Toggle Background Color
Update 2: Preparations
Today was the start of something special.
This is the name most people wanted to go with, so we're known as Tidehunt!
Yeah, our guild name? Tidehunt! Don't you forget it!
Well, let's take a look at our current party.
For justice! Nothing's gonna get in my way!
I hope you know what you're doing.
How did we even get roped into this?
Hey, you guys are the ones who wanted to come with me to Armoroad. Don't be getting cold feet now.
I wonder if this really was a good idea. Maybe it's not too late to back out.
Don't even think about it.
Don't blink, or you'll miss me.
I'm the brains!
And I'm the brawn!
We're not gonna be exploring the Labyrinth in this update. We're just going around town and learning about what you can do there. But in the meantime, I'll talk game mechanics and what you can do to make the early-game easier for yourself in this game. If you're playing along, you really want to pay attention because the early-game of most Etrian Odyssey games are easily the toughest part until you get to the post-game, and this game is no exception.
First things first, after making your initial party, create a character from all the other classes you aren't using. Every one of them.
Next, make 10 Farmers.
And 5 Ninjas. As for what to do with them, I'll cover that in a bit.
Formation is where you go to make your party. You can go with either a 3-2 or a 2-3 formation with a 5 man party. I personally prefer the 3-2 formation in all the EO games, but for now I'll go with this.
We can also organize our party members.
Retire isn't available to us now, we'll be able to do that once our party members reach level 30. Though in this game it's pretty awful and there's very little benefit to doing so. But more on that later.
Rest is a panic button in case you messed up your skill builds. For a 5 level penalty, you'll get all your skill points back to allocate elsewhere. Though you can still rest when your party members are at levels 1 through 5. Doing so will return all their skill points, but no level penalty will be applied. The resting penalty got lowered to 2 levels in future EO games.
Dismiss deletes a party member. I'll be using this on the Farmers later, but hopefully I won't have to use this on any of the actual characters.
The rename function returns from the last game. You can rename a party member with this. You know what? Faye is a lame name, let's change it to something cooler, like HEAL!
Or not. Yeah you have to pay a 1000en fee in order to do such a thing. I will not be using this feature at all. In future EO games, the renaming fee was completely removed.
We can also talk to the Guildmaster in order to hear what he has to say for the moment.
Even experienced warriors get swallowed up by that Labyrinth every day... If you’ve come here as weekend warriors, I’ll be straight with you: hit the beach instead.
Tch! We'll show you! We'll get to the bottom, easily!
This is the menu. We can do a bunch of things here. Now see the words “Emperor 1” near the bottom right? That's the calender. You use that to keep track of how many in-game days have passed. Why would you want to do that? You'll see later.
We don't have any items right now, just key items. Speaking of, while Etrian Odyssey 2 had key items, but they weren't separated from the regular items. This game actually has separate categories for both. Improvements!
Such as healing or field skills.
Except no one has learned anything yet! We'll fix that soon enough.
We've seen the stats before.
But we can also see the skills a character has learned in this screen. I personally like this way of visualizing skills better than how EO2 handled it (which was a scrolling list), as it's easier to check up on how your characters are doing.
Self-explanatory.
From Custom, we can choose between two options. Let's actually level up our skills now.
See that skill at the very top? That's what known as a Class Skill, a special passive skill that helps out the class in some way. Some are very good, and some aren't that great. In most cases, they're worth taking, although they're not the first thing you should max out in most cases.
Something to keep in mind when leveling up a skill is that in all the Etrian Odyssey games, they only give a vague description for what leveling up the skill does, instead of telling you the exact returns. This is bad thing because some skills don't scale all that well, or are horribly bugged, making investing in them at all or maxing them out a complete waste of skill points. Fortunately, people have datamined the games and figured out exactly what happens when you level up a skill. In this case, Form Qi boosts the healing power of a healing skill by 20% at level 1, and 25% at level 2, capping out at a 65% boost at level 10.
The key to purification is a good, steady mind.
I mentioned the skill's power at level 1 and 2 because I put 2 points into the skill.
This oughta keep em standing.
I also put 1 point into Healing, which is a single target healing skill. Something I should probably mention is that in the first two EO games, healing skills had a specific amount that they healed for, which could be slightly affected by the TEC stat in the 2nd game. It's the other way around in this game. The Monk's TEC stat and their level provide the base amount of healing, while the skills influence how much the Monk can heal for. In this case, a level 1 Healing has a heal power of 70%, and at this point, it heals for around 20 HP, counting the boost from Form Qi. The skill also has an action speed modifier of -6 at all levels, so it's a very slow skill. You may have to cast it preemptively to make sure your allies don't die before you heal them.
Now, something you shouldn't do if you're using a Monk in your party is to level up the skill past 1 at the beginning of the game. Leveling up a skill makes it more powerful, but it also increases the TP cost, which doesn't matter in most cases. In this case though, the TP cost would jump up to 5 at level 2, and Faye would only be able to cast the skill 6 times, compared to the 8 times she could do at level 1. Also the heal power only jumps up to 75%, which makes Healing heal for one extra hit point. Which is definitely not worth it. Level it up later, but not now.
Also something I wouldn't do is investing anything into their Fist skills, especially if they're your main source of healing. Their offenses are really lackluster, and chances are that they won't get plenty of opportunities to attack if you're using them as a healer. Okay not all of that is true, but if you're playing for the first time, I really wouldn't recommend using a Punch Monk.
Sometimes, a good defense is enough.
Guardian is the Hoplite's class skill. It reduces all physical damage (Which is Slash, Strike, and Pierce.) by a certain amount. At level 1, it applies a 10% reduction to physical damage, and a whopping 40% at level 10! This skill is great, and drastically lengthens the Hoplite's lifespan. Though I wouldn't max this out straightaway. They have a ton of other skills that they want as soon as possible.
Well, I suppose I better start learning how to use this.
Leveling up some skills unlocks new ones. You can check the requirements needed to unlock a skill to the right of the skill list. At any rate, Shield Mastery is just an inferior version of Guardian. It does provide a damage reduction to physical attacks, but the damage reduction is only 1% at level 1, and caps out at a measly 10% at level 10. It stacks multiplicatively with Guardian, so if you have that skill (which you should), it reduces damage less than the listed amount, as a max level Guardian and Shield Mastery only reduces physical damage by 46% in total. Not really worth it. You do need to put points into this to unlock some very useful skills, so only level this up as much as you need to. Now while I did unlock Line Guard, I don't put any points into it. Not yet.
Prove yourself!
Instead, I put in a point into Provoke. What it does is make the Hoplite more likely to be attacked. However, the exact mechanics of how it works is pretty complicated, so I won't detail that until it's relevant. I'll say this, at level 1, Provoke can potentially add 3 to 5 points to the Hoplite's aggro value. You also want this skill if you're using a Hoplite since it can help deal with a special enemy on the first floor.
As for skills to avoid, never ever touch their offensive skills. Hoplites have a terrible STR stat, so their attacks don't do that much damage. Their damaging skills don't even have high damage modifiers to make up for that. Also, you rarely want Hoplites attacking, they have an incredible amount of utility as a tank support.
Pick on someone my own size? Aww, but that's boring! Bring on the big fry!
The Arbalist's class skill is a massive damage boost, and should be maxed out ASAP. Well, it depends on how you want to handle a specific situation near the end of the 1st Stratum anyway. What it does is provide a 20% boost to all damage types and skills at level 1, a 23% boost at level 2, and 27% boost at level 3, eventually capping out at a whopping 55% damage boost at level 10! For comparison, the Gladiator also has a class skill that boosts their damage (only to physical attacks in their case) but it caps out at a 25% damage boost.
There is a “catch,” though. The damage boost only kicks in if the target of the Arbalist's attacks have twice as much of the Arbalist's current HP at the time of attack. This is barely a catch, and it pretty much applies in nearly every situation that matters. By the time the damage boost stops kicking in, your intended targets are probably gonna die in the next turn or so. Not to mention, the Arbalist has an incredibly low HP pool, so it's easy for the damage boost to apply in nearly every situation. Okay the HP stat is a huge downside, but the Arbalist is a bit of a risky class to use.
The way of the ninja is clear to me.
Keburi No Sue is the Ninja's class skill, and something you want one point in immediately. Now, when attacking from the back row, melee attacks normally get a damage penalty, and get their damage halved. The class skill gets rid of that penalty, and lets the Ninja launch full power assaults from the back row. And more levels decreases the TP cost of all skills, capping out at a 9 TP cost reduction at level 10. A handy skill, and one you want to max out eventually if you want to take advantage of a certain strategy that becomes available in the mid-game.
Speak softly and carry a big knife.
Putting one point into Knife Mastery unlocked this skill, which I'll take later. This a good opportunity for me to talk about another trap. In the first two games, weapon mastery skills boosted the damage of regular attacks and certain skills, as long as they used the respective weapon. This is not the case in this game. Weapon mastery skills only boost the damage of regular attacks, not skills. Regular attacks are awful in this game, because skills deal so much more damage. The damage boost isn't that great either, since it's a 2% damage increase to regular attacks at level 1, and a mere 11% at level 10. But you need to invest points into them to unlock skills, so they're nothing but point sinks. Spend as much as you need to, but not a single point more. Fist Mastery is an exception to this, but it follows it's own set of rules.
Let my illusions cause discord!
Putting one point there unlocked this useful skill. As for Kagerou, you've seen what it does in the combat tutorial. It sends out a decoy that has an aggro value ranging from 3 to 5 on it (the same as a level 1 Provoke from a Hoplite), making enemies more likely to target it instead of an actual character.
Hmm, if I just tinker with this here, ignite this... AHA!
A point in Fire Mastery unlocked this skill. The Zodiac's elemental mastery skills don't act like weapon mastery skills, and actually boosts the skill damage of the proper element.
I forecast a sunny, burning hot day!
The elemental stars are single target elemental attacks that run off of the TEC stat instead of STR, and deal 40% damage at level 1. Sounds a bit low, but TEC based damage runs off of an entirely different damage formula than the STR based attacks, making their scaling significantly more front-loaded. Now if you've played the first two games, you probably think you should just focus on a single element and max that out, right?
Now if I just lower the temperature by a few Kelvins... oh my!
You are dead wrong if you think that's how you're supposed to skill a Zodiac. Doing such a thing will actively hold them back and prevent them from reaching their full potential. What you want to do is invest a single point in all their elemental stars, and no more than that. This is because the damage caps out at 80% at level 10, but the TP cost jumps up to 22, which basically doubles the damage, but nearly triples the TP cost. Max them out if you want in the late and post-game, but you'll run your Zodiac dry in the early and mid-game, when a level 1 star is enough to deal with a lot of enemies throughout the game.
As for their Class Skill, Ether Mastery, it boosts all elemental damage (Fire, Ice, and Volt) by 25% at level 10. A handy damage boost, but not one you should invest in first. There are a ton of other skills the Zodiac wants ASAP before having any luxury skill points to spend on that skill.
Now as for the Farmers and Ninjas I made earlier...
You want all of the classes you're not using, the 5 Ninjas, and 5 of the Farmers to invest in this skill. It basically enables leaked experience, but it only takes effect if the characters who have it are not in your active party. At level 10, any character that has this skill will gain 10% of the total experience you gain in battles. Sounds like a ripoff? It isn't. Consider that the total exp is split amongst 5 people in a 5 man party, which means each member in the active party gets 20% of the exp. So maxing out Combat Study means that everyone who has it is getting half of what a 5 man party would be getting. Now the reason you want 5 Farmers not to have this is to have a Farmer team to help harvest while the other Farmers are leveling up. As for the Ninjas? That's for later.
Limits are basically Final Fantasy VII's Limit Breaks, special moves you can perform in battle. They're kind of like Force Skills in Etrian Odyssey 2, but Limits are much more balanced, so I'll actually be using them in this game instead of holding back on them for those that are familiar with my EO2 LP.
You can rearrange the party setup here.
Oops, can't view anything since we actually haven't accepted any quests or missions yet. Let's check out Guild Cards.
This is the game where Guild Cards made their debut, and became a mainstay in the rest of the series. These list out stats of what you did in a playthrough, and a list of accomplishments. Although we didn't really do anything yet, so there's nothing in those blank squares right now. Anyways, I think we spent enough time in the menus.
Let's leave.
Oh, but before you go, let me explain one more thing. It’s about the documents I just gave you along with the guild certificate... Smart explorers actually read them carefully. If you don’t feel like it, just throw them away... But if you hope to go all the way in the Labyrinth, you’d be well-served giving them a look.
Way ahead of you.
In this game, powerful abilities called Limit Skills can be used by up to five party members. Limit Skills can be learned by obtaining documents with the skill details written in them. Gather various Limit Skills and use them well to make your time in the Labyrinth easier.
The Guildmaster actually has different things to say depending on how many party members you leave with. If you have no one in the party:
...Come back here once you’re ready to get serious.
If you have 1 to 4 party members:
It’s up to you how many people to put in your party, but... I myself wouldn’t go with less than five. But that aside, you still have to visit the Senatus next. Introduce yourself to the old lady there. Oh, but before you go, let me explain one more thing.
And then the game continues with the Limit explanation. But enough of that, onwards!
WOO HOO! Let's get on with this whole exploring thing!
Aw, what!? You're kidding me!
The honorable Guildmaster did say we needed to go to the Senatus first.
Uh, where is the Senatus anyway?
I think we better look around town first, and maybe get familiar with the place while we're at it.
Welcome to Aman’s Inn, boss! Not only can you spend the night here, we have doctors to treat your wounds, too! So, is this your first time in Armoroad? Isn’t it awesome? Those clear seas! Those blue skies!
Ehhh, I'd need to spend more time here-
It's a beautiful place.
You can rest at the inn to recover all your HP and TP. But something this game finally does is to let you sleep in until evening, even if it's already evening. The first two games didn't let you do that, and this game finally does away with that needless thing. The resting fee is 5 * the highest leveled party member's level. However, sleeping can't revive the dead or undo petrification.
But don't worry! You can go to the clinic to do that! The game did another small improvement and merged the inn and hospital together, where in the first two games, they were separate locations. The clinic's fee for treatment is 5 * the client's level.
Returning from EO2 is the storage system, you can store 99 items here, and the storage costs are 100 en per item.
Let's talk to the innkeeper.
Ah, we haven't really looked around all that much yet.
They call this the ocean city, ’cuz so many people from across the seas wind up here. I bet you’d enjoy taking a walk around town before you go down into the Labyrinth.
You can also save your game here. Now let's look around town some more.
What’s this...? Unfamiliar faces? Let me guess: new explorers lured by the sweet scent of profit?
Uh, maybe?
In that case, welcome to Napier’s Firm. We carry all the weapons, armor, and tools you’ll require. Here at our Firm, the customer is God. We’ll spare no expense for those who line our coffers. Though that is conditional on you participating in a transaction. No window shoppers, please.
She's quick to the point.
We have nothing to sell, so let's buy some weapons.
Hmm, it seems like this is a good place to stock up on supplies.
How much have we got again?
Let's see here... 500 ental. That should be plenty to buy everything we need! These weapons and all that can't be that expensive. Besides, it was really hard to scrounge up this much.
WHAT.
There's some sort of mistake in the price tags, right?
Lady, these prices are outrageous! Can't you give us some sort of discount or something!?
Skilled explorers have few qualms at parting with their money. Stinginess never saved a life. All things depend upon money. Your finances dictate whether you master Yggdrasil or die penniless. Remember that. So then, what can I get for you?
Such naked avarice!
Hmm, I did some calculations and we should be able to afford everything we need here after all.
Sweet!
We just need to forgo breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any other times we need to eat for the next week.
You're kidding.
Can't we just look for another store? What am I going to do without my daily helping of sushi!?
I've checked around, and this is the only store in the area. Sorry everybody.
...Lousy freaking highway robbery. Fine! You win!
Despite the shopkeeper's obvious greed, she's completely right. You want to spend every bit of money you can on weapons, armor, and medicine. You need every single advantage you can get to survive the early-game, which I've said before, is the most difficult part of most Etrian Odyssey games. Your party will not survive with just their starting equipment. Also unrelated to gameplay, but Edie (That's her name according to the EO3 artbook) is my favorite shopkeeper in the series. Okay, let's buy some stuff.
These are all the available weapons for now. You may have noticed that some of the weapons had boxes with the name of a stat in them. These are known as forge slots. A weapon had 2 slots with LUC in them, so if a class equipped that weapon, they would gain 2 points of LUC. In the first two games, equipment could come with secondary stats aside from an offensive or defensive boost, or provide a different bonus such as resistance to a specific disable. This is replaced by the forge system in EO3. A very big change that resulted from this is that equipment can now come with multiple different attributes instead of 1 or 2 specific ones. However, the maximum amount forges any possible piece of equipment can have is 8 forges, limiting just how much of a secondary boost you can get from them compared to EO1 and 2. Anyways, I go and buy the necessary equipment for my party members.
Let's check out the armor selection.
Okay, there's not much here, but if you have a Hoplite, buy a shield for them. They can't use most of their defensive skills without one. I also make sure to buy boots for everyone. They don't provide as much of a defense bonus as the gloves and the helmet, but they provide a hidden boost to something called Action Speed, which determines how much faster you are than the enemies. Now let's look at accessories.
Which are all out of our price range. These all provide a 3 point boost to a certain stat. And finally, the item section.
This is the only thing we can buy, and with the remaining amount of money, I buy two of these. Normally I wouldn't do this, and buy 5. But I have Faye, who provides a ton of healing for the group, so I can afford to go in the Labyrinth with less Medicas than I normally start out with.
The guild is now completely and utterly broke. (This is a good thing at this point in the game, it means you're as prepared as possible.) And here's everyone's loadouts before setting out. Wait, what does “other” do?
Here's another new convenience feature that got added to this game. You can now buy and change equipment for your reserve guild members! Handy if you're switching out characters for whatever reason. Let's look around town some more.
For the record, the shop music also plays in this place.
Welcomes! ...Hm? I am not recognizing you people. Are you new explorers here?
Ah, yes. We are.
Well, welcomes to you! This is the Butterfly Bistro, and I am the owner here! Once you finish the mission that the old lady gives all the newbies, I can give you work. ...Until the then time, have some drinkings and chatting swith the other explorers here!
The Butterfly Bistro is a place where we can go do sidequests. However, we can't do any right now. What a shame, and I mean that sincerely.
Here's another new feature Etrian Odyssey 3 added that became a series mainstay.
You can talk to other NPCs at the bar. They'll usually have something useful to say, such as warning you about specific dangers, or telling you about other kinds of stuff. There's only one guy here right now.
I’m Wolfram, a troubadour. I’ve wended my way from the far north all the way to this ocean city. I’ve been here a long time... I may have a few words of advice about challenging that place.
For the record, none of the bar NPCs actually have portraits, but I'm gonna splice some in, so the transcribed dialogue is a bit easier to read. (Originally I planned to use emoticons to represent bar patrons, but that ran into several problems, such as the emoticon cap.)
We would like to know more about this city, for one.
This city where you stand is the world-famous ocean city of Armoroad! A free city of clear skies and white clouds, an endless sea, and a vibrant, eclectic culture! ...But freedom can’t exist without order. This country does have a royal family. Sadly, the modern royal family has been reduced to mere figureheads...
Wait, then who leads this city?
Ah, but who then governs Armoroad? The aristocrats of the Senatus, led by a fearsome old crone! Consider her to be the true power behind Armoroad. You’ll most certainly meet her yourselves. There’s more to Armoroad’s royal family than that, but... Let’s leave that for another time, hm?
We heard something about a Calamity. What happened here?
This ocean city of Armoroad was once a grand capital where science and technology flourished. But around 100 years ago, the center of Armoroad was suddenly swallowed by the ocean! Afterwards, the rippling waters became tidal waves... The gentle breeze gave way to earthquakes. Armoroad’s advanced technology was sunk, which ended diplomatic relations with nearby countries. It’s been a long road to recovery for Armoroad, but even today, it’s nowhere near what it once was... Not since the Calamity. If you ask anyone here, you’ll get nothing but a stony silence. Then again, that’s just because no one knows exactly what went on 100 years ago! It wasn’t all bad, mind you. After the Calamity, a Labyrinth was revealed, drawing explorers here. Though the Senatus had other reasons for gathering explorers... But that tale can wait for now.
Um, you said something about a royal family. Did they have a princess of some sort? I believe I heard some tales about her before I came here.
Glad you asked! That’s the most popular story of the day! I’d appreciate a tip for the telling. Her sobriquet of the Porcelain Princess comes from her pure, white shining skin... Her voice is like music from the harps of the goddesses; radiant enough to tame monsters! But even the goddesses wouldn’t linger in her presence for having to compete with her face... She is Princess Gutrune, a lovely goddess of Armoroad in her own right! Her visage is the stuff dreams are made of...
She sounds like quite the princess.
Though, mind you, I’ve never seen her in person.
Each successive princess in Armoroad is named Gutrune. I’ll tell you the reason... later.
Sheesh, what a windbag. Right, Faye? Uh, Faye?
Mmph. Grumblecakes... Huh!? WHA!? Oh. Uhhh. Your tales were veeeeeeerrrry interesting, but we gotta go.
Did I speak out of turn? I must protest; my profession requires me to sing loud and long! ...Ah, but I jest, I jest. Come again, explorers, if you wish to hear my stories.
Does that guy like hearing the sound of his own voice or something? Yeesh.
We are about to set out.
...Ah, you are just heading out? You may want to gather info before you go in there. Oh, by the by the way, what’s the name of your guild?
We're Guild Tidehunt! Don't wear it out!
...Tidehunt? That’s cool! I will make sure to be remembering it. I am hoping to do a lot of business with you, Tidehunt!
Another gameplay unrelated tidbit, Missy is my favorite bartender in the series, although Cass in EO2 comes close. Anyways, let's leave.
...Are you new explorers here in Armoroad? You don’t look quite ship-shape to me yet. You’ll need permission from the Senatus to go on voyages, so you should seek that out first.
We're then automatically kicked out.
You’re outsiders, aren’t you? Let me guess. You were drawn here by the rumors of the Labyrinth.
Why else would we be here?
Then you’d best remember this: You stand in an assembly hall of the Senatus, Armoroad’s government. And I am she who wields the Senatus’ authority to manage explorers such as yourselves. This is where so-called explorers’ skills are tested to sort the true warriors from the cowards. If you want to be recognized as true Armoroad explorers, accept the mission I issue you now.
Carry out these missions to gain various rewards and advance the game’s storyline. Select "Accept mission" from the menu to see the details.
What is this test that you have in mind for us?
The guard there will have more details for you. Look to him before you proceed. Ah, but you must have parchment first, eh? Here is the blank map given to explorers. Use it well.
Now we get access to one of the main features of the game, drawing a map! Which I will cover next time.
Just don’t get lost in the assembly hall on your way here!
We can also report our discoveries in the Labyrinth. For those of you that played EO2, note the lack of a Gear Registry. Yep, unlocking all the gear is no longer required for 100% completion.
Of course, since we were never in the Labyrinth, we have nothing to report.
Sheesh, that took a while.
Ooh, I wonder what mysteries this Labyrinth could hold.
Plenty, I'm sure.
Are you sure we should do this? We can still go back home, you know.
Positive! I didn't come all this way for nothing! Now, let's go in! I'm not waiting another second!
Here's another change Etrian Odyssey 3 made. Stratum splash screens are now animated! This was a change that sadly wasn't kept for future games, as the 3DS Etrian Odyssey games went back to having static splash screens.
Next time we'll explore the Labyrinth.