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Update 69: Blind and Muddy

I can tell that those gates are going to make this Stratum even more of a pain to go through.





And here's the last new enemy on the 18th floor.


Claw Monkey
Level: 48
HP: 604
STR: 49
VIT: 45
AGI: 40
LUC: 38
TEC: 38
Attack Type: Slash
Exp: 2873
Item Drops:
-Drop 1: Forked Tail - 40% Drop Rate. 1 needed for Pepperbox (Gun.) 10 needed for Slice Amulet (Accessory.)
--Versatile tail used for both movement and attack.
-Drop 2: N/A
-Gold: N/A
Description: A simian monster lurking in the Porcelain Forest. It is as cunning as it is vicious.
Damage Resistances: Slash: 100% Strike: 100% Pierce: 100% Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Volt: 150%
Ailment Resistances: Sleep: 100% Confusion: 150% Plague: 100% Poison: 100% Blind: 100% Curse: 100% Paralysis: 100%
Bind Resistances: Head: 50% Arm: 100% Leg: 100%
Other Resistances: Death: 100% Petrification: 100% Stun: 100%

Skills:

Silent Claw: Uses the Arms. Deals 50% Slash damage to the entire party, and has a 20% chance to inflict Head bind. Has an accuracy of 99. Has an action speed of +5.

These enemies are mild annoyances. They're mainly support monsters who try to halve your party's TEC stats through head binds so the elemental attacks of other monsters can deal more damage. They should probably be taken out first if possible. Of course it's a moot point if you have a max level Antivolt.





Mmph mmph mmmmmmph...

I like this new, silent Scott.

MMPH MMPH MMMMPHHH!





Overall, they aren't too much of a hassle to deal with, though the Head bind can be annoying.





Okay, everyone. Brace yourselves.





There's another Somnovore patroling this mapless area.



Unlike the other 2 Somnovores, this one goes counterclockwise.



North of that Somnovore is a shortcut.





Meh.



And here's a shortcut leading back to the area near the first Somnovore.



The water’s surface is crystal-clear. It shouldn’t be difficult to scoop some up to drink. If you are thirsty, it occurs to you that the pool’s water could be quite refreshing.



I don't know about you all, but I could use a drink.

I too, am quite thirsty,

You cup your hands and bring the water to your lips, drinking it down quickly.

Ahh, that was-hm!? ACK PBBFT!

MY THROAT! IT BURNS!

Who the hell put-ack-this much salt in the water!?

However, on tasting it, the water is not fresh but salt water that seeped out from a salt crystal! Its severe saltiness burns your throat and makes you feel ill!



Oyyy. On the bright side-PTOO! We had a request to find some salt, right?

I suppose it was a blessing in disguise if we see it that way.

However, this reminds you of the request you accepted to find salt for Pale Horse. You can break off the crystals around the pool and turn them in to complete the request.



You can also get some salt from the salt pillars back on the 8th floor. That will also work for this quest.

You use a mallet to smash the salt crystals into more manageable portions. You place several chunks in a bag and make a note to return to the bar with them.







After drinking the salt water, taking 9 steps has this event happen.

I'm not sure why, but I feel a lot more relaxed and refreshed than before.

It's probably that salt water we drank earlier. Salt is good for us, even if we consumed too much of it at first.

It seems the salt in the water was rich in nutrients. You leave the area, your footsteps lighter than when you came in.



Here's something that's exclusive to this game. Delayed events. After witnessing one event and then taking a certain amount of steps, the 2nd part of the event will take place. I'm not sure why this hasn't been something that's been left out of the future titles. Though it may have something to do with the fact that you can prevent the 2nd part of the event from ever happening if you leave the Labyrinth immediately after witnessing the 1st part.



At any rate, we're done with this mapless area.





Cassandra got a level up.



I saw that coming easily.

Both Parry and Magic Parry are fantastic passives that lengthen Cassandra's lifespan even more. Parry has a 4% chance of flat out nullifying any physical attacks that hit her. Effectively it increases her HP pool by 4%. Not much now, but the chance increases to a decent amount as you level it up.





And yet another mapless area.





A Somnovore patrols this area counterclockwise. Now I've been killing all the Somnovores in the way but when I got into a fight with this one...





Oh dear...





This is going to hurt.





Mr. Akatsuki, you will make a great sacrifice for the dripping yellow madness!







Oh my god, I've killed a person!





BAD SHAUN! SIT DOWN!





I don't deserve to live!





NOW YOUR QUEEN IS BALLING OUT OF CONTROL!



A few turns later, the Confusion finally wears off on some people.

Ugh... the last thing I remember is a sheep shouting at me.



And I don't even bother to fight a losing battle.

Run with your queen if you wish to live!





Okay, how about we don't fight the sheep anymore?

I think that would be for the best. My ears are still ringing.

Yeah this party isn't suited to taking down FOEs, so I opt to avoid them from now on.



The mapless areas start including dead ends and areas that are copies of earlier areas to mess with your sense of direction.



There's a 2nd Somnovore in this area. It moves clockwise.







Oh hey, this will be nice boost for any physical attackers such as Scott.



I give it to Asteria.



And there's the end of this mapless zone.



After another battle, Susan gains a level.



She learns how to shoot things better.



I find a shortcut back to the start of the floor, and figure this is a good time to go back to town and restock.





The Estoc is only slightly weaker than the Jolly Roger. That rapier doesn't much time left before it's outclassed.











That's all the new equipment I unlocked on this trip. Now to turn in that quest.



Welcoming! Are you freshly assaulted now?

Hee hee hee.

We have the salt right here.

Ah, there it is! I am sure the Pale Horse guys will be happy with this. Thank you!

So why couldn't they have done this themselves? I heard they were a pretty capable guild.

...Hm? Did you just ask why Pale Horse didn’t go get their own salt? Well, they supposedly never go unless they’re prepared. They needed the salt to go get salt.

...I see.

...Like I said before! Idiots! Here you are going. The reward! Everybody is happy now! Right? Right?







15% chance to inflict Curse when using regular attacks. Truly the greatest of rewards.





I just want to note that this is a very dangerous encounter to get into if you lack Antivolt, given that both the Rotten Fruit and the Forest Hare can boost the damage of the White Fox's volt attacks greatly.



But the party handled it just fine, and Asteria got a level up off of that battle.



Meteor's damage is still the same, but now it hits 4 to 5 times.





C2 Mine Point:
Nephrite: 50% Gather Rate.
Dolomite: 50% Gather Rate.
Akaganeite: Rare.
Common Gather Periods: 2 to 15.
Rare Gather Periods: 1 to 5.

Here's the other Mine point on this floor.





Here's the campsite on this floor.



And an inaccessible shortcut from here.









I set up camp since the party spent a bit of HP and TP on the way here.

To think that we would make it this far... Amazing, huh?

Yes, I'm just as surprised as you. Even though we have plenty of capable guild members, I thought disaster would have struck our guild sooner or later.

To be honest, when we first started out, I thought Faye would just get herself killed. If she had, I don't know what I would have done. But I'm surprised at how far she's managed to take us. Hmmhmm.

I'm surprised we don't have to hold her hand that much anymore. She did seem to get the hang of things the further we got into the Labyrinth.

Really? She still seems like kind of an idio-

Do you really think it's a good idea to about talk about their daughter like that in front of them?

...Wha?

...I-I suppose I can consider her that. Sort of...

...W-well it's true Cassie and I used to-never mind.

My apologies. Let's just move forward before this gets anymore awkward.







This is the last mapless area on this floor.



Akatsuki gets another level up.



Knife Mastery provides a 10% damage boost when Akatsuki uses a regular attack.





There are two Somnovores in the area moving counterclockwise.



Uh-oh.

Shoot, this isn't a good spot to be in. Run!



Through here! Quickly!



Phew! That was cutting it close.

Hm. We're going to need think of some way to get past that Somnovore. And it's possible there are more than one of them in that hallway.



There are plenty of one way passages into this area if you happen to get trapped. And this Guard Sole provides an alternate solution to getting through that area.





There are two Somnovores moving counterclockwise in that hallway. If you have that Guard Sole, you can just follow them through the hallway with no issues since they negate the effects of mud tiles. If not, you'll have to take a more roundabout solution.



Wait for the Somnovore to be east of that mud tile before stepping on it.



Then head up until you're right in front of a Somnovore.



Head west into the first alcove, and the first Somnovore should pass you, letting you get out of the alcove without any hassle.



Once you head north, you'll be face-to-face with the 2nd Somnovore.



Head west into the 2nd alcove to dodge it.



Keep heading north and you're home free! Don't worry about getting into a random battle during that, because you can't get into any in that hallway.





Here's a shortcut back to the campsite.





You!



Olympia...?

Her tone of voice is the same, but there is now a pleading undertone to her muttering. On seeing your reaction, however, Olympia seems to realize that she has said too much.

This will be the end.

The girl whistles loudly and disappears into the forest behind her. Concurrently with her words, a horde of monsters with tremendous sickles appears around the hall. Your mind races over the question of whether to dodge the fiends or force your way through.





She really doesn't want us getting through, huh?

Forcing your way through is suicide. There are three Mortal Hunters in this room. Thankfully there aren't any random encounters here, so there is a reliable way to get through. Like with the first time we saw Olympia in the Porcelain Forest, the scene that plays here in the Armoroad and Deep City routes cause a weird quirk in the FOEs' AI. So there are 2 different ways to get through here depending on the circumstances. The first way I'm showing is if you saw the scene play in the 2 main routes:



In all other circumstances, you would follow this path instead:





Nice try Olympia, but that wasn't enough to take us down!





Does anyone know what that is?

It appears to be a gate of some kind, but I have no idea what one is doing here.



Huh? There's nothing here.



We must have missed a pathway somewhere. We should go back and see if we can find one.



What sorcery is this!?

Where the hell are we now!?

Hmm... We appear to have been teleported someplace.



Perhaps we'll go someplace else again if we pass through here?



Nothing's happening.

Well, nothing happened when we passed through the back of the gate. Only the... front.



Hmm...



Ah, so that's how they work.

Oh! We're back where we were before!

Here's the other main gimmick of this Stratum. Gates. When you walk through them from the front, you're teleported to another point on the floor. They can only teleport you in a straight line, and the direction you're facing when you walk through them doesn't matter. Only the direction you're moving in. I do have to say the part with the first gate is a really clever bit of map design. It's basically a tutorial that demonstrates how something works without having to use any words, and I love it when games do that. I personally think it's a more effective way of teaching players how things work.

Oh and if you're wondering what the gate says on the front, well it's actually kind of a spoiler to say right now.



I'll mark the gates with colored tiles and arrows to indicate where you should walk through to activate them, and just color in the tiles where you get teleported to.



Up ahead is another gate, though this one is part of a little puzzle to help you learn how they work in case you haven't figured that out yet.





And now we have a quick path to the end of the floor.



This puzzle is basically hammering in that gates can't teleport you when you walk through them from the back.



Your reward is a coupon. Save it for later.



And with that, we are completely done with the 18th floor! Only 2 more to go!



That floor title sure is ominous.





Some inaccessible shortcuts at the start.





...Another gate immediately after we just passed through one.

Oh no. Don't tell me that the entire floor is filled with them!?

I have the sinking feeling it is.

This would be a good time to retreat and rest, right?

Yes. Yes it would.

If you think the gates are kind of cool at first, remember that we're dealing with an Atlus game here, and they will use them in the most painful way possible. What I'm saying is that the 19th floor is a gigantic teleporter maze! That's right! Those were previously limited to the post-game in EO1 and 2, but now EO3 has them in the main game. Thanks, Atlus. Oh well, we'll deal with that later. For now, let's go back to town.





By the way, are you liking Armoroad now that you’ve been here a while?



It is a nice place.

I wouldn't mind settling down here if we could.

Really!? Thank goodness! I wasn’t sure what I was going to say if you said you didn’t. The blue skies, the clear waters, those beautiful sunsets, that sea breeze... Armoroad is wonderful! Oh, and let’s not forget all those amazing fish in the ocean and the stuff that washes up on the beach! I’m glad you enjoy the town itself, not just stomping around the Labyrinth!



Not really.

Hmmm... Is it because you travel around so much that you’re trying not to get attached to Armoroad? Is that how explorers think? It’s not how I see things, but more power to you, I guess!





The time we have left to discuss trifles in this way is short. I’ve watched over you ever since you first entered the Labyrinth... I feel like a mother to you.

...What.

So why not show your mother a bit of favor...? Any guild that has traversed the Labyrinth to the extent that you have should be flush with cash. How blessed I am to have children so loyal to their mother! Heehee!

Yeah, keep dreaming, Edie.





Look back on your life and see the road you took to get where you are today! Yesterday’s road leads to today, and today’s continues on to tomorrow.

Is something wrong, Missy?

...What’s with me? Don’t you worry your pretty little heads about that! Just be ready for the future!



Ya here to take a load off too? Buy me something and your break will be even more worthwhile...



...Ahhhh! That was delicious! Why don’t you guys have some too!?



Huh, so ya dip yours in garum? I went to an eastern country once where I had something like this. But here in Armoroad, I get to enjoy delicacies from all over the world... Alright, today I’m gonna tell ya about my Rabbit Ear. The name says it all, doesn’t it? It even tells ya how to get it: tie up a Forest Hare’s head and defeat it. Simple as that. Now, it might sound obvious, but that doesn’t mean you should go telling people about it! ...Still... It’s just some dried-up ears. I wonder who decides what is and isn’t valuable...?

I suppose it's depends on what these stores can do with the materials.



...Ooh, a tanniyn came in today!? Man, good timing on your part! Makes me want another round...

Ahem.

Oh, right, the treasures. I don’t much like carrying around this Dangerous Bud... I don’t know what’s so dangerous about it! Does it explode? Is it poisonous? Could it kill me? The Petaloid I encountered was so scary I killed it instantaneously, and it happened to drop this.

I thought Farmers couldn't do that?

How’d a farmer like me kill it instantaneously? Hah... ya gotta pay up to find that one out.

Pass. Our Farmer also knows how to pull that off.

Anyways, keep it to yourself and don’t spread it around.



Hey... this is just an oyster! I guess it sounds better by a different name... Anyway, see this? These butterfly Scales? Easy to remember, huh? When ya pass some voltage through a Venomfly’s wing, these peel off real nice. But ya gotta be careful not to inhale any. That poison has killed a boatload of explorers. But what do ya suppose I should do with this? I can’t play with it and I don’t know how to use it!

Sell it?

Well, just give what I said a try. And remember... This stays between us, ya understand!?

That was stuff we already knew about. Let's check out the quests.



This request can technically be completed now, but getting the best reward for this isn't possible yet, so I'll hold off on it.



That sounds like an interesting phenomenon.

...Oh, it is you. You want to accept that quest? Really? It’s extremely unpleasant.

We'll do it anyway.

Your heart’s as wide as the deep blue cheese. A traveling merchant made this request. Supposedly, there is a strange boulder in the Labyrinth with healing powers. You know it? The client wants to give it to some prestigious family as a gift. What a kiss-ass! ...So materialistic! Well, if you don’t know anything about it, you’d better ask around. I am counting on you, you know! Go forth, adventurers!



Do I know anything about a boulder that cures wounds? Heh... If those existed, we’d have been out of business long ago. Still... It may only be a rumor, but I’ve seen documents that speak of a mysterious stone. This rock supposedly releases a weak magnetic field, promoting blood flow in nearby organisms. They say it’s in the Porcelain Forest, but that won’t do you much good if you can’t get in.

Not a problem for us.





That forest is sacred, you know. Only bluebloods can enter. Unusual circumstances like this are the only way you’d be allowed in, so get a good look!

I'm still wondering how everyone else got in there.







Mmm...

Of course we have!

Hahaha, I command your bravery. That’s youth for you, I suppose. If that’s the case, then there’s nothing an old man like me can say to you. Hesitation doesn’t suit a hero. Go forth proudly!



I'll admit that I'm a bit uncertain about the path we're on.

Well... Though we may stray from our path, we still arrive where we were meant to go in the end. You’ve come this far, so what’s the use in second thoughts now? Leave your hesitations behind. They’re just an unnecessary burden for heroes. ...The ocean doesn’t discriminate. What you need right now is the courage to follow your beliefs!





Why was that?

Why? Simple, really. There are mysterious places in that forest that are difficult to discern. If you seriously intend to explore that forest, take even more pains than normal with your map!

Funny thing about that. There aren't any mapless areas on the 19th floor since it's a teleporter maze, so that advice came a little too late. Man, a teleporter maze in a mapless area, could you imagine how evil that would be? Thankfully that doesn't happen in this game.





Though... it’s not like I saw him too often before. But the town guards are getting restless, too. We’re not in any trouble, are we?

I would hope not...





They have left to exterminate the Deep One hiding in the Porcelain Forest!

Huh? What Deep One?

I'm pretty sure we didn't see any in there.

Hmm...

If you’re thinking of coming to Armoroad’s aid... well, I’d think again if I were you! The Abyssal King has massacred thousands of Deep Ones in his time. You’d best lay low in Armoroad.

And now, it's time to vote for the party that will explore the last leg of the Labyrinth, the last two floors of the Porcelain Forest. Let's take a look and see how the guild is doing.



Cassandra is still capable of making the 5th Stratum a complete joke due to how every single elemental attack in there only deals Volt damage. And that's not even getting into her other defensive skills.



Scott is certainly a strong physical attacker, but he's no longer the strongest, but he is one of the fastest party members we have. He's also not nearly as TP hungry as some of our other physical attackers.



MEGAQUEEN is certainly a decent support, what with being able to increase our party's damage output and her ability to build up Limit pretty quick.



Akatsuki is another decent support. He can instantly take out a few enemies with Izuna and heavily reduce the party's TP usage with Dark Ether. The latter aspect can also help with a specific FOE that we haven't met yet.



Asteria is a pretty decent damage dealer and our main elemental attacker. She can clear out encounters easily with her Binary skills, and Dark Ether is a nice support skill she has access to.





With Form Qi maxed out, all sources of non-fixed healing gain a 65% boost to healing. This makes it so that Protect Order heals for 3.96 times Faye's TEC stat. In this case it would heal for around 213 HP per turn, which is insane. To put this into perspective, Rose has the highest amount of HP out of all our guild members, and Protect Order can heal for over 56% of her total HP pool per turn.



ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Hee hee.

Now that I have all of Faye's important skills maxed out, I start pumping points into Attack Order, so she can enable the party to murder stuff faster.

Faye is an extremely strong support to bring along, what with being able to do some fantastic proactive healing with Protect Order, blocking and getting rid of status effects, and can now enable our physical attackers to deal even more damage.





Double Action now has an 18% activation rate.

Sidney is our strongest physical attacker and our strongest damage dealer period. He's fragile sure, but he has access to AOEs which are good for random encounters, and Front Mortar is fantastic at taking down FOEs. Unfortunately he's very TP hungry when he has to use Front Mortar.





Just getting Berserker Vow to max level.

Rose is a strong physical attacker, and is fairly durable. With Bunshin, she can double her damage output which can be handy for the big fights. Unfortunately, her main weakness is that she is very TP hungry.





The bird now comes with 66 base HP, deals 105% damage on its initial attack, 95% damage on its AI attacks, and has a 38% chance to inflict Head bind.

Fang is an okay support. He can lock down random encounters with Call Elephant, and amplify any physical attacker's damage outputs with Primal Drums.





Alice can now deal more damage while turning things into statues, and has a higher chance of doing so.

Alice is a decent crowd control support who can pick off enemies and just take them out of the fight immediately. And she can also increase the amount of exp our party gains.





Charlotte's offhand attack now deals 45% damage.

Charlotte is a glass cannon physical attacker who is a bit unreliable at dealing damage. She can dish out tons, or not very much depending on what the RNG decides. Like most other physical attackers, she has some TP problems.

Vote for up to 3 party members that you want to see explore the rest of the 5th Stratum. Votes must be in bold.