Part 7: Wimpy Wolves Wahey (Guild Edda VS Fenrir)
Part 6: Wimpy Wolves Wahey (Guild Edda VS Fenrir)
The Green, Green Woodland
Why are we back here? We can't take down Fenrir as is.
With the reports I've gotten, I have an idea. Everyone follow me.
If it's killing wolves, I'm all for it.
We're back and stronger than ever~
That shortcut does wonders, I'm still not sure how we survived last time.
Oh wow, we might be in trouble.
If you're feeling up, I'll knock you back down. Just kidding, Skolls are no problem to us.
At this point, if Skolls are still a problem in your own playthrough, you're really not gonna like what comes next.
We'll be taking on Fenrir this update, but there's still a couple things to do. We'll be challenging him at level 13, which might seem low, but it's fine. If you really know what you're doing, you can challenge him at level 10 or so. I don't advise this for newcomers, since he'll have a whopping 8 level advantge on you in that case. (Fenrir would deal 37% extra damage, and your party would get their damage reduced by 28% against him.)
STR is now 113%, whoopee. The Binds are pretty damn useful on a Hexer due to the Curses boost. A 100% resistance has a 60% chance of landing right now, which is pretty great! Once we get each bind I'll max out Curses.
We'll kill the other Skoll down here and that's all the prep we're gonna do. Well, I suppose there's one more thing.
We need to reset the Skolls in the back, so I'll just quickly get the last few drops we need to unlock all the 1st stratum items.
COME GET SOME! She still isn't any less stronger! If I'm right, then we need to draw him towards us.
Fenrir can aggro you outside of his room, but don't think it'll be that easy.
When you step out, you lose aggro and he won't follow you to the right.
Buuuuuuuut, if you got into a battle when Fenrir would re-aggro you.
BAM, you can move one step and he'll follow you.
This is our chance! Yes, to go past him.
First boss? Pfft, whatever. Screw your sequences! They've now been broken! The Vast Primeval Hidden Grove
Oh my it's way too warm. I need a thinner coat. Feels fine to me.
Well done, Edda explorers. Rid of the wolves, the Emerald Grove again knows peace. I've never heard someone sound so sarcastic in their life.
Grim satisfaction is evident on the warrior woman Ren's face as she gazes into your eyes. In overcoming hardships and growing stronger, you honor the Explorers Guild. After defeating Fenrir, you will be known as high-ranking adventurers of Etria. We salute your hard work. May your continued exploration go as well as it has thus far. Okay now she's mocking us. The pleasantries thus dispensed with, Ren points to the unearthly light behind you.
Touch it, and you will find yourself elsewhere. The Radha's Chieftan pioneered its use. Though you must be eager to explore a new Stratum, I advise you to return to town first. Ren and her flame-haired partner brush past you and approach the pillar of light.
Ahh, I am blinded by honour! In the blink of an eye, the two of them disappear from where they previously stood. Is this the power of the Geomagnetic Field? Ren's words stay with you as you continue. Yeah, that was pretty much an unintentional exploit. This conversation is exactly the same even if you killed Fenrir. You can't really go too far ahead though, since the mission is only flagged as complete the moment you kill Fenrir.
Let's not leave a terrible wolf up there. Agreed, we would not be able to call ourselves proper explorers if we left it be~
Finding climbing up five floors to Fenrir a pain in the butt? Well with this trick, not only can you kill the four Skolls behind Fenrir to ensure a peaceful battle, along with some extra exp, but now we can warp to him at any time! You can't go any further since you need to complete the mission, but this is much better than the alternative.
I like this, honestly, but I'm also glad that Labyrinth progression in later games was reworked to not require this. Later games would put a shishkabob on any future sequence breaking attempts by plopping bosses in a 1 tile corridor and not make them aggressive, put you in a boss fight the moment you enter the door, or just outright make it so that you can't leave the room without killing the boss.
5 Stiff Hides are required for Hide Armor (Light Armor, DEF+4, HP+5)
10 Thorns and 10 Vines are required for Vine Whip (Whip, ATK+28, STR+1)
Oh that's where all the quests were. We'll be doing these next update, as well as talking to the residents.
This is a warp straight to Fenrir? You guys are way too impressive, gahaha! On my honour he shall be stopped! Now that we're actually letting you kill him, yes.
Hehe, can't wait to test my Axe on a real challenge!
I'll be watching... Hm? I mean, uh, I'll be testing something too!
Note where Fenrir is facing. We could take down the other Skolls so they don't enter the battle, but we won't need to. Let's go. 
Dyed in Blood Fenrir Dunk
Fenrir
Level: 18
HP: 1200
STR: 96
VIT: 46
AGI: 48
LUC: 24
TEC: 48
EXP: 2500
Skills
Coldfang: Uses the Head. A Cut attack that deals 115% damage to a single target, with a 90% accuracy modifier and a 10% speed modifier.
Roar: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Fear on the entire party. Has a 40% infliction chance and a 10% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
100% 
100% 
100%
150% 
0% 
100%Disable Vulnerabilities
5% 
15% 
0%
100% 
100% 
100%Drops
Normal: Huge Fang. 100% chance. Sells for 800en.
1 required for Celtis (Axe, ATK+38)
Rare: White Hide. 25% chance. Sells for 830en.
1 required for Briault (Clothing, DEF+5, VIT+1, Ice Resist Up 10%)
Conditional: None
The first Boss should not be taken lightly. Hell, this REALLY isn't a team you should be fighting him with unless you know what you're doing. He hits incredibly hard, has a lot of HP, has Skolls to join in the battle, and will quickly turn things around when your party gets inflicted with Fear. Though I suppose if you've watched the video, you know what's coming, especially since coming this way let's us get a preemptive. tiger_0 Fenrir is a good first boss. He's simplistic, but he really tests your damage output and your party composition. And if neither of them are up to snuff, you aren't going to like what the rest of the Labyrinth has in store for you.
You are a worthy opponent, but I shall prevail. Prevail BEHIND ME, christ.
Here, kitty kitty kitty, let my masters ease your bloodlust.
Success! I knew even he wouldn't be immune to it. Okay, let me just say right now that this a completely abnormal situation. This is normally the point where players who were relying on a Poison Alchemist to cheese strong enemies would get a very rude wake-up-call that no, that's not going to work against bosses due to their high resistances.
Huh, Ryu made this big cat look quite uncomfortable. Did he make it a bit unwell or-
OH GOD YES Poison, ladies and gentleman. Everything for nearly half the game will be a complete and utter joke. IT'S ONLY LEVEL EIGHT, but I won't invest in it anymore since it's bugged and capped out at 255. Now imagine if it wasn't bugged in the slighest and it reached 575, enough to one shot even regular 5th stratum enemies. EO1 poison owns, even if it's ludicrously imbalanced. Imbalanced indeed. It's strong at the start of the game, but dives straight into uselessness very quickly after its expiration date. One can only wonder how strong it would be if it actually worked properly. So don't rely on a Poison Alchemist too much.
Squirrel got your tongue. That is unsettling.
I'm glad you're also flammable. Maybe... magic is... good? Hm? I mean, uh, hyah, taste my crushing blow! :thunk:
What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Gahahahaha! I already made that joke...
What did Ryu do to this monster? It's writhing in agony. Still, it's an honourable fight, so let's get to killing.
Your teeth are dumb, my masters have better ones. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.
Because of Fenrir's AI, once he goes below half health, he'll no longer use his regular attack. This means his only attacks use the Head. This means he's doing fuck all. Enemy AI scripts in later games sometimes account for this whole "it's a good idea to not let a boss get caught in an infinite loop" thing. To be fair, he's the first boss. If you try a bind lockdown strategy on the later bosses in this game, they'll just kick your ass in an entirely different way. Or just opt for punching you in the face if you completely hogtie them. I actually kind of wish that wasn't something that was dropped from the later games' boss AI scripts.
This is something you can very easily do in your game, if you're using a Whip Dark Hunter. Binds can be very, very useful in very, very specific circumstances. But you'll see later why this strategy doesn't work against every enemy.
He's nearly dead, but what about the Skolls?
What about the Skolls? Hot damn that was impressive, I've never seen such a cool person in my life! You are an honourable man and shall be a perfect husband, my father will not be able to say no! Maybe you should be my master~ Wow, Ryu, you're so handsome and this musclebound stud has fallen for you! How about after this we go back to my room and
Fuck me this is a big bug. You sure we can take it, Ryu? ... Hello, anyone in there? Hm, what? Oh, uh, right. Yeah, I've been doing some mental tests. We'll be fine. Excellent, I am eager to trade blows with such a thing. Something that looks at us with such malice should only cower in fear!
Stalker
Level: 18
HP: 600
STR: 72
VIT: 38
AGI: 36
LUC: 36
TEC: 24
EXP: 600
Skills
Scythe: Uses the Arms. A Cut attack that deals 120% damage to a single target, with a 97% accuracy modifier and 10% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
50% 50% 100% 125% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities
15% 25% 1% 25% 25% 25%Drops
Normal: Scythe. 90% chance. Sells for 900en.
1 required for Cut Charm (Accessory, DEF+2, HP+9)
Rare: None
Conditional: Harvester (Kill on the 1st turn). Sells for 1100en.
Required for nothing.
Did you think I forgot? That Fenrir kill was too easy, so we'll fight him again another way. While we're finishing up this stratum, we'll fight this thing. It's still pretty scary, but with a Protector, we're gonna be able to beat it no problem! That's the only way you can really beat it, surviving its attacks. Consider this red FOE a sign of things to come. You should only engage with them when you're about to fight or have already beaten the boss for that Stratum.
Yeah this thing won't do crap now. This is around when I thought maybe I should put a few levels into Sapping, it's been really helpful so far.
Game over. Despite not having Curses, Poison has a ridiculous infliction chance, 226% at level 8, so we have a 33% chance of landing. I am getting pretty lucky to be doing it on the first turn though. Hexers actually have a really good earlygame in EO1. Too bad in a normal playthrough, you can't really capitalize on that.
Hah, I'm not the reckless idiot you killed before! This time you're losing an arm. That grin is terrifying.
Ah, hmm, let's call this a draw, eh? Even with a 50% resistance, I'm surprised that did so little. Level difference is a bitch.
My scurrying masters see how weak your armour really is!
Test successful.
Well that was fun. With Poison strats, any early FOE puzzle might as well not exist, since they're only lasting for a few turns when it lands. Right, let's continue on to Fenrir, shall we?
Now to really fight Fenrir, no Poison allowed. If you get him into this corner, even if you take your time, the Skolls will take ages to reach you. But I suppose if you like to live dangerously, we should still go over them again.
Skoll
Level: 15
HP: 400
STR: 54
VIT: 30
AGI: 32
LUC: 32
TEC: 21
EXP: 612
Skills
Fang: Uses the Head. A Cut attack that deals 90% damage to a single target. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 10% speed modifier.
Evil Cry: Uses the Head. Increases ATK by 150% and has an 80% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
100% 100% 100% 150% 50% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities
25% 50% 10% 20% 20% 20%Drops
Normal: Stiff Hide. 10% chance. Sells for 85en.
5 required for Hide Armor (Light Armor, DEF+4, HP+5)
Rare: None
Conditional: None
It's not a good idea to have these join the Fenrir battle, he's tough enough with a Head Bind. Still, with Poison you should be alright. Even if they join, you really should ignore them and focus on the main threat, though you will have to kill them after Fenrir dies. All they really do is wear you down and drain TP. Or Nectars if both them and Fenrir target one person. Their attacks still shouldn't be taken lightly. Skolls aren't threatening by themselves, but they can cause the fight to go south fast if they join in the battle with Fenrir. And if that happens, unless there aren't anymore Skolls on the field, just ignore them and focus down Fenrir. Focusing on the Skolls instead will make the situation a lot worse. Dyed in Blood VS Fenrir
You're big, but we're bigger! Since you've got five floors to go up, you might as well get Boost for the battle. It won't make much difference for your attackers, but the 5 level buff is invaluable for your Protector.
Woah, that's a pretty nasty bite! Despite that, Fenrir always uses a regular attack on the first turn, so if I didn't use F. Guard's priority, Fenrir would one shot anyone. Just because I dunked on him, doesn't mean he isn't a massive threat. This battle can go very, very badly. Oh and Stances are bugged and not affected by Boost, which is a shame. Dunk or be dunked is a situation that sometimes comes up in the series. The moment a fight stops being under your control, enemies could turn the tables on you really fast.
Those teeth are dull! Your face is stupid! I want your fur! So aggressive. It's having an emotional effect at least. Crush did like 7 extra damage. Eh.
I already know how this could go. Be thankful of my mercy. The elemental skills grow in power pretty quickly, so they're more notable when Boosted. If you're curious, Poison had an 11% chance of landing, so I got really lucky to do so first try.
We have a couple items, let's use them. Bravant is the same as using LV1 War Cry, so a 110% increase in damage dealt for a 120% increase in damage taken. Not the best, but hey, we've got a free one. Blaze Oils are the same as a Troubadour's LV1 Blaze, so it merely changes a weapon's element to Fire. It doesn't make it do Fire and Cut damage, so it doesn't use the composite damage formula. Items are really strong in the series, so you'll want to get in the habit of making good use of them (And NOT saving them for "emergencies only".) They're basically like using a skill, only you don't have to spend SP to use them, and they don't cost any TP upon cast. The only resource they eat up is an inventory slot.
This is why I'm keeping Defender at level 5, it only goes from 68% reduction to 64% at level 10. Yeah, going from level 8 to 9 doesn't change it. I'll save the 5SP and just Boost to it when I need that little bit extra.
Hah, cat got your tongue! My imagination's accuracy scares me.
Also need to note that Imbues only affect regular attacks, which is perfect for Aryll, since she can only use her skills once at the moment. At least Stances don't wear out...
Oh here we go. Though since we're not chewing through around 300 health per turn, it'll only last for so long.
This is exquisite! There must be a way to use this further...
Oh, hehe, squirrel delivery. That's cute. That'll be one Warp Wire. What? What? Since we don't have Karin, someone needs to be item giver. On any given turn, that'll usually be Cheese, but you should sometimes spend a turn to heal if need be, regardless of who needs to attack.
Guarding against nothing is getting a bit annoying!
I don't know exactly how long this Head Bind is going to last, so Gerson needs to be ready. In EO1, if you're familiar with the ailment duration mechanics, the duration of them is pretty predictable. Of course that's yet another thing the game doesn't tell you about.
I still prefer my master's sharp, nibbly teeth. Most buffs last for around five turns, so remember which turn you cast them on (since this game doesn't tell you, even in the Info tab) and then recast it the turn before, unless you know you'll be faster. Something very important to note about buffs and debuff in EO1 and 2 compared to the later games is that in later games, recasting such a skill adds its turn count onto the existing buff/debuff's turn count. So a few casts in a row can extend the duration greatly. But this isn't the case in the first two games. Instead, recasting a buff/debuff only refreshes the duration to the maximum amount. So you want to wait for a buff or debuff to be close to wearing off before recasting it.
Stay behind me, he'll break free of those binds any minute now!
Aaaaaaaaaany minute now.
Aaaaaaaaaany- okay why was I even here?! Uh, well, you protected me at the start. And you're welcome! Honestly, we've defeated our first major boss and you're upset you couldn't protect us. Isn't that a good thing? I don't mind, it all went just as planned. Once a squirrel's on you... it never comes off. Of course as tough as Fenrir can be, if you're sufficiently prepared for him, he's not too bad.
Well I wasn't expecting the Head Bind to last 6 turns (it fell off on the final turn), but hey, I'll take it! Next time, we'll properly explore the 2nd stratum. The real Etrian Odyssey starts here. And yes, I'll be saying that every stratum. There's a reason why they reworked the mechanics of how long disables last in later games. "The real Etrian Odyssey starts here" is a real line from EOU. If you've been reading my LPs for a while, you know I looooove me my references.