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Update 52: Manticore
Sometimes I worry about Sidney. I think he gets too much pleasure from killing things.
Hmm? What are we doing here? I thought we were supposed to be exploring the Labyrinth.
Exploring the Labyrinth isn't all we do. Sometimes we set out sailing on the ocean. Doing whatever.
But mainly working toward the restoration of Armoroad.
And sometimes we help some people out with any problems they have. Though most of them involve killing monsters.
We're kind of like wandering heroes in that way. Hee hee.
Oh. I see Flowdia had her eyes on the right guild. Hmmhmm.
Ooh, a Manticore? Sounds like a real toughie! Let's help this guy out!
Here's the party that was voted in. And here are the party members I'll be using for this Sea Quest.
Here's my setup for this Sea Quest. Let's go!
Dude, you really shouldn't go on your own. Trust us! We know this place. ...Kinda.
Having been here before, you offer to guide the way. It would be dangerous to go alone. The client reluctantly accepts and follows you into the depths of the forest. The client says he’ll be fine from here on, but just as he does, the trees begin to wriggle ominously!
The trees are monsters? Great, what's next? The Labyrinth is a monster?
There’s no going forward or back without defeating the tree monsters! The client has raised his guard! Follow his lead and fight against the Dark Forest!
Let's incinerate them!
Video: Manticore
We're not fighting against the boss just yet. This is a fight with multiple waves, and it's the last Sea Quest that's like that.
Mistletoe
HP: 566
TP: 707
STR: 39
VIT: 40
AGI: 36
LUC: 33
TEC: 43
Attack Type: Pierce
Exp: 3000
Item Drops:
-Drop 1: Proboscis - 40% Drop Rate. 1 needed for Kijin Daiou (Katana. Must be restocked.) 1 needed for the quest Mooning over clover.
--Mistletoe tongue that sucks nutrients from its prey.
-Drop 2: N/A
-Gold: N/A
Description: A plant monster whose existence was only recently confirmed.
Damage Resistances: Slash: 100% Strike: 100% Pierce: 100% Fire: 150% Ice: 100% Volt: 100%
Ailment Resistances: Sleep: 30% Confusion: 30% Plague: 50% Poison: 50% Blind: 30% Curse: 50% Paralysis: 30%
Bind Resistances: Head: 50% Arm: 50% Leg: 50%
Other Resistances: Death: 50% Petrification: 50% Stun: 50%
Skills:
Life Absorb: Uses the Head. A single target Almighty attack that deals 115% damage. Heals the user for all of the damage dealt.
Mistletoes are pretty much designed to waste your time and resources before the actual fight. You need to take them out quickly, and preferably all at the same time.
Mostly just doing some setup here.
Relax. Take a load off.
Dark Ether stops the selected row from using up any TP for the turn. For physical attackers like Sidney, that's a godsend.
White Flame is kind of like Prevent Order in that it prevents ailments from being inflicted, but it only works on the user. However, it can't be dispelled when it blocks an ailment, so it's stronger than Prevent Order in that regard.
Mistletoes hit pretty hard, which is why I have Faye set up a Protect Order.
Healing, and harm!
Starting a forest fire in 3...
Ooh, let me help out with that!
And showing you just how ridiculous Protect Order is right now. Depending on the class, that restores about 40% to 75% of their maximum HP.
Time to end this quickly.
Perhaps I can offer you a back massage.
Ooh, that'd be nice!
Rampage deals Slash damage to every enemy on the field. It's decent for this fight.
Asses to ashes.
Oh, and the reason you want to take them out at the same time is because of this skill.
Poison Seeds: Does not use a body part. Used upon death. Attempts to Poison the entire party, and has a 99% chance of succeeding. The Poison ticks for 150 damage.
Wait how did that miss Faye? She doesn't have the stats to resist it. Oh well, must have gotten lucky. But yeah, look at that success rate and Poison damage. It takes off a good chunk of your HP, and will flat out kill most classes if they got damage during the fight. And even if they survive, they won't be in good condition for the next fight.
Excuse me while I harvest your energy from your remains. I need it for science!
And there's Etheric Return in action. Restores some of Asteria's TP every time she gets a kill.
Ya missed one!
If you had a lot of trouble with that part of the fight, you're really not gonna like what's coming up next.
It seems your intuition was right. With a smirk, the client readies his weapon and levels it ahead. A lion monster with huge wings approaches, its eyes dead-set on you as it licks its chops!
That's probably the Manticore that book was talking about!
Time seems to freeze for a moment, but the tension is broken as you, the client, and the lion engage!
Ooh, that's a big one! Bring it!
Hey, here's another familiar face from Etrian Odyssey 1! Manticor! Or rather, Manticore, now that the 8 character limit is no longer a thing. Anyways, he was an optional boss you could take on in the 4th Stratum, and was kind of nasty to deal with since his main form of offense was using ailments. And ailments was one of the few ways of getting past Immunize, the most broken strategy in that game.
Manticore
HP: 6569
TP: 707
STR: 36
VIT: 43
AGI: 44
LUC: 42
TEC: 41
Attack Type: Slash
Exp: 20000
Item Drops:
-Normal: Toxic Leather - 100% Drop Rate. 1 needed for Slashed Mail (Light Armor.)
--A black beast’s hand with unthinkably strong toxins.
-Gold: Evil Horn - Killing blow must deal at least 5000 damage. 100% Drop Rate. Prevents normal drops. 1 needed for Beast's Chain. (Wildling's ultimate Clothes. Must be restocked.)
--Can pierce metallic plates with ease.
Description: A new type of monster that lurks in the Dark Forest. It has long been spoken of in legend.
Damage Resistances: Slash: 100% Strike: 100% Pierce: 100% Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Volt: 100%
Ailment Resistances: Sleep: 10% Confusion: 10% Plague: 10% Poison: 10% Blind: 10% Curse: 10% Paralysis: 10%
Bind Resistances: Head: 30% Arm: 30% Leg: 30%
Other Resistances: Death: 1% Petrification: 1% Stun: 10%
Skills:
Petrivoice: Uses the Head. Attempts to Petrify or Confuse the entire party, and has a 10% chance of succeeding.
Darkness Coil: Uses the Head. Attempts to Blind or Curse the entire party, and has a 20% chance of succeeding.
Magic Lullaby: Uses the Head. Deals 40% Almighty damage to the entire party, and has a 15% chance of inflicting Sleep. Cannot miss. Uses the TEC stat.
Poison Tale: Uses the Legs. Deals 100% Pierce damage to the entire party, and has a 15% chance of inflicting Poison. The Poison ticks for 40 damage. Has an accuracy of 120.
Manticore pretty much has the same skillset he had in EO1. Though he lost his resistances to elemental attacks. Using ailments and binds on Manticore isn't really going to be effective, since he's pretty much resistant to them. The deadliest thing about Manticore are the ailments he can inflict. The infliction rates may seem low, but keep in mind that all his skills are AOEs.
Gonna set up and open up with an Etheric Charged Hellfire.
Lie down. Have a cookie.
An ounce of Faye is worth a pound of cure!
Magic Lullaby is pretty much the first thing the Manticore will throw out. His AI operates differently than most other bosses, which I'll cover in a bit.
Locked and loaded! Ow. How does Rose do this all the time?
Hmm. Guess I can't just burn away all my problems anymore.
Ech. Got an unlucky roll there. Also I forgot to use Charge Tactic for this, so my damage was even lower than it should have been. Oh well, shaved off 1162 HP in the end, so that's nice. Unfortunately, Asteria is starting to get affected by EO3's power curve since that's only less than a quarter of Manticore's max HP.
More setup. And trying to prevent my back row from dying from Manticore's next attack.
And that should stop Magic Lullaby from killing them.
Cheap shot!
Mmph. Pleased to meet you. I am Akatsuki, ninja slayer...
Shoot. Asteria, can you help Sid out? My hands are kinda full here!
On it!
Okay, when someone falls asleep, Manticore will use Poison Tail-wait, what?
Yeah, that move was called Poison Tail in the Japanese version. Not sure what happened here. Anyways, when someone is asleep, Manticore will cast Poison Tale, dealing a lot of damage and Poisoning your party members. The Poison damage ticks are lower than the Mistletoes' Poison Seeds, but Manticore's goal is to slowly whittle you down. If the Poison doesn't kill you, well his other skills will.
Back at the shooting gallery!
And if someone's Poisoned, Manticore will cast Darkness Coil. It has a chance of inflicting either Blind or Curse, but those are only painful if they land on a damage dealer. A support won't care about those ailments.
Pfft. Like that's gonna do anything.
That seemed to be ineffective.
The forecast didn't call for clouds!
Okay, let's actually start dealing damage to this thing.
Oh dear. Petrivoice is Manticore's deadliest skill. Once someone is Blind or Cursed, he'll start casting this. It has a chance to inflict Confusion or worse, Petrification, on the whole party.
Fortunately, it didn't hit anyone.
KABOOM!
OH MY GOD, WHY AM I HOLDING A KNIFE!? Did I kill someone again!?
Did I get him?
Hate to rain on your parade, but he was behind you.
Phooey.
If I killed someone... That means that beast is a witness!
All witnesses must die!
The worst part about Petrivoice is that if Manticore Petrifies someone, he'll be stuck casting it until you cure it. Also when Manticore drops below 51%, his AI gets erratic and starts casting random skills.
To sum up, here's how Manticore's AI operates. The game checks for stuff in this order:
If HP is at or above 51%:
-If at least 1 person is Petrified, Confused, Blind, or Cursed, cast Petrivoice.
-If at least 1 person is Poisoned, cast Darkness Coil.
-If at least 1 person is asleep, cast Poison Tale.
-Else, cast Magic Lullaby.
Else:
-25% chance to cast Petrivoice.
-25% chance to cast Darkness Coil.
-25% chance to cast Poison Tale.
-25% chance to cast Magic Lullaby.
Simple as that. But makes for a harrowing boss fight if you're unprepared. He does deviate from that occasionally, but that's how he works for the most part. You might notice a hole in his AI, but I'll be showing that off a bit later. At any rate, it's important to recover from ailments as soon as possible, as that stops Manticore from using his most deadly skills.
Mommy, my train went swimming in the piano.
Ow! Snap out of it already!
Tra la laaaaa!
About time we finished off the Manticore.
Freshen up!
Something I didn't notice until now, the game actually spits out unique messages for each ailment that gets dispelled. That's a nice touch.
Huh, thought he would be dead by now.
Oh.
Well let's just fix that.
You will soar the skies no longer, Manticore.
And that's Manticore! Ailments are the bigger threat rather than Manticore's damage output. It's important to have a way to deal with those, as they can shut down your party.
The client apologizes for assuming you to be weak, and admits that alone, he wouldn’t have made it.
Heh, no problem! Say, wanna have a look around the place?
You ask him if he wants to proceed, but he shakes his head with a laugh. You feel you’ve reached new heights as warriors as you acknowledge each other's strength on the way back.
Thanks to you, the marines should be able to resume investigations of the forest. Then again, that forest still has some uncharted land. Who knows when another monster will pop up. Of course, you might say the same thing about the ocean. You’ve got to be prepared for anything. Here, take this. The marines found it in the forest. Make use of it if you can.
We get Regroup Tactic as our reward. It's a pretty strong support Limit. What it does is heal everyone at the end of a turn (not the start like the description says) and dispels any existing ailments (but not binds) on the party for 5 turns. And the dispel happens before you take any Poison or Plague damage, so that's also nice. But don't use the skill for the recovery, it's actually pretty terrible. The healing power on the skill is only 30%, the real reason to use it is because of the ailment dispel. Oh and when the buff timer reaches 1, it won't apply its effects, so it really only lasts for 5 turns instead of 6, like most buffs that claim to last for 5 turns.
But here's something to be aware of. Even though it can cure Petrification, if all your party members get Petrified, it counts as a game over! Even if Regroup Tactic is still in effect! So you still have to be careful when facing stuff that can Petrify you.
Anyways, onto the next Sea Quest.
Medical breakthroughs? Sure, let's help with that!
Here are the party members I'll be taking along for this one.
And let's try out our new Limit.
The forest is no less dense than before and progress is slow. Your only source of light is a torch. Each time the client finds a rare fruit, they throw a sample of it into their assistant’s bags. As their bags fill, you notice an increasingly odd presence in the air of the forest.
Careful! There's something here!
The odd presence turns into a menacing force, and you draw your weapons in response. Suddenly, the vines and plants begin wriggling as though they are sentient, and attack!
Mistletoes? Hmm. Maybe... Nah, I don't think they're a good match.
What's she writing down?
Let's just clear them out.
I thought I had that for sure!
The annoying thing about Mistletoes is that once they take damage, they'll use Life Absorb to recover any HP they lost.
Fortunately, the NPCs will do their best to keep your party topped off.
Hopefully that clears them out.
My stomach is burning.
Feeling kinda woozy here.
Aw crud.
This should take care of ya!
Maybe you should spend more time at the shooting gallery.
Arbalists have pretty horrible hit rates with their skills. Fortunately, they do have a skill that helps them deal with their less than stellar accuracy. I'll definitely be picking that up later.
But eventually, I take them down.
You sense a powerful and menacing aura, far beyond that of the monsters you just defeated! Strolling in as though mocking your readiness, a gigantic lion with monster-like wings appears! You will not leave this forest without defeating it! You encourage the scared clients and charge!
Wait, didn't you kill that monster when you went out here before?
Not really. Monsters we fight out on sea tend to be really durable for some reason.
Speaking of which, I think that shark back in Ayutthaya's still hanging around. We never really killed it from what I remember.
Setting up and trying to recover from the last fight.
Fall back and regroup!
They look so cute together...
Argh. This is why the battle with the Mistletoes can be so annoying. Because they leave you in a really bad position for the Manticore fight.
Unacceptable. How could I fall asleep like that?
Don't worry. It happens to us often.
And there's Regroup Tactic in action. Dispels all existing ailments, and then heals you.
Rise!
Fortunately for us, the NPCs' AI cheat, so they're good at keeping you alive.
And Regroup Tactic dispels sleep on our party members once again. It's a pretty strong Limit in the right situations.
So remember what I said earlier about there being a hole in Manticore's AI? This is it. Regroup Tactic breaks Manticore's AI because in order for Manticore to use Poison Tale, there has to be people inflicted with Sleep. But Regroup Tactic dispels Sleep at the end of every turn, so Manticore is forced to cast Magic Lullaby over and over. Oh, and Charlotte can refresh Regroup Tactic easily since she can build her Limit gauge back up really fast.
However, Sleep will cancel out any Charge effects, so Sidney can't hit him really hard with a Front Mortar. On the other hand, everyone is pretty much building up their Accumulative Resistance to Sleep, so Manticore won't be able to inflict that anymore.
However, remember that this only works while Manticore's HP is above 51%. Once he drops below that, Regroup Tactic won't break his AI anymore, since he'll be randomly casting stuff then.
JUST LET ME SHOOT YOU ALREADY! Geez!
Thanks for standing still! Yeesh.
And now is when Manticore's AI is no longer exploitable. Oh well, the fight's just about over anyways.
Front Mortar is really really strong. Also the 2nd time Manticore barely survived.
Let's fix that.
Another falls.
Kill stealer! 
Well that was an easy fight. For the record, that tactic will only work on the first and second Sea Quests, as you can't use 3 people Limits in the 3rd Sea Quest.
The monster may be slain, but just getting back to the ship alive will be another ordeal...
Grr. Those Mistletoes took a lot out of supplies. And Manticore showing back up didn't help matters either.
I wonder if we can make it out of this forest safely.
Suddenly the doctors begin to make a concoction out of the fruits they picked and hand you the brew. With a single sip, the exhaustion leaves your body and you feel a surge of energy inside you. Half amazed and half impressed, you guide the doctors back to the ship.
Ahhh. Well that helps a lot. Thanks!
Adventurers and doctors aren’t so different, you know. You both risk your lives for noble causes. They must understand that as well. They left this out of their respect for you and your profession.
If you already have that, the Harbormaster says this instead:
You let us deal with the Dark Forest for now. You should head off on your next adventure.
The Harbormaster says the same thing for all the other Sea Quests if you got the equipment reward from them.
The Copper Monacle is kind of a weird accessory. It increases your hit rate by 6, and increases your resistance to Plague by 20%. But nothing can really inflict that while you're in the 4th Stratum, so it's kind of useless at the moment. Anyways, we have one more Sea Quest left to cover.
Sounds like the military needs your help. You should get going.
So let's get right to it. Here's my setup for this one. I put Indomitable on Sidney, because he'll be in a dangerous position throughout the fight. While Faye has Second Wind as her best option.
The forest is no less dense than before and progress is slow. Your only source of light is a torch. Suddenly you hear the fierce cries of battle and the clang of steel! The clients must be in trouble! You reach the rendezvous point to discover the marines surrounded by wriggling tree monsters! There’s no time to hesitate! Draw your weapons and join the battle!
Shoot. They're in trouble already. Let's go!
Blah blah, setting up and hoping that things don't go horribly wrong during this fight.
Ibahd will try to cover the whole party with Prevent Order, which will protect them from Poison Seeds.
Now I'm hoping Sidney's strong enough to clear them out with Fire Barrage.
Yer all gonna be kindling by the time I'm through with you!
Ehh, it's not as fun to kill the small fry.
If you're wondering about the damage disparity between the first Mistletoe and the rest of them, that's because Giant Kill wasn't in effect for the first one. Though honestly, the damage penalty will rarely matter. If anything, Giant Kill not being in effect for an attack pretty much means that the enemy is dead, or going to die very soon.
Well, Sidney's probably doomed.
But fortunately for me, the AI also cheats in this Sea Quest.
And I managed to get through that without too much hassle.
But just as you’re about to make introductions, everyone stops and turns their gaze to the sky! An enraged, gigantic lion-like monster is floating down slowly from the sky, its wings spread!
Of course. Can't just leave us alone. Nope.
Hey, look at it this way. It's another opportunity where we can beat him down!
You exchange knowing glances with the clients and charge forward to meet the winged menace!
While I'm gonna have Faye set up like usual...
I'm gonna have Sidney move to the front and swap places with Doster.
Mmm... Sorry Cassie, but you have to let me die...
Of course I can't set up if Faye falls asleep first.
Excuse me, mind if I move up here? Thanks!
Oh well. Best I can do is to make sure that Sidney doesn't die.
Who's the tough guy now, huh tough guy?
Well at least he woke Faye up.
Ha! Ya think a dumb lullaby's gonna take me down? Not a chance!
Good thing I had Sidney use Indomitable.
And some good damage from Sidney.
Faye's looking a little low, so I'll heal her up with Second Wind.
Don't try to keep a good girl down!
You don't have to worry too much about Doster, since he can dispel ailments on his own.
Why's my skin turning gra-oh no, not agai-
Now once someone gets Petrified, Manticore will keep casting Petrivoice.
Fortunately, Suvaron managed to Confuse him, so he's gonna be helpless for a few turns.
I'm gonna take this opportunity to bring Faye back to normal.
Once Manticore gets Confused (or inflicted with any other ailment) Suvaron will cast Wolf Howl to weaken him even further.
Phew! Thanks. You know how hard it is to breathe while you're a statue? Like, really hard.
Okay, Sidney needs more TP to cast Front Mortar, so let's just use an Amrita on hi-no no NO I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!
Hey Sidney, ca-
...Whoops.
Thanks Faye. 
So something annoying about all the Etrian Odyssey games that came out before Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold. There's not like a confirmation notice after selecting your last character's action. The moment you input your last character's action is when everything plays out. So this can lead to things like having your last character defend when you meant to select a skill. Fortunately the 3DS games rearranged the menu options to ensure that the chances of that happening are minimal. And EO2U finally added something like that to prevent horrible accidents.
Well that's just insult to injury. For Manticore.
Thanks for standing still, wanker!
And that's all the Sea Quests. Now I just need to get the equipment reward from the first one.
It seems there are no further threats, so you finally make your introductions to the clients.
We're the Tidehunt guild! Nice to meet you! So, uh, what were you all here for, anyway?
You ask for details of the quest, but the clients only laugh and point at the monster’s corpse. As things finally make sense, the clients assure you that they will be fine. You head back to the ship.
The marines’ mission and your quest for Yggdrasil are different, but your warrior hearts are the same. This is your reward from the garrison. You should be able to find some use for it, I hope.
Provides a 20% resistance to both Strike and Volt attacks. Eh, I guess it could be handy for some classes. Oh yeah, Faye got a level up.
Form Qi now gives a 40% boost to healing skills. This will make Protect Order even more bonkers.