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Update 8: Meregho Saeno, Part 2
GeneralYeti has some educational words on the boss we just took down. And are about to take down again.
GeneralYeti posted:
So, I was a little curious - usually, the weirder names have a reason for being chosen. Turns out, Meregho Saeno is a bastardization/romanization of "mərəγō Saēnō" (lit. "the bird Saeno") from an ancient Iranian language. Now, this might not seem very important, but after a few more langauges we end up with Simurgh. Yep, the bird that holds a lot of knowledge, the one that's seen the universe die and be reborn three times. That Simurgh. And the game's depiction of it is pretty accurate, from what I can tell. The Simurgh, like a lot of other creatures, has a few parallels in other cultures - notably, Ziz, a giant bird from Jewish mythology big enough to blot out the sun with its wingspan. Ziz (sky) is supposed to be the one watching over Behemoth (land) and Leviathan (sea); and if that sounds remarkably familiar you've probably played Pokemon Emerald or one of the remakes. Or read Worm which is a pretty good read that I recommend.
While the Simurgh in mythology is usually benevolent, this one, not so much.
Multi heals! This oughta make us last longer.
Line Heal restores HP to a row, but as a tradeoff, it's weaker than Healing. At level 1, it starts off with 60% healing power.
Giant Kill now provides a 47% damage boost.
Hmm, now what should we do with all this money?
How about we shop for new equipment and supplies? The Labyrinth is sure to have more ferocious beasts living in there.
I was thinking about buying some drinks, but uh okay.
Now since I have enough money, I equip most of my party with new stuff and upgrade Akatsuki's dagger. Time for another Sea Quest!
This one is easier for a couple of reasons.
Castor
Class: Zodiac
Stats:
- Level: 6
- HP: 51
- TP: 66
- STR: 6
- TEC: 17
- VIT: 7
- AGI: 9
- LUC: 7
Equipment:
- Wisdom Book - Tome, 10 Attack, +1 TEC.
- Scale Jerkin - Clothes, 9 Defense.
- Bark Gloves - Gloves, 4 Defense.
- Straw Hat - Helm, 5 Defense.
Skillset:
- TP Up: Level 2 - Increases max TP by 13%.
- Ether Mastery: Level 4 - Increases elemental damage by 8%.
- Fire Mastery: Level 2 - Increases Fire damage by 3%.
- Etheric Return: Level 1 - Restores 1 TP upon killing an enemy.
- Fire Star: Level 2 - 9 TP. Deals 44% Fire damage to one enemy.
Supplies:
- 1 Amrita. Restores 50 TP to one party member.
All Castor will do is use Fire Star. Etheric Return is just a passive that restores some TP if he gets the killing blow. Nothing important.
Pollux
Class: Monk
Stats:
- Level: 5
- HP: 50
- TP: 54
- STR: 12
- TEC: 14
- VIT: 8
- AGI: 10
- LUC: 8
Equipment:
- Wisdom Book - Tome, 10 Attack, +1 TEC.
- Feather Armor - Light Armor, 16 Defense.
- Straw Hat - Helm, 5 Defense.
- Shuro's Sandals - Boots, 2 Defense, +1 STR.
Skillset:
- TP Up: Level 2 - Increases max TP by 13%.
- Form Qi: Level 4 - Healing skills restore 35% more HP.
- Ascetic Deeds: Level 1 - Every time the user casts a skill, they restore 20 HP.
- Healing: Level 2 - 5 TP. Heals a one party member with a healing power of 75%.
- Refresh: Level 1 - 6 TP. Dispels all status ailments on one party member.
Supplies:
- 1 Amrita. Restores 50 TP to one party member.
Pollux will work on healing your party and keeping them alive, as well as dispelling Confusion if anyone gets hit with it.
You wanna bring some support, but not too much since Pollux will be doing a lot of heavy lifting on that front. So go and focus on some firepower as well. This is the party I'll be going with.
And the Limits I'll be using.
As you reach the top of the ruined lighthouse, you find a giant bird monster glaring down at you! This must be why the brothers requested your protection. Now, bravely take your weapons in hand to challenge the nightmare beating its wings above you!
Sidney, I thought you said you killed it?
So did I, but I guess it's back for round two! We'll just take it down again! Let's rock!
Video: Meregho Saeno
Akatsuki is just gonna be dealing damage and doing his share of the supporting throughout the fight. If the leg bind from Kagenui lands, that'll be nice, but it won't help out that much.
Cassandra is gonna try to tank most of the hits.
And Sidney is our main form of offense.
Oh goodness, that hurts! Sometimes I wonder why I became a Hoplite.
So Miss Faye wouldn't get herself killed?
Ah yes, of course.
Here's knives in your legs!
Not much, but every little bit helps.
Why thank you, Pollux. I do appreciate the help.
And here's why this is one of the easier Sea Quests. Pollux is a massive cheater and will heal up anyone who gets injured, instead of preemptively guessing who needs a heal, like you have to sometimes.
You're a stupid dumb birdbrain!
Hey! Don't steal my insults!
What you see happening to Pollux is Ascetic Deeds kicking in. Every time he casts a skill, any skill, he'll restore some of his own HP.
And we're really not lacking in offense for this fight.
Cassandra will alternate between spamming Line Guard, in case Akatsuki gets targeted, and refreshing Provoke's duration.
Okay, I'm starting to learn how to use this thing better.
Sidney has Charge Tactic ready to go. Fortunately, only one person needs their Limit gauge full in order to use it. Unfortunately, I do something dumb.
So here's the thing, Etrian Odyssey doesn't have a confirmation screen or anything when you're deciding what to do for the last party member, even though you can change what you want to do with the other ones. So you can't take back the decision you make with your last party member.
Give em hell, guys!
Such power!
A minor increase in damage for Akatsuki.
I did not need healing, you fool!
Sorry! I thought I was grabbing my crossbow.
So about what I said about the lack of a confirmation screen, I ended up fat fingering and had Sidney use a Medica on Akatsuki when I meant for him to attack. 
A minor damage increase for Castor.
Provoke is about to wear off in 1 turn, so I have Cassandra recast it.
AUGH! 
Sadly Cassandra can't do a thing about elemental attacks. Not yet at least.
A nice increase in damage for Sidney.
Quit spamming Thunder Feather you jerk. 
Meregho Saeno is on the ropes, so this is where the fight gets really dangerous since Panic Claw enters the equation. And bad things will happen if Cassandra gets confused.
I shall endure!
Eh? Is that a giant pigeon? What in tarnation is that thing doing on my lawn!?
...The hell?
M-Miss Cassandra?
Well at least Provoke is staying up for one more turn.
Unfortunately, Pollux prioritizes healing over dispelling ailments.
My mistake was not throwing a Medica at her so Pollux would cast Refresh instead.
Plop out anymore pigeon droppings, and there'll be more where that came from!
Fortunately, Cassandra opted to attack Meregho Saeno instead of my own party. But eventually...
Now git, you stupid bird!
But you weren't even the one who- wait, we have more pressing matters at hand. How do we return Miss Cassandra to normal?
Hrm, maybe we can- oh wait, I think she's coming around.
Ugh. What in the world happened? The last thing I remember was that feathered fiend swiping at me...
Eh, you seem to be fine. Don't worry about it.
The fight is over. And fortunately, most disables will wear off once the battle ends. The exceptions are petrification and death, which have to be cured manually.
Now the clients will be able to observe the heavens from here with peace of mind. They thank you as you wave goodbye. You return to your ship to report back to the ocean city.
There you have it. It’s nice to see young people so driven by their goals. Haha, hopefully you are too. Oh, and this is also for you. The younger of the brothers left it as a token of his gratitude.
His last line changes to this if you already have Pollux's Records:
...You all did well to bring down that bird this time. Good work.
Pollux's Records is a pretty huge upgrade for Asteria, providing a nice increase to her most important stats, +2 to TEC, and 10% more TP. The increase in attack is unimportant, as the weapon's attack doesn't factor into her spells at all. You can basically keep this on a Zodiac for a long time.
Now for the final Sea Quest.
Kirikaze
Class: Ninja
Stats:
- Level: 7
- HP: 53
- TP: 42
- STR: 12
- TEC: 13
- VIT: 7
- AGI: 15
- LUC: 12
Equipment:
- Main Gauche - Knife, 32 Attack, +1 VIT.
- Scale Jerkin - Clothes, 9 Defense.
- Straw Hat - Helm, 5 Defense.
- Shuro's Sandals - Boots, 2 Defense, +1 STR.
Skillset:
- HP Up: Level 1 - Increases max TP by 10%.
- TP Up: Level 3 - Increases max TP by 16%.
- Keburi no Sue: Level 4 - Eliminates the back row damage penalty and reduces the TP cost of all skills by 3.
- Knife Mastery: Level 3 - Increases normal attack damage by 4% when using a Knife.
- Senpuku: Level 4 - Increases evasion by +17%.
- Kagenui: Level 1 - 6 TP. Deals 140% Slash damage to one enemy, and has a 33% chance of inflicting Leg Bind.
- Bunshin: Level 1 - 10 TP. Sacrifices half of the user's current HP and TP to create a clone.
Supplies:
- 2 Medicas. Restores 80 HP to one party member.
Kirikaze is the only NPC that's coming along. She'll just be dealing a slight amount of damage to Meregho Saeno.
For quests like these, just make sure to leave out the least important member, or someone who won't be able to contribute much in a fight like this.
My Limit setup. I'm actually going to use Mumyouken this time.
After cautiously proceeding through the ruined lighthouse, you find a gigantic bird monster at the top!
How persistent is this bird!?
I dunno, but I don't think it can take one more fight. Come on! For the good of Armoroad!
Your party and the ninja take weapons in hand as the bird spreads its wings in challenge! The monster lets loose a blood-curdling shriek as you dart toward the threat before you!
Video: Meregho Saeno
Starting off, Faye will just attack.
Cassandra will tank.
Sidney and Asteria are going all out with offense.
Ready everyone?
Just do it!
Ha ha! How do you like that!?
Mumyouken is a random target skill that dishes out 3 hits that deal 140% Pierce damage each. When there's only one target to use it on, it's pretty powerful.
Whoa! I'm seeing double!
Bunshin creates a clone of the person that used that ability, at the cost of halving their HP and TP. The clone can do everything the original person can do, from using skills, items, and even running away. Also when there's a clone on the field, the Ninja isn't considered dead until every single clone of that Ninja is dead. And the Ninja can create multiple copies of themselves.
Oh and here's a funny little quirk about Kirikaze. Normally, she has a limited amount of supplies, but when she uses Bunshin, her clones start out with a full stock. This also applies to any Ninja we'll team up with in the future as well.
Bashy bashy!
A decent amount of damage from Faye.
It's ice to meet you!
Asteria is a wrecking ball in this fight. We're really not lacking in offense for this one.
But even though Faye can dish out a lot of damage, she needs to work on supporting the team.
Spreading the love!
ARGH! Okay, I'm fine. I'm fine...
Indomitable kicking in. Once it activates, it has to be recasted if you want to keep the endure effect.
Kirikaze isn't lacking in damage, so you can whittle Meregho Saeno down pretty fast in this fight.
See? Turn 3, and it's already getting pretty low. Although now it means it's Panic Claw time.
Ohhh, back for more, you stupid pigeon!?
...What.
Yeah that was about my reaction, too.
I-Is she gonna be alright?
Oh, she'll get better... Sooner or later.
Help me shoo off this pigeon, or I'll do it myself!
Huh!? But she's on our side!
Yeh might wanna stay away from her when she's flailing around like that.
Cassie! Snap out of it!
Oh, sorry. I'm not sure what got into me. Again.
I'll be honest, I'm not really a fan of birds. I prefer reptiles, like blizzards! Ahahaha!
Asteria, stop.
Your request has been denied, oh humorless one.
Heh. I thought it was funny.
A fairly easy Sea Quest, although I don't recommend going straight for the 1 person Sea Quests first.
As you celebrate your victory, the client dashes off to examine the monster’s nest! But judging from her gloomy expression, it seems she hasn’t found what she came for. In any case, you have defeated the bird monster and must now set sail to report back to the ocean city.
Don’t worry, the sea is vast and the forest is deep. I’m sure she’ll find what she seeks eventually. Oh, and take this with you. The client left it for you.
If you already have the hood, instead of giving you the Kirikaze Hood, he says this instead:
You did well this time too. Keep up the hard work.
It's a nice helmet, but I don't have anyone equip it for now. Next time, we'll go back into the Labyrinth and possibly run into a deadly enemy.