Sunday, September 1, 2013

Etrian Odyssey 2 : Completed!

Well, it was completed a few days back, but I didn't get around to making this post.
And hey, it has been a while since I posted screenshots of a game in English!





 So I mean, it is old and I didn't start on a new file or anything, so I won't go into details about my party and stuff, though I did use all kinds of classes depending on the enemies I wanted to beat.

Reward for 100% completing the game:


A bit of thoughts on EO2.

Well, without a doubt, it is the hardest EO game so far. The FOEs are especially brutal. Even after leveling to Lv70, the FOEs on the 5th Stratus can still half-destroy your party in one hit. On top of that, the FOEs in this game don't give experience. Since FOEs are supposed to be avoided in the first place, one can say the strength of this game's FOEs is very true to the spirit.

Another brutal part of this game is that you have to grind to death in order to get to Lv99. In EO1, you couldn't even get past Lv70, but you can in EO2. However, unlike future games, the way to get to Lv99 is to continuously retire characters. Very, very painful. Of course, I did not do it. Only one retire at Lv70.

However, on the other hand, there are some pretty broken moves on this side.
For instance, Dominate (All-Bondage) of Dark Hunter. It 100% bonds the enemy entirely. This means that almost all enemies will no longer be able to do anything. And then you get to use Ecstacy at least one turn. By using Axcela II and 1st-Turn (Ranger's skill), you can use 4 characters to constantly stop your opponent from moving while your remaining character does damage. Protector's Force works as well.
And in general, it is hard to say the balance is great.
Because they were weak in EO1, both Ronin and Hexer got a great boost in this game. Ronin no longer needs to enter a Stance, which gives Ronin great firepower. Makes Lands. cry in the shadows.
Hexer has plenty of useful skills. Revenge is broken, Torpor pretty much stops non-Boss/FOE enemies from ever moving, and Hexer can even change the resistance of the enemy (making them weak to every element)!
There are also items that only appear in EO2, mainly the "All" versions of healing items, including Nectarall and that item that heals binds/ailments. (Geez, I wonder why they haven't reappeared...)

It gets better in future games, but the requirements to unlock certain items is shocking. For instance, 25 of a certain material. In EO4, most items are unlocked after 1~3 of certain materials.
And you have to unlock every item to complete the game and get the Hero Mark.

That said, EO2 is still painfully fun.


My party for defeating the three dragons were:
War Magus
Protector
Dark Hunter

Hexer
Alchemist

Before battle, load up Dark Hunter's Force. First turn, Protector uses elemental shield while Dark Hunter binds with Dominate. Hexer changes the Dragon's resistances and next turn, every one attacks. Hopefully defeating the Dragon before it can attack. Otherwise, try to survive and use Dominate again, and repeat.

Ur-Child, the most loyally translated hidden boss in the series (Genshi no Osanago), is one of the more unique hidden bosses in the series, move-wise. His moves are mostly named after his emotions and are all very special, including Hymns that deal great damage to certain classes or skills that force a Buff on you. He has the lowest HP of these bosses, but his attack power is almost beyond the survival limit (although if you try, it is possible to survive, though not practical).
I was able to defeat him using the legendary "Naked Counter" strategy.
Lands.'s passive Counter ability returns the damage they receive back towards the enemy, but they actually do not have to receive damage. If you use Protector's Painless, you can negate the damage you should have received and return that damage back at Ur-Child. Just stock up or Axcela and Ur-Child will go down easily. It isn't rare for him to die by the end of the 2nd turn.
Of course, other easy strategies include Axcela-Dominate and other Force skill abusing.

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