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Update 46: The New Recruit
Character created by Theantro.
...And that's why I'm stuck here until I can get home.
*snore* Mmph.
Okay, are you gonna keep whining or are you-
And people like you should learn how to respect your elders!
Right uh, how do I put this respectfully? Ah, screw it, you'll probably just take the wrong way. Again. So you know what? GET OUT! You've been rambling for hours on today's society or whatever! And you're holding up the line! Or what's left of it. NEXT!
Howdy! I'm Cassidy! Cassidy the Shogun!
Character created by Rare Acumen.
...And I also heard you-
Uh, look. As cool as it would have been for me to suplex Narmer's ghost, that's uh, not what happened. At all. It was more... messy than that.
And can you actually demonstrate your combat capabilities, or are you just gonna keep telling tall tales?
Uh... Uh... I can cut through stone like butter! See? Ack! My sword! It's stuck!
NEXT!
I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever find a good Shogun at this rate.
How did these people even get in Armoroad's military? Some of these people don't even seem right in the head.
Maybe we should just give up-
Greetings. I am Charlotte. I hear you're looking for a new member for your guild?
Character created by Ragnar Homsar.
...My tactical prowess and combat abilities have gone to waste, and I wish to make good use of my abilities, which I haven't been able to do. Until now. That's why I wish to join you. And I believe I will be a good asset to your guild.
Hmm, what do you girls think?
We could use an actual tactician.
And she does seem quite capable at combat.
Alright sister, you're in! Welcome aboard, Charlotte!
Thank you! It will be a pleasure to work with you all!
Alright! Let's see what you can do. We'll be heading out for the 4th Stratum, right now!
Wait, what?
Wait wait wait! I'm not ready for-AAAAAHHHHH!
Still rusty...
Really?
Ugh...
So uh, I thought you were like a trained soldier or something. And then a sea slug knocked you out.
Maybe taking me into the Labyrinth immediately instead of giving me time to prepare had something to do with it?
...Oh. Uh, sorry.
It's fine, my skills have gotten a bit rusty. Just let me get ready before you take me back in there.
Ah, got it. We'll just take care of unfinished business in the meantime.
Oh yeah, want to try out your new class that you unlocked? Too bad, you can't use them right away. No, you have to grind them up, because they start at level 1. And if you're wondering, there isn't a fast way to grind. If you're not above using exploits though, there is a Sea Quest exploit that you can make use of that I'll show off a bit later.
Remember when I said at the beginning of this Let's Play, that you want to make one of every class? Well for Shoguns, you actually want to make two. Three if you want to go the overkill route. This is in case you want to bust out a specific strategy for a few problematic bosses later. Anyways, don't expect Cassidy and Bobson to be actual characters. I'm only busting them out when I feel like doing some shenanigans.
Okay, time to see what's in those locked chests.
Well that was a bust.
Well there are three more of these. Maybe they'll have better treasures.
On the 2nd floor, we got a Hamao II from one of these chests.
It heals 100 HP and 50 TP to whoever uses it. Eh.
Okay, really? Stuns are terrible in this game. Not exactly a worthwhile treasure.
At this point, I remembered that I had 2 Vigor Books, so I use them on Sidney.
Time to toughen up!
Since Front Mortar is his main form of dealing damage, he needs to be able to survive on the front row.
A speedy defense is a good defense.
Even though Cassandra's shield skills provide a high action speed bonus, some bosses later on will outspeed her no matter what, so I want to get her AGI up to a high enough level.
And here's the last chest.
Ooh! Medica IVs are pretty fantastic items. They restore all of a character's HP when used. But we can't buy any more of these until the post-game. Sadly, these finally got nerfed in EO2U, where they only restore 500 HP instead of all of it. (And the description wasn't changed because of laziness.)
Man, you think that those chests that are actually locked would contain things that are worth something.
Yeah, that sucked. Mmm. I could go for a good meal right now. Wonder if Missy put up any new requests.
Hmm, I wonder who posted this one.
Oh, that one? The clinic at the inn is making that request. It seems that there are ingredients for medicine in the undersea shrine. Supposedly there is a shriveled fruit on a withered vine that can give you energy. Your job will be to get some of that fruit. You can do it, yes? I’m sure you can! Get to it, explorers!
I have no idea what this person is talking about.
Are you accepting that request? It was put up by the richest man in Armoroad, Elval.
It is a contest, though, so I heard that your reward is better if you beat a lot of monsters. The guard in the public square can tell you the details. Go ask him about it!
You are to head down to the Third Stratum and defeat as many monsters as you can in 24 hours! The monsters have been assigned point values. Ones on B9F are 1 point, on B10F 2 points... Monsters appearing on B11F are 3 points, and those on B12F are worth 4 points. Also, more powerful monsters in the Labyrinth have values ranging from 15 to 25 points. The final rankings will be decided by the total points earned by defeating monsters. Your 24 hour time limit begins the moment you enter B9F, so keep that in mind. Of course, if you are satisfied with your score, you’re free to report back to me and stop early. However, if you leave the Third Stratum without at least 30 points, you will be disqualified. Those are the rules. Are there any questions? Ask them now, because I won’t have time later.
The other two options basically just repeat what he already told us, with no new details. So yes, this is another killing contest, only we're on a time limit for this one.
I think we're good.
Well then, the contest rules have now been explained. Mr. Elval’s guild will be keeping watch over the area, so don’t slack off. ...There you have it. We’re expecting great results from all of you! Now, get to B9F!
You can see that many other guilds have gathered around as well. You don’t have a moment to spare! Take your weapons in hand and journey forth!
Okay, time to explain how this works. Each monster is assigned a point value. When you kill a monster in a fight, the points are added to your total, meaning that it's killing a monster, not completing a battle, that counts. The point values are as follows:
1 point:
Dragon Egg
Rattle Nozuchi
Flame Lynx
Stegosaurus
2 points:
Trip Mushroom
Killer Ant
Guardian Ant
Cave Elephant
3 points:
Flame Lizard
Yawnypus
Lava Beast
4 points:
Dragon Pup
Clawed Mole
Great Anteater
FOEs:
Mud Lurker: 15 points
Mother Dragon: 20 points
Poison Dragon: 25 points
The guard's wording was slightly misleading. You can't just go down to the 12th floor and get 4 points off of every encounter. Even if you kill a Flame Lynx on the 12th floor, you'll only get 1 point for each one you kill. Likewise, you can encounter Dragon Pups on the 9th floor, by just letting a Dragon Egg hatch, and get 4 points out of that kill. However, I honestly wouldn't bother with the random encounters too much. In order to get the best reward, you need 250 points. And you're on a 24 hour time limit, so you won't reach that by just killing trash mobs. You're gonna have to go after the FOEs, but you really should be able to take them by this point.
Oh, and monsters that aren't listed there such as Gatekeeper, won't count toward your point total. So don't bother going after those.
The best place to get a lot of points is the 10th floor, and go on a dragon massacre.
Also expect to gain a few levels if you handle things that way.
Endless Battle now provides a 8% damage boost.
Alright, how many was that?
Hmm, I believe that may have been enough to prevent us from getting disqualified.
......It seems that you have earned 30 points, the minimum amount required to complete the request! You are free to quit the contest and head back, or try harder to reach further heights.
I'm pretty certain we may have gone over 100 points.
Doesn't look like the other guilds have given up yet, so let's keep fighting!
......You have defeated enough monsters to earn you 100 points! That must be a good score! You are free to quit the contest and head back, or try harder to reach further heights.
If you leave now, you'll end up in 3rd place.
Etheric Return now restores 2 TP per kill.
Huff... Don't you think... that this is enough?
Aw come on Cassie, we can't stop now! People are still fighting! I'm not settling for 2nd banana. We're shooting straight for first!
......You have earned 150 points! This will definitely get you a high rank in the contest! However, you look around and can see a few guilds that are still fighting. You are free to quit the contest and head back, or try harder to reach further heights.
150 points will net you 2nd place.
Antivolt now provides a 48% damage reduction to Volt attacks.
Ah, there we go! Leveling up Bolt Mastery to 7 unlocks this skill.
Bolt Mastery itself provides an 8% damage boost to regular attacks. Hooray.
Now if you're using a back row Arbalist, this is one of their best damage skills, and should be maxed out. But if you're using a Front Mortar Arbalist, only level it up to unlock a specific skill, then ignore it for the rest of the game.
I've killed all the Mother Dragons on this floor, but I'm still not past 250 points yet. So I went down to the 12th floor to kill some Poison Dragons.
They also weren't hard to deal with.
Ha... You think we... dunked the competition?
I think we're the only ones left... So, maybe...
You pause to look around and see that yours is the only guild still fighting. You must win! However, if you wish to keep challenging monsters until time is up, you may.
Killed another Poison Dragon just because. And to get Faye a level.
Protect Order now has a skill power of 210%. And let's go back to Armoroad to see the results.
Well then, we will now announce the scores and top three guilds.
If you tie with any guild, you'll take their place since you're a newer guild.
BOOYAH! GET DUNKED, NERDS!
Rose, I don't think you should say things like that. Especially to their faces.
Sorry, sorry. It's an old habit of mine. Heh heh.
That concludes the announcement. Mr. Elval’s rewards have been delivered to the bar.
Before I check in with Missy, I drop off some materials at Napier's, unlocking some new equipment.
Stonards could be pretty handy if you like running defensive teams. They reduce the amount of physical damage a party member takes by 45% for 4 turns, the same amount a max level Guard Order provides.
Now Missy has different things to say, and will give out different rewards depending on where you placed. If you only got 30 to 99 points:
Well! The guard came by a moment ago and reported the resultings of the contest! Unfortunately, it looks like you did not make the final cuts. I am sure you did your best, though, yes? Here... The guard gave me more money than the rewards totalled up to. Just take it!
You then get 1 Metapon, and each party member receives 3500 exp. If you got 100 to 149 points:
Well! The guard came by a moment ago and reported the resultings of the contest! It seems you mad it into 3rd place! Congratulations to you! Some of my other regulars participated, too, but you crushed their dreams! Haha! And look, this is the prize you got for doing it! Does this day not get better and better? Wow, your ferociousness... Ferrosossity... Feiro... Aaaaaaargh! ...Ferocity! Your "ferocity" always surprises me!
You then get 2 Metapons, and each party member receives 4000 exp. If you got 150 to 249 points:
Well! The guard came by a moment ago and reported the resultings of the contest! Aaaaaaaaaand… You ended up in 2nd place! Impressive! I am amazed at how you could successfully outperform so many other skilled guilds! Hold your heads high as you walk through Armoroad! Be the
envy of all other explorers! And look, this is the prize you got for doing it! Does this day not get better and better? Wow, your ferociousness... Ferrosossity... Feiro... Aaaaaaargh! ...Ferocity! Your "ferocity" always surprises me!
You then get 3 Metapons, and each party member receives 4500 exp. If you got 1st place:
Congratulations! Hey! Hey! I heard the news! Is it true that you are the winners of the monster contest!? Do you not be daring to lie!
Oh yeah! That's us!
......Whew... That makes me so happy! I was so surprised to hear it, I thought I’d die! There is nobody in the city who can stand up to you guys! Seriously! Here is Elval’s reward for being such invincible fighters! Just be quiet and take it! ...Never forget that you have won a prize that cannot be bought or sold: fame!
This is the best reward we can get.
And everyone gains 5000 exp.
Endless Battle now provides a 10% damage boost.
Now, I talked about an exploit you can take advantage of to grind fast. It's actually not that fast, but it's the fastest one available at this point.
Video: King Penguin Exploit
First things first, save your game.
Then reset.
Saving again isn't necessary.
This Sea Quest is the one required for the exploit.
Place the party member you wish to grind in the top slot. 
Make sure they don't have the Royal Veil passive. That will screw up the RNG and prevent this exploit from working.
Limits are unnecessary.
When we fight this enemy for real, I'll talk about him in more detail. Which won't be for a while, because you should tackle him when you're in the 5th Stratum. But for now, I'm going to tell you what you need to do. Now this exploit actually isn't that simple to pull off. It's a bit involved compared to most other RNG kills. And for this exploit to work, everything has to play out exactly the same way as I show you. And I mean everything. Now if your character's AGI or action speed is too high, that will screw with things. But you can still pull off the exploit, but you'll have to change something in the process.
On the first turn, defend.
Kirikaze should use Bunshin.
On the 2nd turn, defend again.
Both Kirikazes should heal themselves.
Defend on the 3rd turn.
The Kirikaze in the front should use Bunshin.
Now this is the important part. If Kirikaze deals 218 points of damage with Kagenui instead of 220, you're going to have to deviate from what I'm telling you later. I'll let you know when that is, so just keep following my directions.
Now is when things change up. On the 4th turn, escape.
The clones should split and heal.
Oh, and you can't escape from Sea Quests, meaning that all that option is good for is manipulating the RNG.
On the 5th turn, escape again.
The clones should split and heal.
And one of them will initiate Tagen Battou.
Tagen Battou will deal 2419, 2420, 2419, and 2420 points of damage.
Escape again on the 6th turn.
Kirikaze will do nothing but defend until turn 9.
Now go back to defending on the 7th turn.
Defend on the 8th turn.
Both you and Kirikaze should take 1 point of damage.
Defend on the 9th turn.
Escape on the 10th turn.
The clones should heal themselves.
Escape on the 11th turn.
Kirikaze should deal 122 damage when she attacks.
Escape on the 12th turn.
The clones will all defend for a few turns.
Though two of them will heal themselves up first.
Escape again on the 13th turn.
Escape again on the 14th turn.
You and one of the clones will get hit, but the other 2 should dodge it.
On the 15th turn, defend.
Kirikaze will deal 186 points of damage with her regular attack.
Now here's where you need to pay attention. Kirikaze should deal 217 points of damage normally. However, if your action speed is too high, and you had Kirikaze deal 218 points of damage on turn 3, she'll deal 220 points of damage instead. If you see that happen, the next turn is when you have to do something different.
If everything happened like I showed you, defend on turn 16. However, if Kirikaze dealt 220 points of damage with Kagenui, on the last turn you need to select escape instead. If you defend, Kirikaze won't kill King Penguin on this turn, and you'll be screwed. Escaping will still cause her to kill King Penguin.
Kirikaze should use Tagen Battou, and kill King Penguin with it. Now on extremely rare occasions, King Penguin will summon some Penguins. If that happens, just keep defending until Kirikaze kills King Penguin.
And that's the King Penguin exploit! Told you it was a bit involved, but unfortunately it's the best method of grinding at this point. And remember that Sea Quest NPCs hog the exp (though admittedly Kirikaze did most of the work here) so you're only getting 22000 exp per kill. And I want Charlotte to reach level 41, which requires a total of 388848 experience points. That's a total of 18 King Penguin kills! So this is gonna take a while. 
As a quick reference, here's the list of actions you have to take when doing this exploit.
Turn 1: Defend
Turn 2: Defend
Turn 3: Defend
Turn 4: Escape
Turn 5: Escape
Turn 6: Escape
Turn 7: Defend
Turn 8: Defend
Turn 9: Defend
Turn 10: Escape
Turn 11: Escape
Turn 12: Escape
Turn 13: Escape
Turn 14: Escape
Turn 15: Defend
Turn 16: Defend
How about it? Did you come across any "glory and prosperity" from climbing that entire tower?
...I'm sorry, what?
...You guys probably climbed it without giving stuff like that even a second thought. But that’s how it should be. Glory and prosperity are earned, not found. They come when it’s time. In any case, you did well. This is for you. ...It was supposedly found at the top of the Tower of Victory.
Now we got access to a Limit that we weren't supposed to get this early. Aegis Shield combines the effects of Aegis Defense and Aegis Barrier, so it nullifies physical and elemental attacks. However, there's one more thing it defends against. Unlike Aegis Defense and Aegis Barrier, it actually nullifies Almighty damage as well, so it completely nullifies all attacks for one turn. Unfortunately it can't defend against ailments and binds, so it's not as good as the Painless Force Skill from EO2.
Is this really all you have? It's quite pricey.
So here's another problem with Shoguns. They need Katanas to make use of their abilities. And at this point, your options for getting them some are pretty limited. You can unlock Katanas by doing the Ant Agony quest, and killing a quest boss that is way too strong for your party at this point. You could sell the Mother Dragon's conditional drop, which involves petrifying them. You need a Ninja to pull that off, and you have an 18% to 19% chance of pulling that off at best. And even if you do get the drop, the Katana is very expensive and will cut into your funds. Or you could wait until the 14th floor, which is when enemies will start dropping things to unlock Katanas. Yeah, they really don't make it easy to make use of new classes for some reason. At least in EO4 the devs learned their lesson and automatically had new weapons available whenever you unlocked a new class.
Anyways, might as well see what this drop unlocks.
Oh yeah, you also need a drop from a 5th Stratum enemy to unlock this. Yeah, King Penguin was not intended to be taken on that early. I also took the time to unlock the rest of the 3rd Stratum equipment, which I'll show off now.
The Stone Charm provides a 30% resistance to Petrification. This is actually pretty situational until much later, because not much can Petrify you at this point.
The Curse Gem provides a 30% resistance to Curse. Kinda handy.
That's pretty much it for equipment. Now let's tie up some other loose ends. For one thing, Rose still needs a subclass.
Hey, Charlotte. You're like an actual trained soldier, right?
Correct.
You uh mind, uh teaching me some of the stuff you learned? Kinda wanna hone my skills. I need to surpass Sidney now.
I would be glad to teach you. Hmm, establishing a new relationship already. I'm off to a good start!
What was that? And what are you writing down?
Oh, nothing.
I have Rose sub Shogun in order to access one of the most broken strategies in the game.
So I hear you Buccaneers fight by working together with others.
Eh, I guess you could say that. So uh, what do you want?
If that is the case, then I wish to learn a few things from you.
Eh, sure why not. I'd look forward to teaching someone some new tricks. Someone who isn't as delusional as Susan, anyways.
MEGA-
Quiet, you.
...Definitely not a C. Maybe a D or an F?
And I have Charlotte sub Buccaneer in order to get the most out of said broken strategy. Also I'm aiming to turn her into an offensive support party member, which is why I had her sub Buccaneer. If you want your Shogun to be a straight damage dealer, sub Gladiator instead.
Getting Endure to level 3 unlocks these two skills, which I will be getting later.
Ha! As if I was easy to take down before.
Endure gives a 1 time chance for Rose to survive a killing blow. It's really good at adding to a frail class' survivability, but on a Gladiator, who is already one of the most durable classes in the game? Hoo boy. Now I'm actually taking this because it was a prerequisite to those two skills. At level 3, it provides a 60% chance for Rose to survive a fatal hit.
Oh, this is gonna be bloody all right!
Bloody Lance is a passive that gives Rose a semi-permanent damage boost each time she kills someone, whether it be friend or foe. It's not a buff, so it can't be dispelled unless the battle ends, or she dies. So it's basically a kill streak ability. The damage boost affects all damage types, including Almighty, and it has an upper cap of 500%, no matter how high the skill level is. At level 2, it provides a 13% damage boost per kill. It's actually kind of impractical in big fights, since the only way to get a damage boost in those cases would be for Rose to kill her allies. And I won't have her learn how to do that, because that's just moronic.
Ah, my second blade. It is time to ride into battle.
Second Sword is a really weird passive. It's the Shogun's class skill, and it lets them dual wield once they have a point in it. There's a bunch of interactions with the skill, but if you want to see the full list, just look at the Shogun Class Showcase. Anyways, this lets the Shogun do two attacks when using regular attacks, and they both count as separate actions, which has some interesting interactions with some of the Buccaneer's passives. When the Shogun attacks, they'll attack with their dominant hand first, which deals 100% damage, and then with their offhand, which deals a certain amount of damage depending on the skill level of Second Sword. At level 1, the offhand attack deals 20% damage. I'm only putting one point into to this, because I don't care about how much damage the offhand attack does for now.
What use have I for such a light blade?
I'm only getting Rapier Mastery so I can unlock a specific skill for her. Though at level it it provides a 9% boost to regular attacks if she has a Rapier equipped.
Guns don't kill monsters. I do.
Likewise with Gun Mastery. Provides a 9% damage boost to regular attacks if Charlotte has a gun.
But leveling up both weapon masteries to 8 unlocks this skill.
I'll strike as many times as I need to.
Swashbuckling is a passive abilities that gives the user a chance to strike again when using a regular attack. These count as separate actions, which has some interesting interactions with a few skills. Anyways at level 10, the chance for an extra attack to happen is 36%, and this would be capped at 3 extra attacks in normal circumstances. However, if the user knows Second Sword, the cap increases to 7 extra attacks, meaning that a Shogun could potentially hit a target up to 9 times.
I suppose we all need a bit of luck.
Just taking this so I can unlock better skills.
A sharp mind needs sharp eyes.
And now Charlotte can increase our party's physical damage output.
A true warrior knows their limits. I've surpassed mine.
Pfft, yeah right. You just joined us.
And Limit Boost increases Charlotte's Limit gain by 10, so she gains 15 Limit for every action she takes. However, since each regular attack counts as a separate action, with Second Sword, she can 30 Limit per turn, so she can get a full Limit Gauge in 4 turns instead of 7. Oh and if Swashbuckling activates enough times, she could potentially use a Limit skill 2 or more turns in a row, making her an excellent support on that front.
Now that I've gotten all the skills I wanted to turn Charlotte into a support, it's time to work on her offenses. First things first, getting Endure up to 5 to give her more survivability and unlocks a skill I'll be grabbing in a bit.
I won't fall so easily.
Endure now gives an 80% chance for Charlotte to survive a killing blow.
Ha! Do you honestly think you stand a chance against me?
Daifuhensha (Great Militarist) is an interesting buff. It increases the Shogun's physical attack and defense, but also causes enemies to attack them more often for 4 turns. It's a pretty powerful buff, but the Provoke effect might not be something you want on a Shogun of all classes. They really won't be able to take that many hits. At any rate, at level 3, it increases the Shogun's attack power by 21%, and their defense by 19%, while giving them up to an aggro value of 7 for the duration.
Now that Charlotte knows Second Sword, the 2nd equipment slot says Equipment instead of Armor.
And she can equip weapons there. Oh and the Nenekirimaru comes with 2 Limit forges. Since she has two of those, her Limit gain increases to 19, meaning that if she uses regular attacks, she gains 38 Limit per turn, meaning that she can max out her Limit Gauge in a maximum of 3 turns.