My Deserted Etrian Odyssey Thread

[Evil Avnovice]

As The Dark Spire has been recently backlogged for later, I happened to have just received my copy of Etrian Odyssey from Amazon. Like part 2 before it, I was instantly sucked in and instead played that inbetween my heavy Wii gaming sessions.

My party consists of:

Front Row: Landsknecht (x2), Protector
Back Row: Survivalist, Medic

I'm currently on the 4th floor. I'm just looking to hang around and gain a few levels before hitting the 5th floor.

Bonus: The eternal and coveted rule of dealing with FOE:

[Gorvi]

Good luck! Despite hating on the game for it's punishing random deaths, I did have bouts of absolute adoration for EO. It does so much right, if it had only had a few aspects of it's design altered ever so slightly I would have never put it down.

[Evil Avnovice]

Originally Posted by Gorvi

Good luck! Despite hating on the game for it's punishing random deaths, I did have bouts of absolute adoration for EO. It does so much right, if it had only had a few aspects of it's design altered ever so slightly I would have never put it down.

Thanks. Having completed Etrian Odyssey II, I doubt I'll have any problems with this one.

[Gorvi]

Originally Posted by Evil Avnovice

Thanks. Having completed Etrian Odyssey II, I doubt I'll have any problems with this one.

Oh, heck no, I've heard EOII is even more punishing than the original.

[Shrinn]

Originally Posted by Evil Avnovice

My party consists of:

Front Row: Landsknecht (x2), Protector
Back Row: Survivalist, Medic

I'm currently on the 4th floor. I'm just looking to hang around and gain a few levels before hitting the 5th floor.

Are your Ls axes, swords, or one of each? What kind of goals are you going for?

My group:
Front: Protector, Axesknecht
Back: Medic, Troubadour, Alchemist

I just cleared the 20th floor and it was an exciting marathon of fights. Everyone is 46 except my Protector who is 42 (rested because I royally messed up my skills). I'm currently debating switching my Alchemist out for a survivalist because I'm not really running into Phys immune monsters and 1st turn would be very nice to have.

[SilentScreams]

I still need to play a little more EO2...I played for a couple of hours and got fed up of the constant town trips. Do they ease up a little later? Either by way of becoming more convenient or by your party being able to last longer before running out of mana etc?

[Evil Avnovice]

Originally Posted by Gorvi

Oh, heck no, I've heard EOII is even more punishing than the original.

Heavens no. The 5th stratum is extremely tough, both in encounters and FOE, but nothing that I ever felt was frustrating.

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

I still need to play a little more EO2...I played for a couple of hours and got fed up of the constant town trips. Do they ease up a little later? Either by way of becoming more convenient or by your party being able to last longer before running out of mana etc?

When your party can physically last longer as you increase in level, you'll return to town less and less, save for selling off items when you reach your capacity.

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by Gorvi

Oh, heck no, I've heard EOII is even more punishing than the original.

I guess this means if I ever finish EO II, I should go play EO I then. Damn you EA...i'm now thinking about this game again...

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

I still need to play a little more EO2...I played for a couple of hours and got fed up of the constant town trips. Do they ease up a little later? Either by way of becoming more convenient or by your party being able to last longer before running out of mana etc?

EA is our resident EO expert...so follow his words. I'll just add, it does get easier...although define what "easier" is in EO II is paradoxical. I'd stick with it. The challenge of the game, becomes addicting as you make it further and further along, you say to yourself one more floor..until something flattens you and lose it all. Despite that, you go back asking for more. I rarely like games where the challenge is that severe (the learning curve as you are finding out...a bit large) but EO II really charmed me. That, and I had EA and Spigot cheer me on as I eventually learned how to play.

And now EA will scold me for mixing EO II talk with his EO thread...

[Evil Avnovice]

Originally Posted by Shrinn

Are your Ls axes, swords, or one of each? What kind of goals are you going for?

My group:
Front: Protector, Axesknecht
Back: Medic, Troubadour, Alchemist

Similiar to how I played Ronin in Etrian Odyssey II (Front row tanks, HP/DEF/ATK fully maxed, single "Sword/Stance" skill of my choosing, with TEC maxed out for high-damaging skills in exchange for low TP), Landsknechts will play the exact same role. Only where I can't forsee my development like you could in part II as all skills had a description for the requirements needed, I'm finding that it's a small matter of guesswork.

For my pair of said Landsknechts, I'm allocating skill points to HP/DEF/ATK. I've put a solitary skill point into "Swords" and "Axes", as the current plan is not for how much damage I can do, though I'm thinking of leaning towards Swords as there are some skills associated with that that I'm interested in, but mostly for the ability to wield said weapons. I have a skill point in a basic sword/axe skill for them, though whether I'll have use for it remains to be seen.

My Protector has her skill points in HP/DEF/Shields. A few skill points have gone into the "F.Guard" skill, which is pretty useful as long as what I'm going up against isn't too strong in physical attacks. Until I see another skill I'm interested in, I'll keep this current route for her.

My Survivalist has her skill points in AGI/BOWS. I've put some into "Ambush", and a few into "Multihit".

My Medic works the same as in her EOII counterpart: She does absolutely nothing but heal and remove status ailments. I've noticed that she doesn't have AGI to funnel skill points in, as I did that in Etrian Odyssey II, so she could act faster in battles when I needed to heal/cure someone. Besides that, I have skill points in TP/Healer. I only put 2 skill points into cure, as while my TP for her is low (66TP), even if her Cure costs 4TP to cast, that burns up pretty quickly before you know it. And finishing that off, I've just unlocked and am looking to level up "Refresh" while increasing her other stats throughout rotation.

I just cleared the 20th floor and it was an exciting marathon of fights. Everyone is 46 except my Protector who is 42 (rested because I royally messed up my skills). I'm currently debating switching my Alchemist out for a survivalist because I'm not really running into Phys immune monsters and 1st turn would be very nice to have.

I tried out and kept an Alchemist as I loved that class' damage with spells. It took a little work with a pair of Ronin on the front row, and a Gunner and Medic in the back, but busting out those spells on a troublesome or pesky monster was worth the effort.

[Evil Avnovice]

Originally Posted by Purple Santa

And now EA will scold me for mixing EO II talk with his EO thread...

Nah. Etrian Odyssey (regardless of which installment), is always welcome here.

For EOII, I still haven't completed the bonus 6th stratum, so that's something I could pick up in the future.

[Shrinn]

Originally Posted by Evil Avnovice

Only where I can't forsee my development like you could in part II as all skills had a description for the requirements needed, I'm finding that it's a small matter of guesswork.

If I'm understanding you right, you're saying that there's nothing showing you the prerequisites for skills? If you hit a on a skill you can't put points into yet, it will show you the skill levels needed before it becomes available.

For my pair of said Landsknechts...Protector...Survivalist...Medic...

Seems like you're well aware what you're getting into, so I'll try and curb my comments away from advice and more toward sharing what I'm doing. But your strategy is completely different from mine. Though I guess my reliance on skills as opposed to stats can be faulty.

SwordLs have multi-target skills, AxeLs have single target skills.

so she could act faster in battles when I needed to heal/cure someone.

Funny how a female medic just seems to work better. Mine's female as well.
That's a big enough problem that I am thinking about leveling a survivalist for 1st turn just for my medic. In some situations that heal is crucial and even with optimizing AGI in her equip it's not fast enough to get her to have a first turn, even with salve (or whatever skill I'm using) at 10 for the most speed.

I only put 2 skill points into cure, as while my TP for her is low (66TP), even if her Cure costs 4TP to cast, that burns up pretty quickly before you know it.

That's the entire point of my Troubadour. She's a badass TP battery, her one skill, relaxing, lasts until death of the party member and restores 5% max tp per turn. I don't have quite as much damage in one turn, but the ability to be spamming TP (especially my medic) at all times without items taking up valuable slots is too good to pass up.

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by Evil Avnovice

Nah. Etrian Odyssey (regardless of which installment), is always welcome here.

Thank you kind sir . I'm hoping we can spur great conversation once again about EO as we once had. I am going to do my part...or maybe deterrence...by playing this again since I have lots of time on my hands now. What better way to spend that time than screaming in pain as my party dies once again because I chose to "go one more floor" instead of choosing to wisely go back...

[nnanji]

I would strongly recommend working your medic towards Immunize, which was a strong defensive buff for my group. It was a great spell to cast 1st turn before healing was needed.

[Shrinn]

Originally Posted by nnanji

I would strongly recommend working your medic...

This is what I had in mind when I decided against giving advice. That skill really changes the way the entire game is played and I didn't want to prejudice EvAvNov toward one build if he didn't wish to go that way since he seemed to know what he was doing.

[SilentScreams]

Okay, so somehow I got confused and thought I had EO2, when I actually have EO1. I don't think EO2 was available in the UK when I went looking, so I bought 1 instead.
And 2 is harder, you say?

I loaded it up and my team is apparently 2 Landsknecht and a Protector in the front row and an Alchemist and a Doctor in the back. Is this a decent combo or should I maybe restart?

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

Okay, so somehow I got confused and thought I had EO2, when I actually have EO1. I don't think EO2 was available in the UK when I went looking, so I bought 1 instead.
And 2 is harder, you say?

I loaded it up and my team is apparently 2 Landsknecht and a Protector in the front row and an Alchemist and a Doctor in the back. Is this a decent combo or should I maybe restart?

I haven't played one so I can't compare. All I can say is...EO II is a serious challenge when you start. Although i'm thinking EO I can't be a picnic either...

[SilentScreams]

I'm only on the second floor. All my guys are level 4. It seems like every 10 minutes I'm heading back to town to get healed. I simply don't make enough cash to buy all the healing items I'd need for a longer dive, and I definitely don't make enough to buy mana items.
Also all my guys are woefully slow at the moment, especially my Protector. He can never get his guard up before all the enemies have acted and usually dished out some punishment to the ones my Protector is supposed to be guarding.

[Hawkzombie]

I loved EO, and bought EO2 as soon as I saw it...have yet to play it though as I want to finish the first one and get that code to transfer over your guild name to the second one :P

Apparently that's all that gets transferred, (Am I wrong?) but I'm a sucker for 'unlocking' things in previous titles. For a dungeon crawler, I had a ton of fun with it...especially covering every inch of the map.

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

I'm only on the second floor. All my guys are level 4. It seems like every 10 minutes I'm heading back to town to get healed. I simply don't make enough cash to buy all the healing items I'd need for a longer dive, and I definitely don't make enough to buy mana items.
Also all my guys are woefully slow at the moment, especially my Protector. He can never get his guard up before all the enemies have acted and usually dished out some punishment to the ones my Protector is supposed to be guarding.

This sounds par for the game. Consider yourself lucky if you haven't been wiped out yet. Maybe EO II is that much more maschoistic. But the strategy of push your luck then run like hell back to town goes on for quite a while. When I started I was nearly broke and wasn't able to buy anymore healing items or potions that brought you back to town immediately. I don't know what floor I was on but I was facing having to scrap my party and start over. Over in the Ev Av thread, I was told this was normal. The starting over, after putting in numerous hours. Part of the learning process . I learned fast how indeed difficult EO games are.

Btw...I did find a cheap way to make money. If you are interested PM me. I don't want to taint the thread and ruin it for those who want to be pure about EO Although the game is still plenty tough even when you have some extra loot around.

[Shrinn]

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

I'm only on the second floor. All my guys are level 4. It seems like every 10 minutes I'm heading back to town to get healed. I simply don't make enough cash to buy all the healing items I'd need for a longer dive, and I definitely don't make enough to buy mana items.
Also all my guys are woefully slow at the moment, especially my Protector. He can never get his guard up before all the enemies have acted and usually dished out some punishment to the ones my Protector is supposed to be guarding.

Healing items aren't as cost effective as sleeping in the inn at first. You should have one or two for survival, always have a warp wire, and try to save your money for equipment and inn healing. Try not to let someone die, it uses money you just won't have. Don't be afraid to create the other classes to try them out now. Better you change your party now then agonize over it at level 50 like I am.

Certain skills always go first. I think F.Guard and B.Guard, Parry, the anti-spells are examples. Be aware that F.Guard and B.Guard only help reduce damage, not a cover skill (protector taking damage) like I originally interpreted.

Don't feel guilty sitting on the first and second floor for a long time. Don't feel bad running away from F.O.Es, as the game progresses you'll be able to stay in longer and longer, and you'll have excess money to run in with consumables to keep you going (especially TP restoring items).

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

Apparently that's all that gets transferred, (Am I wrong?) but I'm a sucker for 'unlocking' things in previous titles. For a dungeon crawler, I had a ton of fun with it...especially covering every inch of the map.

From GameFAQs answers, spoilered just incase

The above is incorrect, a password only gives you either the Town Medal (for completing Etrian Odyssey) or the Town Crown (for completing Etrian Odyssey with a full Monstrous Codex and Item Compendium). You can't get the two, just one. Also, their effects aren't as high as they were in the first game (if they were so good, the game would be way easier since the beginning).

The name of your guild is also carried to Etrian Odyssey II, but you can change it. I've heard the password contains data of your old characters and their equipment, but you CAN'T use it.

Also, there some minor events in the Labyrinth (most are just nods to events in the first game), and the people around Lagaard recognises your guild for their work at Etria when you start the game.

In a nutshell, there aren't a lot of changes and you don't get anything actually good. Some things are even harder, considering that at the start of the game, the guard doesn't give you those free Medicas when you're mapping the 1st floor.

Keep in mind that there are a ton of shortcuts all over the place, completely hidden. GameFAQs has excellent maps if you're not against using them. I do, because I can't be arsed to run along every wall facing it waiting for a "check" prompt.

I just hit the 5th Stratum. Whoa. They definitely ramped up the difficulty with FOEs doing 100 through my immunize. I've only walked around floor 21, but I think I'll be okay to press on next time I play.