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Update 5: Mission Complete
We passed the test, and got a nice big present! Now, what do we name it?
The mapping mission has a few requirements before it's considered finished. First of all, there are 185 tiles to step on, but you need to have at least stepped on 105 of them. This is to prevent cheesing by copying from someone else. The other thing the game checks for is mistakes. A missing tile, a extra tile, a missing wall, or an extra wall all count as mistakes. If you have more than 18 mistakes, you cannot complete the mission until you fix them. However, door tiles or chest tiles do not care about how you map them at all, such as walling them off or not. So feel free to map those however you want.
We're done!
You present the parchment upon which you’ve inscribed your efforts thus far. The guard’s previously stern countenance lightened upon examining your work.
Outstanding. You’ve done a simply wonderful job here!
His expression utterly transformed, the guard showers you with effusive praise.
Go now hence to the Senatus and report to them your success to claim your reward.
Woo hoo!
Finally!
We can talk to the guard and try to report our success again.
They should have a reward for you, which I imagine will only make your journey easier.
If you try to run past him at this point:
”The the?”
Most sorry, but you need to report your success to the Senatus before moving on. I understand your eagerness to explore further, but there are clearly established rules.
Ah well, let's go back to town. Everyone in town has new dialogue when you enter the Labyrinth. In fact, the townspeople's dialogue changes for every new floor you reach.
You can drop your stuff here if you need to, boss. It’s just 100en a pop. If you can’t hold any more stuff, just leave it with us!
Huh. Thanks for letting us know, kid!
Let's sell our materials.
If you press the Y button when the cursor is over an item you want to sell, you'll have the option to sell all of them at once.
And the game lets you know if you've unlocked any new stuff and what you've unlocked. I don't sell my Slimy Legs or Frog Cheeks because I know they're needed for a quest, and I forgot how many were needed. Let's take a look at what we've unlocked.
Some pieces of equipment can come with HP or TP forges. Those boost the respective stat by 5% for each forge, which is calculated after the effects of the HP and TP Up passive skills. A few pieces of equipment will also come with those empty forges you see next to that TP forge right there. I'll go more into what those are about later.
This is all I've unlocked so far. I don't buy anything because even with 181 en, the Guild is still poor. Let's talk to Edie.
That's right.
Should you obtain any workable materials on your journey, my Firm will happily buy them from you. As you sell me new materials, we will stock new merchandise derived from it. And I am sure you could use the coin we pay in return. Everyone benefits.
Way ahead of you.
Starts with a T.
......Tidehunt! I know it! I remember it clearly! I do know my customers here at the Butterfly Bistro! Have a drink, and have fun!
Let's see what the bar patrons have to say.
...Have you folks been out to sea yet? If you’re ever out on the water, try catching some fish. There’s all kinds of fish around Armoroad. If you catch any, folks at the port will pay handsomely. The rarer your catch, the more you’ll rake in. Give it a try.
Huh. Might be a nice way to make some money.
But we would need a boat first.
True.
Hm? Ain’t seen ya before... New explorers, I take it?
Yes. We just started out.
Alright... Then here’s some advice. Did ya know if you beat monsters a certain way, they’ll drop different stuff than usual?
Oh? How so?
Some ya gotta kill with fire, or maybe defeat ’em while their arms are bound. That kinda thing. I know all sorts of secret tricks like that to get good treasure. If ya wanna know ’em, just ask. I don’t give ’em away for free, but ya buy me a drink or something and I’ll gladly spill for ya!
What Toma just told us about is very important. Some monsters have something called Gold Drops, or Conditional Drops. When we reach a new floor, we can buy him a drink in order for him to tell us about how to get conditional drops from enemies. He won't tell us how to get every single one, but he'll tell us about most of them This is a massive improvement over the first two games, which had conditional drops, but didn't tell us how to get most of them. A very good reason to check back in with the townspeople more often.
Yo! Haven’t seen you lot around! Are you new around here!? Great!
Yes, we are.
C’mon, sit here next to me! I used to challenge the Labyrinth when I was your age too. You gotta start from B1F! No shortcuts! Speaking of which, have you seen any Great Lynxes? Its sharp claws can rip rookies in half! They’re weak against fire, but that doesn’t make them any easier. It’s good practice for beginners. There’s a famous phrase around these parts: Great Lynxes are where rookies become explorers!
Really?
...Alright, you got me. I just came up with that a second ago! Bwahahahahahaha!
Still, I wish we got that warning before we went into the Labyrinth.
We only went in there once.
A warning to you newbies about going forward with investigating the Labyrinth: Bravery isn’t the same thing as idiocy. If you feel like you’re in danger, come back immediately.
Pfft. Speak for yourself. I love taking risks when I play. In fact, if you're the kind of player that loves to play conservatively when playing an Etrian Odyssey game, I'm gonna warn you, my playstyle might make you scream. I love playing aggressively and taking risks, and trying to get a lot done in one trip into the Labyrinth instead of doing things little by little. For the record, I'm not crazy. I don't dive into completely suicidal situations, like running around with only one person alive. Now the Harbormaster still has nothing new to say and will kick us out, so let's head back to the Senatus.
I should tell you that if you find new equipment or creatures there, make sure to report them here. Contributing to a comprehensive list of discoveries is a duty of all registered explorers. In return, the Senatus will provide support to make it easier for you to go on your adventures. Tit for tat, you see. If you want fame and glory, you’ll have to work for it!
Well let's report our discoveries right now.
When you check in with the Monster Codex or the Item Compendium, any new stuff you encountered is automatically recorded.
An apt description. Also don't worry, the game has worse tricks up its sleeve than the Great Lynx.
The Item Compendium also tells us how much each material sells for.
Let's hand in our mission report.
You’ve proven your mettle as explorers strong enough to challenge the Labyrinth. I’ll authorize the sale of items at Napier’s Firm which you may find necessary in your travels. I’ll also send word to the pier that Guild Tidehunt requires a seaworthy vessel. That should allow you to set out on voyages whenever the seafaring urge may strike. Train yourself in battle on the open seas and gain power enough to someday grant my wish.
Missions give out very nice rewards.
Oh, well that takes care of our money troubles.
I hate you for giving me a heart attack back at the store.
My apologies.
The money is real nice.
Oh, but just look at that exp! Missions also reward a ton of experience points upon handing in your report. I should note that you can't increase the amount of exp a party member gets by shrinking your party. Even if I were to have only one person hand in their report, they would still get 300 exp. Oh, and the mission exp doesn't affect anyone who has Combat Study. So have as many people in the party as possible when you go to make your report. Now that wasn't enough for a level up, but I'll fix that soon enough.
Here at the Butterfly Bistro, you can talk to people and take on side jobs called "requests." There are all kinds of different jobs, from monster hunts to item collecting. If you accept a request and complete the mission, report back to me! When you do, I will then give you the reward that the client gives me when they put it up! Doing these requests might make you some easy cash! I’ll keep getting more and more requests as time goes on, so come back here lots, okay? That’s pretty much it. Do you want to be taking on one of the requests right away?
Uh, sure!
Oh boy! Now that we've completed the first mission, we get access to a bunch of sidequests. I love quests. You'll see why soon enough. Let's take this one.
Did you need something?
I am wanting to make a new menu item here at my bar, and I am needing ingredients. What is required is 1 Frog Cheek and 3 Slimy Legs. I am most sure you can gather them by killing Forest Frogs on B1F. I can be counting upon you, yes? Good, good! Now "hop" to it! Ahaha!
Ahahahaha! A woman after my own heart!
Ergh... 
Dumb puns aside, what's this about?
I'll have you know that puns are the highest form of humor!
Oho, you are accepting this request, yes? It is easy, so is perfect for you. The client is Bill, an apprentice fisherman who is known for being a lazy oaf. He says he is wanting a safe place to sunbathe... I bet he is looking for a nap spot. You may be finding such a perfect spot somewhere on B1F, yes? You find a good place for him and let me know, yes? That will be the end of this. You be running along now, adventurers! I can be counting on you!
We'll do that one later. But we've already completed the Butterfly Bistro's new menu quest.
Ah, you are returning to see me, yes? The frog dish that has been swimming in my mind can now become reality. I thank you! Perhaps you would be liking some? I am most sure it will be tasteful! ...Oh, wait, yes. I am almost forgetting. You deserve reward for hard work! You will be getting more requests now, I am sure. Many thanks again!
I guess the free tents are nice.
But quests are absolutely worth doing because they give out experience points now! This is by far the best change that's been made from EO2 to 3 because quests were awful in the first two games and barely gave a decent reward compared to the tedium you had to go through to get them in the first place. There's an actual incentive to do these now. Even if the reward itself sucks, the experience points they give out are absolutely worth it! It also helps that quests are a lot less of a pain to do in this game. There's fetch quests sure, but there are a lot fewer of those in this game than in the first two games. And yes, quest exp follows the same rules as mission exp. The amount of exp one person can gain can't be increased by shrinking the party, and Combat Study party members don't get a single bit of it.
I'll go over what tents do when they become relevant.
You see, there is one item that may only be sold to explorers authorized by the Senatus... It’s called an Ariadne Thread. When you’re lost or wounded, use it to be teleported back to Armoroad. You should always have one with you when in the Labyrinth from this point on.
Whoa.
Stare at it all you want, though: I do not give them out for free. There’s no percentage in that.
She's got a one track mind.
I've unlocked a few new things after selling the rest of the Slimy Legs and Frog Cheeks. Yeah, just a warning. The game doesn't warn you if you have an item for a quest in your inventory, so you won't accidentally sell it. That feature was added in EO4.
Ariadne Threads are awesome. They are one of the most important items in the game since they can warp you back from any point in the Labyrinth. And yes, for those of you that have played the first two games, this is what Warp Wires got renamed to, because the translators had more cartridge and text space to work with. Try not to forget buying one, because being stuck deep inside the Labyrinth without a quick way out can get nasty real fast. Don't ever expect the game to remind you of this. The lack of a reminder in the series is an intentional feature. You could buy spares in case you forget to restock on them on a trip to the store. Oh, and if you've played EO2, don't worry. There are no squirrels in this game, nor any event that will steal your Ariadne Threads.
Don't bother buying any Tents yet.
Let's level up skills now. Healing is now level 3, which has a heal power of 80%.
Line Guard now reduces physical damage by 29% if casted on the Hoplite's own row. Otherwise, it only reduces the damage by 12%.
Giant Kill provides a 39% damage boost to enemies that have equal or more than twice the amount of the Arbalist's current HP.
Kagenui deals 150% damage while having a 39% to inflict leg bind.
Things are about to get very stormy.
Volt Star deals 40% Volt damage to a single target. Now that I've got one point in all the elemental stars, I'll be going for some different skills. Flowdia said that we can use a boat now, so let's go check that out.
It's a fairly catchy theme, and I think it fits this place quite well.
When the Calamity struck a century ago, the topography changed, and commerce ended. Since then, many have worked to reopen trade routes, but nobody can get ships out past these currents. That’s why the Senatus and I are asking explorers to set sail and create new sea charts. The rewards are handsome indeed. If you can chart a course from here to the north, it’ll be worth it. I’ve even gotten them to lend you a ship, exclusively for Tidehunt’s use. Got a name in mind?
I've got an idea...
Aha! Ahahahaha! Get it? Because-
Please. Stop.
So come up with or vote on a name for our ship. Please bold both the name you've came up with and the choice you're voting for. The default name will be Torrent if no one comes up with a name. Because that's what I went with in my own playthroughs.