Part 21: Tour of the Town

Tour of the Town

PC-88 Version



: Yep. That old name holds too many bad memories for me.

: Then do your best to achieve renown here in High Lagaard under your new name. Now... the time has come to induct some explorers. There is nothing preventing you from registering yourself as a guild member, of course. But there is one rule you should know... Guilds in Lagaard are not allowed to exceed 30 members.

That's a jump up from EO1's 16 member limit, and we're in no danger of running into it.

: Right, already got that covered. Some of them are here right now. Alright, my name's Fedot, I'm the leader of this Guild. There were others that signed up, but they already met up with me and told me that they were unavailable for the time being. Let's make sure not to get killed out there. Alright you, sword boy. Name?

: I'm, uh, Ken. And I'm a Ronin.

: Ronin, people that are really good at using their swords to cut up their enemies. Tell me, how are you gonna cut up the wildlife with that plastic sword of yours?

: I uh...

: Aren't Ronin quiet most of the time? I don't think you're gonna get much out of him. Name's Nick, Dark Hunter.

: Ah yes, I'm familiar with those folk. You work with whips or swords?

: Whips. I like to see my prey helpless as they squirm on the ground. All tied up and DON'T POINT THAT THING AT ME!

: Wha? First of all, it's not even pointed at you. Second of all, it's not even loaded, or even working. _{Maybe this wasn't a good idea.} Moving on. Oh, it says here you're a former member of the Royal Guard. _{Finally someone competent.}

: Yes. Frederik, at your service. I know a bit of the healing arts. I hope our journey together will be a daunting one. Er, fruitful one.

: Pleased to make your acquaintance. Now, let's- okay, who let the 12 year old in here?

: Uh, I'm Aliara. The Hexer. It says right there I'm gonna help make everything in the Labyrinth suffer?

: Oh. Yeah. Says it right here. _{They really don't have an age restriction for this?} Okay, we're gonna meet up with the other guild members, then head out to the forest.



Sorry about the excessive dialogue, just getting that out of the way. Well be seeing some actual gameplay eventually. Formation here helps set up our party. You can also rename your Guild members here for a hefty price. This will be our main party formation for a while, and I'll move Frederik into the front row eventually. Right now he's too squishy to handle taking a majority of the attacks.

: Hm... Your forms seem to be in order. Congratulations, you're now a registered guild. I recommend the Flaus Inn as a base of operations. You can rest or store things there. But your first stop should be the Duke's Palace. That's all I have to say. Farewell.

PC-88 Verison



Now that we have an actual party, we can visit the various places in town.

: Who's that hobo over there?

: Oh, him. Bellamy claims to come from some place called “Hungry” and claims that's he's royalty.

: It's HUNGARY, and I will have you know that I AM royalty! My title is NOT Bellamy, it's Bosconovich III The Excellent, which was bequeathed to me by-

: May I ask why you are eating a hedgehog right in front of us?

: Mmph. I will have you know, that hedgehogs are considered a royal delicacy in-

: I've heard enough. Come on, we're heading to the bar. In the meantime, why don't you actually make yourself useful and practice that alchemy stuff of yours while you're out in the streets, “Mr. Royalty?”

PC-88 Version





: I don't know if I would say saved, but yeah, that's us.

: What've yeh decided to call yerselves here? Not that I really care, but... Yeh should go see the Minister at the Duke's Palace first. He'll lay out the rules for yeh.

: Ah, that's lame.

: No back-talk! Just do as I say!

: Yes sir!



This is Cass. He likes to ramble a lot, and his bar is a place where our party can take on some sidequests, but we can't do that at this point. We'll be coming here a lot.

: I can't give yeh any work if the Grand Duchy hasn't recognized yeh as adventurers. Come back later.

So yeah, you can accept quests here, which can give you all sorts of rewards such as various items and equipment. The quests suck in this game. They are horribly designed, and the rewards also suck most of the time. There are some quest lines that lead to some bonus bosses and rewards, but when doing a quest, you're essentially jumping through hoops to get an item. It's not until EO3 where quests gave out exp and were actually worth doing. They were also designed to be far less of a pain to complete.

: What? Aren't yeh done with yer first mission yet?

: Ye-

: Don't lie to me! I see through yeh! They'll let me know once yeh're done. So get to it already, and come back then!

Something that EO2 changed that was kept in future titles, is that NPC dialogue changes every time your party reaches a new floor. In EO1, it only changed after reaching a new stratum. I'll be showing all of it off.

: Oh! Fedot! Is this the rest of your Guild?

: That would be them. How are your preparations coming along? This is Pauline. She'll be leading the rest of the guild on foraging missions.

: It'll be a while before I'm ready, but that gives me some more time to listen to people's tales of the Labyrinth. You wouldn't believe some of the crazy stuff I've heard.

: Like how people suffer when they die?

: I never listened to those. They all end in the same way.

: Well we need to stock up on supplies. We're heading to the store now.

PC-88 Version





: Huh...? Oh! You must be... You're from Odyssey, right? Did you change your name?

: That would be us. The Guild name's Firefly now. Try not to mention the old name around me.

: Well I'm still a big fan! Oh, let me explain how this store works. Welll... first of all, my father owns the shop. Him and his staff make equipment in the back, and I sell it to you explorers. I'm just an assistant, but I'm always here! Don't forget! You can sell items obtained in the Labyrinth and buy the goods created from them. When buying items, you can press the Y Button to jump to the next type of item. When selling items, you can use the Y Button to sell multiples of the same item. You may switch between party members on the bottom screen with the L or R Buttons.



A very nice addition to the series is that the bottom screen can be used to check up on what your party members are equipped with, and you can change your equipment around in the shop instead of going into the menu to do it. Very handy. Let's buy some supplies and equipment now.



This is all that's in the items section for now. In the first game, all recovery items were sold at the hospital instead. They made things less redundant by combining that store with the equipment shop. You'll probably want to buy at least 5 Medicas, especially if you're playing on a password game. That part isn't necessary if you are playing on a non password game though.



This is what's available in the weapons selection for now. I pick up a Plain Whip for Nick, and a Fire Gun for Fedot. Every class comes equipped with a Dagger and Tweed, which sell for 10 Ental each. So in case you accidentally screw yourself over, a small way to make money is to create guild members, and strip them of their equipment so you can sell them to buy some supplies, then dismiss the guild member and repeat until satisfied.



If the class on the bottom screen can't equip what you're about to buy, you'll get this warning. If they can, you'll be asked if they want to equip it in the shop, and which slot to equip it on if it's an accessory or a piece of armor. If you have a Ronin in your party, don't bother buying a Katana just yet. I do have Ken equip the Town Crown for the time being since he's pretty squishy at this point in the game, and will be one of our main damage dealers in the future.



Nothing much in the way of armor, but I buy everyone some Leaf Boots.

: Oh, you must be about to enter the Labyrinth, huh? Just wait until you see it! I've only been to the entrance, but I was still amazed! The lush greenery... Those beautiful flowers... Oh, but be careful! There are also a lot of dangerous monsters in the forest! You could be eaten! You look strong, so I'm sure you can handle them, but be careful anyway!

: Well thanks for the concern, we'll do our best to survive.

: Stocking up too? So this is your Guild. My name's Emilia. I'm still getting my own supplies, so I can't join you guys. Not that I would want to travel with those two anyway.

: Hey! You looking for a fight?

: I think you would look better with burning warts all over your face, does that sound good?

: Case in point...

: Okay break it up you three. Thank you for your help little girl. We are leaving NOW.

PC-88 Verison





: Know something interesting? It seems Odyssey, the ones who saved Etria, are here...

: That would be us.

: Wait... that was you!? Wow... Haha, my apologies! You're a hot topic of conversation around Lagaard lately. This is Lagaard Hospital, where most explorers end up sooner or later. In addition to treating wounds, we provide medicine and other supplies to Sitoth Trading. If you should be injured in your journey, don't hesitate to see us.



In EO1, the hospital was a place where you could revive dead party members and buy some restorative items. The shop handles the latter now, but the former is still available here. The hospital can also cure petrification. The fee for revival is 5x the character's level, and if the party member is petrified, it's 2.5x the character's level. Also Dr. Stiles continues the trend of Trauma Center cameos in the EO games.

: Can I help you? If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. The Labyrinth...? Have you even entered it yet?

: We're about to.

: Well if you're looking for tips, I recommend taking at least one healer with you.

Already got that covered with our War Magus. Either that or a Medic will suffice, having no healer will make your Labyrinth trips a lot rougher.

: Coming through! Oh, it's you Fedot. Sorry I can't come, there's been a lot of newbies getting themselves hurt lately.

: It's fine, as long as we don't end up like one of them.

: No no, feel free to come here if you have to! I love patching up the injured! Hey, any of you have any cuts or anything? I'm Maverick, I'd be happy to help fix you guys up. Just make sure to be prepared at all times. Fill up that bag with Medicas if you have to.

: Well he's certainly enthusiastic about his job.

PC-88 Verison





: We're from the Odyssey Guild. You know, the people who “saved” Etria?

: Huh? You're from Odyssey? You saved the town of Etria? Hmmm... Ohhh, yes, of course! Even I've heard of you! But I don't know much beyond your name... Well, I'm sure you're no different than my other guests! Bahahaha! Lagaard has lots of inns, but my place is the best! You'll fit right in. Try to get along with the other guilds!

I really don't know why the NPCs keep insisting your EO1 guild saved Etria. Your guild does nothing of the sort in EO1. If anything, they did the exact opposite.



At the inn, you can sleep and nap, which heals all your HP and TP. You can sleep at any time, but you can only nap in the mornings and afternoons. Sleeping sets the clock to 5 AM, while napping sets it to 6 PM. The fee for resting is 5x the level of the highest party member in the group. New to this game is item storage, you can pay a fee to store up to 99 items with the innkeeper. You can reclaim the items for free though. This is also where you can save your game. And I'll show off what saving's like just this once.



PC-88 Version



: Huh? What's wrong? Aren't you going into the Labyrinth today?

: Don't feel like it at the moment.

: Hmph! Lazy children... Are you sure you can handle the Labyrinth? I wouldn't want guests of mine to be eaten by monsters, so don't let it happen!

: What's all the racket? Oh, it's you.

: This here's our Protector. Unfortunately, he won't be joining us for the time being. I... don't know why really. He never really told me the reason.

: Good day sirs, my name is Aegis. I would love to join in on whatever you are doing, but my schedule is quite busy at the moment.

: Aw you sure about that? You're missing out on a chance to dominate the monsters in the Labyrinth, and make them squeal as you cuff em and gag em!

: … My schedule just got even busier, and I won't be able to join in on whatever you all have planned for who knows how long. GOOD DAY SIRS.

: Nick, how about you keep that mouth of yours SHUT when we go to the Duke's Palace.

: What did I do wrong?

The Duke's Palace is our next and last stop for this update.

PC-88 Version





: I believe I recognize you... You were once known as Odyssey, weren't you? Yes... you carry a different aura than other explorers. You were in Etria, yes? Oh, but I have not introduced myself. I am Minister Dubois, the Duke's faithful servant. My duties range from managing the citizens to overseeing exploration of the Labyrinth. Before you begin exploring, you must become an official citizen of Lagaard. You must pass a test of our devising in order to register as a citizen.



: Well that's what we came here for.

: Yes, that's the spirit! Our only goal is to make you stronger. You see, it is the Duke who wishes that the Labyrinth be explored. Our ultimate goal is to find the legendary floating castle. Perhaps it's only a myth... But chasing a myth should be the very fabric of life for an explorer, shouldn't it? If you find the floating castle, you will be greatly rewarded... Possibly even ennobled. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, you must accomplish this mission and prove yourself. At the Grand Duchy, you can undertake tasks called Missions. By accepting and completing these missions, you will receive various rewards. To take a mission, select “Accept missions” and read the description beneath.



The Duke's Palace is where you can accept and report missions to progress with the plot. Like I mentioned with the quests, missions do not give out exp in this game either, but they do have pretty big rewards. Interestingly enough, we actually have a goal, a reason to explore the Labyrinth other than, it's there, this time around. Which was pretty much the premise of the first game.



And this is where you can report your discoveries. The Gear Registry is a new list that was added to this game. It keeps track of equipped that our Guild has unlocked in the shop. (This means they don't have to buy it in order to get it in the registry.) In order to 100% complete the game, you need to fill out all 3 lists completely. Now the first two lists are not too painful to fill out, but the Gear Registry can bring that to a grinding halt. Mainly because you have to hunt down a ton of random drops to fill it out, as opposed to the Item Compendium where you only need to get one of the item, and that's it. Thankfully it never reappeared in the 3rd game and beyond, and I hope it doesn't show back up in the remake.

: Mm? Can I help you?

: How long do we have to complete this mission?

: Ah... No, there are no deadlines to the missions we offer. Go at your own pace, and don't push yourselves too hard. Should you accept the mission, I will inform the guards about you in advance. Our doors are always open. Visit here anytime you like.

Well let's accept the mission.







All the Etrian Odyssey games, aside from 4, start out with a map making mission. EO4 technically has one, but it's more of a sidequest, and there's no reward for that. The guards ask you to fill an area on the map, and they want it to be accurate. EO2 has a little twist to its map making mission though.

: You have undertaken a mission to create a basic map of the Labyrinth's first floor. It is essential that you master mapmaking skills before going too far into the Labyrinth. Go forth to the 1st floor and speak to the guard on duty for more details. When you have proven your worth in this challenge, report back to me... I will confirm you as citizens of the Grand Duchy and approve your travel through the forest. Take this parchment. It is blank now... but someday you will fill it with the forest's secrets.





: If you are not properly prepared for exploring, your journey will be all the more difficult.

And with that, we get our own map! Part of it is filled out for us already, but we'll have to fill in the rest ourselves.

: Let's get back to the inn to prepare for our mission. If there's anything you want done, do it now.



This is the menu. Items lets you access your stuff. You can carry up to 60 items in every EO game. Unfortunately, there's one problem with this.



EO1 and 2 didn't have a key item system. It wasn't too big of a problem in EO1, but in EO2 you get your hands on a lot more key items, especially if you tackle a certain quest chain, reducing your inventory to around 50 items. Adding onto the fact you had to bring in basic supplies, this meant that you barely had room for all the Labyrinth treasures and monster drops. You were essentially punished for progressing through the game.



When leveling up your skills, some of them can be used out in the field. These are mostly healing skills, but there are others that have different uses.





Status let's you check up on your stats and equipment, and what skills you have leveled up. Equip lets you change equipment around as I already showed off in the shop. As for what each of the stats do, Strength increases the power of physical attacks. Technique increases the power of elemental spells, their accuracy, and your character's resistance to elemental spells. Agility increases speed, evasion, and accuracy for Strength based attacks. Luck influences critical hits, increases the chances of status effects and binds landing on an enemy, and increases evasion. Luck influenced random drops a bit in EO1, but that's no longer the case here.



Custom is where you go to level up your skills. Every class starts off with 3 skill points when they're first created, and gain 1 skill point every time they level up. Generally the rule to keep in mind when leveling up skills in any EO game is to either stick one point in it, go halfway, or max out the skill level. A very nice change made from EO1 is that not all skills require 10 points to max out anymore. Unfortunately that was sadly kept in EOU. Some skills only need 5 or 1 point to master now. I'll start doing some class writeups, but for now, I'll let you know which skills are worth getting as soon as possible.



I want Ken to get this skill, but he won't have it for a long while. He won't need it for the first boss at least, so don't worry about going for it right away. It needs 2 skills maxed out before you can start leveling it up, but it is so worth it since this is where a majority of the Ronin's damage output is gonna be coming from. Dead Law requires 1 point in STR to level up, so I spend my 3 skill points on Overhead, STR up, and Dead Law.



This skill isn't a priority at the moment, but if you have a Dark Hunter, you want this maxed out, or at least close to being maxed out before the end of the 2nd Stratum. For now I have Nick invest all his skill points into whips, which unlocked Viper, Shackles, and Cuffs.



Frederik wants to max out Regenall as soon as possible, but make sure to take at least one point in Cure, which requires 1 point in War Lore. What Regenall does is restore 1-5 HP per turn depending on how many levels are in it. Yes this amount is static, and it falls off after the 1st stratum, but the Medic's equivalent skill, Patch Up, (Which scales far better) heals a percentage of HP after battle, and heals 12% of a character's max HP when maxed out. At this point, 5 HP per turn is much more than that, and the 1st stratum is usually the roughest part in every EO game (except in Untold where the game just never relents) so we need all the help we can get.



I have Fedot invest in Guns, which unlocks the elemental shots, Fireshot, Iceshot, and Voltshot, and I take points in Fireshot and Voltshot. You only need one point in the elemental skills, they're best just for exploiting weaknesses, and the Gunner has a much better damage skill later on. Gunners are gonna be semi supports, and semi attackers in the earlygame.



Aliara has learned the art of running away and has two points in Curses, which unlocked Sapping, Frailty, and Leaden. All powerful debuffs, but not what you want your Hexer to be going for at this point. Two levels in Curses unlocks Poison, which is a really really good skill for a Hexer to take, and is what I'll be aiming to max out first. If you want your Hexer to be more relevant in the earlygame though, go for Torpor, which puts all enemies to sleep. It only needs 5 levels to master and 3 levels in Curses to unlock, so your Hexer can start wrecking havoc by level 6.