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Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan |OT|: Fight & Heal Brings 3D To Europe!

lingiii

Banned
subclassing.

I might have given the R sniper. I might be the only one who advocates this, but I felt like without a sniper I kept getting awesome bows without anyone to give them to. Having a subclass sniper lets dude use bows to conserve TP without dps going to zero, and having some accuracy boost is super useful every now-and-again when you run into evasive enemies. Plus, having Leg Bind has an option is good when you encounter shinnies. However you invest, sniper is a solid off-class for someone you're not otherwise committed on.

Dancer seems to be consensus for F, I use it myself.

For Landsnotrug R seems as good as any, if just for elem boost. I'd keep skills in L tree mostly though.

I've got Arcanist/Medic as my primary healer and his passives in/out of battle are surprisingly viable on normal but you NEED a level 5+ heal and a revive in your party. I'm saying yu probably have more healing capacity than strictly necessary and could get away with shifting one of them more toward DPS, but there you go.

But shit! I don't have any spreadsheets or disassembly to back any of this up, just my own slightly-more-than-you experience. Also, look forward to Bushi class throwing a wrench in your works and giving you more options :).

Ps I love all the LandXYZ jokes in this thread. Keep it up, champs.
 

lingiii

Banned
Can someone explain how to use the Nightseeker effectively? My Nightseeker is level 18 right now and he's only good for blind. I have three points on dual wielding and I've started focusing on that skill where you can attack twice if you don't get hit, but he still does the least damage out of everyone in my party.

NS is clutch, don't lose faith :)

One big bonus is his two attacks paired with a L's link skills. That Biding Strike is also good. Huge DPS is Dancer giving NS an extra attack with her follow-up dance while Landsniffer has a link active. I don't have a single point in binds for my NS, consider resting those points directly into damage capacity. Also, he should always be hitting someone with status effect: Runemaster can make this happen when you get him, otherwise my own NS has starred blind throw to make sure someone has an effect, plus blinding FOEs and bosses makes things WAY easier, especially when they can attack all your team.
 
I might have given the R sniper. I might be the only one who advocates this, but I felt like without a sniper I kept getting awesome bows without anyone to give them to. Having a subclass sniper lets dude use bows to conserve TP without dps going to zero, and having some accuracy boost is super useful every now-and-again when you run into evasive enemies. Plus, having Leg Bind has an option is good when you encounter shinnies. However you invest, sniper is a solid off-class for someone you're not otherwise committed on.

Dancer seems to be consensus for F, I use it myself.

For Landsnotrug R seems as good as any, if just for elem boost. I'd keep skills in L tree mostly though.

I've got Arcanist/Medic as my primary healer and his passives in/out of battle are surprisingly viable on normal but you NEED a level 5+ heal and a revive in your party. I'm saying yu probably have more healing capacity than strictly necessary and could get away with shifting one of them more toward DPS, but there you go.

But shit! I don't have any spreadsheets or disassembly to back any of this up, just my own slightly-more-than-you experience. Also, look forward to Bushi class throwing a wrench in your works and giving you more options :).

Ps I love all the LandXYZ jokes in this thread. Keep it up, champs.

Thanks for the thoughts. I feel like Arcanist outbinds Sniper by a mile, and while Sniper is certainly cheaper I would much rather bind everyone continuously. Plus I don't want my Runemaster to do anything but sling 700+ damage spells. I'm enjoying that a lot. I don't have any problem with picking up a bow and getting rid of it immediately. That said, I used Sniper outside of the demo so a lot could have changed.

I definitely want to off this Dancer/Nightseeker combo. I felt bad keeping most of my subclasses within my starting five, but I just don't like Nightseeker or Sniper. I'm sure the two unlockables will throw some wrenches in, but that's part of the fun.
 

scy

Member
Can someone explain how to use the Nightseeker effectively? My Nightseeker is level 18 right now and he's only good for blind. I have three points on dual wielding and I've started focusing on that skill where you can attack twice if you don't get hit, but he still does the least damage out of everyone in my party.

Mine was alright until 40. Once he hit that, however ... pretty stupid. Swift Edge is a good neutral attack (right now, mine does around 400/hit of that with it only at 2 points?). Arcanist Sub has allowed him to practically always land a Status Effect even with all my throws still at only 2 points in any of them. And, the best part, I run a Link comp so that Swift Edge's 3-4 hits also triggers ~2-3 Links as well.

And then Follow Trace means I have a fairly good chance to repeat any skill done at 80% Damage. A good turn for my Nightseeker is upwards to 3000 damage right now with just 3rd Land equipment.
 

vall03

Member
3rd boss down! And thanks to Chase Links I also got the conditional drop! Was also lucky that my Dancer who is dual-wielding Harpes (Stalker weapon) got a stun so the thing basically lost a turn. Then Sword Dance just activated several times getting more Trick Samba hits + Chase Links. Now Im having second thoughts on ditching my Landsknecht for a Bushi or Imperial. What to do?!
 

spiritfox

Member
Poor Landsknifer, nobody knows how to spell her name properly =(

One other thing, you don't need to be wielding a sword for Swords Dance to proc right?
 

Anteo

Member
Towards the end. It had about 1/4 of a bar of HP left with a leg bind and poison. The only buffs I had left were Regen Waltz and maybe a turn or two of Taunt.

In my fight, he recovered half the health just as I landed the last hit, so I guess you were past that point. Otherwise idk you you did it.
 

slayn

needs to show more effort.
Poor Landsknifer, nobody knows how to spell her name properly =(

One other thing, you don't need to be wielding a sword for Swords Dance to proc right?
For quite a while, my dancer was using sword dance with duel wielded bows. I can't even imagine how that works.
 

slayn

needs to show more effort.
Finally unlocked Imperials and that is my new favorite class. I made an Imperial/Bushi and took him against a FOE I hadn't yet tried fighting and still had a yellow aura. Began the battle with auto-blood surge, first round charge, 2nd round accel drive. The foe just melted.

I don't even have a good weapon for him yet.
 
Just got done with the first land. Team for boss was Medic, Land, Night, Sniper, Fort. Level 15.

I buffed up my characters/debuffed the boss's strength, and spent a few turns trying to blind it with Night and binds is arms with Sniper. Used the Guard burst to help protect myself after it charged. A few times I blinded it, and once I was able to blind and bind its arms. It's almost funny how crippled the boss is when he can't see you or use his arms for all his attacks. My Night was exceptionally useful, since I had him dual-wielding and he was getting a damage bonus for each affliction. Ended up taking the guy down with few problems.

Now onto the second land!
 

scy

Member
Finally unlocked Imperials and that is my new favorite class. I made an Imperial/Bushi and took him against a FOE I hadn't yet tried fighting and still had a yellow aura. Began the battle with auto-blood surge, first round charge, 2nd round accel drive. The foe just melted.

I don't even have a good weapon for him yet.

Yeah, I'm not sure what I'm going to do once I get all the classes. I want to keep my Link core which essentially limits me to one other class to use :(
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Any advice on a party? Not sure what I want, exactly.

I know I definitely want a Fortress and a Dancer. Besides that, I'm not quite sure. Should I add a Medic to that, or is a Dancer enough as far as heals go?

Tank: Fortress
Heals: Dancer
Alternate heals: Arcanist / Medic
AoE: Runemaster / Bushi
Single Target: Landsknecht / NightSeeker / Sniper

Seem about right?
 

scy

Member
Any advice on a party? Not sure what I want, exactly.

I know I definitely want a Fortress and a Dancer. Besides that, I'm not quite sure. Should I add a Medic to that, or is a Dancer enough as far as heals go?

Tank: Fortress
Heals: Dancer
Alternate heals: Arcanist / Medic
AoE: Runemaster / Bushi
Single Target: Landsknecht / NightSeeker / Sniper

Seem about right?

Here's my party if it helps at all (as of the 4th Land):

Nightseeker / Arcanist - /Arcanist is basically just to give him TP sustain, better chance to land status effects, and the Passive Status/Bind block. Nightseeker build is to setup a status effect (Blind or Poison typically) and then follow it up with massive damage to be dealt.

Landsknecht / Runemaster - /Runemaster is a placeholder subclass it feels like, honestly. Just there for passive +Elemental Damage, really. Landsknecht skills themselves are focused entirely on Links.

Dancer / Nightseeker - /Nightseeker currently is just there for Dual Wield. Probably could get a real skill out of it. Dancer skillset is everything related to autoattacks so she attacks multiple times per turn, causes allies to chase, and stuns fairly often. She's a backup healer at best right now.

Fortress / Dancer - /Dancer gives Evasion, hooray! Also, lets her equip a Bow. Honestly? She's kind of dead weight and I'm starting to feel that I'd do a lot better with her replaced with something else. I might just make this a proper Runemaster I guess.

Arcanist / Runemaster - /Runemaster is just to help the Links hit harder. Binds and back-up status effect engine. Passive healing while Circles are in effect and has an active Heal as needed.

tl;dr: Basically, a Link group (Landsknecht + Dancer) with a Nightseeker combo (Nightseeker + Arcanist) and then ... a Fortress.
 

spiritfox

Member
Boy, B3 of Lush Woodlands is starting to frustrate me. My team is almost level 20 and I can't beat the stupid boss.

Are you attacking head on or going through the secret back door? His massive charge attack can be easily countered by binding his arms or hitting him until he flinches (600dmg IIRC). Other than that, he's not that hard. Lvl 15 should be enough.
 

vall03

Member
Here's my party if it helps at all (as of the 4th Land):

Nightseeker / Arcanist - /Arcanist is basically just to give him TP sustain, better chance to land status effects, and the Passive Status/Bind block. Nightseeker build is to setup a status effect (Blind or Poison typically) and then follow it up with massive damage to be dealt.

Landsknecht / Runemaster - /Runemaster is a placeholder subclass it feels like, honestly. Just there for passive +Elemental Damage, really. Landsknecht skills themselves are focused entirely on Links.

Dancer / Nightseeker - /Nightseeker currently is just there for Dual Wield. Probably could get a real skill out of it. Dancer skillset is everything related to autoattacks so she attacks multiple times per turn, causes allies to chase, and stuns fairly often. She's a backup healer at best right now.

Fortress / Dancer - /Dancer gives Evasion, hooray! Also, lets her equip a Bow. Honestly? She's kind of dead weight and I'm starting to feel that I'd do a lot better with her replaced with something else. I might just make this a proper Runemaster I guess.

Arcanist / Runemaster - /Runemaster is just to help the Links hit harder. Binds and back-up status effect engine. Passive healing while Circles are in effect and has an active Heal as needed.

tl;dr: Basically, a Link group (Landsknecht + Dancer) with a Nightseeker combo (Nightseeker + Arcanist) and then ... a Fortress.

woah! Im also using the same team with the exception of the Arcanist which I subbed as a Nightseeker. Im also planning to change my Landsknecht sub-class to Bushi for more firepower. Im kinda attached to my Fortress so I dont want to remove her from my party. But just like what you said, aside from using Party Shield, shes not really good aside from adding an additional Link with a normal attack.
 

slayn

needs to show more effort.
Here's my party if it helps at all (as of the 4th Land):
Fortress / Dancer - /Dancer gives Evasion, hooray! Also, lets her equip a Bow. Honestly? She's kind of dead weight and I'm starting to feel that I'd do a lot better with her replaced with something else. I might just make this a proper Runemaster I guess.
Yup, your thoughts on the fortress have mimicked mine exactly. And they were the one I dropped for Imperial.

Currently I have Landsknecht/Runemaster + Dancer/Nightseeker for links
Arcanist/Runemaster for poison, debuffs, and binds
Survivalist/Arcanist for even more binding but also lowered encounter rate, prevention of surprise attacks, increased drops, and healing from walking. Some really nice damage too. Not nightseeker/imperial crazy but headshot + chase bind + tp return from binds makes for some really consistent high damage with near infinite use.
and now the newest member, the Imperial/Bushi of death.
 
For quite a while, my dancer was using sword dance with duel wielded bows. I can't even imagine how that works.

Johnwooooooooooooooooo

Are you attacking head on or going through the secret back door? His massive charge attack can be easily countered by binding his arms or hitting him until he flinches (600dmg IIRC). Other than that, he's not that hard. Lvl 15 should be enough.

Also save up supah powah for Dual Slash or whatever its name is for that. It effectively locks him down like the bloodbears. The more he rares back, the more opportunities to do that.
 

Bururian

Member
Are you attacking head on or going through the secret back door? His massive charge attack can be easily countered by binding his arms or hitting him until he flinches (600dmg IIRC). Other than that, he's not that hard. Lvl 15 should be enough.

I'm not having problems with his damage output, I suppose, but it is that charging attack that's really getting me. I also did not know about
Secret back door. I had been killing one of the other bloodbears then taking him on. Maybe that's what's getting me.
 

scy

Member
woah! Im also using the same team with the exception of the Arcanist which I subbed as a Nightseeker. Im also planning to change my Landsknecht sub-class to Bushi for more firepower. Im kinda attached to my Fortress so I dont want to remove her from my party. But just like what you said, aside from using Party Shield, shes not really good aside from adding an additional Link with a normal attack.

I'll probably go Landsknecht / Imperial when I'm given the ability to do so. Should be the same goal as my /Runemaster sub but ... well, better.

Yup, your thoughts on the fortress have mimicked mine exactly. And they were the one I dropped for Imperial.

Currently I have Landsknecht/Runemaster + Dancer/Nightseeker for links
Arcanist/Runemaster for poison, debuffs, and binds
Survivalist/Arcanist for even more binding but also lowered encounter rate, prevention of surprise attacks, increased drops, and healing from walking. Some really nice damage too. Not nightseeker/imperial crazy but headshot + chase bind + tp return from binds makes for some really consistent high damage with near infinite use.
and now the newest member, the Imperial/Bushi of death.

I want an Imp/Bushi (or something similar) so badly but the slot to replace then would most likely be my Dancer for the front-row ... and that's no good. I really don't want to remove my Nightseeker, basically.

Imperial is the class design I've been wanting since EO1. A class with a chain of attacks to use that ends in a big finish. ;_;
 

spiritfox

Member
Johnwooooooooooooooooo

Where are the doves??

I'm not having problems with his damage output, I suppose, but it is that charging attack that's really getting me. I also did not know about
Secret back door. I had been killing one of the other bloodbears then taking him on. Maybe that's what's getting me.

Attacking from the rear gives you a free turn and doesn't attract the Bloodbears. The entrance is at the right, after the blocking trunks.
 

vall03

Member
I'll probably go Landsknecht / Imperial when I'm given the ability to do so. Should be the same goal as my /Runemaster sub but ... well, better.



I want an Imp/Bushi (or something similar) so badly but the slot to replace then would most likely be my Dancer for the front-row ... and that's no good. I really don't want to remove my Nightseeker, basically.

Imperial is the class design I've been wanting since EO1. A class with a chain of attacks to use that ends in a big finish. ;_;

One of my original plans was to use a Dancer then an Imperial/Bushi and Bushi/Imperial on front for major damage. But my current set-up with Dancer/Nightseeker/Landsknecht is just too damn good. So many choices!
 

Bururian

Member
Where are the doves??



Attacking from the rear gives you a free turn and doesn't attract the Bloodbears. The entrance is at the right, after the blocking trunks.

That's all I needed.
He went down with ease with that preemptive attack.
Funny how that works, sometimes.
 

Totakeke

Member
Just beat 3rd stratum. The labyrinth was harder, but the boss was too easy when I poisoned him the first turn and it lasted like 4-5 turns which he died in. My party was around Lvl34-38 when I did it, now on to the 4th!

I probably should go and rethink my party again now I'm going to open up the last set of skills at Master. After the 2nd stratum I took out my Runemaster and Sniper and swapped in another Nightseeker and Arcanist. I had trouble deciding on what to subclass my Medic to, and I chose sub-Arcanist in the end but that haven't worked as well because two Aracanists don't work together. Still the party is pretty good to play with, definitely a little geared towards killing bosses, but you can pretty much kill any mobs with just a poison circle at 3rd strata and before.

Here's my party build plan for <Lvl40 if anyone's interested. Gonna scrap it soon anyway

Fortress/Dancer Build
Level: 41
Main Class: Fortress
Novice Fortress: 1/1
Veteran Fortress: 1/1
Defense Boost: 10/10
Provoke: 4/4
Cover: 3/6
Rampart: 6/6
Knight's Protection: 6/6
Line Cover: 3/6
Holy Blessing: 4/4

Sub Class: Dancer
Fan Dance: 5/5
Regen Waltz: 3/5
Refresh Waltz: 1/4
Recovery Waltz: 1/2

Assassin/Swordsman Build
Level: 40
Main Class: Assassin
Novice Assassin: 1/1
Veteran Assassin: 1/1
Ice Slash: 3/10
The Slow Knife: 2/10
Blinding Throw: 2/6
Assassination: 3/8
Cruel Strike: 8/8
Speed Boost: 10/10

Sub Class: Swordsman
Power Break: 3/3
Mind Break: 3/3
Attack Boost: 4/4
Vanguard: 3/3
First Strike: 4/4

Mystic/RuneMaster Build
Level: 35
Main Class: Mystic
Novice Mystic: 1/1
Veteran Mystic: 1/1
Safety Aura: 6/6
Poison Zone: 8/8
Healing Power: 6/6
Evil Eye: Hamper: 4/4
Positive Energy: 5/10
Evil Eye: Expose: 4/4

Sub Class: RuneMaster
TP Boost: 4/4
TP Conservation: 3/3

Assassin/Dancer Build
Level: 37
Main Class: Assassin
Novice Assassin: 1/1
Veteran Assassin: 1/1
Blinding Throw: 2/6
Paralyzing Throw: 2/6
Shadow Blade: 6/6
Diversion: 4/4
Knock-out Throw: 2/6
Accursed Throw: 6/6

Sub Class: Dancer
Fan Dance: 5/5
Sword Dance: 5/5


Medic/Mystic Build
Level: 45
Main Class: Medic
Novice Medic: 1/1
Veteran Medic: 1/1
Patch Up: 8/8
Refresh: 2/6
Heal: 5/10
Bind Heal: 1/6
Treat: 1/6
Line Heal: 3/10
Widen Care: 1/4
Stretch: 6/6
Full Heal: 4/4
Revive: 5/8

Sub Class: Mystic
Poison Zone: 2/4
Healing Power: 3/3
Paralysis Zone: 4/4
Positive Energy: 1/5

Nightseeker sub-Landsknecht is the main star and who the party is built around. He can't apply any status himself since it's unreliable work so other people do it for him while he sets up.
 

spiritfox

Member
Q about the "Slay the Illusionist" quest:
How do I get close to him? There doesn't seem to be another path.

edit: 2nd boss down! Wasn't so hard with all the binding going on.
Wufan was very useful for that battle, and I like how I could register her as a guild member afterwards.
I also learned that Snipers can chase their own binds, which is nice.
 

lingiii

Banned
Bros, what's the deal with the demonic voice in the third zone? I haven't the foggiest where it's at. :( I can beat all the FOEs, so it's not a problem of restriction.
 
I have a party that is solely dedicated to one thing: doing volt damage. Electric Link, Additional Link, Bolt Strike, Volt Rune and Runemaster's Volt techs combine for some ridiculous damage. Volt Rune even turns most bosses weak to Volt which triggers my skill to do extra damage when you hit a weakness. It's steamrolling everything right now and should continue to do so unless I find something strong to Volt -- and if that happens I've got decent pure damage with my Landscihjnt and my Dancer doing Sword Dance.

Anyway, I posted this because of someone saying that their Fortress was feeling like dead weight. I kind of agreed for a short time until Team Volt started going wild.
 

Ken

Member
What do I do when I first get the skyship? I went to the Lush Woodlands and the dungeon in A2 and I'm getting beat up by toads and stuff. Currently level 4.
 

Ala Alba

Member
What do I do when I first get the skyship? I went to the Lush Woodlands and the dungeon in A2 and I'm getting beat up by toads and stuff. Currently level 4.

I would stick to the first floor of Lush Woodlands until you're 7-8 at least, then try the Small Orchard again.
 

tuffy

Member
... I feel a bit stupid now.
One of the people in the quest bar gives that same hint and follows it up with "but that's a stupid idea" even though it's obviously the solution. It's as if the game knows that quest will make the player feel stupid for not thinking of it sooner.
 
3rd Stratum Boss COnditional Drop is to kill with Fire. Okay. Set things up and have it all ready for a kill.

My Fortress, with a single forge of Poison, lands a Poison on the boss. The 50 damage tick gets the kill.

;_;



I did the same except with I'd check the Moth dungeon. A Shiny + 2x Moth FoE adds was ~100k EXP I believe. I'd get the EXP+++ Food from the first area Dragon flyby and then just enter/exit Shiny respawns.

Makes the Retire regrind relatively painless.

Don't feel too bad about missing the conditional drop. If I'm not wrong, all the items that require conditional drops
also require drops that only appear in the 6th stratum.

Sidestep or back into it. Can't trick you if you aren't looking. :lol

I accidentally discovered the answer because I'm always sidestepping when exploring to find secret passages.
 

scy

Member
Bros, what's the deal with the demonic voice in the third zone? I haven't the foggiest where it's at. :( I can beat all the FOEs, so it's not a problem of restriction.

There's two locations you need to find: The spot where you hear the sound and then the what's creating the sound. Don't forget to talk to the Count as well.

If you still have no idea where it's it:
High Elevation B5 (B4) for where you hear it and then Low Elevation A5 (B4) for the source.

Anyway, I posted this because of someone saying that their Fortress was feeling like dead weight. I kind of agreed for a short time until Team Volt started going wild.

I have a similar party and it doesn't change the fact that the damage of my Fortress isn't that great and the need to tank things is limited.

What do I do when I first get the skyship? I went to the Lush Woodlands and the dungeon in A2 and I'm getting beat up by toads and stuff. Currently level 4.

Get some levels trying to explore the Orchard and Lush Woodlands. It'll be a little slow on progress for these levels as you're really limited in ways to keep yourself going. Don't forget to go to the Bar and take quests there. The EXP from them will be really helpful early on.

Edit: One of the biggest things to help with this early on will be to try and gather food on the Overworld map and then eat one before entering a dungeon. The +Stat buff they give will persist in the entire dungeon. Golden Goose (Rare Bird) will get you +3 TEC +1 AGI +20% EXP, for instance, and Black Taurus (Rare Beast) is +3 STR +1 VIT +10% Rare Spawn Chance. Those are the two to look for, in my opinion, for the early game.

Don't feel too bad about missing the conditional drop. If I'm not wrong, all the items that require conditional drops
also require drops that only appear in the 6th stratum.

I know. It was more about the fact that I spent the entire fight doing Blazing Link and forged Fire Weapons to make sure I got it ... and then my Fortress procs Poison off a ~6% chance and the 56 Damage tick gets the kill.
 
Looking for some advice. A friend of mine is trying to defeat
Kibagami
with a L/D/NS/F/M party. I had zero problem with the fight because I had a Runemaster and just blasted him with magic (plus I was probably overleveled), but he can't seem to do enough damage before the heals start coming. Any suggestions?
 
What do you specifically have to do to unlock subclassing? I'm in the 3rd land, found the labyrinth and made it to the second floor. There's a tonne of stuff I'm putting off because I want to get my subclasses going!
 

scy

Member
What do you specifically have to do to unlock subclassing? I'm in the 3rd land, found the labyrinth and made it to the second floor. There's a tonne of stuff I'm putting off because I want to get my subclasses going!

It's during the 3rd Dungeon. In particular,
the mid-boss fight with Kibagami is what unlocks it
.
 
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