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

Welp, it's here.

etrianodyssey4.jpg


Any tips? Never played an Etrian Odyssey game before except just maybe 10 minutes fooling around in the first one.

Create a Fortress and max taunt and proficiency(only 5 points for all that) ... he'll save your life all the time, if you're new you'll love the Medic + Patch UP. The enemies will target whoever is in the front row the most, so have your healer and runemaster/sniper(whoever you make) on the back row.


REMEMBER that you can "REST" your party members, it costs you 2 levels(which is nothing, do it whenever you need to) and you can re-spec your characters, it's SUPER useful.

There's a debuff in EO that could help you early on if you go with a Sniper, Binding. Every move in EO(yours or of your enemy) come from their Legs/Arms/Head, by binding an enemy you can stop them from doing attacks that use that certain part of their bodies... it's pretty obvious what you gotta bind if you're enemy is using a move called "Super Punch", for example.
 

Ferrio

Banned
Can you guys sell me on this game?

I wan't to now what the appeal is. Also I am big on engaging stories in jrpgs which I heard that that this game doesn't have.

I was in the same boat as you, I usually play rpgs exclusively for the story. Yet somehow I've put 50+ hours into this game... and I'd say about... 3 minutes of that were story.

The allure is pretty much the combat, and the class skill system. The combat is about as old school JRPG as you can get, no fluff no bullshit. The class system offers 10 classes, with their own unique skill tree... and the ability to subclass... so you have 90 combinations you could make between them (since technically class/subclass isn't the same when it's reversed). Such flexibility is just really fun, and it's about as pure of an RPG as you can get.

Create a Fortress and max taunt and proficiency(only 5 points for all that) ... he'll save your life all the time, if you're new you'll love the Medic + Patch UP. The enemies will target whoever is in the front row the most, so have your healer and runemaster/sniper(whoever you make) on the back row.


REMEMBER that you can "REST" your party members, it costs you 2 levels(which is nothing, do it whenever you need to) and you can re-spec your characters, it's SUPER useful.

Sometimes having your fortress in the back row is advantageous too. Couple fights I had to stick my tank on the back lines.
 
Sometimes having your fortress in the back row is advantageous too. Couple fights I had to stick my tank on the back lines.

that's completely true and I've done it before, but I think that it's more safe to leave that for later, he's a beginner after all. I also like to have 2 in front and 2 in back so my dancer can move freely all the time without having to change my whole formation.
 

Ferrio

Banned
that's completely true and I've done it before, but I think that it's more safe to leave that for later, he's a beginner after all. I also like to have 2 in front and 2 in back so my dancer can move freely all the time without having to change my whole formation.

You know i've never used the switch command in battle. Makes sense you'd do that with dancer.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Can you guys sell me on this game?

I wan't to now what the appeal is. Also I am big on engaging stories in jrpgs which I heard that that this game doesn't have.

Do you like living a (challenging) adventure with an awesome gameplay, immersive atmosphere, intense battles and good music ? It's a choose your own adventure books type of game. You create your crew and make your adventure.
The characters are also great and the rewards for exploration are always satisfying.
I skipped the 3rd one but so far this is the best 3DS game for me. So, give it a try and you won't regret is.
 

Proven

Member
Can you guys sell me on this game?

I wan't to now what the appeal is. Also I am big on engaging stories in jrpgs which I heard that that this game doesn't have.

The story in this game is your story. It's very much a "it's all about the journey" type of deal, with a couple of fleshed out but mostly unimportant NPCs interact with, but your own exploration, trials/tribulations, and discoveries make up the meat of the game.

If you've played Persona 3 or 4, you'll have fun here I think.
 
Can you guys sell me on this game?

I wan't to now what the appeal is. Also I am big on engaging stories in jrpgs which I heard that that this game doesn't have.

It's weird to sell EO, it's a game that doesn't make a lot of sense until you're in a challenging battle with the team you created many hours ago, and the only way to guide yourself through the punishing mazes are the maps you created by yourself. It's such a personal and rewarding experience.
It also has great art direction and an amazing soundtrack.

Just check out the demo if you got a chance
 

KarmaCow

Member
Fuck you petrifying plants in the final maze. I'm using the stone resist food from outside the maze and I don't think I have resisted it once.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
I'm gone for a week and this went to Community.



dang, community curse with Laughing Banana :p

Heyyyyyy! It's not my fault that the OTs that I just joined immediately moved to Community!

;___;

Anyways, deciding to go Landsnecht (bah the spelling for this one), Fortress, and Night Crawlers in the front with Sniper and Medic on the back. At first I thought I was allowed 6, but then it's only 5 so... bah. Let's see how far I could go with this setup.

Playing Normal of course.
 
Heyyyyyy! It's not my fault that the OTs that I just joined immediately moved to Community!

;___;

Anyways, deciding to go Landsnecht (bah the spelling for this one), Fortress, and Night Crawlers in the front with Sniper and Medic on the back. At first I thought I was allowed 6, but then it's only 5 so... bah. Let's see how far I could go with this setup.

Playing Normal of course.

That's actually my party, so far. It's doing well enough. Nothing has been too overwhelming, but I've also made it a point to cover the entire map before moving on, when possible, so I've gotten enough experience to not have to grind.
 

ohlawd

Member
There's no need to grind during the game IMO. Just fight all the random mobs you face, kill some FOEs you see along the way and you should be golden.

Postgame is different but that's kinda obvious.

Heyyyyyy! It's not my fault that the OTs that I just joined immediately moved to Community!

;___;

nah it's not a bad thing. Just means I spend less time in the cesspool that is Gaming side.
 

vall03

Member
My god, an all Fortress party is difficult especially with their very low TP. Also, ended up using all the female portraits, hehe
 

tuffy

Member
Fuck you petrifying plants in the final maze. I'm using the stone resist food from outside the maze and I don't think I have resisted it once.
I've been using the commander boots from the 5th maze which gives me Quick Step so my Arcanist always goes first. A head binding circle shuts those things down before they can act and my heavy-hitters wipe them out.

But it's pretty much the exact spot where my Sniper and Fortress stopped being useful in my previous playthrough and I needed to transition to something else.
 

spiritfox

Member
I've been using the commander boots from the 5th maze which gives me Quick Step so my Arcanist always goes first. A head binding circle shuts those things down before they can act and my heavy-hitters wipe them out.

But it's pretty much the exact spot where my Sniper and Fortress stopped being useful in my previous playthrough and I needed to transition to something else.

A Dual Slash burst with a good damage dealer should be able to take down one before they can act, and Flame Wall should work too. Of course, that's dependent on if you have burst charges.
 
I use a Dancer with Refresh Waltz when going up against enemies that Petrify. It's great because it works even if the Dancer gets petrified. I think the only way to completely nullify it is to cook some +++ status ailment food and wear Stone Charms.
 

Ferrio

Banned
Son of a bitch....

5th maze spoilers
Firescales... never thought I'd have to deal with these annoying things again.
 

tuffy

Member
Son of a bitch....

5th maze spoilers
Firescales... never thought I'd have to deal with these annoying things again.
Could be worse.
At least they give you 9 of the things in one spot the second time around.
Though by that point in the game, it should be pretty easy to spot the 5th maze trend.
 

Soulhouf

Member
I didn't use the Sniper class yet but I remember it being one of the strongest in the first EO.
If I wish to use that class, which one do you recommend to remove?

My current team:

L/N
F/D
D/F

M/A
R/B

I can't remove my Dancer and especially my Fortress, they are so vital and I can't live without them.
 

scy

Member
I didn't use the Sniper class yet but I remember it being one of the strongest in the first EO.

That was a different time and a completely different class. I wouldn't liken the Sniper to EO1's Survivalist at all, really, in terms of how their damage operates.

Anyway, as for your group, I'd say the Medic if you're comfortable with just your Dancer healing or the Runemaster otherwise. Alternatively, the Landsknecht probably does the least amount of damage in that setup so the Sniper works well replacing it.

So basically I didn't help you at all, pick one of the three! ;__;
 

tuffy

Member
I didn't use the Sniper class yet but I remember it being one of the strongest in the first EO.
If I wish to use that class, which one do you recommend to remove?
I suppose the M/A is your best candidate, though you'll have to fall back on Dancer healing and status effect curing items. You'll want a Runemaster around for elemental damage, and replacing your Lendsmirkt means even less physical damage, so there's not a lot of options left.
 

Soulhouf

Member
I can't decide.
They are all so important >_>
Losing the Medic will be very bad against bosses.

My Landsknecht is currently the only offensive unit with the Runemaster and he hits really hard. The only class I would exchange with him is the Bushi...
Besides, if I exchange the Landsknecht, that would mean the 2nd line will be full and I won't have the option to move my Dancer back and forth when needed.

I think the only remaining option is the Runemaster.

Dilemma...
 

tuffy

Member
Why not get rid of one of the D/F or F/D? Kinda redundant isn't it?
I was thinking the same thing. D/F, F/D and M/A are all pretty support-heavy combinations. If it's time to bring in someone else, it wouldn't be a bad idea to fold some of those tasks into fewer characters.
 

balddemon

Banned
I can't decide.
They are all so important >_>
Losing the Medic will be very bad against bosses.

My Landsknecht is currently the only offensive unit with the Runemaster and he hits really hard. The only class I would exchange with him is the Bushi...
Besides, if I exchange the Landsknecht, that would mean the 2nd line will be full and I won't have the option to move my Dancer back and forth when needed.

I think the only remaining option is the Runemaster.

Dilemma...

make an A/M and use her for binds. much more effective since they affect all enemies.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Why not get rid of one of the D/F or F/D? Kinda redundant isn't it?

Not really, My Fortress doesn't know how to dance. He only got the passive evasion/speed skills from that.
And my Dancer doesn't really tank, again it's only support skills that she has from the Fortress.
That makes a kind of boosted Dancer and Fortress.
My dancer is a jack of all trades. When it goes wrong, she is able to do almost anything and her high speed is a big help for that. She is like a quarterback since she decides who acts first and can go back and forth to use her ability to heal/unbind/refresh/buff allies.

The Medic's auto abilities (auto heal, auto revive) and patch up increase my team's survival ability for a long period without needing to go back to the city to rest. He's also the best for healing the Fortress when all the attacks are targeted toward him.
Medic as a secondary job isn't as effective...
 

Ferrio

Banned
Not really, My Fortress doesn't know how to dance. He only got the passive evasion/speed skills from that.
And my Dancer doesn't really tank, again it's only support skills that she has from the Fortress.
That makes a kind of boosted Dancer and Fortress.
My dancer is a jack of all trades. When it goes wrong, she is able to do almost anything and her high speed is a big help for that. She is like a quarterback since she decides who acts first and can go back and forth to use her ability to heal/unbind/refresh allies.

The Medic's auto abilities (auto heal, auto revive) and patch up increase my team's survival ability for a long period without needing to go back to the city to rest. He's also the best for healing the Fortress when all the attacks are targeted toward him.
Medic as a secondary job isn't as effective...

The only real skill the dancer needs to tank is the taunts.
 

tuffy

Member
The Medic's auto abilities (auto heal, auto revive) and patch up increase my team's survival ability for a long period without needing to go back to the city to rest. He's also the best for healing the Fortress when all the attacks are targeted toward him.
Medic as a secondary job isn't as effective...
I believe an Arcanist/Medic may be better at this job. With maxed out Bracing Walk, you'll be getting ~140HP back, passively, between each fight on average which is a lot better than Patch Up. Dismiss Heal can restore a lot of HP to your whole party for almost no cost (since the Arcanist's class skill restores TP when the circle ends), you'll still be getting the binding/status effects whenever the circles are up, and can also take Medic subclass skills like status effect cures and revive.

I'd highly recommend it.
 

Soulhouf

Member
I believe an Arcanist/Medic may be better at this job. With maxed out Bracing Walk, you'll be getting ~140HP back, passively, between each fight on average which is a lot better than Patch Up. Dismiss Heal can restore a lot of HP to your whole party for almost no cost (since the Arcanist's class skill restores TP when the circle ends), you'll still be getting the binding/status effects whenever the circles are up, and can also take Medic subclass skills like status effect cures and revive.

I'd highly recommend it.

Ok, I will try that, but it doesn't solve my Sniper replacement lol
 
The story in this game is your story. It's very much a "it's all about the journey" type of deal, with a couple of fleshed out but mostly unimportant NPCs interact with, but your own exploration, trials/tribulations, and discoveries make up the meat of the game.

If you've played Persona 3 or 4, you'll have fun here I think.

What!? P3/4 are story/dialogue/narrative heavy. The consensus I hear about this series is that there is a barebones story. I'm confused now.
 

Proven

Member
Yeah, I meant the dungeon diving. There were times when Tartarus was frustrating, but there were times when you were in the zone, dealing with monsters, managing SP, looking for treasures, and dodging Death long enough to make the decision to teleport home, or risk going one more floor and possibly losing it all. If you died, you were sent back to your last save, but you knew about the enemies that kicked your butt and what you could experiment with fusion to kick their butt next time. From the demo alone, EO4 felt like that to me.

And just like how Tartarus by itself didn't have much story beyond the left behind journals/notes you found every couple of floors, there isn't a whole lot of story to EO beyond some basic stuff.

I tend to be a gameplay first type of person, so I was drawn to Persona 3 and 4 due to their relatively fast combat for a turn based game along with the One More mechanic. The game was about taking risks and lining up combos.

If you absolutely need the narrative to carry you then stay away. What you get from the demo seems indicative to what most of the game is like. Never did play Vagrant Story.
 

scy

Member
Just to expand on it, they're +30% EXP, +30% Drop Rate, and +30% Rare Spawn rate. The one from Wyrm/Great Dragon/1st Land area is the most sought after, generally, since ... well, +30% EXP.
 
Persona 3's dungeon was borring as fuck compared to the EO3/EO4 dungeons. There's just no comparing, P3 has those shitty randomized floors that all felt the same while EO actually mixes it up and it's not randomized.
 
Can anyone provide me with a good beginner's guide? This is my first EO, and I'm already pretty overwhelmed upon gaining my airship (some kangaroo killed me almost immediately).
 

vareon

Member
Can anyone provide me with a good beginner's guide? This is my first EO, and I'm already pretty overwhelmed upon gaining my airship (some kangaroo killed me almost immediately).

Don't fight any FOEs (visible monsters on screen) the first time you meet it. Also the FOEs have danger indicator on the map, avoid the red or yellow ones unless you're really prepared.
 
I figured, there are just more general things I'm confused about. Should I always be cooking?

The most important thing I should say is that you should not worry about using your skill points, you can rest(lose 2 levels and get all your points back for re-specing) which is super useful.

You better have a Fortress with max taunt if you're new.

Cooking is not needed, but useful and exploitable.
 
Thanks, y'all. I just entered the first maze, and I'm reminded that the music in this game is incredible.

edit: A rat just wrecked my shit. What the hell?
 
I'm one of those gamers that need a story to play games, EO does gameplay and character creation so well that I don't even care.

THERE IS a story, it's just not shoved at you all freaking day.

Okay, I think you and I may be on the same wave length. Could you "sell" me on EOIV? And maybe elaborate on the plot component.
 
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