Part 6: Awoouu (wolf Howl)
Part 5: Awoouu (wolf Howl)
The Green, Green Woodlands
We trained all day yesterday, so let's see how everyone's doing. Of course, we've gone straight for Midareba, which does two 106% damage hits, though Aryll doesn't even have the TP to use it twice.
TP is fun like that, up until either EO4 or EOU.
Simone is more interesting with Drain LV5, 165% damage with 68% of that healing her; Mirage LV1, 140% damage, 35% ailment chance (pretty low) and now working towards Bait, since physical attacks are ridiculously common. Having only ever seen the EO2 version of Bait, I'm eager to see its EO1 incarnation, and how effective it is.
By far the best skill in the Dark Hunter's skillset. Though the EO2 version is basically the EO1 version on steroids since this version of Bait has reduced damage. So it's not gonna be absurd as EO2, but still very much strong! (Yes I know about Ecstasy. It has... issues in this game that makes it not that great compared to the later games.)
Max Bravery right the heck now, HOOK IT TO MY VEINS. It's already at the max TP cost, cause songs are so fuckin cheap, with a 132% ATK boost. This is the only skill Wagner has. "songs are so fuckin cheap" eo2u, eo5, and eon all request help The Troubadour's earlygame is pretty uneventful for them. Troubadours basically scale with the party, so they don't really do too much at the start of the game. Though once your party starts getting levels and stats, that'll change.
Cheese has Sapping and Frailty LV1, 80% reduction (remember 100% is the baseline), while Torpor has a 53% chance of landing. Well, since Curses is LV6, it's actually a 63% base chance before resistances. Pretty neat.
Ahh, sweet shortcuts. Karin is unchanged, so let's get going!
Oh this is nice, but not exactly my strong point.
Come now, it's all the wrist.
Indeed, like this! Just to give you an idea of what our team's damage output will be. We're a little weaker and little more fragile, but we've got some tricks, so we'll be just fine. Wagner could be in the back, but we need to spread damage out, especially without Gerson.
Soft squirry, warm sqirry, little ball of fur~
I can't believe lullabies are working. She has a surprisingly lovely voice. Bit of an assumption there, bitch.
I might chip my blade doing this. Oh I miss elemental damage already. Running a party without an Alchemist is possible, but very much not advised if you're a newcomer to the series. If you're a veteran, you'll know the tricks and tactics you'll need to survive without one.
My, my, what an awful smell. Ugh, this is why I wanted a break...
Their wild cries echo through the trees... you suddenly recall Tlachtga's words. She warned you that this is a dreadful place where feral wolves dwell. You continue forth, the threat of approaching wolves uppermost in your mind...
Ah, from the echo of the howls, I believe these are the locations. My scouts could've told you that... A Sudden Gust of Wind Before Your Eyes
Come, feral creature, we shall do battle! Hey now, don't get too close, it doesn't have to be one on one.
Wolf
Level: 14
HP: 260
STR: 51
VIT: 29
AGI: 30
LUC: 30
TEC: 20
EXP: 525
Skills
Fang: Uses the Head. A Cut attack that deals 90% damage to a single target, with 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. 30% chance. Sells for 85en.
5 required for Hide Armor (Light Armor, DEF+4, HP+5)
1 required for Gourmand's request
Rare: None
Conditional: None
There's a lot of them, but Wolves should absolutely not be avoided, they're tricky, but perfectly beatable! However, it is uses Evil Cry, it'll oneshot anyone, so use those Protector skills to your... oh. I like how Fang is a direct downgrade from just a normal attack. I know I said that FOEs were meant to be obstacles rather than enemies you fight, but EO1 occasionally provides some exceptions to the rule. Some FOEs are much weaker and can be fought toe-to-toe when you first run into them, though they're still a step up above random encounters. If you have an Alchemist, these things are nothing but food.
Well I was expecting that, ack. Ooh, wounds are more interesting without pesky armour in the way.
Prepare thy self! i'm all of the wasted space due to the stupid font that almost causes the text to go off-screen Believe it or not, it's actually smaller than the standard font they started using in the later games and in the EU version of EO1. And yeah, there's a reason why they didn't stick with this eye-searing font in the later games.
Oh they may be strong, but when you think about it, so are you~ That didn't even rhyme.
Come now, darling, be a little crazy for me, eh?
You're so adorable and fluffy, you don't need those claws out. This party needs a turn of set up to get going, but it's all very good stuff. We won't need to use Frailty yet, reducing damaging is much more preferable.
Oh, I'm getting cute reports of movement. 
Hah, didn't expect me to block! Your blood is DELICIOUS! Well this lot are weirder than the others.
How do you like that, even I got stronger!
You were a worthy opponent... I need to learn a thing or two from her, it seems.
We can kill things very quickly when we go all out, though it's not sustainable in the slightest. etrian_odyssey.txt It's very much something to be aware of and part of how EO balances out skills. Sure, you can annihilate everything easily with some usage of skills, but you'd be left with little to no TP afterwards. And when an emergency happens, you wouldn't be in a good position.
Oh please, you don't need that, you have me!
Fighting more and more makes me even stronger! That is the bushido way! Since we get into, like, ten fights before we get to new areas now, we'll be seeing Boost a lot more often.
Oh yeah, the deer will fuck you up. N-Noted. Due to our front row's relative fragility, enemies at our level are still nasty to face.
Yes, this is what they are telling me... Talking to squirrels seems to have its advantages, despite my irrational anger towards them. Oh, I thought that was just me. Wonder why we hate squirrels so much?
B4F E1 Mine Point
Metal Horn. 50% chance. Sells for 36 en.
1 required for Wakizashi (Katana, ATK+20)
1 required for Plate (Heavy Armor, DEF+5, VIT+2, AGI-1)
Pyroxene. 25% chance. Sells for 50 en.
1 required for Gem Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Volt Resist Up 10%)
1 required for A certain shop's request
Whitestone. 15% chance. Sells for 100en.
Required for nothing.
We can FINALLY finish that quest. And not much else, since we already killed a Kuyutha. Just need 2 Pyroxene and we never need to touch this Mine point again.
Some encounters are going to be a bit... annoying. Definitely designed to be wiped out in one shot from an Alchemist that ignored Poison and started on their party wide attacks.
Almost feel sorry for the poor thing. Pity is dishonourable! We must defeat these monsters with no hesitation!
I'm using a lot of skills cause the Tlachtga bail out is so close. We will be abusing it, cause why the heck not?
Though they may growl, they care not in pursuing us. It's weird not being dragged into fighting everything we see. A fair few wolves can be ignored, we'll be killing plenty of them later on.
They won't aggro if you're far enough away, or unreachable by them. They will otherwise hunt you down during any battle and enter it if there's room.
How... nice. None of our party can use this
Dodging wolves can get a bit scary when you encounter something, but it's still easy enough.
That wasn't worth it.B4F B1 Mine Point
Pyroxene. 50% chance. Sells for 50 en.
1 required for Gem Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Volt Resist Up 10%)
1 required for A certain shop's request
Metal Horn. 25% chance. Sells for 36 en.
1 required for Wakizashi (Katana, ATK+20)
1 required for Plate (Heavy Armor, DEF+5, VIT+2, AGI-1)
Whitestone. 15% chance. Sells for 100en.
Required for nothing.
Sure this could make the quest a bit easier, but why would you even bother coming all this way?
Ready for more beast killing? I'm always ready, darling. We can go around this Wolf via the right, but we don't need to.
Very good, feel your strength ebb away through your beautiful fur. 67% reduction, very nice.
I had no idea drinking blood was so effective. ...drink?
Ayy, nice to get these again, since Karin's only slightly ahead in exp.
Midareba is close to its TP cap, so I don't care she can only use it once, need that damage! We'll leave Torpor at a 70% base chance (like with Healer, I'll just add in the Curses boost) and move onto some binds, maybe.
Seems a shame to ignore this much of the floor already, are you sure there's nothing? Positive.
Can never have too many of these. I accept full blame for exhausting you, but every scar tells a story, so I must gather as many as possible.
That's nice, but why is there a small loop that you can completely ignore? You might think it's a hint at a shortcut, but nope! EO1 map design!
Ah, we were already having trouble with the weaker version...
Clawfly
Level: 14
HP: 65
STR: 45
VIT: 29
AGI: 16
LUC: 18
TEC: 14
EXP: 98
Skills
Whirr: Uses the Arms. Attempts to Head Bind a single target. Has a 70% infliction chance and a 10% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
50% 50% 50% 0% 300% 300%Disable Vulnerabilities
100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops
Normal: Hard Shell. 55% chance. Sells for 9en.
1 required for Shortsword (Sword, ATK+15)
5 required for Hand Axe (Axe, ATK+18) Required for A favor to Shilleka I
5 required for Aspis (Shield, DEF+2, VIT+1)
Rare: Thorn. 25% chance. Sells for 18en.
5 required for Boar Spear (Sword, ATK+29, STR+3)
10 required for Vine Whip (Whip, ATK+28, STR+1)
Conditional: None
Oh fantastic, palette swaps are pretty common in this series, to ensure a certain type of enemy stays relevant for floors or even stratums at a time. Nothing new or exciting about them, so we know what to do, but this party won't be happy about it. In EOU, these enemies actually serve a different purpose from their earlier counterparts: they shield other monsters, causing your physical attacks to be far weaker overall for that turn. Notice how these enemies and Wolves have the same level. So yeah, you were intended to be able to blast through Wolves if you wished. As for these enemies, they're basically just another check to see if you have an Alchemist or not.
Mmhmmhmm~ We're gonna be here a while...
It can hit kinda hard, but thankfully it'll waste its turns trying to bind you.
Huh. Are the floors always this small? It seems to vary. Not that I'm complaining. I'll feel a bit cheated if we don't get to explore very much on our turn... Boom, another floor done. Not as bad as B2F, since we haven't gone through it twenty five times, but also note how, again, there's NO SHORTCUTS! EO1 map design!
Shall we rest up in town? This is the final floor of the stratum after all. I'm not really tired, but it'll give my masters time to scout the area. The Lounge Where We Speak of Tomorrow
Huh, you're back already? Was the fourth floor really that tough? Uh, we've cleared it...
To think you were this strong already! While we killed a couple wolves, it wasn't very impressive.
A shame they weren't so tough. Maybe Fenrir isn't a big deal after all. We will only find out when we reach him. Uh, no new requests...? We did find this at least.
Oh, wow, thanks! Been a while since I've worn one of these. But yeah, I don't think anyone's even entered the bar since you left. What a waste of time. Yikes, since we unlocked nothing in the shop and no new quests became available... it was honestly worth staying in the labyrinth for a bit longer, since it's gonna take a bit to get back to where we were!
I got a rock.
Keep up the good work. That was worth waiting two floors for.
1 Pyroxene required for Gem Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Volt Resist Up 10%)
When the hell do we even encounter an enemy with Volt attacks? Not for a while, that's for sure. The early EO games had problems with good timing on equipment distribution. The Green, Green Woodlands
We're gonna get great legs at this rate. Travelling with my troupe already did that. Oh that's what Ryu was staring at.
My arms, on the other hand... UGH
Hyah, hah! Damn door, you make a mockery of me! Even my masters can't get past it, that is some powerful magic. Huh, I put a down stairs for some reason. I need to get used to descending a labyrinth again.
Oh, they're getting a bit cheeky now.
ACCURSED DEER!
B5F A4 Mine Point
Metal Horn. 50% chance. Sells for 36 en.
1 required for Wakizashi (Katana, ATK+20)
1 required for Plate (Heavy Armor, DEF+5, VIT+2, AGI-1)
Pyroxene. 25% chance. Sells for 50 en.
1 required for Gem Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Volt Resist Up 10%)
1 required for A certain shop's request
Whitestone. 15% chance. Sells for 100en.
Required for nothing.
Mine? The last floor always has multiple gather points that you'll never use cause they're too out of the way until later.
Quite a wind, this must be a long, straight corridor.
Is that...? Nah, it's too small. It's even fluffier than the wolves! Well it has a larger volume of fur due to being twice the size, yes.
Warbull
Level: 16
HP: 140
STR: 52
VIT: 33
AGI: 18
LUC: 20
TEC: 16
EXP: 120
Skills
Rampage: Uses the Arms. A Stab attack dealing 130% damage to a single target. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 10% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
100% 100% 100% 150% 150% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities
200% 100% 200% 100% 100% 100%Drops
Normal: Gum Hide. 30% chance. Sells for 36en.
1 required for Hide Vest (Clothing, DEF+2)
1 required for Buffcoat (Clothing, DEF+2, AGI+3)
1 required for Hide Hat (Headgear, DEF+1, TP+5)
3 required for Hide Glove (Gloves, DEF+1, STR+3)
5 required for Hide Boot (Footwear, DEF+1, AGI+2)
5 required for Short Bow (Bow, ATK+15)
5 required for Bull Whip (Whip, ATK+16)
10 required for Beast Bow (Bow, ATK+24, STR+2, TEC+1)
Rare: Metal Horn. 15% chance. Sells for 36en.
1 required for Plate (Body, DEF+5, VIT+2, AGI-1)
1 required for Wakizashi (Katana, ATK+20)
Conditional: None
The 5th floor usually introduces an FOE lite. But we've had plenty of practise against Kuyutha, so this will be no problem! Probably. They can serve as practice before you take on the real thing if you haven't already.
It is quite the, oof, heavy hitter. No matter our attire, we shall survive!
Ooh, that looks useful, I wonder if I could do that.
Ah, I'm on my way to see... Rita... Having some bonus damage for 4TP is nice, but against one enemy, Panic ain't great unless they have a lot of annoying skills.
OH GOD YES What a comically large sword... Why's it got Spear in the name?
Bit of smelling salts here, bit of an electric shock there... welcome back. So who's Rita? N-Never you mind! Thank you for the heal...
This could be a cool twist with proper scaling, but because of how harsh level penalties are, any old enemies are very ineffective. The other big reason they got rid of the level mechanic. It's what gives even trash mobs the ability to become scary, but once you take that away, trash mobs can never become anything more than trash. Later games allowed them to have more tricks up their sleeve even when you encounter them later.
Another chunk of floor to ignore. Get used to this.
Oh I wish I could just curl up alongside it. Aryll gets close enough as it is, you stay put. Since we can 2 round this enemy, Sleep is a great status to beat these things with little problem, though it'll wear Cheese out very quickly.
Now it might be a bit early to do this, but we're heading back to Tlachtga. We have to account for getting through B4F as well, but this is just faster, and more interesting, than using a Warp Wire, going to the Inn, then walking all the way back here. Of course, it's pretty bad if we died and lost all our progress but what are the chances of that happening?
Oh hey, that Stalker is coded to aggro us when we enter the floor, regardless of staircase.
I'm still standing you villains! I miss Ryu...
Drain is really helping show how sucky single target healing is getting.
Aryll is going to be one note for a while, but since Midareba's TP caps off pretty early, it's worth going all the way asap for that third hit.
Gonna ignore the heck out of these skills. Probably good to get some binds and finish up Curses later, its scaling is a bit meh.
Hmm, they still haven't reported back yet. Must be a long path. The way forward then? Excellent! This place is getting a bit tangly.
Don't... hurt her... Matthew At this rate, we'll hear his entire backstory by the seventh floor. Better Wagner than my two main damage dealers. Annoying though, since he's so close to levelling.
Crazy that he'll peak this early. I don't really give a shit about his other skills, but I have to spend my SP on something!
Ooh, this must be the right way!
This wears me out so quickly... I must work on my stamina! You're doing a stand up job, let's continue on.
... What the fuck. Ah, Etrian Odyssey. This is a complete and total dead end where a couple Wolves roam around. You haven't seen them since their patrol paths are so large and cover empty areas we'll never go to. Later games wouldn't even have this sort of map design, but they'd at least put an event at the end for your time if they did. But since events won't happen naturally anymore in this game, dead ends are nothing more than dead ends from now on.
They, uh, reported back. Completely empty. Sums this place up quite nicely. Fuck wasting resources backtracking! Let me just draw that corridor real quick... You lament not having a capture card sometimes, but consider that it also means you're not recording an LP where you don't have emulator conveniences at hand. Though some of the inconveniences that come with an emulator, especially with a janky piece of junk like DeSmuME, can really make capture cards look a lot more appealing. (Also I can't even use save states with the way I record my LPs.)
Mmm, yes, yes, very nice. I didn't realise she was so strong. ...
I really don't have the durability for this...
WHO NEEDS DURABILITY WHEN YOU HAVE MURDER? I... I feel this is slightly unfair. Better get a new sword then. Aryll's next katana is B8F.
It can be a little tricky to work out how everything connects, but I'm doing this so you can see the (mostly) direct path. I have zero interest in exploring those empty areas. For better or worse, EO1's map design does feel more like a labyrinth as a result.
B5F E2 Chop Point
Hardwood. 50% chance. Sells for 13 en.
1 required for Shortsword (Sword, ATK+15)
5 required for Hand Axe (Axe, ATK+18) Required for A favor to Shilleka I
5 required for Wazikashi (Katana, ATK+20)
10 required for Aspis (Shield, DEF+2, VIT+1)
Mugwort. 25% chance. Sells for 20en.
1 required for Bravant (Medicine, increases the target's ATK by 110% for 5 turns)
Red Fruit. 15% chance. Sells for 25en.
1 required for Red Charm (Accessory, DEF+1, TP+5)
Ah, nothing better than a new morning. Let's find Fenrir soon, we've been exploring for much too long.
Flawless victory.
Ah, finally, something interesting! Too many long windy corridors... Hmm? That was the first one we've really gone down. ...yes. What's behind this door?
We really shouldn't just charge in like that.
Well this is a slight problem. Going through a door and being blindsided were two seperate things, probably.
We're... through... Erin I feel like these names are familiar.
It would be much easier to avenge my fallen comrade if I had a better sword. Hm?
B5F C5 Chop Point
Mugwort. 50% chance. Sells for 20en.
1 required for Bravant (Medicine, increases the target's ATK by 110% for 5 turns)
Hardwood. 25% chance. Sells for 13 en.
1 required for Shortsword (Sword, ATK+15)
5 required for Hand Axe (Axe, ATK+18) Required for A favor to Shilleka I
5 required for Wazikashi (Katana, ATK+20)
10 required for Aspis (Shield, DEF+2, VIT+1)
Red Fruit. 15% chance. Sells for 25en.
1 required for Red Charm (Accessory, DEF+1, TP+5)
There better be something cool behind door number two.
I should stock up on more Amritas, Wagner is being very costly...
Haha, I'm light and nimble like this! Oh I agree. You pipe down. Getting hit by that Rampage would've been a trip ender right there, we are out of revives.
B5F D5 Mine Point
Pyroxene. 50% chance. Sells for 50 en.
1 required for Gem Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Volt Resist Up 10%)
1 required for A certain shop's request
Metal Horn. 25% chance. Sells for 36 en.
1 required for Wakizashi (Katana, ATK+20)
1 required for Plate (Heavy Armor, DEF+5, VIT+2, AGI-1)
Whitestone. 15% chance. Sells for 100en.
Required for nothing.
Well wasn't that fun. We're nearly at the end, but man, getting through this stratum in one go is a hell of a time.
Ooh, this is interesting. I feel like they're trying to hint at something. Blaze Oils imbue regular attacks with Fire, making it a composite attack. Seems handy.
Should be simple enough if Cheese- Yeah, no.
Oh, when they're side by side like this in a narrow corridor, we can just... walk through them. Horn too big for they goddamn head. Fuuuuuuuck that. Let's finish this floor already.
Their reek is ever-present in your nose, while their constant low growl plays on your nerves. You have reached Fenrir's dread lair!
That is... quite a lot of wolves. I don't think the ones on the perimeter need thinking about. Still, we've surveyed the situation now let's... what's Aryll doing? Oh no A Sudden Gust of Wind Before Your Eyes
Get out of my way, I'm here to kill your leader! I feel we're not in the right mindset for this. Well clearly someone is...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
Skolls are ever so slightly stronger, tankier Wolves. Since they're very similar, you already know how to handle them. You might be wondering why the hell I'm fighting one after doing the entire floor and being on the razor's edge of getting a game over, but trust me, it's real important. While Skolls are beatable, they're meant to have more of a bite because they will join in on the boss fight. Better take that into account before engaging Fenrir...
Well no point backing out now, we've come this far. May my words inspire you and my heart move you~ Singing a sentence doesn't make it a song.
I'm not surprised... Like this would ever stop me!
There's a reason why monsters can't crit in the later games. Keep in mind all being in the back row does is double your defense stat, but critical hits ignore that entirely. So the Hexer got hit for full damage. Now to dream of fluff... I think we're kind of screwed~
Big mistake!
I really shouldn't have gotten away with this.
Hurry up and sedate her, she's very strong! There we go. I will end you master wolf... come... and... get some... Oh, those Skolls back there aren't returning to their positions. Hm. Alright, let's get out of here.
Please escape before my heart stops~
Yeah, yeah, I saw how Simone did it.
I thought there'd be something here, ehehehe. I'm not going to question it, I'm just glad we made it out of there alive. Dishonourable... cretins... The 2nd shortcut on the critical path to Fenrir.
Not as smooth as I'd liked, but hey, we're finished with exploring the fifth flo- oh wait a minute I missed a spot.
5 Thorns and 1 Large Fang are required for Boar Spear (Sword, ATK+29, STR+3)
I apologise. I don't need something like this anyway, it would throw me off. So long as you don't do something like that again.
Ah much better. Next time, I guess we're taking on our first Boss! After a couple of Skoll kills of course. Now that Crosspeice has reached Fenrir, allow me to use my MS Paint powers to showcase the entire critical route you have to take to get to him:
If you die to Fenrir (which is more than a real possibility since he's not a pushover), you have to go through all that again just to have another try at him! what the fuck EO1 EO1's Labyrinth design is very bad and this is a good example of why. We play games so you don't have to.