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Story Update 28: Bathypelagic (Storm Emperor)




This quest is one of the main points of interest in this update, and the only one to have Story-exclusive dialogue. So let's check it out.

By the way if you're close to the level cap of 70, I highly recommend going for this quest right away, otherwise you risk wasting experience points, and that's no good!

Decided to take the request, have you? Good, I've been hoping someone would. Thank you for collecting those ankh- shaped objects in that other job. After some analysis, the Hall has created a device that can be used on B21F. This is the Ankh Motor, made from the ankh-shaped parts you recovered.


Use this at the mechanism that moves, the... what's that word? "Elevator"? Use it there and see how it reacts. I don't know what'll happen, so be careful.



Incidentally, if you reject this quest and then take it again, she has different intro dialogue depending on when you accept the quest again.

If you do it before inserting the Ankh Motor:

Decided to take the request, have you? Good, I've been hoping someone would. You already have the Ankh Motor, right? Place it in the mechanism on B21F. Be careful, now.

If you do it after inserting the Ankh Motor:

Decided to take the request, have you? Good, I've been hoping someone would. When you inserted the Ankh Motor into the mechanism, you saw something terrifying, didn't you? And yet, you're taking this quest. You're going to fight it, aren't you? ...Come back alive, you hear?



The space is just the size of the Ankh Motor. You insert the Motor, and the button suddenly begins to glow.



I wonder what this button does?

Who wouldn't?

When you press the button, a strange light shoots out from the mechanism. Somehow, the light forms a pattern, and you recognize it as a map of B25F. However, on the path to B26F there stands a giant golden dragon. The dragon seems to look at you through the projection and lets out a mighty roar. Perhaps because of this, the light disappears. The 25th floor... Where you fought a fiece battle with Etreant. Do you have the courage to take on an even more ferocious dragon? If this map is correct, this dragon is waiting for you...



Let's become Dragon Slayers.



Something I want to point out real quick is that you can sell those exclusive pieces of equipment back to the shop, and they'll be able to be repurchased if you so wish. It's a nice way to save space in your guild house storage.

Another thing is that the description for the Gold Shoe is inaccurate. The Gold Shoe provides Paralysis immunity, not resistance! And because that's a boot, it doesn't count as an accessory! So you can double up on immunity effects there. I point this out because you're going to want to have this and a Fear immunity accessory on your Protector for the upcoming fight. You can unlock the Fear immunity accessory on floor 27, so if you need it, you're able to go for it.











When you step through the doors, a giant dragon covered in lightning shows itself. The bursts of electricity traveling up and down its body can short out even the strongest fighting spirit.


It raises its head and roars in challenge. There is still time to escape, but if you would do battle with this great beast, step forward!

Video: Storm Emperor




Wait, wrong game.



That's better!


Storm Emperor
Level: 70
HP: 22000
STR: 85
TEC: 62
VIT: 58
AGI: 60
LUC: 60

Attack Type: Bash
EXP Given: 400000

Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100%
150% 100% 0%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
30% 50% 30% 30% 50% 10% 10%
0.1% 0.1% 20%
30% 30% 30%

Mechanics:
Volt Torrent: Deals overkill volt damage to all party members. Very slow.
Ancient Curse: Deals very severe cut damage that pierces party rows. Heals Storm Emperor for 200% of the damage dealt. Slightly slow.
Judgement: Deals severe bash damage to all party members. Attempts to inflict paralysis on hit targets, with a moderate chance. Slow.
Corrupting Howl: Purges all buffs from all party members. Attempts to inflict curse and fear on all party members, with a high chance. Average speed.
Binding Dance: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of all party members, with a medium-high chance. Average speed.

Skill Data:
Volt Torrent: Deals 500% ranged TEC-based volt damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 851 to 1159 on average. Has a 50% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 180%.
Ancient Curse: Deals 100% melee STR-based cut damage that pierces party rows. The damage ranges from 530 to 642 on average. Heals Storm Emperor for 200% of the damage dealt. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Judgement: Deals 80% melee STR-based bash damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 424 to 513 on average. Attempts to inflict paralysis on hit targets, with a 20% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 27% to 36% on average. Has a 70% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Corrupting Howl: Purges all buffs from all party members. Attempts to inflict curse and fear on all party members, with a 40% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 54% to 72% on average. Has no speed modifier.
Binding Dance: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of all party members, with a 35% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 47% to 63% on average. Has no speed modifier.

Enemy Behavior:
-Storm Emperor always opens with Volt Torrent. After that, Volt Torrent is always used after Corrupting Howl.
-At above 50% HP, Corrupting Howl is used every 5 turns. Below that, Corrupting Howl has a chance to be used 4 to 6 turns after its last usage.
-Storm Emperor will always use Judgement if its head is bound, and it does not have to cast either Volt Torrent or Corrupting Howl.
-Binding Dance is only used 2 times in the entire fight. The first instance being used when Storm Emperor first falls below 50% HP, and again when he falls below 25% HP.
-Outside of that, Storm Emperor will use Ancient Curse, Judgement, and normal attacks, with the last being used less and less as his HP goes down, until he stops using them entirely once he falls below 25% HP.

AI Script:
-If this is the first turn, use Volt Torrent.
-If the Volt Torrent flag is set, use Volt Torrent, and unset the Volt Torrent flag.
-If the Storm Emperor's HP is at 50% or lower:
--If the Corrupting Howl cooldown is less than or equal to 0, use Corrupting Howl, set the Volt Torrent flag, and set the Corruping Howl cooldown to 6.
--If the Corrupting Howl cooldown is less than or equal to 1, 39% chance to use Corrupting Howl, set the Volt Torrent flag, and set the Corruping Howl cooldown to 6.
--If the Corrupting Howl cooldown is less than or equal to 2, 29% chance to use Corrupting Howl, set the Volt Torrent flag, and set the Corruping Howl cooldown to 6.
-Else, if the Corrupting Howl cooldown is less than or equal to 1, use Corruping Howl, set the Volt Torrent flag, and set the Corrupting Howl cooldown to 6.
-If the Storm Emperor's head is bound, use Judgement.
-If the Storm Emperor's HP is at 25% or lower:
--If Storm Emperor hasn't used Binding Dance since it first entered this phase, use Binding Dance.
--Else, 74% chance to use Ancient Curse. (Targets the front row.)
--Else, use Judgement.
-If the Storm Emperor's HP is at 50% or lower:
--If Storm Emperor hasn't used Binding Dance since it first entered this phase, use Binding Dance.
--Else, 59% chance to use Ancient Curse. (Targets the front row.)
--Else, 30% chance to use Judgement.
--Else, Attack.
-If the Storm Emperor's HP is at 75% or lower:
--39% chance to use Ancient Curse. (Targets the front row.)
--Else, 40% chance to use Judgement.
--Else, Attack.
-If the Storm Emperor's HP is at 100% or lower:
--19% chance to use Ancient Curse. (Targets the front row.)
--Else, 50% chance to use Judgement.
--Else, Attack.

Learnable Skills:
Volt Torrent: Deals volt damage to all enemies. Extremely slow.
Judgement: Deals bash damage to all enemies. Attempts to inflict paralysis on hit targets. Slightly slow.
Binding Dance: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of all enemies. Average speed.

Grimoire Skill Data:
Volt Torrent: Deals ranged TEC-based volt damage to all enemies. Has a 40% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 120% at all levels.


Judgement: Deals melee STR-based bash damage to all enemies. Attempts to inflict paralysis on hit targets. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.


Binding Dance: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of all enemies. Has no speed modifier at all levels.


Drops:
-Normal: Barbel. 100% chance. Sells for 25000 en.
-- Volt Whip (+185 ATK, cut+volt normal attacks): Made from 1 Barbel. Costs 144000 en.
-Rare: Volt Scale. 25% chance. Sells for 35000 en.
-- Shinryuu (+210 ATK, +5 all stats): Made from 1 Fire Scale (Great Dragon rare), 1 volt Scale (Blizzard King rare), and 1 Volt Scale (Storm Emperor rare). Costs 200000 en.
-Conditional: Thunder Eye (Kill with volt damage). 100% chance. Sells for 60000 en.
-- Mobius Alb (+74 DEF, +30 TP, +2 TEC; Alchemist only): Made from 1 Thunder Eye. Costs 61000 en.

Storm Emperor is the first member of the Dragon Trio, which is a trio of post-game bosses that can be found throughout the series. One thing they all have in common is a big elemental nuke that's capable of causing an instant party wipe, and defending against that is your first priority. The easiest way by far to deal with that is to have a Protector with the correct elemental wall at level 5 or above to just nullify the attack. If you don't have one don't worry, you're not in a hopeless situation, though things will get a lot harder for you. The 6th Stratum is around the time you can unlock accessories to give you 30% elemental resistances, or you can have everyone wear Moss Coats, or stack both to completely nullify those attacks. Throw down the right Mist and those elemental breaths will be nothing, or a considerable amount of survivable damage if you're not using up that accessory slot. Just remember to use the Mist right after Corrupting Howl since that wipes your buffs. Also if you choose to eat up that accessory slot with Volt resistance, that opens up your defenses for other things. Now as for the rest of the fight...

Storm Emperor is a massive fucking pain in the ass and I utterly despise this thing. Let us count the ways he can fuck you over.

Disables. So many goddamn disables. Paralysis, Fear, every single bind in existence. Oh and Curse for your damage dealers. Binding Dance is only ever broken out twice at most in this entire fight thankfully, so once those 2 come out, you never have to deal with them again. But Corrupting Howl is always used before Volt Torrent, and Fear causes the victim to have a 50% chance to not act, so if your Protector is inflicted with this, you have a 50% chance of saying goodbye to that run! Oh and don't forget the Paralysis from his judgemental legs.

Fuck your buffs, better reapply them every now and then. And once he drops below half HP, Corrupting Howl's usage starts becoming unpredictable. So every time your ass is about to get electrified by his halitosis, you basically have to scramble to set your buffs back up.

As a kicker, he also has extremely high AGI and LUC stats, resulting in that fucker having very high evasion. So high that he can dodge Spear Assists, which have an accuracy bonus! Because fuck you.

By far the easiest part of the fight to manage is his damage output. Other than his instant kill breath, the rest of them can be mitigated with defensives. And "easiest" is really relative, as his attacks can hit pretty hard.

Now this is an interesting comparison, Storm Emperor is tuned the fuck up from the original, since it was the easiest dragon fight in the SERIES! On a given turn Dragon could either use Voltage or use a regular attack. And that's it, I'm completely serious. If you got any buffs up, then it would wipe them, but that's it so you could just set them up again and it would constantly waste turns doing so, or it could use Curse or Shield if you head bind it. So, uh, don't head bind it. And yeah, Dragon had a version of Iceblock, you just never saw it, while Curse only absorbes health, it doesn't even inflict Curse! Anyway, from this it's clear to see it needed an upgrade and boy did it, god this fight is absolutely miserable due to how much you have to deal with. If you're relying on your Protector, then them getting tagged at the worst time will happen and it will fucking suck, especially after removing your buffs. Definitely an improvement, but maybe what it throws out is a little excessive.



We are going to prepare to destroy this dragon.



Volt Wall is needed to live.





No quarter shall be given to this fiend.

On today's episode of Cooking with Nila, we're going to learn how to make roasted dragon, EXTREME EDITION! Be warned that unlike with more angelic recipes, this process will result in a charred black and ashen dish that's just generally unfit for consumption 99% of the time.

The other 1% of the time is if the dragon somehow makes it out of this process alive.




Get used to seeing the walls in action, because you're really going to need those in the post-game.




Now Raquna is just going to spam Forest Guardian for the rest of the fight to deal with Storm Emperor's physicals.



Simon will undo Storm Emperor's damage this turn.




Now take whatever tools you have, any skewers lying about, your Canadian wizard magic, and your flamethrowers and light them all on fire!




Yeah without Forest Guardian, that attack hits pretty hard.






Are you ready to roast a dragon!?






The nice thing about Flame Howl is that it can ignore Storm Emperor's sky high evasion.




Wow, Arthur got really lucky there. Left with 1 HP. For the record, that attack could deal a maximum of 215 damage to him in these conditions.






Take those tools and drown the dragon in a sea of flames! If you start to see third-degree burns, you're on the right track!






Holy shit that's a lot of damage.

And thank goodness none of those missed this time!

Then skewer the dragon through its jawline three times to ensure a quick death! I mean, to tenderize the meat.



You're going to want to be careful on when you phase Storm Emperor, as that will trigger Binding Dance, and you really don't want that coming out at an inopportune time. Fortunately, I prepared long in advance and had Austin's bind protection buff on my party beforehand.



However, because Storm Emperor's HP is now below 50%, it means he can randomize his Corrupt Howl casts, and we're in that period right now. If it comes out, it'll erase our buffs, so I'll have Simon queue up Bloody Offense just to ensure we at least get one of those back.



Corrupt Howl also inflicts Curse and Fear, both of which are terrible for the party, so I'm going to block that with Yggdra Vaccine. With the way I have things set up, Storm Emperor cannot possibly deal damage to the party this turn, so this turn is basically free.




Thank you, Austin!





Okay, and now to ensure my victory! Phoenix Wings means that there is absolutely nothing Storm Emperor can do to prevent his death. I'm having Dude cast Land Slash because Spear Assist has negative priority and is unaffected by Phoenix Wings. Sure he only has enough TP to cast it twice, but any damage is better than no damage at all.





This is what I meant by Storm Emperor being an evasive nuisance!




Normally, a big upside for charge skills is that they're very TP efficient, but due to the way Action Boost was designed, that's not a benefit it actually gives the user, so you do have to keep that in mind.

You ever seen someone go through 120TP in a single turn lmao



Thanks for standing still, wanker!




Oh what a shame, it's inedible! But those are the risks you take with extreme cooking!

Storm Emperor is by far one of the worst bosses to deal with in this game. If you can get past him... you're still in for a lot of pain. It's the EOU post-game after all.



Panting for breath, you watch the dragon closely, but it does not move from where it has fallen. You have defeated the Storm Emperor!
Ugh, I'm sooo tired...
It was a difficult opponent, but we did it...
C'mon, guys! Is that all you got?
You look like you're barely able to stand up, Arthur.
I, uh... I didn't get enough to eat before we left.
Would it kill him to admit that he's tired for once?


Arthur's that age, so...
Yeah!
I don't know what that means, but yeah!
Perhaps responding favorably to a remark he doesn't truly understand is something of a skill in itself...
Awww, quit flattering me!
...It must be skill.
Yeah, yeah. Well, we've done our part, so shall we get back to town now?
You nod in agreement and make plans to return to the pub to tell people what happened.



Normally, your level is capped at 70. However, upon beating a member of the dragon trio, it'll be increased by 10 for each dragon, up to a cap of 99.



Once you've increased the level cap, your guild members will get a crown on their status screen to commemorate that occasion. The level cap increase is permanently in effect for your entire guild, anyone that didn't participate in a dragon fight, and even new recruits!

It's pretty important to kill the dragons in this game because unlike in EO3, where the added levels were basically an afterthought, this game is balanced around the extended level curve you get access to.

You're also much higher level than in the original, where I was nearly at level 60 by the time I finished Claret Hollows and all you could do was grind to level 70 so you could be on even footing to the rest of the bosses.



Good job! I never thought that the Ankh Motor would summon a terrifying dragon... Perhaps the Etreant sealed that dragon away because it was so powerful. But then, he hid the keys to break that seal just in case. We found the keys and summoned the dragon... Still, I'm glad I asked you. You were strong enough to defeat even that dragon. I can't say enough about what fine work you've done.



A delicious amount of cash for our efforts.



And an equally delicious amount of exp!



Ah yes, one last order of business regarding the Storm Emperor. He has a fantastic Grimoire skill that people will actually bother to go through the effort to hunt down.



For best results, do this on Picnic if you're going to hunt for this skill. It just makes things easier and shorter. Who knows how long hunting for this skill will take?

lol EU players and their Hunting Horn grind.



But with enough time and luck, soon you'll get your prize!



Oh and I made sure to splash Formaldehyde on him to get the rest of his drops.




BEHOLD! The ultimate TEC-based damage skills, the Torrents! You can obtain these from the dragon trio, as they are their signature moves. They deal 440% damage to every single enemy in the battle! For reference, the tier 3 formulas deal 330%, so they're 33% more powerful! And if you boost a Torrent, it deals 580% damage instead! My god. These are without a doubt, the strongest TEC-based damage skills in the entire game! (Outside of bizarre Revenge shenanigans). There is absolutely no reason to ever use an Alchemist's formulas ever again once you get your hands on these. Players hunt these down, as they are the ultimate damage skills for an Alchemist. Hell, any high TEC class can become an utter shitwrecker withese these in their arsenal. Hexers only have 3 less TEC than Alchemists, so they can get to wrecking faces too! My god, I'm having EO2 flashbacks. Even Medics can get in on the fun if you really want to, as they only have 8 less TEC than an Alchemist! My god, I'm having EO1 flashbacks. They even have a boosted base accuracy of 120% on top of that!

The only downsides they have are that they're very slow, with a 40% speed modifier, and that they cost a whopping 75 TP! By far the most expensive skills in the entire game! Elderevenge is a must so you can refund your TP, and if you're playing Story Mode, pile on Recharge for endless overkill!



I fuse this onto Arthur's Grimoire Stone, finally getting rid of that shitty Volt Shot. There is nothing more holding us back in our quest to become ultimate bullshit. Let the shackles be released!

Due to the incredible amount of elemental attacks bosses have, letting you use them for yourself results in pretty ridiculous builds. Pain in the arse to get to this point, but the results speak for themselves. Now the only limitation is TP, something Alchemists really don't care much about.




Storm Emperor's fleshy moustache makes the ultimate piece of garbage.



His conditional drop on the other hand, makes the Alchemist's ultimate body armor! Provides very good secondary stats, though if you want to stack a bunch of TEC, it's not actually the most optimal piece of gear for that, but you're only really losing out on 2 points of TEC by opting to go with the Mobius Alb instead of said optimal piece.



Hahaha holy shit, that is so much TEC! Arthur has a base hit of 338.2 right now!

It's official. Arthur has ascended to godhood.

...Wait, fuck, what have I done!?

I've always said Arthur was the best character!



Make sure to take this quest and get it done, as it unlocks the next dragon. I'll show off bits of it at the moment.




Over here in the pinball catcher, is a secret passage we couldn't even interact with before. But now that we have the quest active, we can get past it.



Another Medusa Tree forest lies past here, though this time you'll be forced to fight some of them, as they're directly blocking your paths.



By this point you should be able to 1 or 2 turn the Medusa Trees so that they're not much of a problem for you.

And we're done with the 16th floor!




So, welcome to the real floor 15. It's actually more than just a boss arena and is really a post-game floor.



There's one new enemy in this area.


Iron Turtle
Level: 75
HP: 2885
STR: 71
TEC: 70
VIT: 54
AGI: 37
LUC: 45

Attack Type: Bash
EXP Given: 45000

Damage Vulnerabilities:
50% 50% 50%
100% 100% 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 150% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
50% 100% 100%

Mechanics:
Ice Breath: Deals very severe ice damage to all party members. Attempts to bind the heads of hit targets, with a very high chance. Slightly slow.

Skill Data:
Ice Breath: Deals 170% ranged TEC-based ice damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 348 to 478 on average. Attempts to bind the heads of hit targets, with a 50% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 65% to 87% on average. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.

Enemy Behavior:
-Iron Turtles always use Ice Breath when they're in the back row.
-Iron Turtles are more likely to use Ice Breath when they're at 50% HP or lower.

AI Script:
-If the Iron Turtle is in the back row, use Ice Breath.
-If the Iron Turtle's HP is at 50% or lower:
--79% chance to use Ice Breath.
--Else, Attack.
-If the Iron Turtle's HP is at 100% to 51%:
--39% chance to use Ice Breath.
--Else, Attack.

Learnable Skills:
Ice Breath: Deals ice damage to all enemies. Attempts to bind the heads of hit targets. Slightly slow.

Grimoire Skill Data:
Ice Breath: Deals ranged TEC-based ice damage to all enemies. Attempts to bind the heads of hit targets. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.


Drops:
-Normal: Century Shell. 70% chance. Sells for 1485 en.
-- Amber Ring (+10 DEF, +13 VIT): Made from 1 Century Shell. Costs 38000 en.
-- Full Plate (+90 DEF, +20 HP, +10 TP): Made from 5 Century Shells. Costs 25500 en.
-Conditional: Scratched Shell (Kill with cut damage). 90% chance. Sells for 2900 en.
-- Holy Aspis (+73 DEF, 10% head/arm/leg bind resistance; Protector only): Made from 1 Scratched Shell. Costs 80000 en.

Iron Turtles are kind of weird, but very deadly enemies. They're heavy hitters, but they're the only thing you have to worry about since the rest of this floor only has the standard 3rd Stratum enemies, all of which you heavily outlevel by now. You'll definitely want some form of Ice protection when dealing with them, because they are capable of going toe-to-toe with you on their own! They also take a while to take down, but that's in relation to this floor's gimmick.

Oh and if you've got Volt Torrent, they're a perfect candidate to test your new tool out on!

In fact, you can consider these enemies a bit of a warning of what is to come, and what you really should be preparing against. It's unusual for the EO series to do something like that, but it's nice when it does.

Oh yeah, I forgot they're postgame here, Iron Turtles were just the regular red FOEs found throughout the stratum in the original, instead of it just being ant time all the time. Early on they were annoying since you couldn't punch through them without an Alchemist, as well as Anticold. Here, they're just a small pebble in the road.



Oh, hello there! So here's the gimmick of this floor. Remember those Aquatic Butchers that would creep in on battles back in the 3rd Stratum? These FOEs aren't those crabs, but they operate similarly. Once you get into a battle in certain places, they'll spawn, and then move 2 tiles at a time to get to your location! Unlike those crabs, these things can fly on land. But you have to let them join the battle in order to engage them. Because the moment you leave the battle, they instantly despawn. So let's give this FOE a warm welcome, shall we?




Essence Drainer
Level: 69
HP: 9580
STR: 72
TEC: 64
VIT: 49
AGI: 58
LUC: 54

Attack Type: Cut
EXP Given: 60000

Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 150% 100%
100% 100% 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
10% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
10% 10% 50%
50% 50% 50%

Mechanics:
Echolocation: Guaranteed to inflict panic on one party member. Slightly slow.
Blood Drain: Deals overkill cut damage to one party member. Heals the Essence Drainer for 200% of the damage dealt. Slow.
Claw Dance: Deals 2-3 instances of overkill cut damage to one party member. Slightly slow.

Skill Data:
Echolocation: Attempts to inflict panic on one party member, with a 120% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 164% to 217% on average. Has an 80% speed modifier.
Blood Drain: Deals 200% melee STR-based cut damage to one party member. The damage ranges from 747 to 898 on average. Heals the Essence Drainer for 200% of the damage dealt. Has a 70% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Claw Dance: Deals 2-3 instances of 150% melee STR-based cut damage to one party member. The damage ranges from 560 to 674 on average. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.

Enemy Behavior:
-Essence Drainers specifically target party members that are not panicked.
-Essence Drainers are more likely to use Blood Drain and less likely to use Claw Dance when their HP is at 40% or lower.

AI Script:
-If any party member is not panicked:
--If the Essence Drainer's HP is at 40% or below:
---39% chance to use Blood Drain, targeting party members that are not panicked.
---Else:
----39% chance to use Claw Dance.
----Else, use Echolocation, targeting party members that are not panicked.
--Else:
---24% chance to use Blood Drain, targeting party members that are not panicked.
---Else:
----44% chance to use Claw Dance.
----Else, use Echolocation, targeting party members that are not panicked.
-If the Essence Drainer's HP is at 40% or lower:
--39% chance to use Blood Drain.
--Else, use Claw Dance.
-If the Essence Drainer's HP is at 100% to 41%:
--24% chance to use Blood Drain.
--Else, use Claw Dance.

Learnable Skills:
Echolocation: Attempts to inflict panic on one enemy. Slightly slow.
Blood Drain: Deals cut damage to one enemy. Heals the user based on the damage dealt. Average speed.
Claw Dance: Deals 2-3 instances of cut damage to one enemy. Slightly slow.

Grimoire Skill Data:
Echolocation: Attempts to inflict panic on one enemy. Has an 80% speed modifier.


Blood Drain: Deals melee STR-based cut damage to one enemy. Heals the user based on the damage dealt. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.


Claw Dance: Deals 2-3 instances of melee STR-based cut damage to one enemy. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 90% at all levels.


Drops:
-Normal: Bat Skin. 55% chance. Sells for 24 en.
-- Hunter Boot (+6 DEF, +1 STR, +1 AGI): Made from 1 Bat Skin. Costs 320 en.
-- Fuscina (+48 ATK): Made from 2 Bat Skins (Vampire Bat normal) and 5 Spinnerettes (Venom Spider normal). Costs 1200 en.
-Conditional: Venom Fang (Kill with poison damage). 100% chance. Sells for 13500 en.
-- Pain Aspis (+100 DEF, -100% damage/ailment/bind resistance): Made from 1 Venom Fang. Costs 75000 en.

Essence Drainers are basically a super Vampire Bat and Forest Bat with an additional hard hitting physical. You uh, really don't want them to use Claw Dance unless you like seeing your party members color the water red. Blood Drain draws out the fight and hits pretty hard, and Echolocation is a huge annoyance you don't want to be dealing with. Take them out fast if you can! And like Iron Turtles, they're also weak to Volt!

Weren't any bat FOEs in the original and these aren't really big stepping stones on the way to the dragon. It was like this in the original, everything you encountered here were 4th stratum enemies despite being a postgame section, the maze was the true difficulty, like a lot of EO1.



A funny thing about their drops is that their common drop is shared with the Story exclusive Vampire Bats. Meaning that you can get some Story esclusive equipment in Classic Mode. Which is 2nd stratum tier equipment. That you can only obtain in the post-game. Thanks...? This does mean that their conditional is the only one really worth going for.

You can get 1 piece of equipment since Venom Spiders are from Gladsheim Area I, it's really weird.



...And then some encounters in here are just really not that notable.

Man, remember when we used to be scared of these things?



This place isn't too notable on its own though. It's basically just a huge linear path with a bunch of lakes and dead ends in places. The rooms with the lakes are where the Vampire Bats reside.

Oh yeah, this treasure sucks.



And so does this one.



I got a level up and uhhh...

Return Formula. Yes, this is really what I'm investing in now. I have like, nothing left I actually want on Arthur. Every single one of his actives are useless now that I've got access to a Torrent.



You know, Iron Turtles are actually really slow. They only have 37 AGI, while those Dragonhorses have 26 AGI. If that turtle was any slower, this would be an evil formation!



Ooh, now this is actually a good chest!


Is this where the one-armed former adventurer lost his arm and his companions to the blue dragon...? You must investigate this room to find what secrets it holds.




This is the spot you need to check for the arm.

You dig it out and discover a human arm, frozen solid!



Ew!

EO2stockroar.mp3 plays.

When you pick up the arm, you hear an uncanny roar from afar. You prepare for battle, but after a few tense moments, there is no second roar. Does this arm belong to the man who fought the blue dragon? And what was that roar...? Based on your experience, you know that it is dangerous to get too involved. You should first return to the pub with this arm and make your report.

Don't leave just yet! There's one very important thing we have to do here as well!



There's a lily pad down here.



A two-way lily pad in fact!



And this is what that shortcut all the way back at the start of floor 15 was for! So we never have to do that entire goddamn trek back to the totally a boss arena room! Could you imagine how awful it would be if there was no such shortcut there?

Yeah, IMAGINE



And for 100% completion, don't forget to activate the floor jump here!



This map is looking pretty different now that we've gotten the full picture. That's pretty neat! Now let's go tell that one-armed man the good news!



Hm? Achievers. You find that dragon...?



That's...! That tattoo... There's no mistake. This is my arm! Yes... I wasn't lying, or dreaming! I did fight the blue dragon! ...Thank you. You've cleared my name... and the names of my friends who died that day. The reward's with the bartender. Go on, take it.



You can actually turn this quest in right away and hand in the arm to Valerie instead for some slightly different dialogue. No, she doesn't freak out like Cass did in EO2 regarding severed arms, otherwise I would have shown that off.

Haha, I saw it all, so you don't need to tell me. Thank you so much for clearing the client's name. So the blue dragon that can control blizzards really does exist... ......The Hall's still got some problems, with the Chieftain and all, but... Let's have them look into this. This may prove to be a threat to everyone in the forest. It's too big to handle on our own. If we find out anything, I'll let you know.




Nice.



Once Century Shell makes this baby and it's one of the ultimate tank accessories. Sadly, this is outdone by... several other accessories. Resistance accessories provide more damage reduction than it, and that's not even getting into the Town Medal. +13 VIT is actually a very good bonus, but unfortunately it's not "use up an accessory slot for this" good.



More turtle shells make this thing. I suppose if you're playing Classic and lack access to M.I.K.E.'s corpse, this would be a good pickup. But I'm playing Story Mode and do have access to his corpse armor, so I don't really recommend this for Raquna. As for Protectors, those are alright secondary stats at least.



Ah, the Holy Aspis. The ultimate Shield in the game. Comes with a 10% resistance to all binds and the 2nd highest DEF out of any shield. Why is this the ultimate shield when it has the 2nd highest DEF? Um. Well...



Here's the polar opposite to the Holy Aspis, the Pain Aspis, made from the conditional drop from the Essence Drainer. It's utterly awful. Firstly, this thing is not meant for defense at all. That 100 DEF means absolutely nothing due to its massive penalties, which adds on 100% to every single damage multiplier you have, including Almighty, and every single disable resistance multiplier you have! Basically, wearing this means you take double damage from everything and are twice as susceptible to disables!

So why in the world would you want to wear this? It's... It's meant for a DPS Protector build. You see, a Protector's offensive skills which uses a Shield use 3 times the DEF value of the Shield as the weapon attack for those skills, meaning that the Pain Aspis is a 300 ATK weapon for Shield Smite and Shield Rush, which outdoes the Ameno Habakiri at 255 ATK. However, it's really not as good as it sounds. In the damage formula, Weapon ATK is far less of a factor than STR, which is what really enables DPS classes to deal damage. Protectors basically have noodle arms thanks to their pitiful STR, and it doesn't help that Shield Smite's modifiers are pretty low, that even with the Pain Aspis equipped, they barely deal any damage.

Don't buy this, it's utter crap and not worth using at all. The only way this can possibly worth it is if you take a high STR class and reclass them to a Protector.... for some reason. And even then, using weapons with high attack and skills with high damage modifiers will deal similar or more damage without putting you at extreme risk.

Even in the original when Protectors were tied in the highest STR with Ronin for... some reason, the Pain Aspis has so many downsides that it wasn't worth the slight extra damage you got from it, since having your Protector get tagged by every disable under the sun makes their jobs infinitely more annoying. And sure, I finished the game with it on for shits and giggles, but I'm also crazy.

Next time, darkness, holes, and more dragon slaying.