. If only you had someone nimble enough to jump to the high branches, you could cross...

Image Maybe in my old body, but not this time.

Image Well we have an eager chap who could help us with this. Ro? No, the other one, Lagaan? He needs to join us for some wine, I always remember names after a glass...

Image Yeah, anyway, let's make this quick before monsters come.

Image Boy, if there's something that was needed in the sequel, it sure would be class exclusive shortcuts??? Yeah sure game, encourage players to bring a Survivalist, they're sure to be impressed! Now there are good rewards behind these... most of the time. But they definitely get a little annoying later on. There's in fact another class exclusive shortcut on this floor we can't reach yet, and it fucking sucks!

Image Yeah you basically need 1 of every class in your guild to see everything in the game at some point. Some of it unlocks some nice treasures, but sometimes larger content, such as quests, gets locked off without a specific class available to you. I think they did this to make it so that players have more varied playthroughs compared to one another, but this is a little strict, and later games would make it so specific classes can influence how some events or quests play out, but you're never really locked out of content entirely without them.

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Image But the way to the path is blocked, and there seems to be no way to walk through it. Just as you had despaired on passing the forest wall, the dark hunter present speaks up. With one stroke of the whip, the dark hunter latches onto a thick branch on the other side! If you use the whip as a line, you may be able to make it over the wall!

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Image Let us slay some treasure, ohohohoho!

Image We haven't known each other that long for you to be doing impressions.

Image Look, if I am to lug her dead body around, might as well have some fun.

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Image Back to town...

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Wakizashi, requires 1 Cactus Pin.

Image Aww, how come she gets a whip but I don't get a new katana?

Image Because her's is free and you got one at the end of the last floor, remember?

Image I DID?!

Image I don't even want to think about how you managed to use my whip to get this. There, there, poor thing.

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Image Right, back to where we were so RUDELY interrupted.

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Image There is writing engraved here, but it seems ancient and utterly unlike anything you recognize. What the writing could possibly mean is beyond you... but it's apparent that a spell of some sort has been cast upon the stone monument. Perhaps someone who has studied mystical texts would be able to penetrate its meaning...

Image The grouchy guy should be knowing of this long dead words.

Image The lettering is understandable, but I don't recognise it from any of my widespread reading. Like this part here... "Le Grille", what the hell is that?

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Image You strain your eyes and discover that it's some sort of emblem engraved into a rock. A shining gem is embedded in the emblem's center... you are certain beyond a doubt that magic is present in that emblem. As the rest of you debate on how best to reach the gem, the gunner pushes you aside. With a single, well-aimed shot, the gunner hits the gem and activates the spell! The nature of the magic seems to have been wind-based. You can barely remain on your feet as the spell draws you to the other side of the wall! The spell's effect will wear off with time. Now is your best chance to cross the wall.

Image Class specific shortcuts only check for one specific class, even if you would think another class would be perfectly capable of dealing with the obstacles detailed in these flavor texts.

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Image As simples as-

Image Whazzat? Can't hear you over this gale!

Image I think she said pimple as. Such funny vernacular.

Image You're one to talk!

Image WHAT?

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Image Stop it.

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Image Welcome to the free club.

Image Hrrrrmmmmmm.

Image Again, you got a free weapon last floor, stop moaning!

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Image Okay, back on the main path again, now we can finish the floor in- ooh, there's something over here.

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Image Not the biggest fan of this, but I can heal my own wounds quickly enough.

Image Lots of room for sprites, so we can get some trickier encounters that stay relevant due to no level correction. Still, some enemies will always be scarier than others, so we'll be fine with 3 frontliners to spread damage around.

Image Sprite sizes actually do influence how encounters are designed and the game checks them to see if enemies can be summoned to battle. FOEs on the other hand, don't give a shit and will gladly delete some enemies to make room for themselves if they want to join in on a battle. Though I have no idea if model sizes have a similar influence on these mechanics in the 3DS games.

Image Unfortunately, you won't see the introduction of enemy rows until EO4, which sucks. Enemies having rows offers a lot of extra ways to make encounter groups way trickier.

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Image I heard that Edda had come to the Grand Duchy. Would that happen to be you?

Image Actually we're-

Image Thrilled to meet such an avid fan!

Image ...uh, yep, that's us. Edda. Real strong guild from, uh, Etreant?

Image You nod your assent, and the guard gives you a fascinated look before continuing.

Image That's wonderful! To think a guild that famous would come to our Labyrinth!

Image Obviously impressed, the guard tells you that he wishes to help with your investigation. He offers your choice of a weapon or medicine for your adventure. Either is 1000en. His offer does seem tempting.

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Image The first bonus for a password game since the Town Medal/Crown. Yeah it's not a lot, huh. This harkens back to a similar event on B3F for a weapon that is expensive and not that impressive, or medicine you won't get for a while. For the first game's case, the Soma wasn't available outside of quests until B17F, while this offers a Theriaca BX, which won't be available to buy until 27F WHAT THE FUCK GAME. So yeah, we'll get the medicine when we get the money. And then never use it. Just in case.

Image A password game isn't all gut punches. Sometimes you get bonuses like these! Well the weapon is a complete ripoff (It's a sword so don't bother if you aren't using a Landsknecht, War Magus, or Protector) but the medicine is a FAR better deal! Grab that one if you can, it can be especially handy for the first boss fight.

Image I could always be using a newer gun.

Image Firstly, you just got one, what is with you people, secondly, we do not have the money for such a thing. We shall return as, uh, Edda, as the medicine is mighty tempting.

Image You consider lying to him, but realize that no words can take the place of real money.

Image I see... well, I'll be here for a while, so come back if you change your mind.

Image The guard watches you leave.

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Image What would you do without my nose, eh?

Image It's my nose, actually, and how you're able to keep your senses with my physical attributes is something I've yet to figure out!

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Image Weird amount of hidden areas you'll probably walk past pretty easily. Fine enough loot I suppose, Hart is the squishiest right now, so he can have this.

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Image Damn agile cactus!

Image Now that is a sentence.

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Image You always looking so surprising when you working.

Image Because I am! My singing is terrible...

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Image Slowly but surely we'll get somewhere. I'll actually skip on Climax for now to get Ecstacy, that's more immediately useful, but I will finish off Viper first. And then Bait and then- god there's so much. Ronin are way simplier.

Image If you're not interested in killing FOEs, skip Climax altogether, it's rather limited use outside of that. Also Climax won't do a damn thing if you aren't even strong enough to fight an FOE in the first place, so putting it off for later is a wiser move.

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Image Excellent work team, another floor completed and we only nearly died twice.

Image That better be the ending of the deering.

Image There's a little section in the corner but otherwise 2F is done! Since there's no shortcut the line through this floor is pretty short, but there's a good reason for that.

Image Those empty uncolored in tiles. Must. Resist. Commenting.

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Image Will I have to jump in front of every animal you want to shoot, Aleks???

Image At least it's giving off less suspicious vibes than the squirrel.

Image But after a second of meeting its eyes, it looks to the north, as if directing you there. A second growl indicates that it wishes you to go there and it faces you once again. You can travel the northern path indicated by the beast or continue on your way.

Image Game, the beast will stop us going ahead, what are you on about.

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Image Before you can draw your weapons, a figure appears...

Image I've slayed worse humans than you, come at me!

Image Put that away you whip happy harpy!

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Image The good-natured protector notes your confused expressions before continuing pleasantly.

Image Since you're new to the forest, I thought I should teach you about something useful.

Image With this, the man points to a mysterious shaft of light in a hollow to the south.

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Image It has the useful function of teleporting explorers from the entrance back to here. All the guilds make use of it when we explore the forest. You should do the same. There's no trick to it, just touch the light. Then you can come here from town in a flash.

Image Oddly convenient, who made them? For what purpose? And can they fix my problems?

Image Ah... who made them, you ask? I'm afraid no one knows the answer to that one.

Image The man called Flausgul gazes at the Geomagnetic Pole, his long hair blowing in the wind.

Image That reminds me... eventually, you'll encounter what we call a Geomagnetic Field as well. It's even more mysterious. It can teleport you from town to the Labyrinth and back. Things like that are good to know if you're going to explore the forest.

Image While the protector speaks, the black beast you encountered before walks up to him.

Image Gah, I knew they were in conspiramancy with another!

Image I want one!

Image Aha... excuse me, but Kurogane is here for me.

Image Flausgul calls the beast's name, and walks away... you can activate the Geomagnetic Pole as he instructed, or ignore it and continue your journey.

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Image Holy mother of checkpoints! Now we won't have to walk the enter length of the stratum to get to where you left off. Now granted, since you can only have one active at a time, it can be a hassle getting around on revisit, but the game is also pretty good at shortcuts and the battles are super easy. That's why 2F was so short, letting you get to where you need to go mostly painless. Mostly.

Image Already a huge improvement from EO1's level design. Not only are there more shortcuts, but you can have a singular checkpoint active at all times that you can quickly return to. Poles are one way trips though, as you can't exit through them. Like Flausgul said, Geomagnetic Fields still exist in the game and function like they did in EO1, being a 2 way entry point for the start of each Stratum.

Image フロースガル...

Image I would say that is quite the achievement.

Image This exploring stuff is harder than I thought, we need a break, let other guild members explore.

Image I am happy to be shooting, but could use some refining relaxing.

Image I will not rest until I have my revenge, but some light reading would be fine.

Image Sure, do whatever, I'll be back soon enough.

Image Vast Lands Spreading in the North

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Spike, +0 speed, requires 3 Cactus Pins and 5 Earth Nails.

Image Och, ye better keep that damn thing away from me, I hate axes.

Image Ah here you are, we require your services, I will gather everyone in the bar.

Image Atlus has tried multiple times to make axes and axe-like weapons worth it, and they just...never can.

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Image My father went to market the other day to buy me a new dress. I thought I might wear it in the shop to show it off, but it does get dusty in here. Maybe you can come back this weekend and I'll wear it then!

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Image That was fast! I didn't think you had it in you. Oh, I didn't mean anything by it. You just don't look that strong... I was worried. But at this pace, I think you'll do great things! Good luck up there, children!

Image Well, I might not look particularly muscular, but that's why everyone has their own role. I even have the knack for numbers, but I don't want to brag as such and- yes, yes, I'm coming.

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Image You there! Could you please lend me a hand and clear the area? If you could please excuse us, we need to get through here!

Image Another adventurer down in flames, eh?

Image yes they always leave such a mess, but that's what i'm here for.

Image Phew... thank you. Yet another explorer who got badly injured in the Labyrinth. Even experienced explorers can run into trouble if they're ambushed by monsters. Remember that during your own journeys.

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Image Occasionally, you may encounter other guilds in the Labyrinth. There's a man from the guild called Beowulf who's always very supportive for beginners. Naturally, Guild Beowulf isn't the only guild you can expect to meet in your travels. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth.

Image Is that right? Kurogane is his name? We sound pretty alike. Oh, you mean that's the literal translation. I suppose it works better in natural tongue.

Image Mmhmm!

Image Chatty with animals, eh?

Image Crivens! How long have you been there?! Ugh, if you must know, they're more trustworthy. I'm going.

Image Flausgul and Kurogane were mistranslations. It was supposed to be Hrothgar and Wulfgar, fitting in with the Beowulf theme. This was corrected in the remake.

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Image Though your job as explorers has only just begun. The Grand Duchy maintains a guard corps presence in the Labyrinth, but it is small. Just like this town... it's a shame the explorers can so easily outmatch the guards. Perhaps we should look to the guilds when recruiting new members of the guard corps. Either way, we will need your explorer's strength to proceed with our investigations. Thank you for assisting us. I'm expecting great things from you all.

Image Yes, yes, we could talk for hours, you and I. But I am here for the mapping boy, the one who is always here. Ugh, I remember names better when they have good necks to go with them.

Image Riiiiight, I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Logan, by the way, I'll take the map and... tweak it.

Image Yes, yes, you do that young one. But first, it is time to explore!

Image Man all these towns near trees really need to work on their "weak guards" issues. Though Dubois brings up an interesting factoid, this town is actually pretty small. Which stands out compared to all the other towns in the series which are considerably larger than Lagaard.

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Image Eh, to get my true revenge, we must go higher, and faster!

Image How many revengences does one person need?

Image Eh? Yeh want to move up even faster...? Don't be daft! The Labyrinth isn't a playground! I give yeh credit for having guts, but don't overdo it! Know yer limitations, and take it slow! G'luck out there!

Image Cass's advice can pretty much apply to any EO game. Don't overextend, and know when it's time to retreat and to live for another day.

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Image Hmm, figured this would happen. Well something to take a crack at.

Image Now hold on, there's more than five of us in this guild and while I appreciate everyone has slotted into their own work here, there is much to be done. So I shall remain in the party and we'll take on the new challenges.

Image Alreeeeeet! Time teh give some fannies a real smashin'!

Image Uh, metaphorically, right? I don't fancy getting too close myself...

Image Fine.

Image You will be bubbling partner in the back for sure.

Image Ugh, my epic tale needs to start sooner rather than later you know!

Image Agreed, you will not enjoy the sweeter delights of life with me serenading the innkeeper.

Image i'm fine just in the hospital, honestly

Image Now, now, you'll all get a proper crack at it, it's a big guild and it is sure to get bigger. But we must acknowledge that some will wait longer than others for their share. Besides, if you wish, we can wait until you are ready to fight this monster.

Image Oh joy I have that to look forward to, it seems.

Image I'm just here for the food.

Image Man, last LP was so much easier, 9 party members, boom 2 parties. Now with 11, soon to be 12, I've gotta figure things out. And so this will do for now, we'll keep Aleks and Alastor because they're new classes, while we need Holly, Logan and Corinth for various tasks, that's the main reason they were chosen. Fret not, every member will get two full floors to explore, split into three groups with some wildcards that'll fill the last slot. That'll be the Beast for stratum 2, but you'll be voting in what order the guild will be appearing, as well as boss voting and all that when it comes up, simple enough. Can't imagine trying to figure this out in games with a larger number of classes. Haha.

Image Large character casts will get super hard to juggle and balance in pretty much any media. Fortunately on the narrative LP side of things, most EO games don't tend to have too many classes outside of 2U and- oh god Nexus has 19 classes? Good thing we're not LPing that!

Image ...

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Image Yeh know the huge monster in the northern clearing on the 1st floor? Well, some stupid blighter took a poke at it. It's usually calm, but now that it's been riled... it's attacking anyone who comes near. Bad news, that one. Lotta people think the beastie needs killing, so there's yer job. And if you can't hack it, yeh've no chance of reaching the floating castle. Go get 'em, and g'luck!

Image We haven't improved that much since it clobbered us last update, so we'll be tackling this quest, eh, later. But I wonder who would be stupid enough to rile up that beast?

Image Chances are unless you have done a lot of grinding or are resorting to cheese strats, the Gashtor will still kick your ass. Like Cross said, best save this one for later. By the way, killing it in advance doesn't count. If you've done that, taking this quest will revive it and you'll have to kill it again.

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Image Maybe we can wait a bit to tackle that, uhhhh, how about this quest? It seems pretty... what's with that large crate of... oof... it's so heavy... gahhhhhh...

Image Oh, it's that one yeh're after? The Duke's guards went on a mission in the Labyrinth... yer job is to bring them food and other supplies, but I warn yeh--it's a damned heavy load! I s'pose yeh could divide it up equally, but there's a wee problem with that. If someone carrying the stuff dies, the monster will scarf it up lickety-split. So yeh can't let a single man die until yeh've delivered the goods, understand? The guards're up on the 4th floor. Careful with that stuff, all right?

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Image Permission to let them starve for a few days.

Image Granted.

Image I can carry the whole box meself, but fiiiiine.

Image So you've seen how much I've been dying on the second floor, so now that you've reached the third floor, here's a quest that requires you to keep the entire party alive until halfway through the fourth floor? The fuck? We'll put this off for a while as well, and next time, try out our new team in the fun third floor, I'm sure nothing bad will happen!

Image I'm not sure why this quest is placed here, it's 1 floor too early. Fortunately this quest only checks to see if anyone is dead after a battle is finished, so if you revive them before then, you won't fail the quest. That being said you're better off taking this quest later, as even if you think you're a hotshot who can prevent your party from dying... the game has other ideas, for reasons that will become very clear later.

Last edited by Crosspeice on Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Survivalist Overview
Survivalist

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Can equip: Bows, Light Armor, Clothing

Image How the mighty have fallen. Wait I said that last time. Well it's still true, Survivalists were amazing last game, being a mix of offense and support, they could be at the front and tank some hits, or deal hefty single target damage from the back. However, like the Landy, they got nerfed pretty hard, meaning they're just mostly support with a couple of attacking options, I guess. And of course they're still great to use for a gathering party, but compared to how amazing they were before, this is probably the biggest L in the series.

Image Thought Landsknecht had it rough? Just take a look at the Survivalist in this game, holy shit. They were by far the best class in EO1 and completely overpowered, so some nerfs were in order. Instead of a few small taps or even a smack, Atlus opted to bludgeon the poor class until there was nothing left. It's really hard to recommend the use of this class when the Gunner exists. Though the Survivalist at least has some selling points. Whether those are worth taking up what's essentially an empty party slot otherwise is up to you. Hell even their gathering capabilities got nerfed due to the overall gathering nerfs. My god Atlus, were you trying to nerf this class, or were you trying to delete it?

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Image Compared to last game, the Survivalist has the worst drop in overall average stats, they were 2nd and now they're 7th. They exceed in AGI, no one else outmatches them, but aside from HP, their stats are all quite below average. They still have alright VIT at least, so they can take some hits and support that way, but their STR is outclassed by basically everyone you'd expect, like hey, they still have more STR than an Alchemist or Troubadour! That's not an accomplishment.

Image If you intend on actually using a Survivalist, maxing out STR Up is by far the best thing you can do for them. It won't completely offset their horrific damage output, but you might as well stave off the worst of it. Their defensive stats also took a big hit in the transition from EO1 to 2. The game says they can operate on either line in EO2, but while this was true in EO1 as they and the Dark Hunter had similar durability, that's really not the case in this game. They can technically go up there sure, but they'll be smacked around harder than all of the dedicated front liner classes, and there's really no benefit to putting them on the front lines other than to really fill out that 3/2 formation, but it's really not worth it.

Common Passive Unlocks

AGI Up: Lv1: Velocity; Lv3: Ambush, Baitstep; Lv5: Sagacity
TEC Up: Lv3: Sleeper, Number, Poisoner

Image Alright, bit more investment into these skills, but it can be worth it. You will want to get Velocity since it leads into 1st Turn, an amazing support skill. Ambush and Baitstep are useful support moves but Sagacity is pointless if you level up Ambush enough, and because Survivalists are so fast, putting points into AGI is a little pointless. For whatever stupid reason you need to level TEC Up to get to the LUC influenced ailment skills, so you then need to invest in LUC Up to make them at all useful. Since they do paltry damage, have bad infliction rates and Survivalists, of course, have bad LUC, you won't get any use out of these. Hard pass.

Image I suppose you may as well invest in HP Up and VIT Up if you really insist on having them up there. If you insist on using their disabling skills, may as well invest in LUC Up. AGI Up is redundant outside of prerequisites, as they are already very fast and Bows give them a huge speed boost. TP Up is always a good pickup though.

Bows
Unlocks: Lv1: Trueshot; Lv3: Sleeper, Number, Poisoner; Lv5: 2-Bolt; Lv10: Apollon
Passive
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Image Another gutting, this was a 50% boost to Weapon ATK last game, now it's a paltry boost that makes using Bows so much worse. None of these skills are really all that great, the ones that were, Multihit and Apollon, were nerfed and just don't do as much damage as before. You could max this out for Apollon, but in those 3 turns it takes to go off, someone else on your team will have done way more damage than it overall, so maybe go as far as level 5.

Image An 11% damage boost is not going to salvage their damage either, but you might as well invest in it after finishing off their build. They have so many terrible skills that they'll have SP to spare to spend in whatever they want. And they're still not a good class when all that's done. At least Bows give a sizeable speed boost???

Ambush
Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv3
Unlocks: Lv5: 1st Hit
Increases chance of preemptive strikes. Does not work on guaranteed blindsides. Passive.
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Image Ah, at least this skill is still here. Ambush is amazing lategame since it gives you a breather against terrifying enemies and because preemptives are checked before blindsides, this skill is as if you invested in both of them, very worthwhile. However, the game is a bit cheeky with these numbers since this is added onto the final preemptive chance, which is capped at 25%, making the last level completely pointless. You're likely to have a good preemptive chance anyway if you're using a Survivalist since the formula takes into account the highest AGI and the highest LUC in a party, so even putting 3 levels into this skill might be a bit much. 1st Hit is still bad, so don't feel like you need to max this out, but it's still a great lategame skill to grab.

Image Fun fact, you could stack these if you had multiple Survivalists in EO1 to get a guaranteed preemptive strike in nearly every single battle. And considering how strong they were in that game, that was far from a terrible idea. Sadly no longer possible since the chances are now capped at 25%. May as well pick it up when finishing off their skill build. Unfortunately the existence of guaranteed blindsides dampens the effectiveness of this skill a bit. At any rate, you have a 5% chance of getting a preemptive on average without this skill, so level 4 is as high as you should take this. Heck you might better off leaving it at level 3.

Sagacity
Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv3
Unlocks: Lv3: 1st Hit
Decreases chance of blindsides. Does not work on guaranteed blindsides. Passive.
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Image Great, this is back. Due to how good Ambush usually is, Sagacity doesn't have much of a place, especially since you need to invest even more into AGI Up to get to it, which is pretty pointless for this class. The blindside formula is a little friendlier to Sagacity, since it's a reduction from the final chance, meaning level 5 is useful to drop a blindside all the way to 1%, the minimum. Also it being based on the enemy's AGI and LUC means it's less in your control, so this skill can help with a surprise screwing. However, because of how good Ambush is, even at a lower level, it's really not worth it.

Image If this actually worked on guaranteed blindsides, I'd heartily recommend this as a pickup. (Well, as heartily as I can considering this is the Survivalist we're talking about here.) Unfortunately it does not, and Ambush helps with dealing with normal blindsides anyway. Even then blindsides average out around a 7% chance on average, so a 1 or 2 points in this skill is enough to send those all the way to the minimum most of the time.

1st Hit
Prerequisites: Ambush Lv5, Sagacity Lv3
Chance of user acting first for a turn. Passive.
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Image Back again, I see. Well considering Survivalists are still the fastest around... what is the point of this? What situation requires this weak support class to go before a fast enemy that doesn't already have their skills go first anyway? Considering how much you need to invest to unlock this, this is a super no.

Image I cannot think of a possible use case for this skill, when Survivalists are already fast, and none of their skills really need priority. The ones you'd want to have priority already have them anyways!

Trueshot
Prerequisites: Bows Lv1.
A single target ranged Bow attack. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Well isn't this looking familiar? Some mediocre damage from a mediocre class. This skill is, again, completely outclassed by Multihit, though it's a much closer race than before, especially if the targets for Multihit end up dying. Otherwise yeah there's no reason to use this, it was alright last game, but after nerfs to overall damage, even if this skill is stronger than it was before, it's still not worth using.

Image There is no reason to invest in this when the next skill... exists. That's a way to describe it I guess. Even as an earlygame nuke, it's not worth it as Survivalist damage is not good. Just keep investing into Bows to unlock the next skill if you insist on giving them damage dealing capabilities.

2-Bolt
Prerequisites: Bows Lv5.
A multi target Bow attack to 2 enemies, does not redirect if original target dies. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.
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Image How the mighty have fallen. FUCK, I keep saying that, but it's so true! Multihit was one of the best skills in the game since it added a third hit at level 10, doing so much damage overall, 375%. This hits 250% along with coming from nerfed Bows and nerfed STR. It's so disappointing how much they murdered this skill, since it means Survivalists are forced to support because their attacking options are so bad. But it's also the best skill they have against bosses, BARELY outdamaging Trueshot. God I'm so fucking depressed.

Image So. This is their best spammable damage skill. If you can really call it that. They gutted Multihit's damage by 1/3rd and as a result, it's complete shit now. But Survivalists don't have any better options for dealing damage, so they're stuck with this. At least it's faster than it was in EO1? Really the thing that gets me about the Multihit nerf is that a few other classes in this game actually have better versions of the EO1 version of Multihit now! My god Atlus, stop! Stop! It's already dead!

Sleeper/Number
Prerequisites: Bows Lv3, TEC Up Lv3.
A single target ranged Bow attack that attempts to inflict Sleep/Paralysis. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.
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Image So you've decided to go full support with your Survivalist, here's why it's a bad idea. These are level 5 skills that get cut off halfway, so everything about them is bad, Survivalists have middling LUC, really don't need 3 points in TEC (???) and while landing an ailment early in a turn is helpful, if you don't land it, your Survivalist just wasted their turn with PITIFUL damage and did nothing to support the team. Truly a puzzling skill when other classes do these ailments way better AND multi target, letting you roll multiple times at once. There is utility in Sleep or Paralysis, but it's really not from this class.

Image I guess if you lack a Hexer... no, it's not even worth it in that case. Just skip these skills.

Poisoner
Prerequisites: Bows Lv3, TEC Up Lv3.
A single target ranged Bow attack that attempts to inflict Poison. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Same as before, very not useful, but hey Poison is no longer bugged and capped at 255! Maybe this skill might've gone past that if it didn't get stopped halfway. Now admittedly this skill has some use BECAUSE it deals extra damage, so it becomes the strongest skill your have if it lasts a fair while. Hexer's Poison does 295 damage to every enemy buuuuuuuuut comparing any class to a Hexer is unfair. This is still a shit skill, but if you can land the Poison, congrats, your Survivalist is contributing with damage.

Image I guess if you lack a Hexer, it can be a way for Survivalists to chip in some damage. Of course if you do have a Hexer, don't bother with this skill at all. At any rate once your target is poisoned, just switch to spamming 2-Bolt.

Apollon
Prerequisites: Bows Lv10.
A single target ranged Bow attack that is fired on one turn and lands two turns later. If the user is incapacitated on the landing turn, it will not hit. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.
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Image Okay, phew, at least Apollon is still good. It did get nerfed slightly, but is still very strong, even if it has a couple of issues, like everything else we've seen so far. Maxing bows was way more useful in the last game, so doing so again for little results is a real pain, since you then have to fully invest in this skill to make any use out of it, so it'll be a while before it pays dividends. Due to having 42 STR at level 70 instead of 68 in EO1 also hurts this skill a lot, so it's 3 turns for something that's not massively impressive. A fair numbers of classes will easily outdamage you in that time, even Poisoner will, though that has to land first turn. Also it no longer Stuns opponents, which is a problem since it always landed first on the turn, even if the infliction rate was never that high. Overall it's still fine, but a far cry from its previous iteration.

Image Might as well get this since it's the Survivalist's best damage skill. Only a 20% damage reduction (as well as the lack of level 15 skills, but every class lost those) but the removal of the stun hurts since that was a very nice insult to injury moment in big fights since you'd be spamming this skill often. Here, well might as well spam it since it's the only way to get something resembling damage out of the Survivalist.

1st Turn
Prerequisites: Slowstep Lv5.
BUGGED: Game does not check success rate, making it 100% at all levels.
Forces the targeted party member to act first. Buff skill, uses the Legs.
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Image Okay, phew, at least 1st Turn is still good. Man, am I a parrot? An amazing skill that gives the Survivalist incredibly unique utility in most situations. The bug persists between games, somehow, and let you save 4SP then and 7SP now, along with 7TP, just incredible. Of course you need to invest in some super bad skills to reach this, especially because the bug also applies to Slowstep, wasting 4SP you would've saved otherwise, and Velocity is a pretty pointless buff. Also it has the fringe case of not helping you out of a dangerous situation if your legs are bound, but that's pretty rare. This skill is completely worth it.

Image Heh, the exact same bug from EO1. Anyways, 1st Turn is the main selling point of the Survivalist and probably the only reason to really take this class. With that said, it's a much harder sell in this game compared to EO1. For one, 1st Turn in EO1 wasn't attached to a glorified empty slot. It was a class that had a number of other things that it could be doing as well. Here, it's the only worthwhile thing a Survivalist can do. Not only that, speed mechanics were fucked in 1, being heavily inconsistent which 1st Turn dealt with. Here... they're still fucked, just in a different way. But speed is more consistent amongst classes now, and a bunch of skills are faster to cast, making this a bit redundant. There are still quite a few slow skills in the game this will work on, so it can be useful for bypassing speed penalties. But if you really don't need this skill, then you don't need the Survivalist.

Slowstep
Prerequisites: Velocity Lv3.
Unlocks: Lv5: 1st Turn
BUGGED: Game does not check success rate, making it 100% at all levels.
Forces the targeted party member to act last. Buff skill, uses the Legs.
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Image Uh, what is the point of this skill? When would you ever want to use this? Like going before or after an enemy is usually not a massive deal in most cases, but going first is often preferable. If there's a use for this, I can't think of it, and frankly I don't want to know. It's such a shame that you need to waste so much SP into this skill to unlock 1st Turn, it doesn't deserve it. ESPECIALLY since you should only ever put one point into it for that weird fringe case you'd need it. But of course not, still you've seen a good chunk of a Survivalist's skills, so it's not like they're hurting for SP.

Image Acting last can have strategical uses. Like putting up a buff after an enemy wipes it, or instantly curing a disable after an enemy inflicts it. Though such situations are uncommon, so don't expect to get that much use out of this skill. You'll have to invest in it to unlock 1st Turn at any rate.

Baitstep
Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv3.
Increases the user's evasion and provoke rate for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Legs.
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Image This is an interesting buff that can have its uses, but of course, it has to have some issues. Survivalists could tank pretty well last game and this is somewhat the case here, they have middling HP and VIT so they can take some hits, but if you use this against a big group of enemies, you're getting pasted. Considering how you will always get targeted past level 7, the evasion increase does not scale to compensate, 21% is not that much and the last level just increases the TP and speed modifier, for a class that is usually going first anyway! UGH, this could've been a great option, but dodgetanking has always been a suspect playstyle due to how scary enemies are and this is not the way to go about it.

Image Fun fact, in the Japanese release of this game, all evasion boosts were bugged. They were accidentally coded as accuracy decreases. So a max level Baitstep would make a Survivalist 21% less accurate while not providing any evasion at all. Whoops!

Image If you want to dodgetank, play a different game. That playstyle becomes more viable in the later EO games, but not this one due to how accuracy works. It also doesn't help against AOEs, which there are plenty of late-game. Skip this one entirely.

Velocity
Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv1.
Unlocks: Lv3: Slowstep
Increases the user's AGI for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Legs.
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Image Another suspect skill, you're putting points into AGI Up for Ambush and then 3SP into this to lead into 1st Turn, how much more damn AGI do you need??? Your Survivalist will be going first in most cases and will definitely go first out of your party, so what possible reason could you need to boost yourself M O R E. The cap for stats is 99, remember.

Image Why. If it wasn't for the fact that this is needed to unlock 1st Turn, there would be absolutely no reason to even take this skill. More AGI does grant more accuracy and evasion, but it doesn't help that much.

Patrol
Reduces damage from damage tiles. Field Skill.
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Image These skills have always been a little weird, if you have a healer, damage tiles have never been much of an issue, and using Revenge strats basically requires your Hexer to be at 1HP, so that doesn't help with it. A Guard Sole is a level 2 version of this skill, so if you need reduction that bad just use that and save your SP. Being able to ignore them entirely is nice, but I've never cared much, heal before you get into an encounter you fool!

Image Damage tiles still deal percentage based damage in this game, so this can be a nice way to cut down on that. You'll start seeing those by Stratum 2, so if you insist on picking up this skill, do it by then.

Stalker
Reduces danger value of tiles. Field Skill.
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Image This is a very important skill for gathering parties and not much for anything else because of how ridiculous it is. This reduces the danger value of tiles by a certain amount and at max level, because the game rounds down, any tile with a value of 4 or less are now 0. Which is, uh, most of them. Max this skill out and you have free range of the entire floor, it's an amazing skill to reduce any escape RNG as you reset to a gathering spot from a gathering blindside. But for your main party, battle everything you can, no getting out of it!

Image Fantastic for a gathering party since this is basically a turn off encounters button due to how encounters work in this game. For your main party, this is a bit of a questionable investment since you're heavily cutting down on your exp intake this way.

Foesense
Reveals all FOEs on the floor. Does not reveal invisible FOEs. Field Skill.
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Image The map skills last game either only worked in a radius, or only worked as long as you stood still. Thankfully they were rolled into 1 pretty alright skill if you refuse to use the excellent Gamefaqs maps, since knowing where FOEs is always handy. However, it doesn't work on invisible FOEs, ones that could really use a skill for, and becomes pretty pointless once you've mapped the floor. Save your SP and look online, it's not cheating I swear!

Image If this actually worked on invisible FOEs like such skills do in the later EO games, I would say this skill is worth a pickup. It does not, so you should skip it. FOE movement patterns in this game aren't particularly complicated.

Airwalk
Increases the entire party's evasion for 5 turns. Force Skill, uses the Legs.
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Image ...t-that's it? Just an evasion boost? Even its speed modifier is pretty rubbish compared to other Force Skills, what the fuck. Okay, an evasion boost is pretty nice, but enemies are usually pretty accurate so it's not a massive buff. It also doesn't affect enemies with 200% accuracy but that's a pretty rare occurrence. Like, yeah, you'll use it when you get it, but it really needed something else to be at all useful, and that describes this class in a nutshell. Surely the next class is good, right? RIGHT?!

Image Yeah this is the worst Force skill in the entire game, my god. It was even worse in the Japanese version thanks to the evasion bug. Halving your party's accuracy for 5 turns, hooray! Oh and despite not increasing speed at all, this is classified as a speed buff. So any speed debuffs will remove the effects of this skill. Yeah. You might think this is a good defensive buff despite that, but the problem is this Force skill is completely outdone by the Protector's Painless Force skill, since everything this skill affects, that skill affects as well. And that doesn't eat up 1/3rd of your buff slots to boot.

Image How the mighty have fallen indeed. It pains me to even say it after all the praises I sung for EO1 Survivalist, but it must be said. This class is completely awful and has very little redeeming value outside of 1st Turn. And if you don't need that skill, you don't need this class. Fortunately, this was the absolute worst of the nerfings, so we can only go up from here. The question is, how high can we go now?


oh jeez it just hit me that survivalists are supposed to be the thief class but they wipe the party by doing gathering instead of failing to disarm chests, no wonder they're so bad in eo2o almost no one gets those right.

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Part 5: Stalking Stalkers
Part 5: Stalking Stalkers

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Image A gem as beautiful as your eyes... eh, her's are pretty brown.

Image If you're using a gathering party, get used to resetting a lot. Hey, better them than your main party, right?

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Matchlock, requires 3 Lymph and 3 Amazonite.
Venom Ring, requires 1 Bug Wing, 1 Amazonite - Poison Resist Up 50%
Leg Guard, requires 1 Amazonite - Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - Gear that helps keep the legs from being bound.
Luck Beads, requires 1 Aragonite - LUC+10 - Its well-polished gem is said to bring luck.
Apt Piece, requires 1 Garnet - TEC+5 - Aids in the user's concentration.
Power Ring, requires 1 Garnet - STR+5 - Mysterious ring that awakens inner strength.

Image Always nice to have as early as possible, you get one hell of a haul from new gathering points that that don't need restocking, unlike some later games!

Image +5 STR/TEC accessories available this early in the game, jesus.

Image Holy fuck look at all those stat boosts this early! And this is just the 3rd floor, too! God, +10 LUC this soon would be a godsend for inflictors in a non-EO5/N game after the DS era. (It ain't too great in this game, +10 LUC is about a 10% increase at best in a game with harsh resistance stats.)

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Image Nothin' like a reet battle in the mornin'! I feel stronger already!

Image It's been five minutes.

Image And somehow it's working...

Image Exp cheats make the world go round!

Image Considering how the games are meant to be gone through with a singular 5 man party, I couldn't imagine doing an LP with 1 of every class without EXP cheats. ...Well, you can easily do that in this game, but it comes at the cost of not being able to raise up alternative party members until the second stratum, which is what I had to do if you read that old fangled LP. Still, if you're concerned about playing legit, level grinding is far from a problem in this game after a certain point. (Other types of grinding on the other hand... fuck the gear registry.)

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Image The Duke's men are looking for a strong landsknecht. It occurs to you that the landsknecht in your party may be the man they're after. When you have a spare moment, return to the bar!

Image A man, eh?

Image I-I-It's just what's written on the request, please don't crush me...

Image Something the quest doesn't mention in the slightest is better rewards depending on level. Level 6-9, nice, is an extra 50en, while level 10+ is an additional 100en. By the time we get to level 10, that amount of money is nothing, but might as well get it. Just submit this quest as soon as you're able, tbh.

Image Only 50 en minimum, jfc.

Image Okay I'm going to go and say this now that a player would most likely run into an issue with these quests here. Do not take any "class + level check" quests until you are ready to turn them in right away! There's a rather infamous issue with every single one of those quests where they inefficiently check your party state after every single step taken. Even though it's completely impossible to level up outside of battle. That combined with the other many code inefficiencies in this game, causes the game to lag like a motherfucker while exploring the Labyrinth. Instead of walking continuously down a row of tiles, you'd pause for like 1 second after every tile. And yes, it feels very awful to play. If you happened to take the quest, don't worry, rejecting it at the bar will return the game speed to normal.

Image And if you're still experiencing some slight lag in certain places despite having no such quests, don't worry. The game just does that sometimes due to inefficient coding. There's sadly nothing you can do about those instances, but they won't slow down your game as much as these quests do.

Image I was having it on out of curiosity and didn't notice a huge amount of difference, since this game and OBS in tandem are already a little laggy, but for future quests where you could have them active for much longer and in areas that are a bit resource intensive, you definitely wanna leave these at the bar.

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Warabide, -5 speed, requires 15 Rat Needles and 7 Amazonite.

Image As for what our new members will be doing, since this is the exponential nightmare, we need to invest in skills for them to be any good. For some classes that have a lot of skills you want, since the early game is easy enough, you can grab a few for variety and then invest in them, but for some, like Landy and Survivalist, you should head straight for them and jack them right up. However, you can only do that to an extent since the TP cost will rapidly outpace your pool. So find a happy medium and then finish it off later when you have more to work with.

Image Holly will go Tornado into eventually getting the chasers to work, that'll take a bit. But she doesn't have anything else to do! Logan will do pretty pathetic damage with 2-Bolt until he can get Apollon, but we'll be getting 1st Turn and Ambush before that, he won't be on the front lines for very long. For Alchemists, you should focus on one or two elements depending on what your team is missing, though you should basically ignore Ice, it isn't very good, but we'll be taking it for a little bit. We'll head for Analysis pretty much immediately and then Megido. Very simple.

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Image Now to be off, everyone ready?

Image Yes, of course, though there is an outstanding request to take care of.

Image Always the Duchy's lapdog, eh, lassie?

Image He is quite the secutarian, right, back buddy?

Image Don't touch me.

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Image Didn't encounter many Hedgehogs on 2F, so have to take a minute to finish this worthless quest.

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Image Cool.

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Image What I need yeh to do is get 3 materials for the hunting horns those guards carry. Yeh've not seen it? They blow on the thing to communicate or when they're in trouble. The more explorers that flock to this town, the more guards yeh see. Think yeh'll sign up? Anyway, yeh can get the Red Shards they need from one of the Labyrinth critters. G'luck!

Image Woodland Ruins

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Image I'm h-helping!

Image Sure you are.

Image Quick little check on the disparity of classes. Alchemists are kinda unfair this early. It won't last.

Image You can make them last, it just involves cramming Amritas down their throats relentlessly. Or just treating them as an empty slot during explorations, which seems kind of a waste for a party slot. The series isn't just about FOE and boss fights you know, the exploration is a significant part as well.

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Image It seems the path continues beyond the wall... while you consider different ways to get past the wall, the survivalist points upward. Above the wall, a high branch juts out invitingly. The survivalist nimbly jumps between the trees, landing directly on the branch! With your survivalist's help, you fasten a rope to the branch so the entire party can cross.

Image Nimble little cunt, eh?

Image I could be doing that if I was wanting to. I just do not wanting to.

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Image Nice upgrade, but it will barely help.

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Image CUNT!

Image Language...

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Image There is writing engraved here, but it seems ancient and utterly unlike anything you recognize. As you take turns examining the writing, you can hear your alchemist mutter something. The strange language begins to ring, as the gem in the center shines brightly. It appears that your alchemist can read whatever is written here! You can now use the activated monument to teleport to the other side of the wall.

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Image I still don't know what Le Grill means, why does it appear so often?

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Image They're not all winners, I just want the money.

Image If you're wondering if these barriers are worth the reward, the answer is... sometimes. A lot of time you get junk for something that demands a specific party composition.

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Image Now fer the proper fanny smashin'! What're yeh getting all marroon fer?

Image J-Just not used to these words, not exactly used in the Grand Duchy... also... you're really... close.

Image Now, now, while it's easy to do, enough teasing the lad, we need to be on full alert in this forest.

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Image Horny.

Image Snnrk, so serious!

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Redhorn

HP: 158
STR: 15
VIT: 11
TEC: 8
AGI: 10
LUC: 11
Level: 10
Exp: 425

Skills
Charge: Uses the Head. Increases the user's damage by 110% for 5 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier.
Horns: Uses the Head. Deals 200% Stab damage to a single target. Has a 50% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 75% Image 75% Image 75%
Image 150% Image 150% Image 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Red Shard: 35% chance, sells for 15en.
1 required for Kodachi - Katana, ATK+37 - sells for 270en
1 required for Nail Glove - Gloves, DEF+6, STR+1 - sells for 150en
5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2 - sells for 350en
7 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en
3 required for Sounding the call

Conditional: Kill with Fire damage
Red Horn: 80% chance, sells for 26en
1 required for Tarbarzin - Axe, ATK+46, Type: Fire - sells for 560en

Image New floor, new monsters. Redhorns show that Charge strats are different compared to last game, they're a slight buff for a few turns, meaning they can do a lot of damage. Despite being a 5 turn buff, the Charge AI is still flag based, so it'll alternate using it every other turn so it's not slamming you with Horns for 4 turns in a row. This means their AI is two lines long, but with elemental weakness and not doing anything first turn, means you shouldn't have too much trouble taking them down.

Image This thing got upgraded to an FOE with a pretty dumb gimmick in 2U!

Image Charges are no longer glorified telegraphs. They... sorta increase damage. Not by a notable amount, but it's there. These things are basically a soft tutorial on the defend command. They can hit super hard and possiblly OHKO a party member. But if you defend, you'll reduce 30% of that damage (it's not half, that doesn't happen until EOU), taking what would be a 220% damaging attack down to 154%, likely suriving what comes your way. And after it uses Horns, wail on it! Oh yeah...
Redhorn AI Script wrote:If flag 0 is not active, cast Charge. (Targets self.) Activate flag 0.

Else, cast Horns. (Targets a random party member.) Deactivate flag 0.
Image Yeah Cross wasn't kidding about the AI being super short.

Image

Image Oh ho, now that is an air of malice!

Image Yet yeh're grinnin' a bunch.

Image So are you!

Image The monster in the depths surpasses your current skills... fighting it means your death! Not all monsters have strength proportional to the level of the Labyrinth they inhabit! Sometimes it's best to leave these demons be... this, too, is a form of strategy. Observe the monster at your leisure and continue on your journey, mindful of your skills.

Image

Image Even from this distance it's still massive! Let's avoid that, please!!!

Image I am not in the best of belief we will...

Image So regular FOEs will keep kicking our ass for a while, so here's an even stronger one that'll mince you up in seconds flat! Not that the deer weren't already doing that, but this is a similar introduction as EO1, so the same strat works, right?

Image

Image Nonononononononononono!

Image Yeh can't hold me down, noodle arms, chaaaaaarge!

Image Your funeral.

Image Image Ah shit, here we go again...

Image
Stalker

HP: 1200
STR: 20
VIT: 25
TEC: 20
AGI: 25
LUC: 20
Level: 18
Exp: 0

Skills
Amputate: Uses the Arms. Deals 200% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.
Scythe: Uses the Arms. Deals 200% Cut damage to a single target with 50% splash damage. Has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 75% Image 100%
Image 125% Image 50% Image 125%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 15% Image 25% Image 3%
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 20% Image 3%

Drops
Scythe: 80% chance, sells for 389en
1 required for Sensui - Katana, ATK+55, STR+2 - sells for 1,020en

Conditional: Kill within 1 turn
Harvester: 100% chance, sells for 1,280en
Required for nothing

Image If you can cheese this early, you can get a nice katana upgrade, but otherwise avoid the fuck outta these things, so completely not worth your time. We'll be back in like 20 updates for the conditional, mainly because I'll forget about it for a bit. You need to head straight up from the entrance to go past it, going to the other side of the room doesn't work. Though how are you to know that first time? At least the similar room in EO1 worked both ways.

Image Red FOEs are back, and just like in the first game, they denote the strongest FOE in the stratum. And considering how beefy EO2 FOEs are, you really want to avoid these at all costs! Just look at those sky high stats, 4 digit HP already! It's almost as strong as the Stratum boss, so yeah, you won't be killing this thing for a long while!

Image Image
Image

Image So, what have we learned?

Image Strong idiots die young.

Image Who you callin' dead? But, uh, sorry Logan...

Image It's... fine, I guess, we tired it out, so let's get moving.

Image And so a skinship was forming. Friendskin? Whatever.

Image After 3 steps it pauses for 1 turn and you can slip past it.

Image Image

Image My attacks won't do much, so blow 'em up, grumps!

Image I'd rather not. I can do plenty with low yield barrages.

Image
Roller

HP: 87
STR: 10
VIT: 13
TEC: 10
AGI: 12
LUC: 11
Level: 9
Exp: 266

Skills
Rolling: Uses the Legs. Deals 115% Bash damage to a single target. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 75% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 150% Image 100% Image 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Gum Hide: 15% chance, sells for 11en.
1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en
1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en
2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en
2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en
2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en
3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en
5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1

Shell Wart: 25% chance, sells for 12en.
1 required for Briar Whip - Whip, ATK+42, VIT+1, AGI+1 - sells for 520en
5 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en
7 required for Kurodachi - Katana, ATK+46, Type: Ice - sells for 580en

Conditional: None

Image Elemental vibe check, except not really since it only slightly resists Cut in this game. Can be annoying at lower health when it keeps going for Rolling, but we won't encounter that many at once for now.

Image These things are uhhh... well they only resist cutting attacks so uh. Yeah I got nothing, they're basically a trash mob. Later games would actually make them resistant to all physical instead of just Cut.

Image
Image

Image Alr-right, don't look at it, a simple puzzle, you can solve this.

Image Wonder why it acts differently to the previous one.

Image Some Stalkers only aggro if you're literally in front of them. Easy enough.

Image Not all FOEs of a specific kind act the same, as the FOE AI handler determines behavior based on the specific FOE entity, not the enemy type they represent. Though starting from EO2, FOEs of a specific kind will generally behave more consistently depending on what type of enemy it is, so you can usually sus out which FOE you're trying to avoid. Where in EO1, the deer FOE could have entirely different behaviors depending on where they were placed.

Image Image

Image Pretty bug. Time to smash!

Image A menybug is a refining symbol, I will be taking its carcass.

Image
Ladybug

HP: 81
STR: 10
VIT: 11
TEC: 9
AGI: 22
LUC: 20
Level: 8
Exp: 222

Skills
Blink: Uses the Legs. Increases all opponent's AGI by 200% for 5 turns. Has a 200% speed modifier.
Summon: When by itself with an AGI buff, summons Raflesia to the battlefield.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%

Drops
Bug Nail: 30% chance, sells for 11en.
1 required for Culverin - Gun, ATK+35 - sells for 240en
3 required for Kodachi - Katana, ATK+37 - sells for 270en

Bug Shell: 25% chance, sells for 12en
1 required for Color Boot - Footwear, DEF+8, AGI+3 - sells for 140en
5 required for Pure Vest - Light Armor, DEF+17 - sells for 230en Required for The item trade II

Conditional: None

Image Alright, an enemy with something vindictive to it! Ladybugs are a right pain due to their high AGI and the relative inaccuracy of your party. Be sure to take it out before anything else and absolutely go all out if it's by itself, since it will summon a Raflesia under a few scenarios. If it's by itself when it blindsides you, it has a 50% of summoning, but if it's by itself without an AGI buff, then it can either cast Blink, attack or just summon a Raflesia, though that's rarer. In any case, Raflesia aren't FOEs so they'll mess you up a bit but you can fight them off fine enough compared to 1F, but you'd rather not fight them very often, so take out these bugs quick.

Image These enemies are extremely dangerous! Sky high AGI, and they can double it, making them and any allies even more evasive! If they're by themselves, either snipe them fast, or run! You don't want to be dealing with a Raflesia this early, and your party likely won't be strong enough to survive an encounter with one. If they aren't by themselves, kill them first so they can't make everyone else more speedy and evasive, which also denies their summoning. They also mark a change in a certain design decision, as in EO1, enemies that could summon other enemies summoned the same kind as them. That's not always the case here, as enemies are capable of summoning different types now. These things choose to summon the strongest monster in the stratum, so you can't just laze your way through the Labyrinth, or you'll end up as a delicious 5 course meal for a flower.

Image

Image He notices you and begins to speak.

Image Need any help? You look like explorers--you looking for something?

Image Well we've found one on these, but wanted to confirm...

Image You tell him about your quest relating to the hunting horn and await his reply.

Image Ahh... well, there are some monsters on this floor that carry Red Shards. Good hunting!

Image After relaying this information, the guard returns to his post. Is he a lookout of some sort? You walk away from the guard, rededicated to your task.

Image That told us nothing.

Image I would doubt he has fought those large beasts.

Image Well Cass doesn't tell you where to find them, and the drop rate from the Redhorns isn't super high, so there's a good chance you'll miss out on those by this point. Nice of them to give pointers if you need help I suppose.

Image
Image Image

Image To put it in perspective, Holly's side Tornado hit does the same damage as Logan's 2-Bolt, he is mainly here for benchwarming for now. I'll max out 2-Bolt eventually, but we should get moving to utility more than anything.

Image
Image Image

Image AWW FOOOOOK YEAH!!!

Image Not... used... to... hugs...

Image

Image Ahh, a respite from the nightmare that is my waking life.

Image ...do... do you want to talk?

Image Good stuff from chests for once, you could almost pretend the Landy is good when they get a boost like that! And having a Sleep or Lure Bell on hand, which we'll unlock soon enough, are just so nice to ignore whatever FOE related puzzle before you. They'll be more useful later on.

Image

Image CUNT!

Image Well we found out what it does if we don't kill it immediately, good work everyone.

Image Defend command! She would have barely survived with 2 or 3 HP in that case!

Image Image

Image Noooooope.

Image Mmm, it seems pretty doable. Burst down the Cactoid on turn 1, defend on turn 2, heal up whoever got smacked afterwards, and take out the Redhorn at your leisure. Sometimes you should take out the weaker enemies first to avoid unnecessary incoming damage, as Holly would have survived a big hit while defending, but not a bonk from the Cactoid after that. Deaths like that can be rather humiliating.

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Image

Image Well that oil would be hinting at something, except imbues are terrible and trying to use them against FOEs is an additional terrible idea. Anyway, nice shortcut, cause floor is kinda long.

Image It's such a shame a mechanics change ended up as an omega nerf for imbues for a good portion of the series until they got buffed later. In EO1, imbues boosted your basic attack damage, which scaled off your TEC stat. But now all it does is add an element to your basic attack, and does absolutely nothing else. Meaning that TEC's importance on physical attackers got drastically lowered in this game. (Oh, don't cry out for TEC. It has no need for your mourning after this game. :shepface: )

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Image Image

Image Well hello again, please explain quickly, Holly will not stay in one place for long.

Image You said... you're from Nidhogg, right? Could you hold off on that door for now?

Image The man looks at your party each in turn, a troubled expression on his face.

Image Hmph, we're at this already.

Image I can't explain why. Just go ask the Grand Duchy... you'll understand then.

Image The protector remains in place, blocking the door with his head hung low. It seems that he won't let you pass just yet. You should return to town and visit the Duke's Palace for an explanation.

Image Very well, we shall step back, away from the door... and there's monsters right behind us.

Image Yow! It's an ambushing!

Image Image

Image If you know you're gonna trigger something that forces you to move afterwards, make sure that step won't trigger an encounter.

Image Oh wow, I forgot this quirk actually existed in the first two games. Forced movement from cutscenes actually add onto your encounter radar, so it's possible for a bit of jank like that to happen. EO3 fixed this by making all relevant tiles tied to moving around in a cutscene or talking to people have a danger value of 0, making it so that nothing gets added onto your encounter radar. And later games took it further by disabling the radar in "safe moments" (Mostly cutscenes, though there are a few other story moments that tie into that.)

Image

Image We'll take a slight diversion to get healing bullets, we don't need all the ailment recovery just yet, before we head back on the Richochet grind.

Image Ze healing leaves little time for ze hurting.

Image

Image You can come here all you like... I'll keep repeating myself. Go ask the Grand Duchy. If you still want to go past here after hearing what they have to say, I won't stop you.

Image It seems that he won't let you through for any reason until you have returned to town. You should inquire about the matter at the Duke's Palace.

Image Fortunately there's a shortcut right nearby, so getting back here after reporting to the Duchy won't take too long.

Image

Image Some interesting trees around here... though while there's not too much, those are quite some trunks.

Image If we're quite finished, I have the need for some delightful linguini.

3F E1 Chop Point

Ambush Chance: 3%
Ambush Encounter:
100% Raflesia x1

Bent Twig: 65% chance. Sells for 30en.
1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I
3 required for Slice Whip - Whip, ATK+38, STR+2 - sells for 370en
5 required for Beast Bow - Bow, ATK+39, STR+1, +5 speed - sells for 440en

Hard Root: 30% chance. Sells for 35en.
1 required for Targe - Shield, DEF+9 - sells for 150en
3 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en

Log: 5% chance. Sells for 150en.
Required for nothing.

Image Usually Chop points are the least interesting, but hey there's some good stuff here. Okay two bows and a stave is whatever, but new whip, r-right?

Image Tag yourself, I'm the log that literally unlocks nothing.

Image zzz

Image

Image Phew, we were running out of TP towards the end, mainly because Landy and Alchemist can be a little expensive, but we've explored a good chunk of the floor.

Image Beautiful and Sublime Lands

Image

Image ...

Image ...

Image ...

Image ... LET US THROO'!

Image Oho! You there! You're the ones from Nidhogg, are you not? Excellent timing. I have a boon to ask of you. I tell you now, it's a very dangerous mission. I won't force you to do it. But if you're willing to help this old man... perhaps you wouldn't mind hearing me out.

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Image I believe we would benefit from this boon, ohohoho.

Image Oh, you know that meaning as well?

Image

Image A number of the guard corps have gone missing over the past few days. We have guards and medics posted around the first Stratum to support new explorers, you see. However... yesterday, when the shift was over, ten of them did not return. I fear something very bad is happening near the Labyrinth's entrance. Normally, it's a mission I'd reserve for a guild like Beowulf or Esbat. But I think I can entrust this one to you...

Image Wonder why the Edda guild aren't taking this, haven't heard from them for a while.

Image ...who?

Image Let it motivate you to someday surpass those sterling guilds! Now, go... find out the source of the disappearances and save the guards! Oh, yes... here, take this. It's a Lure Bell. All guards carry one with them at all times. If you see an enemy that's too much for you, you can stop its movement or lure it to you. It won't work on every monster in the Labyrinth, but it still comes in handy. We only have one left, alas. But you can make these from Bell Steel. If you want more Lure Bells, you can chop for this material on the 3rd floor. I'm relying on you. Make me proud!

Image

Image Yeh think these'll work on Hart?!

Image Let us be testes it!

Image Testing. And I could go for a drink as well...

Image

Image Yadda, yadda, yadda, Lure and Sleep Bells work on most FOEs within 3 spaces to either make them come to where you triggered it and stunning them, or just stunning them on the spot, either are quite nice to have since you want to dodge fighting these wastes of space as much as possible. Though you can see why they don't return in later games, they're not strictly necessary.

Image Red FOEs have one more attribute that makes them stand out other than being telegraphed as the strongest FOE in the Stratum. FOE items and skills like these don't work on them. You'll have to rely on your smarts to get past those.

Image Incidentally, according to the EO2U dev blog, these items and the equivalent FOE skills were added in as an attempt to make the Labryinth more interactive. Such as giving players more ways to deal with FOEs. On paper I could see where they were coming from but in practice... people didn't use these. It was just easier to memorize the patrol paths, and these FOE manipulation tools could end up screwing up a patrol path hard if used wrong, making a section harder to get past, not easier. But the spirit of the concept carried onto EO4 once the series made the jump to the 3DS, as FOEs in those games could get more complex mechanics tied to their behaviors to create Labyrinth puzzles. Also it was for the best they moved away from the simplified orange fuzzy ball system, as trying to do anything more complex with it resulted in jank.

Image

Image Oho? You're approaching me?

Image I can't knock that bell from your hand without getting clozzzzzzz...

Image Oh wow, these are really effective on him.

Image ...hm? It put him to sleep but not me, it's a wonderful respite!

Image Give it five seconds.

Image i was hoping it would last longer

Image All these bell noises are making it hard to read!

Image Land sakes, that was fast. That was bigger than I thought. Hm... you did get three, though. Well then, here's the reward. Nice work, all of yeh.

Image

Image Alright, money!

Image Image

Bullwhip, +40 speed, requires 2 Gum Hides and 3 Bug Wings.
Culverin, requires 1 Bug Nail, ATK+35 - A small, easily concealable firearm.
Wing Leaf, requires 1 Gum Hide and 4 Bug Wings.
Nail Glove, requires 1 Red Shard and 2 Cactus Logs, DEF+6, STR+1 - Sturdy gloves woven with small metal fragments.
Color Boot, requires 1 Bug Shell, DEF+8, AGI+3 - Brightly colored sandals that reduce strain.

Image
Image Image

Image Let me in! Let me iiiiiiinnnn!

Image There is a somewhat resigned undertone to Flausgul's words.

Image Go on, then. I'll leave the matter of the missing soldiers to you. I have other things to do...

Image He seems to be addressing this last to the beast beside him as he moves away from the door.

Image One more thing... a little free advice. The reason why all those soldiers went missing. It's because a herd of deer are running amok in there. The area's choked with enemies. Never let your guard down and avoid combat whenever you can.

Image With these last words, Flausul and his companion walk away. You can continue through the door and face the chaos within, or return to town to prepare.

Image Nothing you do will prepare you for what's inside.

Image How could you know from here? I'm sure it's not that bad.

Image

Image Oh. Oh dear.

Image This is quite the fuck.

Image Oh god oh man oh geez, what the hell is this? Ugh, the smell! My head's swimming, I-I-... how are you two so calm?!

Image I am all too familiar with this scenario, the sights and the smell, I could tell from the moment we set foot on this floor.

Image Same here... as a... lumberjack.

Image The ground is stained crimson with blood and corpses are stacked on the field. The bloodcurdling sight reminds you of the mission you accepted at the Duke's Palace. You agreed then to find the soldiers who never returned from their posts in the forest. The gruesome open grave before you may be the final resting place of those very soldiers. A sudden roar from the east of the room startles you. You know now what caused this slaughter. You suppose you are obliged to check the area for survivors, though your hopes are dim. The monster to the east remains still. You see a side path leading into the forest. If you're to check the side path, you must defeat the monster or find another way. Your options are open... you only wish you understood just what they were. One thing is certain: this is a fearful monster, and your victory is by no means certain.

Image Well. That escalated a lot faster than in EO1. Pretty sure it took a lot longer for any serious bloodshed to start happening in that game.

Image

Image Maybe I can just ignore it and the whole situation will disappear, hahaha... gah!

Image Don't you dare laugh at all this. We need to get to the bottom of this and let the dead rest in peace. Show them some damn respect!

Image Wow, how are you getting him to be so talkating?

3F B1 Chop Point

Ambush Chance: 3%
Ambush Encounter:
100% Raflesia x1

Bell Fruit: 60% chance. Sells for 30en.
1 required for Sleep Bell - Item, Lv1 Slumber, stuns non-red FOEs within 3 rings for 4 turns - sells for 150en
1 required for Lure Bell - Item, Lv1 Luring, non-red FOEs within 3 rings will move to the user and be stunned for 4 turns - sells for 150en

Hard Root: 35% chance. Sells for 35en.
1 required for Targe - Shield, DEF+9 - sells for 150en
3 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en

Log: 5% chance. Sells for 150en.
Required for nothing.

Image Here is the only gathering point for Bell Steel, so don't forget this, they're pretty useful!

Image These items are fortunately not restockables, so once you have the Bell Fruit, you can completely ignore this point for the rest of the game.

Image How do you make actual bells out of a fruit...?

Image Image

Image Ugh, starting to wonder if this crown is making me a more inviting target. But I won't take it off...

Image

Image Spinnin' Cunter!

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Image

Image Affected FOEs will flash when selecting these items, so make use of them when you can, this is the only time you have to use them, but there's plenty of later times when we could.

Image And the times you would like to use them... you can't because they used red FOEs for those moments. Also another reason why FOE manipulation tools barely saw much use, the situations you actually wanted them for didn't let you use them.

Image

Image Greetings, you are safe now.

Image Waugh...! Oh... a-are you e-explorers?

Image Judging by his uniform, there is little doubt that this is one of the missing guards. You tell him of the mission you took at the Grand Duchy and ask if he survived the attack.

Image I'm saved... I'm saved! Thank you! Yes, I was a member of the investigation team. My comrades... they were all slaughtered by that herd of deer!

Image Well it's still alive and kicking, but there's probably a secret passage, we were a little preoccupied.

Image You tell the soldier the fate of that monster and how to return to town safely.

Image You're a lifesaver! I'll make sure to put in a good report for you when I get back.

Image The soldier stumbles to his feet and staggers to the exit. Your mission is complete! Return to town and report to the Duke's Palace.

Image

Image Heh, at least we were able to save somebody.

Image ...uh, hallos? Your turn to go through the passage.

Image Image

Image Now let's get teh cuntin' this cunt!

Image Not exactly the right verb, but I cannot stop you. Nor won't, ohohohoho!

Image Maaaan, why do we keep doing this?

Image
Furylord

HP: 580
STR: 20
VIT: 20
TEC: 16
AGI: 20
LUC: 16
Level: 9
Exp: 0

Skills
Step: Uses the Legs. Deals 80% Cut damage to a single target, with 75% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Confuse. Has a 30% base chance, a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier.

Damage Vulnerabilities
Image 100% Image 100% Image 100%
Image 125% Image 75% Image 75%

Disable Vulnerabilities
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 10%
Image 25% Image 25% Image 25% Image 50% Image 10%

Drops
Deer Hide: 40% chance, sells for 203en
1 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en

Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en.
1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en
1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en
2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en
2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en
2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en
3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en
5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1

Conditional: None

Image Alright, as you'd expect the Furylord is a stronger Furyhorn, which doesn't matter since the latter still kicks our ass anyway. It's just a plot obstacle with +2 in STR, VIT and AGI and a higher Deer Hide chance, but if you beat one you can beat the other. Though there is one proper difference...

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Image

Image Please stop trying to kill us all.

Image Alreet, fine, this way.

Image We get two Furyhorn spawn just to really hammer home you should not be fighting this early, though the second Furyhorn is forced to head up since it can't move otherwise, meaning it doesn't enter the battle until turn 6. It's only during this mission, so feel free to come back and kick its ass later.

Image It's basically the game forcing you to use the Lure Bell for its tutorial. Chances are you won't survive this encounter if you try to take it on headfirst.

Image

Image Since we are so close, might as well find the stairs.

Image

Image A note informs you that the Grand Duchy has temporarily closed the way ahead. It seems there is a task yet to be completed for the Grand Duchy before you may proceed.

Image I mean, I can just step o'er this...

Image If you did I would report it!

Image Narc.

Image Sheesh, a lot of roadblocks already.

Image Image

Image Oh there were the monsterers behind us.

Image So why wasn't I healed for this battle? Well since we were low on TP I was just gonna warp out after seeing the blocked stairs... but the space I moved back to was an encounter, so we're definitely heading back!

Image Beautiful and Sublime Lands

Image Image

Image Why does Logan never let me submit my own reports and maps...

Image I heard all the details from our man. You did well indeed in rescuing him! He has given us an extensive debriefing on what happened in the Labyrinth. Marvelous work. Please accept this token of the Grand Duchy's gratitude for saving his life.

Image

Image I'm the one in the guild that likes money, thanks.

Image Dooon't buy me an axe!

Image Which reminds me... I mentioned the report the guard filled on the events that transpired. According to him, the cause of so many monsters appearing in the first Stratum... was, in fact, the work of another monster! The Grand Duchy is issuing an official mission to resolve this crisis. You have contributed much to the matter already, so I will not force you to take part. However... no, it's nothing. You did well.

Image Image

Image So long as we don't get too close...

Image You know damn well half of the guild is going to punch it in the face.

Image My punches are in the long ranges.

Image I cannot thank you enough for going back to rid the forest of this threat. Allow me to explain fully. As you have heard already, powerful monsters have been appearing in the first Stratum. The cause seems to be that the king of beasts, called Chimaera, has settled on the 5th floor. It is Chimaera's roar that draws monsters from the upper floors down to the first Stratum. Once we defeat this Chimeara, we eliminate the roar that lures such terrible fiends downward. It is a serious crisis, make no mistake. We must destroy this Chimaera, king of the beasts!

Image Image

Tshirovha, requires 7 Aragonite and 5 Shell Warts
Iron Glove, requires 5 Gum Hides and 1 Amazonite

Image

Image With the king of the beasts as our first main opponent, we've got a fair bit before that point, and we'll only die to most of it. Next time!

Image I hope you're all ready for a bloodbath! Whose blood? You'll see.


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