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Story Update 29: Abyssopelagic
The smell seems to be coming from the mound of earth before you. When you peer at the top of the mound, you find a watery substance pooled there. The oily smell is coming from the water.
Hey, you think we can brighten up the place if we light this thing?
Then we could say goodbye to the darkness!
He may be right that something this sizable could act as a torch for the entire room...
If all else fails, use fire.
You prepare some kindling and throw it into the depression on the mound.
Well, it didn't light up the whole room... but this is a big improvement.
If we find any other pools of oil like this one, let's light them as we go.
That way, it'll be okay if we end up getting separated...
You take a quick glance across the lit room and return to your investigation.
So here's one part of this floor's main gimmick. Darkness. And fire. There are torches periodically spread throughout the floor that light up an area with a radius of 7 tiles. Though near that 7th tile, the light gets dimmer.
Be warned that you can't put out these torches once lit. The only way to do so is to leave the floor. As for why you'd want to put them out? Well, I'll show it off later.
There are also pitfalls here. They're a lot easier to see when the area is lit up. Though it's still possible to barely make out the pitfall even in the dark.
Like so. If you pay attention, you can notice a bit of blackness on the top screen, which shows there's a pitfall there. If you look closely as you move through the place, it's possible to get through this floor without having to light up a single torch at all. (Alternatively you can look up a map online, but where's the fun in that?)
How about if you couldn't see the pitfalls and had a limited draw distance? I think an online map is very good in that regard. However even though it's usual postgame bullshit, I find the floor's puzzle a massive improvement, good stuff Atlus.
Steel Barb
Level: 72
HP: 858
STR: 68
TEC: 51
VIT: 48
AGI: 38
LUC: 42
Attack Type: Stab
EXP Given: 21000
Damage Vulnerabilities:
0% 
0% 
50%
0% 
0% 
100%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 
150% 
50% 
100% 
50% 
100% 
100%
50% 
100% 
100%
100% 
100% 
100%
Mechanics:
Terror Sting: Deals severe stab damage that pierces party rows. Attempts to inflict fear on hit targets, with an extremely high chance. Very slightly slow.
Skill Data:
Terror Sting: Deals 110% melee STR-based stab damage that pierces party rows. The damage ranges from 360 to 430 on average. Attempts to inflict fear on hit targets, with an 80% chance. The effective chance ranges from 88% to 116% on average. Has a 90% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Enemy Behavior:
-Steel Barbs are more likely to use Terror Sting when they're at 50% HP or lower.
AI Script:
-If the Steel Barb's HP is at 50% or lower:
--89% chance to use Terror Sting.
--Else, Attack.
-If the Steel Barb's HP is at 100% to 51%:
--59% chance to use Terror Sting.
--Else, Attack.
Learnable Skills:
Terror Sting: Deals stab damage that pierces enemy rows. Attempts to inflict fear on hit targets. Fast.
Grimoire Skill Data:
Terror Sting: Deals melee STR-based stab damage that pierces enemy rows. Attempts to inflict fear on hit targets. Has a 120% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Drops:
-Normal: 
Shvier Stinger. 60% chance. Sells for 1379 en.
--
Steel Gun (+161 ATK): Made from 1 Shvier Stinger. Costs 43100 en.
--
Corsesca (+178 ATK): Made from 5 Shvier Stingers. Costs 54800 en.
--
Comet Whip (+141 ATK): Made from 1 Haze Wing (Hazefly rare) and 3 Shiver Stingers (Steel Barb normal). Costs 32600 en.
--
Field Armor (+81 DEF): Made from 1 Tri-Color (6th Stratum Mine 1) and 7 Shiver Stingers (Steel Barb normal). Costs 23400 en.
-Conditional: 
Severed Stinger (Kill with cut damage). 95% chance. Sells for 2538 en.
--
Fear Earring (Immunity to fear): Made from 1 Severed Stinger. Costs 12000 en.
Ahahaha. "Bring Volt damage or go fuck yourself." Not only that, they can incapacitate your party members and hit them hard with Terror Sting. Their conditional drops do unlock Fear immunity accessories, so that's one way to deal with their nonsense.
It may be tempting to just run from these things if you lack the tools. Unfortunately, this is EOU. There is no escape. They're weak to Poison, but unless that Poison in question is Viper, that's not really going to kill them fast. There's also bashing them, but that's not exactly a damage type that's really widespread in this game...
Woah, a big change from the original, firstly it only used its attack if it used Charge before, which doesn't give an ATK boost and it didn't inflict Fear, just hit a single person. Like, it's actually nuts how overtuned these enemies are in the remake, all of them hate your fucking guts. You also only found them on B30F, so faced like 3 or so in the entire game?
Hazefly
Level: 74
HP: 835
STR: 65
TEC: 55
VIT: 46
AGI: 44
LUC: 43
Attack Type: Stab
EXP Given: 14500
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 150% 100%
100% 100% 0%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 50% 100% 50% 50% 100% 50%
10% 100% 100%
50% 100% 100%
Mechanics:
Spark: Deals heavy volt damage to all party members. Reduces hit targets' accuracy by 50% for 4 turns. Average speed.
Skill Data:
Spark: Deals 120% ranged TEC-based volt damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 151 to 208 on average. Reduces hit targets' accuracy by 50% for 4 turns. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Enemy Behavior:
-Hazeflies will always use Spark when they're in the back row.
-Hazeflies are equally likely to use Spark and normal Attacks when above 50% HP.
-Below 50% HP, Hazeflies are far more likely to use Spark.
AI Script:
-If the Hazefly is in the back row, use Spark.
-If the Hazefly's HP is at 50% or lower:
--79% chance to use Spark.
--Else, Attack.
-If the Hazefly's HP is at 100% to 51%:
--49% chance to use Spark.
--Else, Attack.
Learnable Skills:
Spark: Deals ranged TEC-based volt damage to all enemies. Reduces hit targets' accuracy for 4 turns. Average speed.
Grimoire Skill Data:
Spark: Deals ranged TEC-based volt damage to all enemies. Reduces hit targets' accuracy for 4 turns. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
Drops:
-Normal: Wing Scale. 25% chance. Sells for 606 en.
--
Ebon Glove (+44 DEF, +20 HP, +6 AGI; Dark Hunter only): Made from 30 Wing Scales. Costs 45000 en.
--
Quest Rod (+127 ATK, +100 TP, +5 TEC): Made from 1 Wing Scale (Hellfly/Hazefly normal) and 3 Throbbing Vines (Gasser Tree normal). Costs 23600 en.
--
Blazing Sword (+146 ATK, cut+fire normal attacks): Made from 10 Wing Scales (Hellfly/Hazefly normal) and 3 Blaze Minerals (Flame Ooze normal). Costs 36000 en.
-Rare: Haze Wing. 15% chance. Sells for 755 en.
-- Comet Whip (+141 ATK): Made from 1 Haze Wing (Hazefly rare) and 3 Shiver Stingers (Steel Barb normal). Costs 32600 en.
--
Papillon Mail (+71 DEF): Made from 7 Ice Wings (Hellfly rare) and 5 Haze Wings (Hazefly rare). Costs 19300 en.
--
Gendawa (+145 ATK): Made from 1 Calculus (6th Stratum Mine 2) and 7 Haze Wings (Hazefly rare). Costs 34380 en.
Okay, mists are not going to cut it here. Sure Spark hits harder than Freeze thanks to Hazeflies having higher TEC, but the damage isn't the real problem here (though it does hit hard for an AOE.) It's that accuracy penalty, which is just way too much to deal with, holy fucking shit. Volt Wall will take the sting out of that at least, but it can only protect you once per turn. You may want to start packing Unihorns just to dispel that goddamn accuracy debuff if it does land on you.
Oh hey now these guys are actually a threat, Hazeflys only inflicted party wide Fear in the original and got shredded by a Survivalist. Accuracy modifiers are never fun in this series, so I hope you like some bullshit! Also they were weak to Volt in the original, funny how they get revamped.
Flame Ooze
Level: 70
HP: 722
STR: 64
TEC: 58
VIT: 44
AGI: 32
LUC: 42
Attack Type: Bash
EXP Given: 12000
Damage Vulnerabilities:
50% 50% 50%
0% 150% 100%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100% 10% 150% 100% 50%
100% 100% 50%
100% 100% 100%
Mechanics:
Explosion: Deals overkill fire damage to all party members. Extremely fast.
Skill Data:
Explosion: Deals 350% ranged TEC-based fire damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 512 to 702 on average. Has a 150% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 150%.
Enemy Behavior:
-Flame Oozes will use Explosion when they are the last enemy left in battle.
AI Script:
-If the Flame Ooze is the only alive enemy, use Explosion.
-Else, Attack.
Drops:
-Normal: Blaze Mineral. 30% chance. Sells for 638 en.
--
Dyed Boot (+25 DEF, +3 STR): Made from 1 Blaze Mineral. Costs 7810 en.
-- Blazing Sword (+146 ATK, cut+fire normal attacks): Made from 10 Wing Scales (Hellfly/Hazefly normal) and 3 Blaze Minerals (Flame Ooze normal). Costs 36000 en.
Holy fucking shit EOU! This enemy is basically just sadistic choices, the enemy. If you focus them down first, that means you're not focusing down all the other enemies that are kicking your shit in. If you focus down everyone else first, you're heading to a fiery grave. If you have Fire Wall handy, you can use that to cut the knot and neutralize them. Of course if you don't have a Protector or you did have one but they died recently... well I hope you didn't lose too much progress. These enemies are non-threats when their gimmick isn't active, so focusing them down first isn't an attractive prospect. And in some formations, doing that is utter suicide!
The closest thing to a saving grace about this enemy is that they don't really do much by themselves, and aren't really threatening on a blindside. (Compartively anyways. Remember that regular attacks hurt in this game!)
The hits just keep coming. Flamegels were pretty annoying since they cut your ATK in half and then tossed some Fire in your direction, but holy crap this is excessive depending on the formation. Protectors become pretty mandatory in postgames due to shit like this and it is hilarious, while also very depressing.
Over here in this circle of pits, we have a very nice treasure!
As you listen closely, your ears pick up an unfamiliar bird's cry echoing in the darkness. The echoing cry sounds as if the bird is hungry and searching for something to prey upon... But the area is shrouded in darkness, preventing whatever bird is making these cries from being seen. You decide to note the sound of this bird's cry for later and return to your investigation of the Labyrinth.
Okay, so here's the main reason you don't want to just light these torches willy-nilly and why not being able to douse the torches is a bad thing.
These FOEs, the Songbirds, will be able to see you and aggro onto you! Oh and as a bit of trickery, we couldn't see those FOE icons on the map while it was still dark. The game deliberately hides those from us unless we're right next to the FOE, or the area is lit up (though your radar works as normal either way). If you lit a torch but they can't see you, they'll just head to nearest torch you lit up and stay there. Reaching a dark area will cause them to de-aggro. While it's dark, they won't be able to see you at all and will be completely still.
I'll be honest, I actually really love this floor. In fact, it's actually my favorite floor in the entire game. It's a very creative reimagining of the original floor 27 from EO1, which was so horrible (and also tedious and boring) I dare not speak any more about it! This version is a pretty tense floor all things considered, and the fact that the encounters are out for your blood helps with that. You can hide in the safety of the darkness, but won't be able to move forward as easily. Or you can use the light to be able to move on with certainty, while making the floor very unsafe for yourself in the process. You can get through the floor without falling in a pit either way, it's just up to you how you decide to handle this floor. The first time I went through this floor blind, I had a really great time just fearing what the game had in store for me as I made my way through it. Sadly this is the kind of floor where that sort of experience can't really be repeated again, oh well.
Considering B27F in EO1 was one of the worst floors in the game, hell, the SERIES, they could only go up and I'm really glad they improved it in such a way! See, the glowering recommendations are coming out now that the Story party has mostly shut the fuck up.
While you'll want to avoid the pitfalls in general bcause the consequences are dire, this one is a pitfall you'll want to tumble down.
So that pitfall led to a bit of a secret area where we get access to all 3 gathering points. Oh and there are damage tiles on this safety net of death as well.
That pitfall is the only way to get here, as you can't get back in through this way.
These damage tiles hit us for 50 damage by the way!
Anyways, we'll just make our way out of this floor. It's pretty simple to do so, as the exit is to the northwest. ...Do any of you hear cawing?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!
THREAD OUT! THREAD OUT! THREAD OUT!
What's the big deal, it's just the remake version of a Macabre called a... Depth... DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Oh, I'm sorry. I was just looking at the sign-in records. I was thinking about when you first came to this inn...
Those FOEs are known as Depth Dancers and will eat you alive if you dare battle them. You are not getting out of floor 28 alive unless you have a thread. Falling down there is just that much of a death sentence!
Oh yeah, because we reached a new floor, the townsfolk have new dialogue, as I'm sure you can tell.
If y'got new stuff, bring it here, and I'll make you t'best weapons y'ever did see.
Ooh, now that is a really good boot! Definitely worth putting on your physical damage dealers!
And farming up 20 White Crystals makes a Medic exclusive helmet. Eh, he's already got enough TP. Especially since I bothered to farm up another Sage Wand for Simon.
"The Achievers Detective." Haha, I'm not a member of your guild, nor was I hired by you. But it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
As their priestess, I must gather my strength for the trials to come.
Oh god she's been inside for so long she's hallucinating about her dead race. We are monsters.
They all come to me because I've been here since before anybody started exploring. ...That makes me sound really old, doesn't it?
Only one new bar patron upon entering the Depth Dancer Slaughterhouse.
Um... Achievers? M-My friend... is a fan... And I heard... that you come here... I... I... Um... P-Please, shake hands with me!
Always nice to meet a fan!
...Oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh...! I-I'm gonna tell Rudy about this! Thank you, Achievers!
Official business III and The azure colossus have Story exclusive dialogue, so I'll be showing those off. The azure colossus won't show up until you reach B28F and have completed Proof of heroism. But uh, I won't be tackling that quest just yet. For now, Official business III.
Decided to take the request, have you? Good, I've been hoping someone would. It's part of the investigation of the 6th Stratum that you discovered. I know this is from the Hall, but... Ancient civilizations and everything... It all seems so complicated. At any rate, why don't you go to the 6th Stratum and reclaim as many relics as you can? The more relics you find, the bigger the reward you'll get. I recommend you bring back a whole bunch. I'm interested in seeing what's down there too, so good luck.
...It reminds me of how glad I am to be a part of this town.
And now back to the darkness.
Meh.
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
Yeah blindsides are the absolute last thing you want to see in this Stratum! Fortunately I didn't lose too much progress, but sometimes the post-game can just decide that you lose. Save often, and don't get complacent.
This is where having a Survivalist with Predator and Awareness makes the stratum a lot less deadly, due to how incredibly vicious blindsides are in this area. Aware saved me a bunch in EO1 and the enemies are about half as deadly!
If you have the Headroot of the forbidden one, the Armroot of the forbidden one, and the Legroot of the forbidden one, you win the game. Or at least just unlock a discount version of the Town Medal. Only 100 less HP, but still a pretty potent accessory.
This is the elemental counterpart to the Adamas, granted 10% resistances to elemental attacks. I guess it might be helpful on explorations, but you can nullify elementals in big fights, so I wouldn't recommend this accessory for those purposes.
Now before we move on further into the floor, there's a skill I want from these fuckers. Demon Beak. It's a melee AOE Stab attack that has a good chance to blind. This skill can basically cause a party wipe when used by the Depth Dancers. So how do you grab this skill safely?
You turn the difficulty down to Picnic and stone hunt from there. Depth Dancers deal way too much damage to survive hunting for Demon Beak normally, even at level 99! They're that fucking strong! The only way you're getting this on Expert is by sheer fucking luck!
Ooh, I like the looks of those Grimoires!
AHAHAHAHA! Double double demon doublified! Now what are the chances of that!?
Demon Beak is a melee-ranged attack that deals 265% STR-based Stab damage to all enemies in the battle, and has a 55% chance to inflict Blind. It doesn't have a speed modifier, and has base 99% accuracy. It's one of the best physical AOEs the Story party can get access to. And if your party lacks a good source of Stab damage, this can fill the gap quite nicely! Heck, you can even turn this against the Depth Dancers themselves! 
I put this on both Dude and Ricky, as Ricky using a ranged weapon gets rid of the melee damage penalty (but sadly does not get rid of the actual range, so it just turns into a front row target attack if she's in the back row.) Boy what a fantastic time for me to get a double perfect Grimoire!
Pfft, coward, but I mean you get the opporunity, so hell yeah take it! The FOEs in this stratum are super deadly due to of course getting close to the final level cap of 99. In the original they only got as high as 70, so you could catch up earlier. And also they couldn't kill you 55 ways to Sunday.
A very good treasure! Unfortunately I ended up trapping myself with the Songbird. Oh well. Time to thread out and try again.
Bladefish
Level: 76
HP: 971
STR: 70
TEC: 52
VIT: 48
AGI: 55
LUC: 44
Attack Type: Cut
EXP Given: 23000
Damage Vulnerabilities:
50% 100% 100%
100% 50% 150%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
50% 100% 100% 50% 100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
Mechanics:
Mach Slash: Deals 3 instances of heavy cut damage to random party members. Average speed.
Skill Data:
Mach Slash: Deals 3 instances of 90% melee STR-based cut damage to random party members. The damage ranges from 297 to 359 on average. Has no limit on how many times one target can be hit. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Enemy Behavior:
-Bladefishes are unlikely to use Mach Slash over normal Attacks when they're above 50% HP.
-When they're at 50% HP or below, they have a slight preference for Mach Slash.
AI Script:
-If the Bladefish's HP is above 50%:
--29% chance to use Mach Slash.
--71% chance to Attack.
-If the Bladefish's HP is at 50% or below:
--59% chance to use Mach Slash.
--41% chance to Attack.
Learnable Skills:
Mach Slash: Deals 3 instances of cut damage to random enemies. Average speed.
Grimoire Skill Data:
Mach Slash: Deals 3 instances of melee STR-based cut damage to random enemies. Has no limit on how many times one target can be hit. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
Drops:
-Normal: Blue Crystal. 30% chance. Sells for 682 en.
--
Kotsujiki (+181 ATK, +3 VIT): Made from 1 Blue Crystal. Costs 53000 en.
--
Sapphire (+5 VIT, +50% ice resistance): Made from 10 Blue Crystals. Costs 34000 en.
--
Azure Coat (+64 DEF, +3 AGI): Made from 3 Blue Crystals (Bladefish normal) and 5 Moschinos (6th Stratum Chop 1). Costs 15700 en.
-- Dainsleif (+158 ATK, -38% base accuracy): Made from 5 Calculi (6th Stratum Mine 2) and 7 Blue Crystals (Bladefish normal). Costs 42000 en.
-Rare: Blade Spiral. 15% chance. Sells for 790 en.
--
Great Helm (+50 DEF): Made from 1 Blade Spiral. Costs 13800 en.
--
Partizan (+167 ATK, +2 VIT): Made from 3 Blade Spirals. Costs 46000 en.
They're basically stronger verison of Sawfish, but compared to every bit of nonsense we've seen in this Stratum, they're the closest thing this place has to a trash mob. They can still ruin your day, but they're not really that notable in comparison.
Oh right, I, uh, think I talked about these when I saw the Sawfish, but there's only one kind of this enemy in this stratum, so yeah, bugged in the original but it didn't really matter. These guys definitely hurt, but boy is it a massive step down from all the BULLSHIT you just had.
Red Corpuscle
Level: 76
HP: 663
STR: 70
TEC: 53
VIT: 51
AGI: 49
LUC: 50
Attack Type: Cut
EXP Given: 19600
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100%
10% 10% 10%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100% 100% 10% 50% 100%
50% 10% 10%
100% 100% 100%
Mechanics:
Red Plasma: Deals severe cut damage to one party member. The damage ranges from 503 to 606 on average. Guaranteed to instantly kill the target. Average speed and inaccurate.
Skill Data:
Red Plasma: Deals 150% melee STR-based cut damage to one party member. The damage ranges from 503 to 606 on average. Attempts to instantly kill the target, with a 200% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 223% to 297% on average. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 60%.
Enemy Behavior:
-Red Corpuscles are less likely to use Red Plasma when their HP is at 50% or lower.
AI Script:
-If the Red Corpuscle's HP is at 50% or lower:
--29% chance to use Red Plasma.
--Else, Attack.
-If the Red Corpuscle's HP is at 100% to 51%:
--69% chance to use Red Plasma.
--Else, Attack.
Learnable Skills:
Red Plasma: Deals melee STR-based cut damage to one enemy. Attempts to instantly kill the target. Slightly slow and extremely inaccurate.
Grimoire Skill Data:
Red Plasma: Deals melee STR-based cut damage to one enemy. Attempts to instantly kill the target. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 30%.
Drops:
-Normal: Red Crystal. 35% chance. Sells for 696 en.
-- Ruby (+3 STR, +50% fire resistance): Made from 10 Red Crystals. Costs 34000 en.
-- War Flail (+176 ATK, +80 HP, +5 TEC): Made from 1 Red Crystal (Red Corpuscle normal) and 3 Black Roots (Evilroot normal). Costs 27500 en.
-Conditional: Shrunken Cell (Kill while afraid). 50% chance. Sells for 1875 en.
--
Nectar II (Revives one dead party member at full HP): Made from 1 Shrunken Cell. Costs 3500 en.
Oh, were you getting through this Stratum using Arthur to annihilate everything? Yeah these things are here to put a stop to that. These human sized monstrosities were why I picked up Demon Beak, just so I would have a way to deal with them! Oh and unlike with Leukocytes, Yggdra Vaccine doesn't work since Instant Death isn't an ailment. Have fun!
Ah, speaking of bullshit, Red Cells were only on B30F and were slow, but definitely annoyed when ID landed. Here they're just complete dicks, fuck you.
30% chance to stun on regular attacks, thanks.
...
...
So everything I've shown you since I've stolen the beak of demons from Depth Dancers I have to do all over again.
Well, no sense in letting all that drawing effort go to waste. I can at least go through this area again without lighting up the torches.
C'mon where's your Survival- oh, right. Yeah.
HOW DOES IT FEEL, CLARET HOLLOWS!? HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE ONE BLINDSIDED FOR ONCE!? Ahem, sorry.
So here's the last new enemy on this floor.
Evilroot
Level: 79
HP: 635
STR: 71
TEC: 56
VIT: 47
AGI: 46
LUC: 56
Attack Type: Bash
EXP Given: 19000
Damage Vulnerabilities:
150% 100% 100%
150% 50% 50%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%
10% 10% 10%
10% 10% 10%
Mechanics:
Last Cry: Interruptable with Sonic Bombs. Instantly kills all party members. Very fast.
Skill Data:
Last Cry: Interruptable with Sonic Bombs. Attempts to instantly kill all party members, with a 120% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 138% to 184% on average. Has a 150% speed modifier.
Enemy Behavior:
-Evilroots are less likely to use Last Cry when their HP is at 50% or lower.
AI Script:
-If Last Cry is queued, use Last Cry.
-If the Evilroot's HP is at 50% or lower, 49% chance to queue Last Cry.
-If the Evilroot's HP is at 100% to 51%, 79% chance to queue Last Cry.
-Else, Attack.
Drops:
-Normal: Black Root. 35% chance. Sells for 712 en.
-- Noir Queen (+154 ATK): Made from 1 Black Root. Costs 38000 en.
-- War Flail (+176 ATK, +80 HP, +5 TEC): Made from 1 Red Crystal (Red Corpuscle normal) and 3 Black Roots (Evilroot normal). Costs 27500 en.
-- Aquael (+159 ATK): Made from 9 Black Roots (Evilroot normal) and 5 Roller Tails (Spiked Roller normal). Costs 39200 en.
-Conditional: Cursed Root (Kill while cursed). 80% chance. Sells for 1950 en.
--
Cianontedae (+34 DEF, -50 action speed): Made from 1 Cursed Root. Costs 21000 en.
Oh did you think Flame Oozes were the only enemy that could force you to make hard decisions? Yeah say hello to the Evilroots! Leave them alone for 2 turns, and you'll be greeting the game over screen!
Sure, you can interrupt them with Sonic Bombs, but consider where you are. You're in the motherfucking Claret Hollows. You may not even have the privilege of having someone use up a Sonic Bomb because you have too many people dead, or you really can't afford to waste someone's action on that!
Alternatively, wear Jewel Eyes and laugh at how ineffectual they become. Also helps with dealing with the Red Corpuscles.
This fucking game man. Evilroots used Charge to then use Piercer in the original, which only dealt damage with a chance of ID to a single target, pretty pathetic compared to this damn monster. Also, again, encountered on B29F so you face a lot of very dangerous enemies for a very long time in the remake. It's actually impressive.
...Wow. Love you too, game!
So this pit also leads to a secret room on floor 28. However, I'm not going down there just yet. I go back to town to restock.
WHY THE FUCK DO YOU NEED THIRTY 25% DROP RATE ITEMS TO MAKE THIS THING!? THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 120 BUTTERFLY CORPSES!
TWENTY DROPS ALSO SUCK TO FARM FOR!
Though I guess you could consider this the Troubadour's ultimate accessory? 30% resistance to all ailments is a huge boon. Pair that with a Toxic Gage and ailments will only land on you 20% of the time, which is pretty bonkers! And that's not even getting into the HP and TP boosts.
As you can tell from my anger and lack of joking, I am suffering from a case of Claret Hollows madness. Help. I fear I have not that much longer before I start breaking down into incoherent gibberish.
Also while I'm here, I may as well make a correction to what I stated in the Storm Emperor update. The elemental resistance accessories offers a 50% resistance to the given element, not 30%. So slap a Mist down and you're basically immune to the damage, though not the secondary effects.
The drop rates were slightly improved in the remake. Key word slightly. Also like with my EO1 LP, Expert Claret Hollows is tricky even for series veterans, do not try this at home. Or do, it's an interesting challenge, but please drop the difficulty if you're having a miserable time.
You are probably wondering where this one came from.
Two words: Depth Dancer.
Speaking of which, I accidentally ran into another one while trying to map out the slaughterhouse.
True to the floor's name, the birds all enjoyed a good serving of Dude hamburgers.
Nobody even got a chance to run, it used Demon Beak before they could even attempt to escape. That's how fucked you are if you run into these things.
........................
NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!
lmao there's probably a lot of strats you could pull off in Classic, but Story is limited by Grimoires, which don't help against blindsides, overkill damage and absolute bullshit. You'll notice a lot of the strategies involved bursting down enemies and mitigating their worst attacks. That doesn't save you in the postgame.
This is basically one of the biggest weaknesses of the Story party, and you're kind of seeing it in action right now. Their base toolkits are excellent for single target burst damage, but they suck at crowd control. Resulting in maulings for Claret Hollows a lot of the time since that's the name of the game here.
Now that we've made our way through these floors, let's check out this pit for real.
O-oh. Um, hello there.
Blizzard Clone
Level: 80
HP: 18000
STR: 86
TEC: 62
VIT: 63
AGI: 58
LUC: 59
Attack Type: Bash
EXP Given: 220000
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100%
100% 0% 150%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
30% 75% 30% 30% 10% 30% 20%
10% 10% 20%
30% 30% 50%
Mechanics:
Ice Torrent: Deals overkill ice damage to all party members. Slow.
Triple Strike: Deals 3 instances of heavy cut damage to random party members. Average speed.
Crushing Arm: Deals heavy bash damage to all party members. Attempts to bind the heads of hit targets, with a low chance. Slow.
Skill Data:
Ice Torrent: Deals 400% ranged TEC-based ice damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 600 to 832 on average. Has a 50% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 120%.
Triple Strike: Deals 3 instances of 90% melee STR-based cut damage to random party members. Has no limit on how many times one target can be hit. The damage ranges from 434 to 527 on average. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Crushing Arm: Deals 70% melee STR-based bash damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 337 to 410 on average. Attempts to bind the heads of hit targets, with a 20% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 24% to 32% on average. Has a 70% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Enemy Behavior:
-Blizzard Clones always open with Ice Torrent.
-After that, they'll always use Ice Torrent when the current turn is a multiple of 5.
-When Blizzard Clones are at 50% HP or below, they start using Crushing Arm.
AI Script:
-If it's the first turn, or the current turn is a multiple of 5, cast Ice Torrent.
-If the Blizzard Clone's HP is above 50%:
--69% chance to use Triple Strike.
--31% chance to Attack.
-If the Blizzard Clone's HP is at 50% or below:
--44% chance to use Crushing Arm.
--40% chance to use Triple Strike.
--12% chance to Attack.
Learnable Skills:
Ice Torrent: Deals ice damage to all enemies. Very slow.
Triple Strike: Deals 3 instances of cut damage to random enemies. Average speed.
Grimoire Skill Data:
Ice Torrent: Deals ranged TEC-based ice damage to all enemies. Has a 40% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 120% at all levels.
Triple Strike: Deals 3 instances of melee STR-based cut damage to random enemies. Has no limit on how many times one target can be hit. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
Drops:
-Normal: Dragon Core. 30% chance. Sells for 13000 en.
-- Four-Leaf Clover (20% chance to add several levels to any Grimoires generated on the turn of use): Made from 1 Dragon Core. Costs 10000 en.
-Conditional: Drake Eye (Kill with stab damage). 100% chance. Sells for 29000 en.
--
Athanor (+40 DEF, +4 TEC; Alchemist only): Made from 1 Drake Eye. Costs 39000 en.
So here's a weird aspect of the original game that was never seen again. Until this remake. The dragons have clones of themselves. Why? I dunno. In the original game, there was a certain gameplay purpose they served at least. Here uhhhh, they're just randomly scattered about the 6th Stratum hiding in secret rooms, guarding something. You'll have to kill them all to open up every treasure chest in the game if you want to do that.
The clones are basically severely weaker versions of the actual dragons. Their AI scripts are basically FOE-tier instead of being rather robust, like bosses. They only have access to a limited version of the skillset found on the boss versions of the dragons, and all of their skills are weaker.
You'll still want to defend against their breaths, but outside of that. They're basically just super FOEs. I'm not really going to cover these when they're just nerfed versions of the dragons.
Oh and you can get the Torrents from these as well if you prefer to go that route instead of trying to farm them off the actual dragons. Also yeah, for some reason you can encounter Blizzard Clone before the Storm Clone. I have no idea why, but that's just how it is.
The -oids in the original lost the breath skills, but usually kept the attacking skills, which meant Dragoid and Wyrmoid could be attempted without a Protector no problem! Drakoid kept 0-Point and royally fucked you over if you didn't shield it so that was fun. Otherwise they were the final hurdles to the final boss.
Ooh! Fascinating! This is the last time we'll get a Grimoire Stone from a chest, and it's the first time we've gotten enemy skills. Though given that it's an I type Grimoire, it's not likely to be great.
And use this passage to get out of here.
Ah, excellent! We've gotten the Torrent off of that one! As for the other Grimoire we got from the chest...
Yeah, it's not that great. Just level 3 versions of the Dragons' physical skills. None of which are really must haves.
The concept of skills being able to be found in chests is actually one I find fascinating, but nearly every single Grimoire Stone found in a chest were pretty disappointing, which is rather unfortunate.
They were really expecting you to just go with whatever the game threw up at you, instead of actually farming the useful skills people cared about. Mainly because the Grimoire system is absolute garbage.
Goodbye Flood. You served me well, but it's time to move on.
And hello Ice Torrent!
All the Dragon Clones have this as their common drop, and the item it unlocks isn't great. It gives a 20% chance for the user's Grimoire Chances to be at a higher level than usual. Except you have to use this during a Grimoire Chance, and the frequency of those popping up goes down as you spend more and more SP on your characters. A pretty crappy item.
Now the Blizzard Clone's conditional drop on the other hand makes an Alchemist exclusive glove and oh my my, just look at that TEC bonus!
This replaces Arthur's Mobius Alb to give him a total of 80 TEC! Giving him a whopping base hit of 360! Considering he has two 440% damage skills in his arsenal now, we're going to see some truly absurd numbers soon enough!
I was going to keep going, but the blindsides and Depth Dancers have worn me down, so we're going to slay a real dragon next time instead of just a clone. And perhaps be driven mad in the process... Ha ha ha ha hahahahahahahahaaahaaaa.
Eheeeheeheheeeheeeeeeeeeeeee!
Don't LP and postgame, kids!