Toggle Background Color

Update 17: "What were they thinking?" "They weren’t."





I took the time to unlock some more items in the shop, so let’s start off this update by taking a look at them. This weapon is a nice boost for Sword Fighters, though be aware that their regular attacks will no longer deal Slash damage and instead deal Fire damage with this equipped.



A nice upgrade for Rogues, as the POW boost also upgrades their defenses quite a bit.





I guess if elemental damage is much of a concern, you could make use of these. But I personally don’t care for them all that much.

Anyways, that’s it for window shopping, so let’s move on.






I knew I shouldn’t have tried to ride them...

Oh yeah, there’s something I want to point out real quick.



Uh oh.

When all your front liners go down, or get petrified, your back row gets forcibly moved up to the front. However! If this happens, you want to either revive or dispel any bit of Petrification on at least one front liner. If you do...



Not the time to be laying down, Stella!



Huh!? Oh! Right, get behind me, everyone!



...Or just run. That works too.

Oops. Well, that’s not what I really wanted to show, but I can still show it after the battle.





Notice how our backliners are back in the back row. I didn’t actually move them there. See, this is actually a feature that’s built into the game. When your back row gets forcibly moved to the front due to all your front liners getting incapacitated, getting a front liner back in action will cause everyone who was forcibly front lined to move back to the back row at the end of the turn. It’s a pretty neat convenience feature that saves you from forcibly wasting turns by moving everyone back to the back row. (Surprising for a game like this, I know.) Just be warned that the game only bothers memorizing this during battle. Reviving people outside of battle won’t trigger this, and you’ll have to rearrange the party yourself that way.



Hey, sounds like there’s a side dungeon to the south! Let’s check that out!







Huh, haven’t heard this track in a while. Anyways, as for this dungeon-





Oh, hold that thought for one second.





Uhhh...

Lost Soul
Level: 43
LIFE: 220
ATK: 116
DEF: 73
INT: 62
SPD: 55
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Small Animal
Exp: 444
Gold: 55





Oops.

Yeah uh, we aren’t actually supposed to be in this dungeon yet. The random encounters and dragons will maul us if we tried to explore this place now. And there’s very little point to exploring this dungeon now. There’s not that much here for us yet. There are actually a couple of cases where 7th Dragon warns you if you’re not ready for a dungeon, but this isn’t one of those instances for some reason.







Rhino
Level: 35
LIFE: 140
ATK: 98
DEF: 65
INT: 30
SPD: 38
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 288
Gold: 35
Item Drops:
-Normal: Valuable Horn - 30% Drop Rate. 5 needed to unlock the Megaton Hammer. (Staff. +85 ATT, -3 SPD.)
--Horn of a Rhino.
-Rare: Pasture Meat - Don’t kill with Lightning Damage. 10% Drop Rate.
--Livestock meat. For carnivores. Increases status defense for the day.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 50%

Skills:

Headlong Charge: Deals 70% melee ATK-based Blunt damage to the entire party. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

quote:

Imagine if ya could like, ride on one of those things! Ya could like, charge through all sorts of monsters and dragons! And nothing would be able to stand in yer way!
...That sounds like an idea a gorilla would come up with.
Even if you succeeded in such a feat, wouldn’t the Rhino eventually die from running through all the Bloom? It’s still everywhere, after all.
...Ya two are never any fun!





Yet another monster for the trash mob pile.



Right here we find another portal.



And now we don’t have don’t have to sail to the western continent every time to reach anything on it now.



Huh, another town already? Let’s check it out.





...Oh.

Looks like this town didn’t hold out too well against the dragons.
It’s just like what happened to Kazan...
And we’ll save it, just like we did for Kazan!
Hey, look! There’s someone over there!



Yeah, we came from Kazan.
Will you help fight the Dragons on our continent?



Of course we will! We won’t let them rampage around any longer!
I see... Thank you. Thank you, truly. I've lived in Basho my entire life... I fought to protect my homeland... I don't have long to live... Before the end comes, let me teach you what I know.







North of here is a... Nevan camp... And further to the north is Nevanplace itself... Go and seek information... This town is already dead. The Dragons are strong, so stay out of sight... But, someday, please, use the skills I gave you to save this town... Now, go! If you can take even one of them out for me... That's all...

If we talk to him again...



...I leave this task to... you…!
Dammit, he’s right! Nothing I can do for him now will help him out!
I suppose the least we can do now is to give him some peace of mind.

So we got two EX skills for the Rogue here. I will note that eventually, this man will die and won’t be able to teach you those EX skills once he does. But that doesn’t mean those EX skills are permanently missable, as 7th Dragon does give you another opportunity to get those skills. So don’t worry about that in case you’ve missed this guy.

Anyways, let’s take a look at the dragon movements in this town.




The dragons that are moving in figure 8s in the top left corner are Stony Dragons. The dragons that are moving back and forth in straight lines and just pausing at the endpoints are Armanoses. (Yeah, they got demoted fast.) The dragons that are moving erratically on the right side of the map are Worm Dragons. And the dragons that are moving around in an erratic circle on the bottom left corner of the map are Wyverns. We haven’t actually fought those yet, but I’m just saying their names now because I’m not actually going to fight any of the dragons in this area. More on that in a bit.

This town does count as a dungeon, and there are some random encounters here. So let’s take a look at them.







Lost Wizard
Level: 40
LIFE: 140
ATK: 90
DEF: 60
INT: 70
SPD: 42
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 486
Gold: 60
Item Drops:
-Normal: Dirty Cane - 30% Drop Rate.
--Cane of a Lost Wizard.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Flame: Deals ranged INT-Based Fire damage to one party member. Has a base damage of 73. Has a speed modifier of 80%.
Freeze: Deals ranged INT-Based Ice damage to one party member. Has a base damage of 68. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

They are wizards. They hit hard with magic. And as we all know, wizards are never to be trusted.

Do... do you think those things used to be the people that lived in this town?
Hmm, so are they vengeful spirits, or mere puppets of the dragons now?
Whatever they are, I’m pretty sure they sure want to kill us!





Hey! Only I can do that!







That’s what you get for copying my specialty!

Never trust a wizard, for they will always betray you.




Lost Warrior
Level: 40
LIFE: 160
ATK: 110
DEF: 67
INT: 43
SPD: 45
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 486
Gold: 20
Item Drops:
-Normal: Bloody Sword - 30% Drop Rate.
--Sword of a Lost Warrior.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Kiai: Applies an 115% multiplier to the user’s ATK for 5 turns. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

They hit decently hard with their attacks, and can buff themselves to hit even harder.



Not much to them.




Lost Guard
Level: 40
LIFE: 185
ATK: 105
DEF: 80
INT: 54
SPD: 42
Attack Type: Slash
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 486
Gold: 50
Item Drops:
-Normal: Broken Armor - 30% Drop Rate.
--Armor of a Lost Guard.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 50% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 200%

Skills:

Omniguard: Provides a shield for all enemies that reduces physical damage taken by 40%. Can only activate 1 time per turn. Has a speed modifier of 100%. Has priority.

These guys can drag out battles with Omniguard, but a Mage makes very short work of them.





Really simple enemies all around. And that’s it for the random encounters in this area.

Anyways, as for the dragons in this town, let me just say one thing. Don’t bother killing them, it’s a complete and utter waste of time! (Unless you desperately need to level grind.) Why? Well, I’ll show you. Just let me just speed up the process through the power of cheating first...






H-hey, wh-what gives!? The Bloom is supposed to be gone, now right!? We killed every single dragon here! So why isn’t it...?
Maybe... Maybe this town is too far gone for us to save.
Wha? No! NO! That can’t be right! That’s not how it worked before! We’re... we’re supposed to be saving all these places from them! And this town is just... u-u-unsavable...?
...I wonder, is that truly the case?
Huh?
Think about it. In every area our guild has liberated, the Bloom was either tied to an entire group of dragons, or a singular powerful dragon. Given that all the dragons here were fairly equal in strength, and that we’ve taken out every last one of them ourselves, it may not be a case of the former...
Wait, are you saying-
The dragon that’s truly responsible for this particular patch of Bloom... Perhaps it’s elsewhere?
Wherever it is, it’s definitely not in this town.
Yeah, we pretty much razed everything to the ground here. Whatever was left after the dragons did that themselves, anyway. So we checked every place we could.
So there could just be a dragon that has really good long distance gardening skills... How strong could that kind of dragon be?
To be honest, I’m afraid to find out.

Killing all the dragons in this town does not get rid of the Bloom! And for the record, this town still counts as "infected" even if you bother doing that. So all the dragons here will revive in 14 days! Yes that’s right, this town is unsavable. You can’t do anything for it, despite the dying soldier’s pleas.





On a less morbid note, let’s cover one of the EX skills we just got. Namely, Falling Star. I’m not going over Ecstasy Kiss, as that is a Dagger Rogue skill, and Dagger Rogues don't have as strong an earlygame as Bow Rogues, but shine very much later. So I'll wait until then to show Ecstasy Kiss off.



This EX skill has a very simple prerequisite. Max out Bow Mastery. Which costs 15 SP in order to do so. Unlike other weapon mastery skills, this skill starts demanding that you spend 2 SP per level at level 6 instead of 8. All in all, this skill costs 18 SP to max out.



Look at it go!

Falling Star is a delayed attack. It won’t deal damage right away.





Also you can’t fire off another Falling Star on the turn right after you fire the first one off.



You can do so for the 3rd turn, though. Because this is when the attack actually kicks in.

Wait for it... Wait for it...!



BAM! Didn’t see that coming, didja!?

On the 3rd turn, the arrow will finally come down at the beginning of the turn, and deal 170% Pierce damage to your chosen target. Yeah, for those of you familiar with Etrian Odyssey 1, this is straight up the Survivalist’s Apollon skill. You know, if Apollon did less damage than Multihit and utterly sucked! It deals more damage than most of the Rogue’s Bow skills, sure. But it doesn’t outdamage Dual Shot, which deals 91% damage per arrow at level 4, for a total of 182% damage! Which costs only 16 SP to reach in comparison! And that’s not even getting into the level 5 version of Dual Shot, which deals 100% damage per arrow, for a total of 200% damage! The only advantage this skill provides over Dual Shot is that using this skill counts as firing 1 arrow instead of 2, so it doesn’t lower your Rogue’s accuracy as much.

Now if you do insist on using this skill, there are some things to be aware of.








I showed that you’re allowed to use Falling Star again on the turn that the attack actually commences. And doing so will not cancel out the attack. So you can basically chain them that way if you wanted to.



But do keep in mind that if the intended target dies sometime before the attack actually goes through, the attack won’t redirect toward another enemy and will just end up being wasted.

On the plus side, unlike every single delayed attack in the Etrian Odyssey series, once you fire Falling Star, it will always activate on the 3rd turn, even if the Rogue gets incapacitated or taken out in any way. So it’s a reliable attack, outside of the redirection issue.

Anyways, back to the game. let’s check out the local trash mobs in the area, shall we?







Llama
Level: 33
LIFE: 85
ATK: 86
DEF: 56
INT: 34
SPD: 40
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 218
Gold: 33
Item Drops:
-Normal: Valuable Hoof - 30% Drop Rate.
--Hoof of a Llama.
-Rare: Pasture Meat - 5% Drop Rate.
--Livestock meat. For carnivores. Increases status defense for the day.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Insipid Orgling: Applies a 75% multiplier to the entire party’s ATK for 5 turns. Has a speed modifier of 80%.


Anteater
Level: 32
LIFE: 90
ATK: 86
DEF: 60
INT: 34
SPD: 40
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 244
Gold: 32
Item Drops:
-Normal: Long Tongue - 30% Drop Rate.
--Tongue of an Anteater.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Absorb: Deals 120% melee ATK-based Thrust damage to one party member and heals the user for 100% of the damage dealt. Has a speed modifier of 100%.

Ah, trash mobs that attempt to drag out the battle.







But Mages just stomp all over them.



Also here’s a dungeon off to the side that we are really really not ready for!



Got level ups after a battle. Though Stella and Edward don’t have enough skill points to spend them on anything relevant yet.



Blizzard is a bit stronger.



Moonlit Song is finally maxed out, and with that, it now restores 5 mana per turn! Mana isn’t really too much of a problem with this team anymore!







As that sign pointed out, there’s another dungeon here. But I won’t go into this one just yet, even though it is level appropriate for us. Namely because there’s a sidequest that takes place here that I haven’t accepted yet.




Harpy
Level: 34
LIFE: 110
ATK: 92
DEF: 58
INT: 45
SPD: 55
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 271
Gold: 34
Item Drops:
-Normal: Valuable Feather - 30% Drop Rate.
--Feather of a Harpy.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 150% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Squalling Screech: Applies a 150% multiplier to everyone’s SPD on the user’s side for 5 turns. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

They can be a pretty nasty support enemy to deal with, since they can raise the speed of every single enemy on their side, which subsequently raises their evasion as well.





You’ll definitely want to take them out first if you run into them in the more nasty formations.



Let’s check out Devo Desert first.





Until you're level 40 or so, it'll be AGONY.

...Never mind! Thanks for the warning, there!

On my way to the Border Camp that was mentioned, this happened.




This isn’t how a hero should meet her end...



A demon falls in battle...
Aw cruuuuuud...



Dammit. I knew we couldn’t keep this up forever...



Oh no! Oh no! Not today! There are too many dragons left to kill for all of us to go down now! There’s... there’s no way I’m letting us die to the local wildlife! Nrgh! Wow, you all are heavy! How did Dia pull this off back then...?

That was far too close!



Are... are we dead...?
I dunno... M-maybe- oh great, you two are here too?
Oh, no need to worry! You’re all alive and well! Thanks to yours truly! I couldn’t just leave you all there to die! Not when we have so much left to do!
Huh, that would explain why I’m still stuck to this grump!
Oh, and Dia? Consider that little favor you did for us back then repaid on my end!
...Hmph, very well. I suppose you did pay back that debt in kind.

Okay with that close call done for, let’s get back to the game.



Instead, let’s head to the Border Camp. The actual pit stop town.









Nevanplace is just a little ways off.







If I'd been stronger, I could've saved them!
...I’m so sorry to hear that.
Hey uh, Nila? Thanks... for what you did for us.
Oh, don’t mention it! Just be glad we were pretty fortunate when that incident happened.















It's hard to carry all that stuff...

There’s a shop in the rightmost tent of the Border Camp. Oh, hang on.



This is how much of the Bloom I had to clear out to return the prices to normal.



The shop here just sells supplies. You can’t buy weapons in this town.







Emily's flirting with sunstroke, so we'll rest.
--Harris







Ooh! A very good find!





And that’s pretty much it for the Border Camp. So let’s move onwards.






Afro Bird
Level: 36
LIFE: 95
ATK: 85
DEF: 56
INT: 37
SPD: 40
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Small Animal
Exp: 271
Gold: 36
Item Drops:
-Normal: Soft Flipper - 30% Drop Rate.
--Flipper of an Afro Bird.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 50% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Ice Edge: Deals ranged INT-Based Ice damage to one party member. Has a base damage of 60. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

quote:

...Oh my gosh! Are you all seeing what I’m seeing!?
Indeed! I never knew it was possible to have such luscious hair!
I know! It’s amazing, isn’t it!? How did those birds even pull something like that off!?
Is that truly hair, or a clump of feathers that simply resemble a hairstyle? Though I must admit, I am a bit jealous of their looks myself.



The only other interesting thing about them, aside from their appearance, is that they are wizard penguins. Not terribly good wizard penguins, due to their low INT, but wizard penguins nonetheless.



Here’s yet another dungeon. Again, I won’t be going in this one just yet.




Murderbear
Level: 37
LIFE: 220
ATK: 100
DEF: 70
INT: 32
SPD: 42
Attack Type: Slash
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 347
Gold: 37
Item Drops:
-Normal: Big Fang - 30% Drop Rate. 3 needed to unlock the Daihannya. (Katana, +100 ATK.)
--Fang of a Murderbear.
-Rare: Polar Fur - 15% Drop Rate. 3 needed to unlock the Fur Coat. (Armor, +18 DEF, -5% Ice Damage.)
--Fur of Murderbear.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 125% Ice: 50% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Gather Power: Multiplies the user's ATK by 150% for 2 turns. Has a speed modifier of 100%.
Mow Down: Randomly attacks the party with Slash damage 3 times, dealing 50% melee ATK-based damage per hit. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

quote:

Oof, check out the wanted poster for this guy! Accused for the murder of several people in 12 different countries, arson, obstruction of justice, and theft of every single cake from one of the local cake shops!
Absolutely sickening.
I never would have imagined that there are animals out there that are truly that depraved.

Murderbears, contrary to their amazing name, are actually really not that good at murdering you. Their offenses are fairly lackluster, and Gather Power doesn’t increase their ATK by that much. And if they decide to follow that up with Mow Down (which they will almost always do), their attack won’t deal that much damage. Namely because they’re using a heavily nerfed version of Mow Down. Unfortunately, this makes them nothing more than a fat trash mob.



The only thing memorable about them is their name, really.



And here’s the last new random encounter we’ll be fighting in this update.


Laughing Shadow
Level: 31
LIFE: 85
ATK: 87
DEF: 52
INT: 38
SPD: 45
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Small Animal
Exp: 226
Gold: 31
Item Drops:
-Normal: Precious Scarf - 30% Drop Rate. 5 needed to unlock the Flame Guard. (Accessory, -30% Fire Damage.)
--Mantle of a Laughing Shadow.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%

Skills:

Panicked Flash: 30% chance of inflicting Confusion on the entire party. Has a speed modifier of 75%.

Laughing Shadows are some of the most dangerous enemies to encounter right now. The enemies themselves aren’t really anything special, but they can inflict AOE Confusion! Meaning that they don’t have to kill you, because your party will do it for them! Thankfully they don’t cast Panicked Flash when their HP is full. But if you get blindsided by them or they’ve taken damage, they’ll cast this. So be aware of that.





Best way to deal with them is to just take them out in one fell swoop.





Nevanplace is to the west, but there’s a portal to the east. So let’s activate that first.







Alright, now let’s head to Nevanplace.









Welcome to the Nevanplace Empire.



A hearty welcome after your long journey.









Hahaha! I thought you'd be a bit more strapping! But get those skinny arms to work! We're counting on you!
Umm... sure.
...My arms are not that skinny.



Pleroma's shown an interest in our brains and dexterity.





S-sorry... But you don't have...

Incidentally, we’ve cleared out enough of the Bloom for the shop prices to go down to normal price. We didn’t even have to clear out the Bloom in the water outside of town (that we can’t even sail on yet.)









Unfortunately, the new items are basically garbage we don’t need. However, this is also when you can finally start buying Hypno Crystals from shops.



So let’s head to the weapons shop and see what they have!

Straight from Mellurite!







We got a good amount of equipment upgrades here.



This one though, was unlocked by selling item drops.

Those of you with attentive eyes may have noticed that there were quite a few staves in this game with a high amount of attack. But they were Healer exclusive equipment. I bring this up now, because the reason for those existing is going to become apparent very soon.














And the rest of the new upgrades.





Uh huh! I see you’ve heard of us!
They say Kazan's Hunters are the strongest around! Let's put you to the test!



Hahahaha! Oh, think about what we could do with this thi- oh, great. It doesn’t even work.





Supposedly there’s a shop here, but the clerk doesn’t seem to want to do anything with us.





Very absentminded... I'm a little concerned.



I wonder if he might come early this year?



This quest can be done now.





Moihuonin nomorim, nomonorhum, rn nuim horhuh nuu nu norm!
Uhhh, come again?
I... think they’re speaking Rushe?
Oh, so does that mean you can understand it?
...No.
I- what- how- I-
Don’t bother trying to think about it. She’ll probably surprise you in a bad way if you keep doing so. As for me, I wasn’t really a Rushe in the first place, so don’t ask me to translate.
Never studied that language. Guess you could call me a bit of a slacker there! Hee hee!
That’s... that’s not something to sound happy about.















Can't they all just shut up and drink!



Yep! That’s us!
Word gets around real fast, huh? Hee hee!
My sister Karyu told me all about you. I'm Rico. I appreciate your work. But, where are my manners? Welcome ♪ Please, take it easy.



"Come get a warm bed!"

That’s a cute way to welcome someone!



I thought I was hidden really really well.



Miss Rita, I hope you get well soon!
--Emily







They seem at odds.





I wonder what those two are talking about.
It’s rude to eavesdrop, you realize.











I wish I could cook!





I guess my sister isn't good at cleaning, huh.



There’s a staircase leading up to the top of the walls, but there’s not much of interest up here.



Odd, but it's starting to seem beautiful.
Try walking through a bunch of it for a few hours and see if you think it’s beautiful then.



Yeah, these two NPCs are the only things of note up here.







Ro, rron onr'r sumh or omm. Nui minn sumh?



I think he’s asking us a question.
Ummm, yes?
Ro! Ruh nuurmu.
I understood none of that.











Is there something you need?
Haha, you look it... My husband is one too. Well, he always prefers to go by "adventurer". He's quite famous among the Rushe. ...But I haven't heard from him in years… No news is good news, but, I wonder if anyone could find the truth...



This quest can technically be completed now, but I really don’t recommend tackling this one for a while.

Anyways, there’s a room off to the left we can’t access from here.




The entrance is located here.







Ooh! Now this is a handy item!



Fully restores one party member’s HP when used on them! Though using it now is a bit overkill at this point. The Paro Medicines will suffice for now.



But... Cold is coooooold!!



This... quest... can be completed now... In a sense... Pay no attention to the fact that I am twitching and convulsing right now.



Orh nu uim orsunrumn ninnumuh num rurrorm... Suur, hon ru numm or nunuuru hru. Huunr'r usur mur um irhumnrorh nuim mormiomu...
...I see! No I don’t.



I wonder how dad is today. Maybe I'll get him a drink.













We've had crises before, and always overcome them. This is the same thing!
Seems like this empire has been handling itself well.





I put spicy powder into his soup!







Rror normorm hoh ron rru momrr ohuo, orh. Rror ruonn nsmuumu nruimh nrir is!
Okay, this is starting to get annoying.
Sheesh, is there like a teacher or anything around here?
Oh, now you wish to be diligent?









When we try to leave this house...







If we talk to the Tender Mother again...





This is a quest that can be completed right away, and I highly recommend doing so. Though it won’t be covered in this update.





The Western Dragons are ferocious enemies. Please be prepared.
Ferocious? Mmm, we’ll see about that!



It's really hard to make out.





...But in the end it'll make us tougher than ever.



If I found a maid outfit this warm, I'd buy it!

You remember this NPC, right? If you’ve talked with her enough times throughout your travels, eventually...

You know... I've met you all in so many places, haven't I! Here's a skill to remember me by!





When a maid gets serious, she can make a real mess of things. Don't do too much damage with this!

Ohhhh yeah! So here’s our next EX skill we’re going over. And boy is it a really good one!







Earthbreaker has a simple, but fairly costly prerequisite. It demands that you max out POW Bonus, which costs 20 points to do so. So all in all, this costs a whopping 23 SP to acquire. But it is so, so good! For once, this is an offensive EX skill that isn’t utterly outclassed by a normal skill!





Here’s a little stat comparison, for the record.



Earthbreaker is a melee attack, so Edward has to be in the front row to get the most out of it.

Ugh! I can’t trust you all to stay out of trouble, can I!?



I’ll just deal with this myself!

Oh baby, that is a lot of damage!



But how does it compare to an EX boosted Purge from Stella?





...I’ve clearly taken up the wrong profession.
Wow, Edward! I never knew you could do something like that! This is great! We can fight together on the front lines instead of you being stuck in the back!
L-let go! I c-can’t breathe...!
Oh, sorry! Eh heh...!



Even though Edward’s level is lower, he still outdamaged Stella by a huge amount! This is the reason why the Healer has dedicated weapons. Because a front line Healer is an actual option the game offers for you. Those of you familiar with Etrian Odyssey 1 may be familiar with the Battle Medic build, where you could turn that game’s healing class into one of the strongest front line fighters in the game. The playstyle got nerfed to oblivion after that game, pretty much becoming a joke build in the rest of the series. But it still lives on in 7th Dragon’s Battle Healer build.

As for the attack itself, Earthbreaker is a melee ATK-based Blunt attack that deals 160% damage to the target. Swing Crush, the Healer’s non-EX attacking skill, costs 23 SP to max out and deals 180% damage at max level. However, Earthbreaker is the better damaging skill due to one major detail. It provides a 50 point bonus to Edward’s ATK when he casts the skill! And this ATK bonus is affected by ATK buffs as well! So he pretty much turns into a dedicated damage dealer for the turn when casting Earthbreaker. (The only way Swing Crush can outdamage Earthbreaker is if Edward’s ATK stat reaches 400. Which is completely impossible to pull off in this game.)

Sure, you have to put your Healer on the front line to use this skill effectively, but remember that boosting POW also boosts their defense as well. So a Healer that goes for this skill will be more durable than usual. The only issue with Earthbreaker is that it’s an EX skill, and Healers are a support class. So using EX on that means that’s one less bar of EX you can use for healing if you really need it. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s something to be very mindful of.

Now I don’t want to have Edward learn this now, because he doesn’t have enough SP right now to invest in it, and I want him to do his job of healing, but I do plan on picking up this skill later.






So let’s check out some quests. Yeah, notice how Greatest of All Time is a 5 star quest. I said before that the quest could technically be completed now, but doing so is really not recommended.



If you want to know why, let’s head to the dungeon where this quest takes place.



It’s on this part of the world map, and you need the ability to sail on the southern seas to reach it.



Here in the Dern Depths, the caves are vast and the enemies are tough! If you go in, you won't come out alive. I'm not just being mean! Turn around and run back the way you came.

Just how dangerous could this be?





Oh.

I won't stop you, but... Take me seriously, or regret it later.

Yeah, we are nowhere near ready for this quest! Not only that, you know how most of the dungeons we went through up to this point in the game were around 3 screens long? Yeah, Dern Depths is 10 screens long! Needless to say, this quest is going to be shelved for a while. Though at least the game is kind enough to warn you if you aren’t ready for it yet.

Also I’m going to warn you right now. Don’t bother exploring this place if you haven’t taken that quest yet, otherwise you’ll just end up wasting a huge amount of time.




Anyways, let’s see what else we can do right now.

Um. Please tell me I’m not seeing the thing I think I’m seeing right now.
If you’re seeing the thing I think I’m seeing, I’m pretty sure you aren’t seeing things.
M-maybe it was a mistake?
Mistake or not, I’m sure that person can do without- WHY ARE YOU TAKING THAT QUEST!?
We can’t just leave people in need behind!
Have you seen what that request entails!? You have to be utterly insane to even think about-
We are going to help them, and that’s that!
...V-very well then.
Hey, you gotta admire how Stella is willing to help out with that kinda stuff! Just look at her being all valiant and-
Dia. Shut up.











ladies and gentlemen. what you are witnessing right now is the pinnacle. the pinnacle of 7th dragon. it’s all downhill from here, folks.



A duvet! It'll take a lot of work to get enough feathers. But they're so warm.







Just in case you thought that was a horrific typo, this sadly proves that it wasn’t. You really have to farm up 100 BIRD FEATHERS in order to complete this quest! And no, there’s no easy trick to circumvent this quest, or some way to accomplish it without grinding off of enemies. You are expected to harvest bird corpses to complete this quest. So... let’s take a look at how the devs expected you to accomplish this.



So on the island that Pleroma is on, you can encounter some enemies that drop Bird Feathers.



Not these guys.

Okay yeah, here’s one big problem with this quest. You have to be able to run into the enemies that drop them, which can take some time.




Okay, there we go. Mandala Fans have a 30% chance to drop Bird Feathers. Unfortunately, it’s their common drop, and their rare drop has a 15% chance of dropping. And with the way 7th Dragon’s item drop system works, the rare drop is prioritized first. And if you get that, the game doesn’t even bother rolling for the common drop.



Meaning that you only have a 25.5% chance of getting them from Mandala Fans. So in order to get 100 Bird Feathers from them, you have to kill around an average of 393 Mandala Fans! This can take hours to accomplish!

Fortunately, there’s a slightly better way to farm these things. Keyword: Slightly.




If you remember, Mt. Todowa also has enemies that drop Bird Feathers.



Specifically, the Night Hawks. They have a 50% chance of dropping Bird Feathers. Unfortunately, that too, is their common drop. And they have a 30% rare drop that can get in the way of that. So they really have a 35% chance of dropping Bird Feathers, which is bigger than the Mandala Fan’s chances of dropping them, at least. Though that still means you have to kill around an average of 286 Night Hawks to get the amount of Bird Feathers you need!



You know, assuming 7th Dragon’s utterly spiteful RNG doesn’t fuck you over!

Yes, this quest is really fucking dumb! If you were wondering what the developers were thinking when they came up with so many questionable design decisions in this game, allow me to submit this very quest as proof that they weren’t! Farming up 100 of a single item is simply an insane idea for a sidequest! I’m almost certain they just picked that number because it sounded neat instead of thinking it over, because an ounce of thinking would make people realize that this would be nothing but busywork! A quest like this adds absolutely nothing to the game! All this quest is really asking of you, is to kill monsters you completely outclass. Over and over again. For several hours. Which doesn’t really challenge you, and is just nothing but a complete chore.

Also, remember that you you can only take up 3 quests at a time. So yes, you could theoretically leave this on the backburner and do it as you go through the game. But now you only have 2 free slots for quests, and with 7th Dragon’s utterly awful quest system, you’re more likely to take up quests that clog up your backlog and have no idea when they can be completed unless you’re using a guide! And no, cancelling this quest to make room for others is not an option! Doing so will force you to start all over when you activate this quest again!

And if you’re wondering “why not just ignore this quest?” Completion of this quest required for something later on. Thankfully, it’s not required for the main plot, but just for some side stuff.

Instead, I’m going to show you the method I used to cheat for all the fetch quests in this game. Which will also show you how to cheat at this quest (if you have the methods to do so) because FUCK THAT NOISE! Now this requires the ability to edit the game’s memory, so if you can’t do this, don’t bother.




First, buy as many Paro Fruits as you can as possible. Now you don’t need Paro Fruits, but they’re the cheapest item to buy.



Next, go to the game’s memory.



Then go to address 120D0EDC.



You see that group of eight zeros I surrounded with a red rectangle? Each group of eight zeros here is a Paro Fruit.



Then change that to F7 01 00 00. Do this for all the Paro Fruits in your inventory.



This will change those Paro Fruits into Bird Feathers.







Still 90 to go, a long ways, but you can do it.



Turn in all those Bird Feathers, then buy more Paro Fruits so you can morph them into more Bird Feathers.



















...You should be glad we’re doing this for you in the first place, you ungrateful little-
Nila, stop!
Rrrgh! Hey, let me go!
As much as I would love to see him burnt to ashes, I don’t think murder would make us look good in the eyes of all the Rushe here.
Hey, I wasn’t going to kill him. I was just going to punch him in the face. With a flaming fist.



















...We’ll consider it. No we won’t.



But... this is it.





You know as a Hunter your reward's in the Quest Office. And as Hunters, I'm sure we'll meet again.

Rinse and repeat until this nonsense is over.



Now I’m sure you’re wondering... Is the reward at least worth it?



FUCK NO, IT ISN’T!



Getting enough sleep makes life better. I look forward to bed.
Shouldn’t you also be working as well?
Oh, adventuring? One more day of rest.
...
At least we helped him out with his problem!
Yeah, you all should be more like Stella and look on the bright side!
No comment.



Instead of ending that update on an extremely sour note, let’s tackle one more quest before ending this off.



I wonder if you could find him a Santa Claus, if you're up to it?



Then, Santa Claus hands out presents! Surely, Santa Claus will bring me something. Oh, it'll be so great. Can't it come sooner?



Hmm, I'm worried. He'll be sad if I don't do a good enough job.





Cooking and presents and Santa Claus... How do you do it all?





Bird Meat is really easy to grab. A few earlygame bird enemies drop it.

Now, where are we gonna find a Santa Claus?
Hmm, oh, that book! It told us all about Santa Claus! We just need someone with a beard and has a big gut!
I don’t think we have met anyone who fits that description.
Let’s see here... Maybe we don’t have find someone who’s exactly like that. Like someone with just a beard, that could work.
Yeah, like Volg- oh wait. He got kicked out from Miross... Um...
So, what do we do now? I can’t think of anyone else who could take up that role.
Ooh ooh! I know the perfect candidate! Come on!

Remember that book about Christmas we read back in Pleroma? You need to read it first in order to be able to find a Santa Claus, otherwise your party can’t do so because they don’t know who Santa Claus is.

Anyways, Volg is one possible candidate to play the role of Santa Claus. Except if you progress the Miross sub event far enough, he gets exiled from Miross and can’t be selected anymore. Fortunately, there are multiple candidates for this quest. There are 3 more candidates, but there are 2 we haven’t met yet. I’ll bring them up whenever we meet them. But there’s one candidate we can select for this role now. That candidate is in Pleroma.






Men lived in Marlleaire. But they couldn't wield the power of song, and only women remained. ...So says the history.

...That’s the reason there are no men there!?
How anti-climactic. I was expecting something far more grandiose.

There was a book that was in the Marero language that we couldn’t read, and now I’m just taking the time to check it out now that we can read it. Anyways, let’s get our Santa Claus candidate.



Nowari? Well, he wouldn’t have been a candidate that immediately came to mind, but I suppose he’s better than no-





...What.

Yes. What you are seeing is real.

So there’s this kid in Nevanplace we’re trying to find a Santa Claus for, and I was wondering if you could be Santa Claus for him- oh wait, do you know who Santa Claus is?



But I absolutely refuse to do it! Why would I enact such inanities?

Maybe she’ll relent if we ask her again.





PLEEEEEAAAASE!?
I refuse! I absolutely refuse to do it!
PLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASE!?
I refuse! I absolutely refuse to do it!
PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAASE!?
I refuse! I absolutely refuse to do it!
I hate to break this to you, but you realize that they’ll be here as long as they need to. Asking until you finally say yes.
Ugh... you're so persistent... fine! Fine, I'll do it!

You have to ask her 5 times for her to finally relent.



I’m just going to say that is even more amazing if you’ve played the later 7th Dragon games.





No need to worry about Santa! We found someone willing to play that role!
Oh, thank you. At last, Santa Claus is coming to town!
Now all we need is a present...
There’s a store right next to this house. Maybe we can get something from there?



If I recall correctly, it was a Bloom Regulator. Anyway, want to b-buy something?



One Bloom Regulator, please!

And that’s the present taken care of.





Oh, thank you. This is just what he wanted, you know?





Fade to black.



The child jumps up and down twice before speaking.

Eat as much as you want.



The child looks around impatiently.

...When will Santa come?
He'll probably come by once you're asleep.
Huh? But I want to meet him!
One can't always have one's own way, dear.
Okay...







Ah, Santa... Claus?



Y-yeah.
Then your efforts merit a reward.
T-thank you!
Mhmmm... Stay in good health! Now, pardon me.



Emille leaves.



Ummm... This! A Bloom Regulator! Santa Claus's amazing, he knew what I wanted!
Oh, how nice.



Huh?
Thanks for being my mom!
...Thank you. What a wonderful son...



Fade to black.



And... I enjoyed it, too.







Incidentally, if you get Volg as a candidate, and then he gets kicked out of Miross, the game actually accounts for that. Speaking to the mother will cause your party to break the bad news to her, and you’re forced to find another candidate. There are 2 more Santa Claus candidates, and I’ll point them out when we encounter them. If for some reason, you don’t want Emille playing Santa Claus.





Unlike BIRD FEATHERS, the reward here is actually worth it! It’s a very nice upgrade for a Bow Rogue. It even outclasses the new Bow we can buy in Nevanplace.