I've kept an eye on it, and there is enough interest to keep these going for now. Though, if someone else prefers to do them, feel free.
Questions:
- What are you playing and on what platform(s)? Reviews?
- Did you pick up anything based on the last thread?
- Do you want recommendations? Genre(s)? Past enjoyed games?
My fellow Etrian-bro! I'm now on Untold 1, just Untold 1+2 to go and I'll have beaten every game in my big replay of them of late. Always been a fan of the atmospheric music for the games. The sea quests are a real journey, some can be cheesed, others have VERY strong synergy with certain builds but lackluster with others, it's almost like puzzle-bosses sometimes... Except the one you're referencing. Screw that one, it's an exercise in pain, so good job pushing through.
And remember, until the pop-up says "your inventory is full", you don't have enough Nectars. Aside from Formaldehyde for obvious reasons, items are meant to be used, cry not for the lost Medica2, it was used well. And don't forget to re-visit the sea areas after beating the bosses once, I think that sometimes gives you a bonus? It's been three full games since I was in that one, so memory a little murky.
EO4 is the one with the airship, right? If you drop food for the sheep in the second Area, you can get a pre-emptive on them while they eat the food. If you use a golden stinkhorn, they become Rare. IF YOU use a golden stinkhorn, you gain additional exp. Combine the two and you rake in huge sums of exp... IF you can kill them. Overlevelling makes things easy, obviously. They spam sleep and a head-bind will eat like 5 of their turns since everything they do is head-based, good luck. If they're too tough for now, remember it for later on as a viable quick-level strat if you're the type to Retire at lv30 for the bonus stats.
If you're having trouble with the Ravine, try the side-labs first, if you can reach any of them. The moth garden I think? There's one that you need to lure a sheep into the path of a crocodile to access, that one the FOEs will murder ya but the monsters I believe are killable? IIRC usually most of the side-labs are easier than the main lab. You mention a Fortress being low-TP but your Runemaster dying... If you just want more DPS, switch your Fortress out. Fortress is a tank, it should be protecting that Runemaster. If they're not protecting them, a different role would be better. Also, poison deals reliable damage in additional to elemental stuff, not sure if you're rocking an adnormal status user but status effects are good and usable in EO, both "def down/atk down" status and "poison/paralyze" status. And as always, upgrade your equipment whenever possible.
I'm playing the Untold 1in Story mode, and will probably do 2 in Classic mode, since I did the reverse in my original long-ago playthroughs. Since it provides a story, no need on that one. Since I know EOU2 can be broken via Grimoire Stone abuse in a pinch, I'll probably make up a dysfunctional team on purpose just to see if I can, and dream up a narrative based on that. (The fact the Ontario resident is the cutest character in EOU1 makes this Kweebecker sad, damn Ontarians, stealing the waifus!)
I greatly appreciated the reveal in the original... original. But in that original original, the characters involved in the reveal play much bigger roles than they do in Untold, IIRC, so there's a double-impact loss to have Gladsheim there AND the role switches. They strongly moved away from that reveal, which is a bit sad, but I guess while the "big" reveal is still hidden, the medium-reveal would have been spoiled by the fact all the EO games occur in the same universe and that middle-spoiler "theme" is repeated in one or two of them.
EOU3's carryback class would likely have been Imperial, just due to how iconic they've become in the series, featuring heavily in 4, 5, and Nexus. And one unique new class. The only "problem" with EOU3 would be unlike all the other EOs, it has story path exclusive classes: You can't unlock every class (in one playthrough, at least). While canonically (because Nexus exists and ties all the games together) you pick the one class, I really liked the other one. Keeping it vague for spoiler-avoiding purposes, but in a "story mode" version of it like they try to do with the Untolds, that branching aspect will feel like it has a lot less meaning, what with the stakes of "which class you unlock" no longer being on the line since they're story characters. They may remove the choice entirely, much like how Gladsheim diminished the story in EO1.
And yeah, skip the equipment-forges for poison. Other status effects like paralyze or sleep? Yeah, solid gold, but if you want to rock poison you really need a "dedicated" poisoner like a Venomfly-spec'd tamer or a Nightseeker, not just a Forge.