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Update 77: The New Recruit 2.0
I'm not really comfortable with the idea of allying with the Deep City or its robots, but I guess this one seems pretty friendly.
Character created by BlackPersona.
The Tug Life is ready for action! Now known as Tug Life 2.0, or the Tug Bot for short!
You built a robot out of our boat!?
I had to get the materials from somewhere! But just look at how sophisticated he is! Lots of combat and pun routines at the ready. All at the cost of his sailing capabilities.
We haven't even finished charting the ocean! And do you think the Senatus is willing to lend us another boat after what we did? Change him back!
Sorry, Tug Bot. Your existence wasn't meant to be.
Aww... We're still up for a sailing trip later, right?
Yeah, don't you worry.
Character created by Miacis.
B-b-b-eginning booting process. 423,827 errors found. Booting up anyway.
Faye.
Yeah?
What the hell is that?
Oh, I tried building one of those Yggdroids to help us out. I... think I did an okay job.
Without adult supervision!?
Oh don't worry, she had plenty of that from me. Though thanks to someone being stingy with their boat, I had to get the materials from the Deep City.
I am ready to serve and l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-eeeaaaaarn...
...Okay, I did my best to fix however Faye built this thing, but I couldn't iron out the glitches completely. Seriously, how do you forget to declare EVERY SINGLE VARIABLE!?
And add soldering irons to the list of things Faye should stay away from! She kept burning everyone with it while she was trying to built that scrap heap!
Okay okay, so I accidentally covered all the circuit boards in solder, big deal. It still works, doesn't it?
I w-w-w-w-ww-wish to learn what d-d-d-d-d-d-deeeeaaaaatthh is like...
Maybe we should go back to the drawing board on the whole building our own robot thing.
No need, because while you were all failing to build a remotely serviceable Yggdroid, I found a capable one willing to help us. Smith?
What up, everyone?
Character created by Mr. Vile.
BLEEP BLOOP. I AM A ROBOT. Eh, just kidding.
He seems a little... loose? For a robotic soldier, anyway.
Pfft, don't pile me in with those jerks. I'm my own tin man with a battle plan!
Eh, he seems more well-built than that pile of slag over there.
I know Tug Bot was built better, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
Oh, don't give me that look. So uh, welcome aboard!
Happy to be here, captain!
Once he's been given proper equipment and training, we'll report back to the Abyssal King. Oh, Faye? Don't drag him into the Labyrinth immediately. We don't need a repeat of that incident with Charlotte.
I know I know. C'mon Smithy. Let's go!
Now it may be exciting to give your Yggdroid some new equipment, but there's just one problem with that.
What do you mean you can't use any weapons!?
I uhhh, never learned how. I mean I can bash things on the head with books if that counts! You would not believe how many times I had to do that just to get people to stop making a mess. My cleaning job was hard enough as it was. Oh uh, I guess I also have this mop.
...YOU HIRED A JANITOR!?
Unfortunately, yes. Trust me when I say you do not want to see what the other candidates were like.
Is... is there any other way you know how to fight?
Oh sometimes I punched em' pretty hard instead. Thought about taking martial arts classes but uh, never had the time.
Say no more! I got the perfect idea for you. Come with me!
Whoa, hey! Careful with the arms, they detach easily!
One of the biggest problem with Yggdroids is that they cannot equip any weapons other than books or daggers. If you're intending to use one as a combat class, they need a subclass to operate. Besides, their own skillset isn't that particularly great. Speaking of subclassing...
You know, I never really liked using weapons too much.
Don't worry. You won't need weapons for what I'm about to teach you!
That's right. I've decided to make Smith into a Punch Monk. It's one of the few playstyles I haven't covered all that well aside from that one update where I was forced to use a glitch to take advantage of it. Now it's actually probably better to make your Yggdroid have a Hoplite subclass, as that's by far the best use for them. But I'm not gonna do that since it overlaps with Cassandra's role too much.
Several grinding sessions later...
...Then I watched a tiger give a giant naked crab lady a heart attack for a few hours.
I told you it was true!
...So you somehow got stronger despite not doing a single bit of fighting.
Yep! I mean my logic circuits and algorithms were going crazy over how “illogical” it was, but I just decided to accept it and move on.
...Considering everything that we've been through, I've lost the right to question any of this.
The Scylla exploit gives out slightly more exp than the King Penguin exploit, but it is far faster to pull off. However, you normally don't have access to it until the 5th Stratum. Oh, and you might notice that Smith's TP pool hasn't increased at all. Unfortunately, that's one of the Yggdroid's gimmicks. Their TP pool is permanently set to be 60, no matter how much they level up. It can be increased by other methods, such as investing in the TP Up skill or getting equipment with TP Forges, but yeah, this also makes Yggdroids very hard to use.
I'm not slacking off, I'm conserving energy! Of course there's a difference!
Sleep Mode is absolutely vital for them to have due to their absolutely horrendous TP pool. As long as the Yggdroid is bound, they recover some TP at the end of each turn. The TP recovery is multiplied by the number of binds they have. At level 10, Smith recovers 10 TP per bind. However, Yggdroids can't be bound normally.
I've got fists of steel! Literally!
First of all, I'll get Smith a few points in Fist Mastery. Unlike most other weapon mastery skills, Fist Mastery does affect skills. Mainly because its multiplier is applied to Smith's fists instead, which is equal to his STR stat + his level. At level 3, it increases his fist power by 4%.
I've shrugged off worse than this.
Waking Charka is a bit redundant with a Yggdroid, given that they can't be bound, and one of their passives already makes it harder to inflict a status on them. On the plus side, it does mean that Yggdroids can't be locked down that easily.
One hot punch, coming your way!
And I'm giving him the ultimate fist skill, Breakfire Fist. 
You'll avenge me if I go down, right?
I'm also getting Smith another passive, but it's locked behind a few others. What Ascetic Reward does is restore some HP to everyone else if he dies. Considering how durable Smith is normally, the chances of this going off are very slim. At level 3, it restores 30 HP to everyone.
Cause I'll do it if you do.
And Blood Return kind of does the opposite. If someone dies, Smith restores some TP instead. At level 3, it restore 6 TP, which is kind of nice, but not all that necessary.
Ooh, automatic self-repair routines! That'll be handy!
The real reason I invested 3 Skill Points in both of those skills is to unlock this skill. Ascetic Deeds restores HP to Smith every time he uses a skill. This will help offset the negative effects for another passive I'm planning to get for him. At level 5, Smith will recover 40 HP every time he casts a skill.
Uhhh, you sure you installed that right?
That description is completely misleading. What Data Mining does is increase the critical hit rate of the Yggdroid, and only increases their critical hit damage. Well, actually it doesn't even work properly. The critical hit rate boost works fine, but the damage output of critical hits actually decreases at levels 1 through 3. Critical hits normally deal 150% damage. Data Mining at level 1 actually sets the damage to 130%. The critical hit rate does get increased by 5%, but that barely makes up for the damage loss. If that was intended to be a damage multiplier, it does not work that way. The only reason I took that skill was to unlock the Bots.
Installing Fire Module...
The bots are another type of summoned unit. In my opinion, they're the worst summon in the game. All the bots do is chase elemental attacks. Every time an enemy gets hit with the appropriate elemental attack (Fire attacks in the Red Bot's case) the bot itself will deal TEC-based damage to whoever got hit with one. Aside from HP and TP, the bot is a carbon copy of the Yggdroid in terms of stats, so they're not super great at dealing damage. But I might as well take this to increase the potency Smith's newfound punching prowess since he has Breakfire Fist. At level 5, the Red Bot has 140 HP and TP, deals 120% Fire damage per chase, the chase rate gets reduced by 28% per chase, and can chase up to a maximum of 4 times.
You know what the worst part about these firewalls are? You can't ever call in sick.
Now all party members normally have a resistance of 100% to every single status ailment. Virus Scanner lowers that resistance, so it's hard for enemies to inflict ailments on Smith. In fact, due to the Yggdroid's absolutely terrible LUC and TEC stats, this skill is a must have. Since this skill actually affects Smith's base resistance, it also lowers the amount of times Smith can be hit with ailments. At level 3, his ailment resistance becomes 69%.
Let me just put myself back together.
Defrag dispels any binds on Smith. This ties into another one of the Yggdroid's gimmicks, which I'll get into in a bit. The only thing that scales about this skill is the TP cost. At level 1, it costs 5 TP to cast.
BLAST OFF! Ow. Okay, maybe it wasn't a good idea to try that indoors.
Taking defrag unlocks a bunch of skills that when used, will bind a specific body part. Rocket Punch binds the arms, Rocket Head binds the head, and Rocket Jump binds the legs. Normally the Yggdroid is immune to binds, but these skills completely ignore that. What Rocket Jump does is that Smith will jump out of battle, causing EVERYTHING, healing, attacks, and stuff like items, to miss him. But his legs will be bound after casting. Leveling this skill up also increases the action speed, as well as decreasing the TP cost. At level 5, Rocket Jump has an action speed of +60, and costs 10 TP to cast.
Excuse me while I overclock myself. Ooh, that's hot.
Overheat increases Smith's damage output, at the cost of causing him to lose some HP every time he takes an action. Since this skill is a passive it cannot be disabled once learned. Thankfully, the HP loss can't kill Smith, so that's not something to worry about. This skill is the reason I took Ascetic Deeds, as that will offset the damage loss from this skill. At level 1, Smith's damage output increases by 5% while he loses 1 HP per action.
That's all for Smith's skills, now let's kit him out in some equipment.
Also a bit of an odd visual glitch, but if you equip something that increases your HP or TP pools, the top screen doesn't update the little colored bars until you go into the menu or leave the store.
Anyways, here's Smith's loadout. I'm not using the unarmed glitch, as he already has the highest base STR stat out of all the classes, and doing so would actually weaken him. Now if everyone had their 4th Stratum weapons, Smith would still be a bit behind them, but he wouldn't fall as far behind as Faye would, if I tried to use her as a Punch Monk.
Now let's go through the 4th Stratum.
You have not heard the Abyssal King’s new directive. There is no need to proceed otherwise.
The girl continues to hold her position. She seems bent on preventing you from passing until you accept the Abyssal King’s new mission.
Oh. Oops.
We're ready to go!
I have mentioned that the undersea shrine, where the Deep Ones nest, has been trespassed... But that does not necessarily mean open war with the Deep Ones. This mission comes with a lesson: What one sees before one is not always the truth. Remember that. Olympia shall explain further at the entrance to the Abyssal Shrine.
This is a method for seeing that which cannot be seen. It will be vital in completing your task.
Olympia holds out a pouch with tightly shut drawstrings for you to take.
Yet another H.P. Lovecraft reference. Yeah, this game is really heavy on those.
This engraving is deep within the temple, somewhere on the 15th floor. Head there first.
After the girl finishes her blunt instructions, she immediately makes as if to leave.
That which is concealed can be painful... But man pursues the truth nevertheless. You, too, will face a painful truth. We will require your full cooperation regardless...
I wonder what she meant by that.
Maybe she knows something we don't.
While we're going through the 4th Stratum, let's see what Smith can do.
I'm a can of whoop-ass!
Damn, outdone by a robot.
Yeah, Smith isn't as high of a level as Rose, and he doesn't even have all his damage boosting passives maxed yet, and is dealing the same amount as each hit of Blade Rave. With that said, Rose has both Charge and Berserker Vow on her side, so she still outdoes Smith, but he's definitely capable of holding his own with this skill build.
Deploying Module! Ow.
Ahh, much better.
Thankfully the healing from Ascetic Deeds takes place after the HP penalty from Overheat takes effect, which lets Smith heal back up to max HP if he can.
WOOHOOHOOHOOOOO!
Rocket Jump is probably the best self-binding skill Smith has, as it's the safest one to get off, and leg binds aren't nearly as crippling as head or arm binds. Not many skills actually use the legs, and the only real penalty is not being able to escape or avoid attacks. And if you were using Rocket Jump, chances are that you weren't trying to escape in the first place, and Yggdroids are already very durable, so they don't really care about the evasion loss that much (They're already terrible at evading attacks anyway.)
Oh, lemme put your legs back on.
Um, how do I do this?
Oh don't worry, I already know how to do it myself.
Yggdroid binds are actually classified as an entirely different type of bind than regular binds, so they cannot be dispelled with the use of Unbind or Theriaca As.
Also if there's an end of turn passive in effect, that message will pop up. In this case, Sleep Mode is active since Smith has his legs bound, and the bot is a carbon copy of Smith, so it's trying to recover TP as well. Except bots can't be bound or be affected with any type of status ailment, so nothing happens. Yeah, it's weird.
Oh, let me repair that red thingy for you!
...Never mind.
Oh, sorry Faye. Only I know how to repair that thing!
The bots are also completely immune to any form of support that isn't the Yggdroid's Resupply skill. They cannot be healed or buffed. Only Resupply is capable of healing them.
And there's the Red Bot's attack in action (Known as Red Module in the code.) It doesn't deal too much damage, but if you have a lot of Fire attacks to go around, it can be a nice way of racking up some residual damage.
Smith got a level up.
Overheat now provides an 8% damage boost at the cost of losing 3 HP per action.
Anyways, we reached floor 14, so lets see what some of the townspeople have to say.
Um, okay.
Um, thanks?
I thought we were on different sides now?
What in the world was that about?
Ooh ooh, I know! He was trying to bribe you to come back to Armoroad's side! I mean I'd personally prefer big sacks of ental over that pretty little bowl, but it was a nice attempt.
Maybe? It's a pretty weak bribe if you ask me. And I don't think that's what he was trying to do.
I'm just wondering what this Porcelain Offering is. I could've sworn I heard about it before. Do you know anything about it, Smith?
Sorry, never heard of it either.
The Sky Bowl is completely useless to Tidehunt. Everything Kujura said was nothing but meaningless flavor text in this context.
Why don’t you hurry on back to the Deep City? No one disloyal to the Princess belongs in these halls!
Wow, screw you too!
What a cranky old hag, am I right? Ha ha ha!
We would meet there in reverence to Yggdrasil and speak with him. But the Deep Ones have taken it. It will be dangerous, but I need you to proceed to the depths of that shrine. You must hear Yggdrasil’s voice and learn from him things not of this world.
Huh, so this tree's like an actual living creature, huh?
Yep! We owe a lot to it. Though I wish I didn't get saddled with a lousy job when I got built.
Remember that on the 14th floor, that you can kill the first FOE you meet to skip the entire floor.
You look around and feel her presence behind you, as if she had always been close by.
Olympia’s speech is her usual mechanical monotone.
This was once part of Armoroad. The Abyssal King used it to carry out Yggdrasil’s festival rite. Since the Calamity, it has been abandoned to the Deep Ones as their nest. However... The engraving was Yggdrasil’s means of communicating with man, including the Abyssal King. Read it, and you will understand the Abyssal King’s words, as well as Yggdrasil’s way of thinking. The engraving is to the north. It is still inscribed in that hall... Employ the powder there.
You consider searching for the northern hall Olympia spoke of, but there’s more to explore...
And back to town again.
No, of course he isn’t... At least, the man I knew can’t be.
Keep on rambling, haggy.
Huh, I see.
Believe that or don’t. I care not. But know that the Deep Ones are likely in search of that power. The further you go, the stronger your opposition would be. It would be a shame if you died.
I can't tell where we should use the powder.
We should probably take a closer look at the place.
As seen elsewhere, pictures of the Deep Ones are drawn on the walls, but you see no telltale engraving. Still, the hall’s location is consistent with the place Olympia spoke of... It may be best to give this hall a thorough examination.
But you see only the now-familiar etchings of Deep Ones, with no writing anywhere to be found.
Wow, those Deep Ones vandalized this place pretty good. Ugh, it's gonna be a pain to get rid of this later. Unless they built another Yggdroid to take my place, in which case, I feel sorry for that poor sap!
Hey, is this the place we should use that Ivan... Ghandi... uh, powder?
...Suddenly, you recall the mysterious Powder of Ibn Ghazi you received from Olympia. It occurs to you that using the powder here may reveal what you seek...
It's worth a shot!
Try not to make too much of a mess.
You toss some powder at the wall before you, but there is no discernible effect. It seems there is nothing here. You decide to move to another wall and try using the powder there.
I guess we should try this someplace else.
Finding the engraving in this hall must remain your highest priority!
I don't think the engraving is out there.
The actual spot to apply the powder is the same place where we found the Amarantos during the Armoroad path.
Huh? Where's the flower?
Wha?
There was a flower here that- n-never mind.
Maybe someone else picked it already.
Uhh, girls? The powder?
Oh right. This spot seems like it's worth a shot.
AAAHH!
When you spread the powder around you, your field of vision warps and flickers! Mysterious letters float revealed underneath the paint on the wall. It’s a written language utterly unknown to you, but a strange voice in your head translates...
It seems the effects of the Powder of Ibn Ghazi have worn off. Having fulfilled your mission to read the engraving, you should return to the Celestial Palace.
My optical parts did not need that.
So those Deep Ones figured out a way to control someone?
I don't think we ran into someone like that... I think...
Hmm...
Smithy, you know what this is?
Not a clue, sorry.
Ah, the Celestial Palce. Got it.
Before you proceed further, you should consult the Abyssal King on your course of action.
Uhh, we should probably go report back to the Abyssal King. Just saying.
Oh, whoops.
This roadblock is actually pretty generous since you basically have to go through the entire floor to encounter this. Let's go back and hand in our mission report.
They claim they will vanquish the evil, and even now advance toward the Abyssal Shrine... ...There is more you do not know. Olympia has witnessed something you should be aware of.
What's that?
The man called Kujura of Armoroad was searching for a flower that blossoms in the shrine. Its name is the Amarantos, and to you, it is a poisonous blossom.
Wait, WHAT!?
But to the Deep Ones... It is nourishment and sustenance. This lends credence to my suspicion... I bear no enmity toward man. Armoroad is my native country; I have no wish to harm its people. Thus, I cannot turn a blind eye to the Deep One which has seized control of an innocent human. I am currently considering how best to save the people of Armoroad from the Deep Ones... Once you have rested, I will call on you to be the ones to see this plan to fruition.
I have here your rightful reward for your work. I grant it gladly.
Wait a minute. If the fish people are the only ones that can eat that flower safely then...
...SON OF A CUSSING CUSS WORD! WE'VE BEEN HAD!
Figured out it was Gutrune too, huh?
Whoa whoa whoa! Let's not jump to conclusions. Didn't Gutrune say that her brother was completely under Yggdrasil's influence and became an inhuman puppet? Why should we believe them?
Uhh, I'm not sure what's going on here, but hasn't he been looking out for us? He doesn't seem like some sort of puppet to me.
Gutrune also told us herself that she was inhuman. We can't trust her, either.
And Yggdrasil did say that the Deep Ones were trying to kill the Abyssal King and destroy Yggdrasil. I hate to say this Rose, but I think we all got fooled.
I had my suspicions, but to think we've been on the wrong side all this time...
Yeah? Well we're going to fix that.
We accept this mission!
You are aware that there is a Deep One in Armoroad as well, are you not?
We're painfully aware.
Some believe that this impostor is truly human, making it difficult to slay as a result. ...Worse, the impostor is of high rank in Armoroad and holds great sway there. I have given this some thought, and I think it best to strike in small numbers at an isolated location... For that, we will require a device allowing us to teleport. It is very like the Submagnetic Pole. ...When I was Armoroad’s master, these devices were commonplace. One such device rests deep within the Abyssal Shrine, providing a direct path to the royal forest. I would like for you to find this particular device, that we might enact the first stage of the plan. If you succeed, we may infiltrate in secret and slay the lurking Deep One, thereby restoring peace... The future of mankind and the harmony of the world all rests on your actions! Now go forth!
Let's see what he has to say normally.
Yggdrasil says it came here across a pitch-black, starry sea, far beyond these lands... If we can restore peace to this world, I would like to go there as well. Would you join me?
That does sound interesting.
Hmm, that sounds like something an "inhuman puppet" would say, don't you think?
Alright alright! You made your point!
I dunno, she doesn't seem to be making a strong case for herself.
I don’t know what they’ve put into your head in the Deep City, but any enemy of the Princess’ is mine too! If you defy her, I’ll show no mercy!
Listening carefully, you hear footsteps and a conversation in progress... It is possible that Deep Ones, or worse, may be ahead. Use the utmost caution when going forth.
Looks like someone beat us to the punch.
We should probably go back and prepare. I don't think we'll be facing Kirin again this time.
And now it's time to see how the guild is doing and vote on the party to take on the next boss.
Just a word of warning, Kirin is exclusive to the Armoroad path. We'll be fighting an entirely different boss here. Any advice I give here does not apply to Kirin.
Okay, if you have a Shogun in your Deep City playthrough, that means you already beat the game once, and probably don't need any help to beat the boss. Oh and since Shoguns aren't supposed to be available in this path Charlotte is banned. No voting her in.
Now Faye- whoa whoa whoa, that is way too high of a level to be tackling this boss at.
I wonder what'll happen this time.
Much better.
Faye is a very good defensive support to bring to this fight. She can heal the party through the use of Protect Order, as well as preventing and dispelling any ailments on the party. Which is good because half the boss' skillset revolves around inflicting those.
I knew something about that whole business with Armoroad seemed fishy. I suppose that explains why Flowdia wasn't too concerned with the Deep Ones.
Cassandra is an okay support to bring along. The boss in question only has two actual attacks. One of them deals Ice damage, which Cassandra can easily nullify. However, the other deals Pierce damage and is the far more dangerous attack of the two. She can reduce the damage with Line Guard, but that's about it.
Aw geez, I really shouldn't have been so eager to blow holes through Olympia. I mean she was a jerk, but still.
Sidney is our best physical attacker thanks to Front Mortar. He's also our most fragile one, but given that the boss in question loves to spam statuses over dealing damage, his fragility isn't that much of a hinderance.
This just got a bit more complicated.
Akatsuki can provide some support through Dark Ether, which is handy for our physical attackers since they don't have a lot of TP. He can deal some okay damage through Takanoha.
Hopefully we can do things the right way this time.
Remember that we're back in the 4th Stratum, so Asteria hasn't fallen off that hard yet, though she is at the point where others can keep up with her. She's a very strong damage dealer, though no longer the best one.
HA! I knew siding with the Deep City was the right choice!
Susan is a fantastic support to bring to the fight, as she can amplify the party's physical damage output. She can also prevent the boss from landing any ailments with Prevent Order. Not only that, the boss likes to apply a defensive buff to itself, which she can dispel through Ad Nihilo and Eagle Eye. Her only problem is that she has no way to actually dispel ailments if they somehow land.
Hmm, I feel like we're kind of missing something here.
Rose is a durable physical attacker, and Bunshin lets her indirectly double her damage output. Not as durable as Smith, but she can deal more damage.
Seems like diplomacy is not even gonna be on the table this time.
Scott is a fairly fast physical attacker. And since this is the 4th Stratum, Scott is one of the better physical attackers thanks to the Jolly Roger.
Aww, I thought we were doing a good thing before. Now I don't know what to think.
Believe it or not, Fang is a fantastic offensive oriented support to bring to the fight. Every single one of the boss' attacks makes use of the head, and it doesn't have a particularly amazing head bind resistance. If Fang lands a head bind through the use of Call Bird, he can completely shut down the boss and make it completely helpless. Not only that, he can use Primal Drums to prevent the boss from setting up any defensive buffs, or use that skill to dispel it. The downside is that the head bind can only be inflicted twice at most, and there's no way to control the duration. If the RNG is not on his side, or if the fight lasts for too long (Both of which are genuinely something to be concerned about in EO3), he'll become dead weight.
I should probably check in for a quick tune up in case something big happens.
Smith is a fairly durable attacker. I should note that he has an inherent advantage over everyone else thanks to Virus Scanner. The boss loves to spam ailments, which doesn't bother Smith too much thanks to his increased ailment resistance. He can use the Red Bot for some extra residual damage, which combos nicely with Asteria. Though it's not a particularly amazing summon, and Fang's animals actually do more work in this case.
It probably will. Something always does.
Alice is... Alice. What's there to say?
Now here's some info on the boss.
Stratum 4 Boss
Level: 51
HP: 12420
AT: 45
DF: 46
Weakness: N/A
Resistance: N/A
Absolute must haves:
-A Monk with Refresh at level 7 or higher or a Prince with Prevent Order. The Regroup Tactic Limit Skill is pretty much required if you don't have either. If you don't have that either, tons of Theriaca Bs are must haves. And if you don't do that either for some reason, bringing a way to reduce Pierce damage is a must.
Highly recommended, but not required:
-A way to dispel defensive buffs, such as Ad Nihilo, or Eagle Eye.
-A way to inflict head binds.
-A Hoplite with Anticold, or some other protection against Ice attacks.
Now, vote for up to 3 characters to come along for the fight. Votes must be in bold.