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Update 32: In a Blizzard or on a Whim
Welcome ba- wow, what’s got you so steamed, Telos?
Do you care to explain why we saw smoke rising from the seas? Lots of it, in fact? And as to why we now have several huge buckets containing numerous fish and other aquatic life right outside our house?
Oh! Nila took us fishing.
...Uh huh. Was that all?
Not really! All that Bloom was getting in the way, so one thing led to another...
Please don’t tell me this is going where I think it’s going.
So I decided to see if I really could incinerate those floating menaces! With a bit of elbow grease, the Bloom went poof! You know I’m not sure why you all were against the idea before. This saved us a lot of trouble!
And less sores and wounds for our feet!
...You set the ocean. On fire. HOW!? AND WHY!?
SCIENCE! You’d be surprised what you can do with loads of potassium!
We gotta do that again sometime! It was AWESOME!
...I knew leaving those 2 alone with each other was a bad idea.
Awwww, I missed all that? Take me along with you when you do that again!
Ah, at any rate... what are we gonna do with all that fish? There’s no way we can eat all of that before they go bad.
Oh, I was going to let Menas handle distributing a good portion of those buckets. I’m sure Kazan could use a feast! Ooh! And I think Aizen would also appreciate the exports while Sougen sorts things out over there! One less thing for him to worry about while dealing with the nobles that are being difficult.
...While you go about doing that, we’ll immediately take our leave. I clearly haven’t been away from this place long enough.quote:
I went and lawn mowed a bunch of the ocean offscreen to make things less of a pain in the ass, and because it’ll have to be done at some point and I figured now as a good time. I tried to hold off on unexplored areas so those places still have the Bloom. Now only 4,184 Bloom tiles remain, down from 10,126, meaning that 74.13% of the Bloom is wiped out. Quite a bit of progress made on that front!
Noble Crown
Level: 48
LIFE: 300
ATK: 123
DEF: 72
INT: 56
SPD: 57
Attack Type: Slash
Attributes: N/A
Exp: 729
Gold: 48
Item Drops:
-Normal: Slimy Skin - 30% Drop Rate.
--Skin of a Noble Crown.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%
Skills:
Poison Mist: 30% chance of inflicting Poison on the entire party. Has a Poison power of 150% (Deals 33 Poison damage.) Has a speed modifier of 85%.
Noble Crowns are the final enemy that can be encountered on the north seas. They can be pretty annoying to deal with, especially in formations like these. That Poison damage can eat through your LIFE pretty fast.
Oh yeah, pruning all that Bloom led to the party gaining tons of EXP through the tougher patches of Bloom and sheer amounts of Bloom Seeds I ran into. Let’s go and spend all that SP, shall we?
I’ve clearly taken up the wrong profession. I should have just been doing this from the get go!
Edward is now officially embracing his destiny as a bonklord. As a reminder, Earthbreaker smacks one enemy for 160% Blunt damage, but gives Edward an additional 50 ATK increase to his ATK stat during damage calculations.
Oh and Swing Crush hits for 142% damage. Exciting.
I decide it’s now a ripe time for Dia to pick up Punishment. So I get Dominance up to level 3, granting her an 114% multiplier to a Whip’s ATK.
Mmmheh heh heh! Now it is time for our enemies to truly suffer on the battlefields!
Here’s where the other part of the Princess’s Hexer roots come in. Where the Nobility skill branch focused on buffing the party, and the Dominance skill branch focuses on Fear and controlling enemies, the Cruelty skill branch is all about inflicting ailments.
Like with Nobility, Cruelty gives Dia a speed boost when casting Evil Voice skills. It applies a 106% multiplier to casting speed at level 3.
As for Haru, I just pumped up his POW to level 9.
I did hear that a good offense also makes for a good defense! Perhaps I’ll put that saying to the test.
I also pumped up Buront’s POW as well, as I want him to be able to contribute to fights with damage whenever he doesn’t have to defend the party.
There are also a few more treasures to find out on the sea, so I’m going to go and snag the rest of those whenever I can since I’ve cleared out a good portion of the waters from the Bloom.
This bit of landmass I’m on is also another unexplored area, and contains another portal.
This is the final portal we can unlock for now. No matter how much you explore the world map, you won’t be able to find the 10th portal at the moment, so don’t bother doing that.
The encounter tables here are straight up lifted from the ones in the snow areas around Nevanplace, so they’re nothing special.
Found yet another Bloom Seed and got a level up for Dia.
Revenge is a dish best served straight from Hell!
Oohoohoo! Now we get Dia’s best damage skill in the entire game! If you’ve played Etrian Odyssey 1 or 2, Punishment is literally just the Hexer’s Revenge skill.
For those that didn’t, Punishment is a rather unique damage skill. It doesn’t use the Princess’s ATK stat to deal damage. Instead it uses the amount of LIFE she’s missing to determine damage dealt. The formula for this is (Max LIFE - Current LIFE) * Punishment Skill Power = Damage. This damage doesn’t have a damage type and is completely unresistable. Not only that, it bypasses accuracy checks entirely, so it can’t miss in most cases. The only time it can miss is if you try to cast this skill at full LIFE, at which point it whiffs.
The skill is pretty slow to go off though, having a speed modifier of 65%. At level 1, Punishment has a multiplier of 200%, so right off the bat Dia can deal double her missing LIFE in damage. And it’ll only get stronger from there. It pairs super well with a Guardian Knight too which ensures that a Princess can fire off high power Punishments.
There’s a dungeon on this part of the continent, but there’s nothing we can really do here at the moment.
Here’s the final point of interest on this bit of landmass.
This is Hairein Village, home to those training in the way of the sword.
This is the last town area in this game. There aren’t any more of those to discover.
Dia, please don’t make frivolous comments to snowmen.
Ah, what’s the harm? I was just greeting him! Nice way to loosen up a bit, you know?
Let her have her fun, I say. I mean it’s not like she can do much else in her situation.
...You have a point.
A bold move to... sift through a garbage pot, I suppose.
I uh, thought I saw something valuable. Aha...
I endured an honorable injury during the ordeal. Slipping on the ice was a separate occasion.
--Harris
She was supposed to say “rare equipment”. Which is sort of true, but there aren’t exactly standout pieces of equipment that’s usable by Samurai only aside from their weapons.
You can use tools and still build your skill.
Just a normal supply shop. Can make for a nice pit stop, but there’s nothing new here.
Do you choose a blade? No, it chooses you.
The equipment shop on the other hand...
Contains some excellent equipment upgrades!
All of the weapons here are more powerful than the stuff you can get from the Melluride shop as this place is blocked off until you beat Flame Eater in Devo Desert due to being located on the northern seas.
This is even better than the Katana found on Mt. Jomaron. I obviously snag this for Haru.
Very little reason not to upgrade here unless you’re saving up for the black market equipment in Nevanplace.
The armor is no slouch either! 44 DEF is a huge jump over what’s available now. (Aside from the Skanda’s Cloak which is basically ultimate equipment.)
It’s the second sturdiest glove in the game, and also the strongest purchasable one, as the actual strongest glove is a one time reward. However this one comes with a bigger POW bonus than the strongest glove so you may want to consider snagging this if you need the offense.
A nice upgrade to defenses and casting skills.
And to top it all off, one of the best stat accessories you can find, and the best one you can easily purchase! +7 to both ATK and DEF, as well as +10 to SPD!? Holy shit sign me up! I snag this baby for everyone without question!
Unfortunately this store isn’t open yet.
He has a lovely singing voice! People love him! I agree he's good. I mean, my mom says I sing well, too.
To hear their song's words ♪ take an egg in hold ♪ call that bird awake ♪ It's a lullaby from our town.
Always nice to find one of these!
But I gave away all my wealth and moved here for a new life.
The offer is appreciated, but we’re in good condition already.
And a free inn rest lies this way.
...You still have work to do, wayfarers. Listen for "Collect!" around the world!
Okay, this person. He has something for us when we complete every single "Collect X" quest in the game. Which is the reason I said "Collect 100 Bird Feathers" isn’t entirely skippable, as doing so is required for his demand. We’ll be back later, obviously.
Put all your focus into the blade.
Alright let’s talk to this person guarding Zesu’s house.
Ah... Have you heard the story yet?
We have to listen to it or he won’t let us past.
No, do tell.
Let me tell it to you. The Blademasters lived here practicing the art, long ago... It was the title for their greatest warriors. Passed down to the finest with the blade. Zesu is himself the 28th in the lineage... I mean, he will be. He has ordered us to let everyone into the shrine. Thanks for listening.
Shall we enter? Maybe he’ll have a few things to teach you, Haru!
Ha ha! If that’s the case I would look forward to it. I certainly don’t see the harm in speaking with him.
"Way of the Samurai" Sharpen one's mind to unleash the true art. Dull hearts dull blades. The spirit of a Samurai is minutely detailed.
An interesting book, though I already know of these techniques listed in here.
This book is actually an alternative place to learn the Samurai’s EX skills. Once you read it, you’ll learn all of their EX skills at once! And you don’t even need to know of any languages to do so.
Let’s go talk with Zesu at last.
Oh, so he is offering lessons.
What exactly is this place anyways?
This is the world's edge. The best place to hone one's body and soul. It is good to train to your utmost. That's the key to true strength.
I see. Oh! How rude of us. We haven’t introduced ourselves. We’re from the Odyssey guild.
Hm? What? Odyssey...? ...! Then, you are those chosen by Agouto...
Even in death, he sends his successors to badger me…
South in Hyuro Ice Cave is the proving ground. Since ancient times, our Blademasters have trained there. ...If you can win over the spirits within, I will acknowledge you. However, no one as of yet has passed through the trial to succeed me. ...Odyssey! Endure the ordeal! Then I will know you are Agouto's choice, not some minister's!
And so starts another sub event. We can do a good portion of it now, as the next step involves completing the Hyruo Ice Cave dungeon, but our priorities lie elsewhere for now. We’ve done all we can in these grounds, so it’s time to take our leave.
Another sunken treasure found out on the waters to the west of this enclosed island on the west side of the map.
Ooh! This is a very hefty upgrade for Sword Fighters and Knights. I have Buront equip this.
To the east of the Nigirio Inn is this meh find.
Another mediocre item lies to the southwest of Dern Depths.
Now this landmass over here has something important on it. I’ll warn you now, make sure your party is in top condition, because it can be a nasty thing to get caught off guard for.
Because once you step on this tile...
Um. Does anyone hear that?
Eugh. Sounds gross. What is that?
It’s coming from this way!
You’ll not get the best of us, fiend!
You’ll get into a surprise boss fight.
Video: Sensualist
Hmph. A larger than usual Noble Crown. This shouldn’t take long.
Sensualist
Level: 48
LIFE: 2000
ATK: 123
DEF: 72
INT: 50
SPD: 57
Attack Type: Slash
Attributes: Disables Escape, Death Resistant
Exp: 2160
Gold: 60
Item Drops:
-Normal: Paro Fruit - 30% Drop Rate.
--Fruit good for cuts and scrapes. Recovers 30 LIFE.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%
Ailment Susceptibility:
Death: 20% Masked Pain: 100% Skill Seal: 25%
Fear: 25% Curse: 50% Bleed: 25%
Poison: 25% Sleep: 25% Confuse: 25%
Paralysis: 50% Blind: 10% Stun: 100%
Skills:
Nine Tails: Randomly attacks the party with Slash damage 9 times, dealing 30% melee ATK-based damage per hit. Has a 70% chance to inflict Fear. Has a speed modifier of 100%.
The Sensualist is something of an infamous boss because it’s incredibly easy to die to this surprise fight. The area’s filled with a lot of Bloom, and mowing it all down will easily chunk your party. Then you see this one bit of landmass and think nothing much of it and suddenly surprise! You’re now in a boss fight with your party in a very weakened state! You can’t even run from it either as insult to injury. Meaning that chances are you lost a good bunch of progress lawn mowing unless you can recover quickly. Guess how I got one of the few game overs I ran into in my initial playthrough of the game. 
Of course if you’re actually prepared this fight isn’t too bad but it can be annoying. Stat-wise it’s not even all that different from a Noble Crown. Just has beefed up LIFE and slightly lower INT. What can make this fight a hassle is its skill. Nine Tails is the only thing it will spam in the entire fight, and it is either deadly or annoying to deal with. It’s 270% damage distributed across the team, but the real pressing factor is the Fear chance. A 70% chance that has 9 chances to land on the party gives a good chance that most or all of your party will get terrorized, and will have a 30% chance to not act. This means that if improperly handled, it’ll likely stunlock the party while whittling them down.
Now this is a first.
I highly recommend have everyone use EX right off the bat to be able to perform their moves without having to worry about being Feared.
Even if EX has no effect on the skill you’re about to use, the priority is just so valuable in this fight.
Time to swing this... rock with a stick with all my might!
Gonna start off swinging.
Swift as the coursing river!
Last thing I need is for Haru to get Fear stunned while trying to set up a stance. Had enough of that nonsense back in the Invisible fight. And this fight shouldn’t last too long anyways.
Getting the jump on us like that won’t be enough!
Might as well give my party a defensive head start.
Such a trivial obstacle is not worth my time. Deal with it quickly.
METEOR STRIKE!
Did you just copy that technique from Stella?
Eh heh, I just uh, tried doing what I knew. Not like I’ve had much practice fighting up here like this. Granted I need more practice, she’s been a tougher fighter way longer than I have.
Heh, I’m sure with more practice you’ll become a capable fighter. You certainly have the potential. It seems she knew about your capabilities pretty well.
Yeah, Stella’s always been surprisingly good at reading people. I really don’t know how she does it to be honest.
Hee hee! Sounds like she was more insightful than you gave her credit for Ms. Grumpy.
...I see.
Ooh, very good incidental damage from Edward! Wiped out over a quarter of the Sensualist’s LIFE!
You shall not pass!
I’ll make this swift.
OW! Hey! Quit it!
I-I think we met our match! I dunno what I was thinking! Stella was wrong, I’m not a fighter after all!
Oh come on, don’t put yourself down like that! We’re doing fiiine! It’s clearly on the ropes!
I just remembered. If you would all excuse me, I have to go wash the rudder on our boat.
You will stay put if you know what’s good for you!
Well that’s a surprisingly good result. Usually everyone or at least 3 people gets hit with Fear.
...Sure, let’s give it a taste of its own medicine. Dia has nothing better to do for the rest of this fight anyways.
Now that Haru’s ready to start tearing through enemies, I’ll have Edward switch to a support role. Namely Miracle Curing the Fear off our party whenever it lands. Fortunately just like Paralysis, Fear only has a 30% chance of causing victims to lose their turns instead of the 50% seen in the Etrian Odyssey series.
And Haru will start tearing through this thing.
Buront has nothing better to do, so might as well protect the party against Nine Tails’s damage.
Okay that’s enough of that! Come on Haru, let’s take that creature out! And uh, thanks Dia.
Hee hee! No problem.
My thanks to you, Edward. You’re quite versatile in your skills.
A clean strike!
Ooh, almost 4 digit damage from Haru! And compare Edward’s damage to this. For a support, that kind of damage output is pretty nice to see!
It seems irony does not win out here today.
Ah well, incidental damage is damage at least.
You know that sea monster looks really scary up close!
Stay put, will you!? Rrgh! My apologies, I’ve entirely lost control of this body!
So what was that about that rudder that needed to be washed?
Oh for the love of-!
Well that’s annoying, but it didn’t manage to make Edward cower in Fear so...
I can do this all day. No I can’t, please finish it off fast!
Enough of this nonsense!
You’ll trouble us no more.
The Sensualist can be kind of annoying to deal with once the element of surprise is no longer a factor, but it should be able to be dealt with pretty easily.
That being said, there’s a strategy you can utilize that will completely destroy it. Let’s see it in action!
Video: Sensualist
First, you need a Mage with a Veil skill and a Knight with Guardian. Then get the party all at low LIFE, which is easily accomplished by taking a stroll in the flower gardens. And heal up the Knight.
Have the Mage use an EX-boosted Veil on the Knight to ensure they can get the Veil on them before the Sensualist acts.
The Mage’s Veils work like Flame Eater’s Flame Veil. Places a buff that counters all melee ATK-based attacks with spell damage, though this damage can’t actually be boosted by EX.
Then have the Knight use Guardian.
Proceed to enjoy the fireworks.
Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!
And wait until the Sensualist kills itself on your Knight. The veils can get very strong against enemies that attack multiple times, but there’s not too many situations where that can happen in this game. Now the later games on the other hand, are a very different story. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get back to the game.
Hmm. The way that creature attacked us... Yes, that reminds me of something from long past.
For beating the Sensualist, we finally unlock one of the Princess’s EX skills!
So um. What did you remember, anyways?
An ancient intimidation technique used to make an example out of rebels to remind the masses of their place.
Ooh! Is it powerful?
No. In fact it was quite impractical and its usage dropped quickly once we found a better way to keep the subjects in line.
I-I see...
I um, don’t suppose you remembered anything else? Or any possible uses for said technique?
No. And for the record, this technique would not be that effective against the dragons. I could hardly call it a harmful attack against humans even! It was more of a showcase of power instead of something to be used in combat.
Alright, Nine Tails needs Terrorize maxed out to even learn it, meaning it costs 17 SP to learn compared to the 14 SP you would need to max out Terrorize.
KNOW YOUR PLACE, FILTHY BUTTERFLY!
Nine Tails deals 150% Slash damage to one enemy with a 50% chance to inflict Fear. Unfortunately unlike the enemy version, it doesn’t hit 9 times. It’s also like Earthbreaker in that it comes with an ATK boost, but it’s only +20 in this case instead of +50. For reference, Terrorize at max level deals 165% damage and has a 75% chance to inflict Fear. If you’re wondering how much more damage it deals than Terrorize...
You could have just used a bug swatter, you know.
Silence. Those insects needed to know who was in charge around here.
Not much really. The difference between Nine Tails and a max level Terrorize is like a few points of damage if the Princess is at a lower level. The other issue with Nine Tails is that because the ATK boost is so low, stacking ATK through other means or just getting the Princess’s level high enough will actually let Terrorize completely outdamage Nine Tails. Once the Princess can deal at least 200 damage with a regular attack, that’s the sign that Terrorize is the better option for dealing damage.
The fact that Nine Tails can only be invested in by maxing out Terrorize means that there’s no way to save SP by gunning for that skill instead of Terrorize, so it doesn’t even have that angle going for it. With the lower damage and infliction rate, this unfortunately means that Nine Tails eventually becomes a complete downgrade. The only benefit it gives is not costing any Mana to use, which is not much of a benefit in the first place. Avoid taking this skill, it’s really not worth it.
Here’s the final bit of treasure we can find with the Salvager. Which is also a mediocre find. Oh well. Now that we can’t do anything more with the Salvager...
It's amazing... Something like that... Maybe you'll part with it for 2000 G?
We can finally pawn it off for a nice amount of money.
Thanks! I'm relieved...
Now that we’ve gotten that order of business out of the way...
We’ll be doing this quest next. It’s a pretty simple quest on paper, but I don’t recommend actually trying to tackle this until your party’s around level 50 if it’s less than ideal. Better parties can probably get away with being at a lower level.
The destination is this room in the eastern entrance of Rorakka Cavern.
Bassoon was wondering where you were, so we came searching in his stead.
Huh? Teacher's calling me?
He was also out of tea.
He needs more tea? Well, that settles it! I better go back now! .........
...Well? Are you not going back or...?
From the looks of it, I think he has a sprained ankle.
No, it's not because I sprained my ankle! It's not like that!! I'm Spire, disciple of the wise Bassoon! As my teacher is aged, I explore for his sake! All kinds of places! Like, like Rorakka Cavern! Yeah, I come here all the time on my own!
...Very well, we’ll leave you to whatever it was you were doing then.
The guild tries to leave.
Help! Help me! Don't look at me like that! Give me a hand!
I suppose we can carry you back to Bassoon’s house. It shouldn’t be too difficult a task.
What the-!?
That’s a cheap trick!
Video: Rorakka Wolf
...I can’t help but wonder if our senses are being dulled with all these ambushes.
Rorakka Wolf
Level: 52
LIFE: 6400
ATK: 180
DEF: 106
INT: 76
SPD: 76
Attack Type: Blunt
Attributes: Disables Escape, Dragon, Death Resistant
Exp: 8640
Gold: 78
Item Drops: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%
Ailment Susceptibility:
Death: 20% Masked Pain: 100% Skill Seal: 25%
Fear: 25% Curse: 50% Bleed: 25%
Poison: 25% Sleep: 25% Confuse: 25%
Paralysis: 50% Blind: 10% Stun: 100%
Skills:
Baying: Applies a 120% multiplier to the entire party’s physical damage multipliers for 5 turns. Has a speed modifier of 80%.
Mow Down: Randomly attacks the party with Slash damage 3 times, dealing 90% melee ATK-based damage per hit. Has a speed modifier of 80%.
Savage Claw: Deals 120% melee ATK-based Slash damage to one party member. Has a speed modifier of 90%.
Bloody Dance: Deals 80% melee ATK-based Blunt damage to the entire party. Has a 40% chance to inflict Bleed. Has a speed modifier of 80%.
Hoo boy, the Rorakka Wolf can be a tough fight if you aren’t prepared for it! It’s a stronger version of a Coyote Dragon, but also far tankier! This thing doesn’t have much to it other than lots of physical attacks, but it can easily wreck your party with its sheer offenses if you’re too weak. A Knight can take a lot of the sting out of this fight, but as long as you have some way of outlasting it, you should be able to get past it. If you can’t handle it, you can always come back to this quest later.
Dragons just have no sense of honor!
Just setting up for now. I have Edward open up with Swing Crush as I want his ATK to be boosted by Heated Words before making use of Earthbreaker.
We’ll have to correct that!
To those around, RALLY!
To those ahead, kneel.
Are you kidding me!?
Holy shit, talk about incredibly unlucky! Edward had a 1% chance of missing there!
Bandage, bandage! Where’s a bandage? Gah! Today’s just not my day!
You won’t be feasting on us today!
...On second thought, the wound isn’t that serious.
Bleed status, everyone! Basically nearly worthless against players, especially as the game goes on.
You know what? Why don’t I show off this skill? Let’s see it in action.
So instead, I’ll beat you over the head with a rock! Sound good?
Time for Edward to get bonking!
Pardon me while I sharpen my blade.
And for Haru to get slashing.
Okay, we should be good to go now.
Here, take this rock to the head and die slowly. Thanks.
Bad dog! Sit!
Ooh, that’s a good chunk of its LIFE gone already!
Ha ha! An unwise use of your time!
My pain is-
...Outdone by a rock with a stick in it.
Yeah uh. Punishment at level 1 is not a good skill at this point in the game, I really need to level it up more. Also Punishment is far more effective at lower amounts of LIFE. As in Dia is near death. Here, Dia only took chip damage so it basically didn’t do anything, even at 200% damage.
For those of you EO vets that may have had your eyes bulge out at the high damage multiplier for Punishment, keep in mind max LIFE doesn’t go as high as it does in the EO series. No one’s ever reaching 999 LIFE for one. Or even 400 really.
Ouch. Nothing the team can’t handle though. Eventually...
I... I actually finished it off!? Oh-Oh geez, I-I’m not r-really used to being the one to do that kinda thing! Usually it’s like, everyone else who gets the last hit in. Eh heh heh...
Ha ha ha! Don’t worry too much about your performance. You did well!
I will admit what I’m seeing now is a considerable improvement over your attempts at fighting back on Mt. Jomaron.
Edward dealt half as much damage as Haru with his Earthbreakers, which is frankly pretty strong damage for a support considering that Haru is one of our best damage dealers right now!
The Rorakka Wolf only really has offense going for it. So if you can make that a non-issue, the fight’s pretty much in the bag, even if it can take a while.
Bassoon has probably set the house on fire making tea. Let's go back.
Fade to black.
Ah, it smells nice. Please, sit down and have tea with me.
Ah, this was certainly worth the trip!
I must say this tea is quite nice. Especially in this weather.
Tea is the best thing when it's cold out.
The master usually only likes to take his tea in solitude. He must like you.
Ho ho ho...
Completing that quest actually starts another sub event.
Swing Crush now hits for 150% damage.
Haru has maxed out his POW and can start snagging some lesser skills that would be nice to have.
I suppose if Edward is joining in on directly fighting, I should too!
Shield Crush is the Knight’s best offensive skill, and I’m picking this up to let Buront contribute to fights on turns where he doesn’t have to worry about setting up defenses.
It’s a bit of a unique skill, as it actually adds on the DEF stat of the Knight’s Shield to their ATK stat, which essentially grants them a big ATK boost. Both Chivalry and Shieldbearer actually have an effect on this too. It’s a melee attack that deals 150% Blunt damage at level 1, so it’s already starting off very strong. It also comes with a 20% chance to inflict Stun, but don’t count on it doing so as Shield Crush has a speed modifier of 75%. The Knight’s low SPD stat doesn’t help matters either.
The other issue is that this skill is absolutely expensive in terms of Mana costs, costing a whopping 8 Mana at level 1! It’s powerful, but without proper Mana support, a Knight will easily rip through their Mana pool in a few turns.
But even then, everyone is now a DPS class. Welcome to 7th Dragon.
I've been around a while. And I've seen the worst humanity has to offer.
...Really now. You’re willing to make that claim?
That's why I wanted Her Majesty to stay as innocent as she has. I wanted her to go forever without seeing the world's miseries... For that, I was willing to get my hands dirty. However...
I’ve said this to Grif, and so I’ll say the same thing to you. Queen Emerald is a grown adult in a position of leadership, not a child. It would be best to treat her as such unless you wish to make things worse. Good day, Volg.
“Seen the worst humanity has to offer!” Ha ha ha! Oh how rich!
I guess with how long you’ve been around you must have seen some pretty awful stuff. Not that you could really tell him that.
I’m well aware. I just find that such a ridiculous statement to hear out of a human’s mouth. And let me tell you, every. Single. Time. That has made for ludicrously poor justification for some atrocities I’ve seen some humans perform.
Erm. Um. I’m not sure how much this means to you, but if such memories ever become a burden to you, feel free to come to us. We’ll try to help the best we can.
...Perhaps I’ll consider that offer someday.
The sub event in question has to do with Spire, who’s residing in the basement now.
A woman, Ren, is there. Can you give her this?
You wish for us to deliver your present to her?
No, don't misunderstand! Maybe my teacher wanted me to give it to her. Anyway, can't a guy just be worried about someone who lives alone?
If it’s that important to deliver, why don’t you just do it yourself?
Eh? What? Go myself?!
Oh! Are you too shy to go in person?
No, I'm not too shy! I'm... I'm busy! Anyway, please, will you just take it to her?!
That description could certainly use more work. Let’s head on over to the inn.
We have a delivery for you!
...Something for me? That's unusual.
So... it's from him. That boy who comes and goes even in the snow. I wonder why he cares. Why bother with humans? There's no point. Mortals delude themselves that spring is coming... ... Travelers, explain this to him in my stead, as he has not seen fit to come. You can bring him here, or just bring me his answer, it matters not.
We’ll uh. Pass on the message. I guess.
I barely understood what she was trying to say.
And back to Bassoon’s house.
Yeah and uh, she had this to say...
Fade to black.
No matter what, she's going to call me a fool. But... whatever she calls me, I'm fine with that.
What exactly is your story with her?
She's been alone in that inn for a long time. All alone. She speaks cryptically and sometimes in riddles. She's very strange. But she's nice, too. The time I was there, she brought me tea, lent me some gloves... And built a snowman with a lovely face. That's the way she is.
Spire leaves the room.
All’s well that ends well...?
...Maybe we should check up on him. Just in case.
I have little else on ways to spend my time. It may make for some amusement.
And backtracking to the inn. Yet again. This sub event is annoyingly filled with quite a bit of walking as Corlia Inn and Bassoon’s House don’t have easy paths to each other.
Any-anyway, I promised my teacher that I'd stop by to check on you. I found this brooch. But I won't keep it for myself - it's for you.
So you're not here on your own account? Is that what you mean?
Smooth, Spire.
N, no! It's not like that at all! It's like... The reason is... It's that I...
Are we interrupting something?
Hey! Hey, you guys! Say something! Argh! Why did I let you come?! Look, it's like this, okay! I'm gonna tell you why I'm here, straight up!
I'm here of my own accord.
...Yeah?
As though I'm buried in the snow, forgotten in a winter that never ends.
Even if it's not for my sake. I hope you come here. I'll always be waiting.
Ren... Yeah...you said it! That's totally it! I'm not here because it's a duty or a chore! I want to be here, okay!
...Is that so? I'll put on some tea. You can stay awhile.
Oh! Don't forget the snacks! They're important!
Slight mistranslation. Ren’s saying that the next time Spire comes over, she’ll have some tea ready and that he can stay for a while then. Spire’s line is mostly the same in Japanese, but he says goodbye at the end.
Spire leaves.
Huh. I’m glad that worked out nicely for those two.
You're going to make me forget what I was gonna say! Darn it...
Ahaha! But things worked out with Ren, did they not?
Considering how well that went for you, I hardly think you should be blaming us.
Also another slight mistranslation. That should have been “You made me forget” as he’s actually chastising us for arriving at the inn when he told us to stay away before.
Anyways the sub event is actually paused here, as one of the requirements to proceed is to accept the Invisible mission. But we already did that, so let’s move on with more of it!
...And then I realized I forgot to turn in the quest, so Bassoon isn’t giving out the next one. 
There we go!
I would like to borrow your skill for a bit. Will you listen?
We need to have access to the Northern Pesta ruins to be able to complete this. Which we do.
There are some ruins I need investigated... But it's top secret. If you take the job, we'll speak further.
Ohoho! I wonder what he’s got in store for us.
Only one way to find out. Let’s move out.
Rgh. He couldn’t have lived closer to a town with a quest office?
And now to backtrack to Bassoon’s House. Yet again. Moments like these make you remember how awful the quest system is in this game.
To the west are the ruins of Northern Pesta. It contains precious relics from that culture. Bassoon However, Pleroma strictly limits entry inside the ruins. ...However, what if... ...ho ho ho... A shortcut existed?
P-Pardon me?
Just right of the front gate, a secret passage is in a small space. Look in the middle... You should be able to find it and go in. I need you to get in and get Secret Data. That's all I need.
Are you asking us to rob an archaeological site!?
Don't think of it as graverobbing. We're just borrowing this.
My my! You’re certainly more unscrupulous than I expected!
“You'll find it there.” is what he said.
Let’s head on in.
If you’ll remember, the secret passage was over here.
Just head on over to this spot and examine that tile to reveal a hidden staircase.
Hee hee hee! Wow, we’re like spelunkers now! Or tomb raiders!
I’m questioning how Bassoon even knew about this...
However he found out, it’s none of our concern.
There was a part of the ruins we weren’t able to reach on this map. With the knowledge of the passage we can explore it.
Oh and for the record, you don’t need to be told about the staircase to discover it. You can snag the item needed before the quest becomes available and complete it right then.
A nice convenience to leave this place quickly once we complete our objective.
The encounters here are the same as in the other parts of the ruins, so they’re not worth talking about.
Such ancient technology. I wonder how well it works after all this time?
Given how one of the machines were still active and tried to attack us, I would probably say “well enough.”
Ah yes that reminds me, do you recognize this place?
Hmm. I’m afraid not. I have seen similar objects and machines before, but the facility itself is unknown to me.
Oh well. I guess it was worth a shot.
And that’s it. A pretty simple quest. Use the Exporter to leave immediately and then head back to Bassoon’s house.
“For me.” is what got cut off there.
Let us see what we can learn from such an object. Ho ho ho... How delightful! You are excellent Hunters! I hope it was not so difficult.
Far from it, really.
If we talk to him again...
We get a mistranslation. Or text that was accidentally pasted from somewhere else. He’s supposed to be repeating his last line from the previous conversation here.
With the quest complete, we can now move onto the next part of the Spire sub event.
Huh. Where’d he go?
Maybe he went back to see Ren again. Couldn’t hurt to check up on him I guess.
Hm!? What’s wrong!?
...oh...
Oh no. That’s...
My teacher needs to know what symptoms she has! If we don't help her...
Not the time, mistranslations. He’s actually saying “I’ve seen these symptoms in my teacher’s books before! If we don’t help her...”
...ire. S...Spire...
...Spire.
...
Wh-What do you need us to do!?
I need to stay with Ren. So please, go find me the right herbs! I need you to go to Phaedna Hollow, north, and get a Panacea Herb.
Do you know where in that place we can find those herbs!?
I remember I saw a hidden room in the back there once. But the door is closed. To get in, you need to examine a torch in front. Hm, is that everything? That should be it. Anyway, it's hidden! So be sure to look absolutely everywhere! This is the only thing I'll ever ask of you! Please, bring me those herbs!
This quest can be completed now.
Unfortunately, while we can help out Ren now, we have no time to do so, as we need to help out an innkeeper that’s... struggling with his inn I guess? I dunno. So it’s now time to change up our party to take on the Flame Eater! Vote for the 3 party members you want to see to deal with that volcanic problem! Votes must be in bold.