Support NeoGAF

[balddemon]

Does petrify ever trigger? I haven't been able to trigger it once.

nope. never.

I think I'm finally going to beat this game this week. I'm somewhere in the 5th maze. very beginning I believe.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Is there a site somewhere where I can view all the class portraits of the various EO games? All the portrait talk a little earlier in the thread made me curious about it.

 

[Soulhouf]

I prefer their breaths to be random but to not have a single-turn defensive option. Having to use Antis every turn isn't that fun. The set-and-forget buff (that can, and does, get dispelled as part of their rotation) just ultimately frees things up. You can make the breath devastating AND random AND improve all their other options just by virtue of giving a better tool to deal with it. And it still seems fair this way!

The only thing they did is making these attacks more classics and boring, since it became the traditional buff/debuff.

The "problem" is you're also given better tools. EO1 is a very straightforward game: Things deal damage so you need to deal with it. %Reduction, in conjunction with how Armor worked, basically trivializes everything. Your damage output is so-so at best so it's about the long grind for fights. The difficulty of the game stems from the fact that there's only a small amount of answers.

EO4 just gives you more options. You have better ways to deal with everything the game throws at you so the encounter design tries to get away with more since you can deal with it better. The game is more interactive, for lack of a better way to put it. You actually have to adapt to the fights rather than just knowing to deal with damage.

I do think that they could've done a little bit more with the difficulty but they're certainly trying more now than before. So, no, I think EO4 is a harder game in terms of enemy design but I do agree that it's ultimately easier because player power is higher too.

See? That's the problem. They didn't increase the threat enough to match the possibilities and power they gave to the player. The game doesn't punish you like 1 and 2 did.
I would be OK if they put again these nasty status effects that last outside battles and are pain in the ass to get rid of.
Okay, you have many convenient shortcuts and very cheap item to warp back to town, but what did they do to compensate that? Almost nothing. They could for example make you loose experience if you warp back to town or make that item becomes more expensive the more you use it or something like that.
FOEs used to be a real threat. In 4, except the 1st baboons, I was able to fight and defeat almost all the FOEs I encountered for the first time.
Monsters need a serious buff and be able to do ambush attacks. Why did they remove that? It's one of the many examples of decreasing the difficulty level while giving you more options to deal with things.

It's fun to discuss. I'm still waiting for my Hard Mode option so don't think that I'm "satisfied" with the game difficulty or anything ;__;

Exactly. That would be perfect.

Does petrify ever trigger? I haven't been able to trigger it once.

You mean using that weapon? I was able to beat many FOE (including that sheep, taste your own medicine ) by petrifying them. Equiping that weapon on your Archanist helps a lot.

 

[Anteo]

The only thing they did is making these attacks more classics and boring, since it became the traditional buff/debuff.



See? That's the problem. They didn't increase the threat enough to match the possibilities and power they gave to the player. The game doesn't punish you like 1 and 2 did.
I would be OK if they put again these nasty status effects that last outside battles and are pain in the ass to get rid of.
Okay, you have many convenient shortcuts and very cheap item to warp back to town, but what did they do to compensate that? Almost nothing. They could for example make you loose experience if you warp back to town or make that item becomes more expensive the more you use it or something like that.
FOEs used to be a real threat. In 4, except the 1st baboons, I was able to fight and defeat almost all the FOEs I encountered for the first time.
Monsters need a serious buff and be able to do ambush attacks. Why did they remove that? It's one of the many examples of decreasing the difficulty level while giving you more options to deal with things.



Exactly. That would be perfect.



You mean using that weapon? I was able to beat many FOE (including that sheep, taste your own medicine ) by petrifying them. Equiping that weapon on your Archanist helps a lot.

Sound that you were overleveled the whole game. I could never fight a FOE the first time I ran into it. Never, I tried but faced death pretty quickly. The flower at the 5th maze was a close fight but I still wiped.

 

[scy]

The only thing they did is making these attacks more classics and boring, since it became the traditional buff/debuff.

Using an Anti every turn is boring to me. I'd rather have the buff/debuff to take care of it as it means I'm giving up buff slots (or debuff slot) and the game has shifted towards making those a priority. It also means that you can make that attack that much scarier by making it random and having it deal more damage outright while still keeping things fair and balanced due to the solution being something easier to keep up as opposed to "Well, just spam it every turn so you live."

Preferences, I suppose. I just don't think difficulty is limiting choices, which is what forcing Antis to be used every turn essentially is.

See? That's the problem. They didn't increase the threat enough to match the possibilities and power they gave to the player. The game doesn't punish you like 1 and 2 did.

EO1 and EO2 weren't that punishing either unless you deliberately avoided the ways to make the game easier. If you didn't use Immunize or Defender in EO1 or no Climax, Dominate/Riot Gun/Painless, Revenge, etc. for EO2, then sure, the games were harder. But that's more a case of how imbalanced the games were.

Okay, you have many convenient shortcuts and very cheap item to warp back to town, but what did they do to compensate that? Almost nothing. They could for example make you loose experience if you warp back to town or make that item becomes more expensive the more you use it or something like that.

They actually did do something: They increased the general wear-and-tear from random encounters (along with base drop rates) to encourage you to leave more often. And Warp Wire/Ariadne Threads have always been cheap to acquire so I'm not sure why they're suddenly an issue.

Beyond that, the quests are added on a per floor basis (and actually worth pursuing) so there's an extra incentive to leave per floor. If you don't care about quests, I suppose that's not really that big of a deal. I liked them in addition to the extra dialogues in town per floor.

FOEs used to be a real threat. In 4, except the 1st baboons, I was able to fight and defeat almost all the FOEs I encountered for the first time.

I have always fought every FoE the first time I ran into them in every single game. EO2's were probably the easiest (coupled with the easiest grinding and money to get, honestly, with the whole bosses thing). EO1's are also rather straightforward as they don't do much themselves. They just have more stats than other enemies in the end.

Monsters need a serious buff and be able to do ambush attacks. Why did they remove that? It's one of the many examples of decreasing the difficulty level while giving you more options to deal with things.

Random encounters now do more though. Very rarely in EO1/EO2 did you have them do things besides damage. We have more line target attacks. EO4 has piercing attacks. 1st Land encounters introduce attacks with low HP (e.g., "target to kill") priority in addition to how regular fights go.

Though, yeah, I don't get the lack of Ambushes. Really now, giving free Gathering skills was a perfect opportunity to re-introduce Ambushes at Gathering nodes. Now the skill can be, "Removes/Reduces the chance to be Ambushed when gathering" in addition to their current effects. C'mon!

Then again, horrible memories of the EO2 5x Mandrake Ambush. 5x all-target Instant Death.

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is this: EO1 and EO2 aren't hard games. They may be the easiest games in the series. They're the least balanced games, however, which gives room for player-induced difficulty. Are you not using one of the best builds? If so, the difficulty is a lot higher for you by sheer virtue of screwing yourself over.

EO3 and EO4 are harder than EO1 and EO2's optimal routes but easier than their "I've made a huge mistake" routes. A poorly designed gimmick party (I did an all Farmer EO3 run, for instance) in EO3 and EO4 has a much better chance of beating the game than a poorly designed EO1 and EO2 party (I'm still sad at that BLTSA Ur-Child fight I did to prove a point in EO2 ;__

Sound that you were overleveled the whole game. I could never fight a FOE the first time I ran into it. Never, I tried but faced death pretty quickly. The flower at the 5th maze was a close fight but I still wiped.

I was definitely overleveled.

Probably because I fought and killed every FoE! :x

 

[Soulhouf]

EO1 and EO2 weren't that punishing either unless you deliberately avoided the ways to make the game easier. If you didn't use Immunize or Defender in EO1 or no Climax, Dominate/Riot Gun/Painless, Revenge, etc. for EO2, then sure, the games were harder. But that's more a case of how imbalanced the games were.

Don't forget that it was the 1st game. We were discovering at the cost of painful results.
Now we are playing the 4th game. Atlus should take that into consideration and make the game much harder for these who are familiar with the series.

They actually did do something: They increased the general wear-and-tear from random encounters (along with base drop rates) to encourage you to leave more often. And Warp Wire/Ariadne Threads have always been cheap to acquire so I'm not sure why they're suddenly an issue.

Beyond that, the quests are added on a per floor basis (and actually worth pursuing) so there's an extra incentive to leave per floor. If you don't care about quests, I suppose that's not really that big of a deal. I liked them in addition to the extra dialogues in town per floor.

That's true, but coming back to were you left wasn't that easy, so you had to decide to whether continue with high risk or warp back and have to go sometimes a long road.

Random encounters now do more though. Very rarely in EO1/EO2 did you have them do things besides damage. We have more line target attacks. EO4 has piercing attacks. 1st Land encounters introduce attacks with low HP (e.g., "target to kill") priority in addition to how regular fights go.

Though, yeah, I don't get the lack of Ambushes. Really now, giving free Gathering skills was a perfect opportunity to re-introduce Ambushes at Gathering nodes. Now the skill can be, "Removes/Reduces the chance to be Ambushed when gathering" in addition to their current effects. C'mon!

Then again, horrible memories of the EO2 5x Mandrake Ambush. 5x all-target Instant Death.

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is this: EO1 and EO2 aren't hard games. They may be the easiest games in the series. They're the least balanced games, however, which gives room for player-induced difficulty. Are you not using one of the best builds? If so, the difficulty is a lot higher for you by sheer virtue of screwing yourself over.

EO3 and EO4 are harder than EO1 and EO2's optimal routes but easier than their "I've made a huge mistake" routes. A poorly designed gimmick party (I did an all Farmer EO3 run, for instance) in EO3 and EO4 has a much better chance of beating the game than a poorly designed EO1 and EO2 party (I'm still sad at that BLTSA Ur-Child fight I did to prove a point in EO2 ;__

It's called trial and error. You are supposed to fail before succeeding to do anything. I love that old school type of level design.
In 4 you almost can't screw yourself. To me that's a poor level design dictated by the current trend to make games for babies.
It's sad that the last old school games are abandoning that kind of design where nothing is explained and you have to figure out all by yourself at the cost of multiple failures.
I appreciate some of the modern games but the reason I loved EO1 and Demon's Souls so much is basically because of that.

Sound that you were overleveled the whole game. I could never fight a FOE the first time I ran into it. Never, I tried but faced death pretty quickly. The flower at the 5th maze was a close fight but I still wiped.

I didn't grind at all. Having a Fortress + Dancer + Medic made me almost invincible in the 1st 3 lands.

 

[Ferrio]

Hrm... thinking about changing my assassin's subclass from dancer to arcanist. I'm not taking advantage of the dancers dances, but sword dance/mist dance is amazing on her. If I changed to arcanist, I'd be able to take up ailment boost and tp return. Hrmmm

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

No, I'm talking about the Red Dragon. But I guess my level was too low (around 45).
Which one of the 3 is the easiest? I remember the Red Dragon being the hardest in EO1. Is that still the case here?

Anyway, I explored about half of B2F of Hall of Darkness and I can now say that I love that dungeon. It's by far my favorite because it reminds me of EO1. Too bad that the status effects aren't dangerous in this game because that could make it much more challenging.
Also I love the atmosphere in that dungeon and the music is great. The enemies are a big bummer though, another bunch of clones

Edit: speaking of decreased difficulty. I just noticed that aside from scripted ones, there aren't random battles with ambush. Why ATLUS, why?

I once got literally jumped by a frog FOE in that marsh from behind. Wasn't an ambush.

No attacks while gathering.

No goddamn squirrels.

Less pits.

Etc.

I just don't think difficulty is limiting choices, which is what forcing Antis to be used every turn essentially is.

True, but that brings up something else: Mudflation on functionality. The subclassing is a major, major boon still and puts deep gouges into the "bring 5, always missing something" of 1 & 2. That's a major reason for the 6th stratum's reliance on huge buffs and petrification for the enemy's major damage: most other things are murdered so fast by a party capable of being in there.

At least one of these has to be looked at before they get out of control, cuz it could easily wreck the excellent battle balancing and/or variety. I've seen this before, (note how M's and F's are not as common in end-game parties as I's, D's, and N's. The model only switched who was in the doghouse.)

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Ok I'm officially addicted to this game...

Is there a decent beginner's guide anywhere? Want to wrap my head around all the various ailments and ways to cure / mitigate them.

 

[Ferrio]

Hrm... thinking about changing my assassin's subclass from dancer to arcanist. I'm not taking advantage of the dancers dances, but sword dance/mist dance is amazing on her. If I changed to arcanist, I'd be able to take up ailment boost and tp return. Hrmmm

So changed my assassin's subclass to arcanist from dancer. So far it seems okay, can't really tell much of a difference other than I'm not triggering the occassional stun. Think I'll stick around like this for awhile

Changed my dancer's subclass to assassin from bushi... and that was a mistake. The assassin skills suck hardcore without the primary assassin proficiency (more damage when something is under ailment). She does do a ton of regular hits though, but not much else. So I'm going to trash this... not sure what I'll go for. Maybe subclass imperial since I haven't tried them.

 

[Nert]

Ok I'm officially addicted to this game...

Same here. I just unlocked the ability to use subclasses and now I'm even further hooked.

 

[Soulhouf]

So changed my assassin's subclass to arcanist from dancer. So far it seems okay, can't really tell much of a difference other than I'm not triggering the occassional stun. Think I'll stick around like this for awhile

Changed my dancer's subclass to assassin from bushi... and that was a mistake. The assassin skills suck hardcore without the primary assassin proficiency (more damage when something is under ailment). She does do a ton of regular hits though, but not much else. So I'm going to trash this... not sure what I'll go for. Maybe subclass imperial since I haven't tried them.

I tried many options for a Dancer and I think the best one I found is Bushi. That's always good as sub class because of its cheap 4 very useful skills. I didn't try N, but it could be very good since combining dual wield and multi hit can be a huge+.


Anyway, I beat the 3 elemental dragons. Thunder and Ice one were easier than the Fire Dragon. You have less offense capability but you're much better protected thanks to the guests in these battles. Dancer is definitely a broken class and having 2 of them in the same battle is... something.

After that, a new boss has been unlocked:

Spoiler

The Black Dragon

and he's no laughing matter. I tried it twice and I could survive during 10 turns or so but I couldn't figure out the type of his attacks and he ends up killing me once he's unbinded.
I will explore more in depth the Hall of Darkness and I will come back when I become stronger.

BTW I discovered a broken item. The one that guarantees all the drops from an enemy. That petrifying sheep in Hall of Darkness became my best friend since he drops the material to make that item.

 

[Ferrio]

I tried many options for a Dancer and I think the best one I found is Bushi. That's always good as sub class because of its cheap 4 very useful skills. I didn't try N, but it could be very good since combining dual wield and multi hit can be a huge+.


Anyway, I beat the 3 elemental dragons. Thunder and Ice one were easier than the Fire Dragon. You have less offense capability but you're much better protected thanks to the guests in these battles. Dancer is definitely a broken class and having 2 of them in the same battle is... something.

After that, a new boss has been unlocked:

Spoiler

The Black Dragon

and he's no laughing matter. I tried it twice and I could survive during 10 turns or so but I couldn't figure out the type of his attacks and he ends up killing me once he's unbinded.
I will explore more in depth the Hall of Darkness and I will come back when I become stronger.

BTW I discovered a broken item. The one that guarantees all the drops from an enemy. That petrifying sheep in Hall of Darkness became my best friend since he drops the material to make that item.

I eventually reclassed her as assassin again. This time I only took the passives, which actually works out great. Throw up 3 dances, then she goes all nuts. Only thing I really miss from bushi is t he ability to wield katanas and roar.

 

[spiritfox]

Nightseeker sub for Dancer is mainly for dual wielding. This gives you a chance to get a total of 8 hits off Swords Dance, which is really good combined with Mist Dance. Another good sub for Dancer is Fortress, as while she might not be as tanky as a main F, she has higher levels of evade, which evens off the odds a bit.

 

[duckroll]

Got to the boss in the Misty Ravine. Died terribly after a rather drawn out fight. Awesome music though. RIP. I've been playing this pretty slowly. Probably need to relook at my party and see what sort of improvements I can make. Feels like the Hollows can one shot most characters in my party. That's a pretty bad thing! >_<

 

[Soulhouf]

Got to the boss in the Misty Ravine. Died terribly after a rather drawn out fight. Awesome music though. RIP. I've been playing this pretty slowly. Probably need to relook at my party and see what sort of improvements I can make. Feels like the Hollows can one shot most characters in my party. That's a pretty bad thing! >_<

Binding their legs helps a lot since it disables their evade rate.

 

[duckroll]

Binding their legs helps a lot since it disables their evade rate.

Yeah that wasn't a problem since Wufan has those awesome circles. The problem was just keeping my team alive. Gotta think of something. Maybe better armor. My entire back row are kinda glass cannons considering how they all have accessories instead of proper armor. Well, maybe not even cannons, just glass, since they don't do that much damage outside of my Runemaster.

 

[Soulhouf]

Yeah that wasn't a problem since Wufan has those awesome circles. The problem was just keeping my team alive. Gotta think of something. Maybe better armor. My entire back row are kinda glass cannons considering how they all have accessories instead of proper armor. Well, maybe not even cannons, just glass, since they don't do that much damage outside of my Runemaster.

Try to dispatch the guards she summons with your Runemaster (and Sniper if you have one) ASAP. There are only 4 in total.
Meanwhile, if you have a Fortress, use him/her to take damage while healing with your Medic/Dancer and Wufan (Dismiss Heal).
The boss is weak to bind, so use that to your advantage: head bind to stop her spells and leg bind to be able to hit her.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

What is the difference for a Medic's two skills refresh and treat? One heals "status ailments" and the other heals "status weakening effects?

I'm assuming the first is things like poison, stun etc and the second is lowered resistance?

 

[duckroll]

Try to dispatch the guards she summons with your Runemaster (and Sniper if you have one) ASAP. There are only 4 in total.
Meanwhile, if you have a Fortress, use him/her to take damage while healing with your Medic/Dancer and Wufan (Dismiss Heal).
The boss is weak to bind, so use that to your advantage: head bind to stop her spells and leg bind to be able to hit her.

Oooh, so the backup doesn't endlessly respawn? That's good to know. Thanks!

 

[tuffy]

What is the difference for a Medic's two skills refresh and treat? One heals "status ailments" and the other heals "status weakening effects?

I'm assuming the first is things like poison, stun etc and the second is lowered resistance?

That's pretty much it. Sometimes the enemy will hit you with bebuffs that lower your damage, for instance. Treat gets rid of those.

 

[Roubjon]

What do those "Full Refresh" skills do for the Medic? I'm really unclear and the description is garbage.

 

[JoeFu]

Haven't posted in here in a while, got to the last boss I think... Tried fighting it and died in 2 turns. Gonna level up to 60 and retire my team and maybe try something new for the last fight.

 

[Anteo]

What do those "Full Refresh" skills do for the Medic? I'm really unclear and the description is garbage.

It's exactly what it says on the description. It heals status weakening effects (like Treat), ailments (like refresh) AND binds (like recovery). It only works in one character at a time.

 

[Ferrio]

Yeah that wasn't a problem since Wufan has those awesome circles. The problem was just keeping my team alive. Gotta think of something. Maybe better armor. My entire back row are kinda glass cannons considering how they all have accessories instead of proper armor. Well, maybe not even cannons, just glass, since they don't do that much damage outside of my Runemaster.

Can you equip more than one assessory? I swore I've tried to equip multiple Icon's (the stat boosting ones) and it wont' allow me.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Can you equip more than one assessory? I swore I've tried to equip multiple Icon's (the stat boosting ones) and it wont' allow me.

He probably means a mix of subweapons/hats/gloves/shoes with no body armor. As far as I know you can't have more than one ring/necklace/charm/etc.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I tried many options for a Dancer and I think the best one I found is Bushi. That's always good as sub class because of its cheap 4 very useful skills. I didn't try N, but it could be very good since combining dual wield and multi hit can be a huge+.


Anyway, I beat the 3 elemental dragons. Thunder and Ice one were easier than the Fire Dragon. You have less offense capability but you're much better protected thanks to the guests in these battles. Dancer is definitely a broken class and having 2 of them in the same battle is... something.

After that, a new boss has been unlocked:

Spoiler

The Black Dragon

and he's no laughing matter. I tried it twice and I could survive during 10 turns or so but I couldn't figure out the type of his attacks and he ends up killing me once he's unbinded.
I will explore more in depth the Hall of Darkness and I will come back when I become stronger.

BTW I discovered a broken item. The one that guarantees all the drops from an enemy. That petrifying sheep in Hall of Darkness became my best friend since he drops the material to make that item.

That was what I forgot in my last post! That, barring anything else, should go. Clean wrecks balance.

Nightseeker sub for Dancer is mainly for dual wielding. This gives you a chance to get a total of 8 hits off Swords Dance, which is really good combined with Mist Dance. Another good sub for Dancer is Fortress, as while she might not be as tanky as a main F, she has higher levels of evade, which evens off the odds a bit.

Old school Windfury! /tear

 

[Aeana]

This is probably super old news to everyone else, but I finally got around to listening to the EO4 Super Arrange CD and I could not believe my ears when this came on. I knew immediately who the arranger was, and sure enough, when I looked at the liner notes: Ryo Yonemitsu. Dang, I have missed his style so much.

 

[ohlawd]

Who's that?

Some new guy in the music biz?

 

[SpaceBridge]

Man, I wanna like this game. After enjoying the demo so much. But it's do frustrating to sink an hour exploring abd then getting killed. Explored Spring Valley, completed a quest, when I left I got double tag teamed by the kangaroo FOE's. Not fun at all.

 

[Ferrio]

Man, I wanna like this game. After enjoying the demo so much. But it's do frustrating to sink an hour exploring abd then getting killed. Explored Spring Valley, completed a quest, when I left I got double tag teamed by the kangaroo FOE's. Not fun at all.

You finished a quest, but somehow died? Huh? Sounds like your fault, if you finished it you could of thread'ed out and turned it in.

 

[Anteo]

Man, I wanna like this game. After enjoying the demo so much. But it's do frustrating to sink an hour exploring abd then getting killed. Explored Spring Valley, completed a quest, when I left I got double tag teamed by the kangaroo FOE's. Not fun at all.

Why aren't you using Adriane Threads to teleport back after a quest? I guess you did a quest in the cave that is guarded by 2 Kangaroos? Yeah just teleport back from that place. The game tells you that you can teleport form the caves/maze to the city by usng those Threads pretty early, after you complete the tutorial so you must have missed it.

 

[Shoyz]

I ran into a random encounter FOE, only losing one unit. Saw the teleporter a short walk away, got another random encounter just before it. Three regular enemies.

Couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run (dead) couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run (dead) couldn't run couldn't run..game over.

RNG cheap death is certainly not fun.

 

[Ferrio]

I ran into a random encounter FOE, only losing one unit. Saw the teleporter a short walk away, got another random encounter just before it. Three regular enemies.

Couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run (dead) couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run (dead) couldn't run couldn't run..game over.

RNG cheap death is certainly not fun.

I made sure always have Full Retreat Burst.... saved my ass so many times.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Man, I wanna like this game. After enjoying the demo so much. But it's do frustrating to sink an hour exploring abd then getting killed. Explored Spring Valley, completed a quest, when I left I got double tag teamed by the kangaroo FOE's. Not fun at all.

I've diagnosed the problem here.

I ran into a random encounter FOE, only losing one unit. Saw the teleporter a short walk away, got another random encounter just before it. Three regular enemies.

Couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run (dead) couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run (dead) couldn't run couldn't run..game over.

RNG cheap death is certainly not fun.

Create your own luck. You have the tools. You rolled the dice, made tactical errors, got burned. And what Ferrio said. Just gotta keep that level 3 retained though...

 

[Aeana]

Who's that?

Some new guy in the music biz?

Heh. No, not remotely new, but he has been inactive for a while. He was responsible for the arrangements in Falcom games for PC Engine CD, as well as the Perfect Collection CDs. He's very well loved by Falcom fans.

 

[Velcro Fly]

Just picked the game back up after a few weeks of not playing. On the 3rd floor of the second maze. Group is around level 28. The game definitely punishes you hard for not buying threads. It's to the point where if I forget I just drop everything and go back to town because it's pointless otherwise. I know that I'm inevitably going to get so low on TP and HP that I'm going to get pounded and get a game over. I get frustrated but it is my own fault for not having threads. Moral of the story is always have one. It's the only real way to guarantee your safety anywhere.

Another nugget of wisdom I've picked up from playing is that it seems the game encourages you to keep your forays into dungeons to a quick hit and run style. Get in, do some things, maybe map out part of a floor, and get back out. It doesn't seem like the kind of game where you can just map out an entire floor. I usually either run out of TP or item space and that is when it's time to go. There is no shame in getting out of a dungeon.

I had a disgusting game over just now though. One of those sheep FoEs was gold so I decided to attack. I've beaten them before no problem. Well at about 15% hp he put every party member of my team but one to asleep and proceeded to one shot them on four consecutive turns. Really fun when my medic is asleep for 3 turns in a row while the rest of my party gets pretty much one shot. Glad all I missed out on was some easy EXP though. Definitely the most brutal time I've had with the game in over 20 hours of play so far.

 

[Nert]

I'm having a really rough time clearing out the shards in the third labyrinth's boss room. I run into several situations where I make one wrong step and I have to either warp out or have the boss obliterate me. I don't normally mind a little trial and error, but having to crawl back down to the bottom of the dungeon after every failed attempt is getting tedious.

On the positive side, my Land and Dancer up front are getting absolutely ridiculous with link setups. Improved Link + Trick Samba + Volt Rune into Electric Link, along with some Sword Dance procs, can take out more than half a FOE's lifebar. Neat!

This is probably super old news to everyone else, but I finally got around to listening to the EO4 Super Arrange CD and I could not believe my ears when this came on. I knew immediately who the arranger was, and sure enough, when I looked at the liner notes: Ryo Yonemitsu. Dang, I have missed his style so much.

I really need to listen to that CD.

 

[Soulhouf]

*SPOILERS* regrading a post-game boss.
---------------

After like 20 game over, I think I'm starting to understand how the Fallen One works.
He consistently binds me and himself at the first turn, so I have to optimize my unbinding to be able to fully act on the 2nd turn and take advantage of him being binded.
I was dying all the time in the 10th turn because of that Supernova attack. I tried to buff my protections against it but it doesn't seem to change anything, so it's safe to assume that attack is untyped right? The other attacks can be tanked with my Fortress. He may die but it's not a big deal.

The only solution I found ATM is to bind his head and pray that works.
I'm starting to get good at it and the farthest I was able to go is the 25th turn. Each time I got a game over it was turn# 10, 15, 20, 25. So I assumed he was doing that attack only in turn multiple of 5.
The other annoying thing is he randomly and fully bind my party (and himself) from time to time so I waste some turns unbinding myself until I run out of Therica A.
Now all what remains is to optimize my strategy and pray until I succeed.

This reminds me of Primevil in EO1 who was harder but had a similar nasty attack that had some turn pattern as well.
I appreciate this because it's one of the few battles where you have to take advantage of that turn indicator displayed in battle.

I'm around level 67 right now BTW.
--------------

Another nugget of wisdom I've picked up from playing is that it seems the game encourages you to keep your forays into dungeons to a quick hit and run style. Get in, do some things, maybe map out part of a floor, and get back out. It doesn't seem like the kind of game where you can just map out an entire floor. I usually either run out of TP or item space and that is when it's time to go. There is no shame in getting out of a dungeon.

This.
I was neglecting doing it in the beginning because I didn't find the game hard and got punished in the 3rd maze where I lost like 3 hours of gameplay. I learned my lesson since then

This is probably super old news to everyone else, but I finally got around to listening to the EO4 Super Arrange CD and I could not believe my ears when this came on. I knew immediately who the arranger was, and sure enough, when I looked at the liner notes: Ryo Yonemitsu. Dang, I have missed his style so much.

Wow. Thanks for the info!
My CD is on its way from play-asia.

 

[whiterabbit]

Yeah the Fallen One is a tough boss. I found I could survive Supernova with Guard Order burst and my characters defending. You probably have to be pretty high level though.

 

[Soulhouf]

Yeah the Fallen One is a tough boss. I found I could survive Supernova with Guard Order burst and my characters defending. You probably have to be pretty high level though.

If I see his head isn't binded in turn x5, I use that burst attack that stun him. It costs 5 gauges but at least it works.
But then, 5 turns is too few to recharge it. That's why I can't rely on it and don't use it unless I don't have other choice.

 

[Anteo]

I'm having a really rough time clearing out the shards in the third labyrinth's boss room. I run into several situations where I make one wrong step and I have to either warp out or have the boss obliterate me. I don't normally mind a little trial and error, but having to crawl back down to the bottom of the dungeon after every failed attempt is getting tedious.

On the positive side, my Land and Dancer up front are getting absolutely ridiculous with link setups. Improved Link + Trick Samba + Volt Rune into Electric Link, along with some Sword Dance procs, can take out more than half a FOE's lifebar. Neat!



I really need to listen to that CD.

There is a item that telerports you to the entrance of the Floor, use that one instead.

If I see his head isn't binded in turn x5, I use that burst attack that stun him. It costs 5 gauges but at least it works.
But then, 5 turns is too few to recharge it. That's why I can't rely on it and don't use it unless I don't have other choice.

There is a pattern in those binds, though is not related to

Spoiler

the turn count.

Since my party doesn't have binds, I pretty much have to kill him before turn 15. In the end I killed him around turn 17-18 with only my NS allive. The Fortress can use Ally shield to block the super nova for one ally (but only works if the ally is targeted before the fortress) so I had my NS survive that last attack and finish the match.

 

[Soulhouf]

Since my party doesn't have binds, I pretty much have to kill him before turn 15. In the end I killed him around turn 17-18 with only my NS allive. The Fortress can use Ally shield to block the super nova for one ally (but only works if the ally is targeted before the fortress) so I had my NS survive that last attack and finish the match.

It's impossible to kill him in 17 turns. Based on what I did, it would take at least 40 turns. I have only 2 damage dealers: I and R. "I" can't be doing damage in every turn before triggering Ignition and he has to recharge his TP between attacks.
Since I used all my items against the end boss, I don't have a single one to recharge my TP. That's why I have to use my units skills to do that.

 

[Anteo]

It's impossible to kill him in 17 turns. Based on what I did, it would take at least 40 turns. I have only 2 damage dealers: I and R. "I" can't be doing damage in every turn before triggering Ignition and he has to recharge his TP between attacks.
Since I used all my items against the last boss, I don't have a single one to recharge my TP. That's why I have to use my units skills to do that.

The first time I faced him, I got it to red and I was around level 70-72. It was a really lucky match where I landed a paralyze that prevented 2 super novas iirc. After that I could not get him to 50% hp until I was around level 85-90. And I killed him at level 92. =/

 

[Ferrio]

Beat the storm dragon, and cleared first floor of Maze 6. Making progress.

 

[Soulhouf]

Yay, the mighty Fallen One has fallen, finally!
I got very lucky but I almost gave up when he binded me in the turn 28 and he had only a one pixel left in his health bar.
The following attack killed everybody except 2 and my dancer saved the day once more thanks to Quick Step.
I should definitely erect a statue in her name...

 

[Sleepy]

Are there any videos/pics up of the last boss/end credits?

Spoiler

I hit the wall and traded the game towards Fire Emblem. Flame away.

 

[Nert]

There is a item that telerports you to the entrance of the Floor, use that one instead.

Oh wow, I can't believe I forgot about that. Thanks!

 

[Anteo]

Are there any videos/pics up of the last boss/end credits?

Spoiler

I hit the wall and traded the game towards Fire Emblem. Flame away.

I would link it to you but it would not make sense without the story.

Spoiler

Cant find one, yet..

Also, now that I know you traded EO for FE I hope you buy every fire emblem dlc =P

 

[Sleepy]

Also, now that I know you traded EO for FE I hope you buy every fire emblem dlc =P

Jerk. LOL. I really wanted to continue, but I just didn't have the moxie. I knew putting 22 hrs. into the demo would kill the game for me. I put another 15 hrs in the game and was completely burned out.