Part 20: Always Take Your Shots (Guild Edda VS Cotrangl)
Part 19: Always Take Your Shots (Guild Edda VS Cotrangl)
I know what my guildmates would call me...
It's Boss time again, but before that, I feel we're strong enough to finally do this quest. Since Gerson doesn't have any attacking skills, this fight would be a bit uninteresting for my tastes, so let's bring out the big guns.
A Sudden Gust of Wind Before Your Eyes
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Ooh I love it when he screams.
Me too, but for different reasons to you, maybe. Oh, you came to watch him too? O-Only for the injuries! ...huh. Interesting development.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
The lungs on that boy... Feels like he's been screaming for five minutes. You're here too, Liana? Well, gotta make sure he's safe.
I'm here to watch my boy become a man.
He can stick with his axe, I run circles around him with a sword. Or at least I'm not as boring.
This will be quite the tale, I'm sure~
An honourable fight! Makes me want to scream as well.
Uh, I was just out on my morning walk. With my masters. Not plotting anything. It's night time. Huh, Rodent's not here.
Ahhhh, finally some peace and quiet with a drink and a good book.
I can't remember the last time I got submerged in alcohol. Time to get waaaaaaaasted! I misclicked and did War Cry again, but I'm sure we'll be fine.
Gotta love accidentally fat fingering commands. And how the series did nothing about that until EO2U.
You think that's enough to stop me?
It was over before it begun. Wow I am glad Lavin went first that turn. Phew. This is still with Crush at level 1 btw, I really, REALLY have not seen a need to level it yet. Crush is a good skill, but its scaling is really bad. Starts off at 160% and ends up at... 210%. A level 10 version is only just a bit over 30% more effective. Yeah...
Heh... nothing about it... That was a good fight, kid. Uh, that I heard... while sat here. Let me patch you up, strong boy. And now it's noisy again...
Win or lose, though... I'm just glad you made it back in one piece. I know you need to hone your skills, but try not to do anything too rash.
Don't start getting a big head, you barely made it out of the first one! Well depending on what it is, someone else can take a shot. It's another ordeal from the head of the Explorers Guild. This time, he wants you to defeat the Killclaw by yourself. All I know about it is its name... but I think the name says it all. Keep your wits about you out there, and come back safe. Craaaaaaaaaabbbbbbb. Again, Gerson could probably defend against it fine, but I don't think we'd finish the battle before turn 100 with just physical hits. Well, something for later.
This man, whatever his name is, leaves Radha Hall? Of course, he visits the market before he goes home. Did you... think he lived there?~ Noooooooooooooo...
You do understand the difference between bravery and recklessness, yes? ...... To my knowledge, only one adventurer has ever overcome this trial. That honor goes to the one called Ren, also known as the Ronin of Ice. Know you own limitations. Defeat does not always mean disgrace. I don't believe for a second a Ronin could solo this challenge, especially as we are now. This is like one of the few times the town NPCs interact with us in this game. What with only having one new piece of dialogue per Stratum.
Remember what I told you all that time ago about going into the forest? If you're going to ignore what I said then, you've got to have the necessary skills. I thought we picked up a good crew, or is he talking about something else? I don't remember. Or care, since I'm not doing it!
I'll happily take on this turtle if you guys are with me! Of course, I have some songs that will really light up your soul!~ Keep those away from me, I prefer mine being black as night.
Shelltor
Level: 37
HP: 2000
STR: 183
VIT: 84
AGI: 63
LUC: 63
TEC: 42
EXP: 2550
Skills
Blizzard: Uses the Head. An Ice attack that deals 125% damage to the entire party. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 10% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
50% 
50% 
50%
100% 
125% 
100%Disable Vulnerabilities
15% 
25% 
1%
25% 
25% 
25%Drops
Normal: 100 Shell. 40% chance. Sells for 1700en.
1 required for Amber Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Ailment Resist Up 20%)
5 required for Pain Aspis (Ultimate Shield, DEF+60, ALL Resist Down 100%, must be restocked)
1 required for The foreign seeker
Rare: None
Conditional: None
Here's the crew of five we'll use to take on the boss, but there's a boss-lite we can fight before then. If you have Anticold, then Shelltors can't do much to you, but you need some elemental attacks to do anything back, so I left it this long because we have those! What's that? Lavin is our only damage dealer with an attacking skill? Hmm, we'll see. And don't get excited about the Pain Aspis, we need a later drop as well. Like a lot later. Don't think you can coast by with Anticold spam, though. After it casts Blizzard once, it'll be less likely to use Blizzard on the next turn. And after 6 turns, it'll stop using Blizzard altogether. Though here's a fun fact. This enemy is one of only 2 enemies in the entire game to have a passive. Or rather in the Shelltor's case, was planned to have a passive. From what I can tell it was scrapped, so who knows what they had planned for this FOE on that front. (The other enemy's passive is fully functional, though it might not have been something you've noticed if you've played through the whole game. But that's something for a later time.) It's just some trivia. A later, similar enemy has the "same" passive, and I completely forgot about it!
Woah nelly, this is gonna take some getting used to! Oh right, magic imbuing. Despite looking so cool earlier, Lavin looks like he's about to faint. A-Am not!!!
Ooh, that's a little chilly. Well Crush is still ridiculous despite a 50% reduction and that Blizzard damage is laughable due to Immunize reducing it by 40% AND Gerson investing in Shields, which is reducing elemental damage by a further 10%. I'm not even gonna bother with Anticold. Of course if you can just reduce all damage to piddly amounts, there's no need to worry about it not spamming Blizzard for that sweet sweet AI exploitation.
Heh, not bad, wouldn't you say?~ Everyone's getting too cocky for their own good. I suppose I am too, it's almost too easy. The Troubadour's Imbues are identical to using an Oil, so having a composite attack that deals a physical and elemental hit in one really racks up the damage. You can see how it compares to the purely physical Crush. Imbues are fucking god-tier in this game, and it's a travesty at what happened to them afterwards.
Don't forget that I'm still here.
Fire Arrow! Hah!~ Heh, he's acting like this is a game. I could give Wagner a sword to deal more damage, but enough of our guild do that, so he'll stick with a bow even if he's at the front.
1 100 Shell is required for Amber Ring (Accessory, DEF+1, Ailment Resist Up 20%), sells for 6500en.
I should note that this is one of two equipment that gives resistance to ailments, but of course only by a small amount. There's no stacking either, so best to keep Theriaca Bs on hand. Oh, were you hoping for actual counterplay to ailments? Too bad, this and an extremely late-game piece of equipment is all you get on that front, so tough it out.
This never gets better. I think you need more morning jogs to get used to it.
Bottoms up! So a couple times I could've grinded Boost before an important fight, but now with Axcela IIs, we don't have to! Since we've got a bit of a weird team, I figured I'll show something off. Ahahahahahahaaaaa! I'm getting giddy just thinking about it! Red and Black
It's as if an ocean was suddenly transported to the middle of the forest. Within the blue-tinted oasis, you see a distant shadow. You slowly approach it... Oh yeah, unlike Cernunos, you have a couple of steps in this room before the cutscene. Consistency!
I have warned thee, but thou paid me no heed. Face then the guardian of our holy land! With this, the inhuman girl gives a sharp, high-pitched whistle. The sound resonates through the forest, and a huge creature appears in response. It-It's enormous! Now this is what I've been waiting for! Come to daddy! Hear me, Cotrangl! Smite these vile intruders! Such is the girl's cry before vanishing into the forest, but you have no time for pursuit! The monster that flies through the air as easily as swimming is about to attack! Dyed in Blood 
VS Cotrangl 
My, it could swallow any of us whole~ Well, ridiculous as it may look, I think I've perfected it...
Cotrangl
Level: 38
HP: 7000
STR: 250
VIT: 104
AGI: 86
LUC: 43
TEC: 86
EXP: 18000
Skills
Tackle: Doesn't use a body part. A Bash attack that deals 135% damage to a single target. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 50% speed modifier.
Blizzard: Uses the Head. An Ice attack that deals 85% damage to 2-4 targets and attempts to inflict Sleep. Has a 25% infliction chance, an 80% accuracy modifier and a 50% speed modifier.
Flood: Uses the Head. An Ice attack that deals 90% damage to the entire party. Has an 85% accuracy modifier and a 10% speed modifier.
Ice Gaze: Uses the Head. Reduces the ATK of the entire party by 75%. Has a 100% speed modifier.
Coiling: Uses the Legs. Attempts to Fully Bind a single target. Has a 95% infliction chance and a 50% speed modifier.
Aquaveil: Uses the Legs. Reduces Fire damage on itself to 1%. Has a 150% speed modifier.
Damage Vulnerabilities
100% 100% 100% 125% 0% 75%Disable Vulnerabilities
5% 15% 0% 65% 65% 65%Drops
Normal: Huge Fin. 100% chance. Sells for 1800en.
1 required for Fin Bow (Bow, ATK+88, STR+5, TEC+4)
Rare: None
Conditional: Ice Spine (Kill with Fire damage). 30% chance. Sells for 6000en.
1 required for Arc Drawer (Ultimate Bow, ATK+220, STR+12, TEC+8, must be restocked)
The next boss so soon after the last one isn't a pushover, but it can be made real easy if you want to. Anticold is the main way to stop its shenanigans, since you don't want to be put to sleep and reducing Tackle's damage isn't comparable. Binding its head will shut it down pretty effectively, since Ice Gaze is annoying. Aquaveil is a real bitch if you're using an Alchemist, or oils to make up for no elemental attacks. At least you can hit it with Volt. Despite this, Cotrangl can be pretty damn easy since you're getting a lot of different tools at your disposal, and it's very predictable, it'll cycle through its attacks to begin with, and then go on the offense once its health drops. 
Get behind me, now! You know it's serious when he commands it. Anticold will buy us a couple turns to set up, since we'll need it to chew through that HP.
Huh. That was quick. Seems they're much more efficient at commanding their forces~ That's not too surprising, with level 10 Curses and level 5 binds, it's a coin flip if they land with that resistance.
Oh baby, I can feel the burning passion from everyone here! Meh. Thank you for voting Wagner and Lavin together, now he'll get two ATK buffs and Crush becomes RIDICULOUS. That's not even counting level 1 Frailty, which is still an 80% reduction. Oh we're about to have some fun.
Next up is Tackle, so Gerson will F.Guard, even though attacking is so tempting. Since Bravery is up, Oils deal two attacks in one and one of those attacks is hitting a weakness, even Wagner is dealing damage. I may have been slightly exaggerating as to how long and drawn out this fight would be. With all these tools at our disposal, it really won't be.
What would these morons do without me? Ice Gaze is another free turn for me. Have I mentioned how much I love Cheese? Hexers are actually really fucking good. Well, Hexers are good if you cheat one in. In a normal playthrough, that's sadly a different story entirely. Remember, we're at the end of the 3rd Stratum boss, and Hexers still haven't been unlocked for use yet.
Wow, I never imagined I would do so much so soon. Uh, what is this crazy feeling? My masterpiece! Good heavens, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME! IT BEGINS! LET CHAOS REIGN!
Impressive damage from someone hopping around so~ Mmm mmmmmmm.
I'm basically done for today, so I guess I'll heal ya. Same here, so might as well do something with my time. Looks like it's about ready to attack.
Oh I'm feeling real good about my life right now. Huh, he stopped that attack with one hand. What the hell is in this stuff, Karin? So level 10 Immunize reduces all damage by 40%. Level 15? Well, 15%. This is it, the game is over. We could use this for every important fight for the rest of the game and we'd barely break a sweat. You saw how easily it can be set up, just 3 Axcela IIs and then a couple turns and boom, the fight's over. Now, this is combined with Sapping, a nice 68% reduction to Cotrangl's ATK, but considering the end result is THREE DAMAGE, I could've just used Immunize in this fight and be just fine. After all, I've got easy healing with a Medic. When combined with Defender, all physical attacks in the game are reduced by 8% and when you can nullify all elemental attacks with the anti skills, really, what challenge is there left? A 15% multiplier on its own would be incredibly fucking bonkers. But due to EO1's unusual damage formula, that heavily reduced damage still has your armor to go through! Immunize is fucking broken and oh my goodness it basically saps the challenge out of the game! Course if you're having trouble with the game or just don't wanna deal with its bullshit, it can be nice to turn on easy mode to not have to deal with that. Several other players did it to even get through it in the first place, so there's absolutely no shame in resorting to cheese tactics to get through this game. Or any game for that matter. Though keep in mind that in a normal playthrough, you likely won't be making use of Sapping due to Hexer's... issues.
I am a genius. Oh no! She's being real smug right now. Though it should speak to this game's craziness that boosted Immunize is something you'll probably need to use later in the game, but this is why I'm banning it, it makes every fight a complete joke and while it's hilarious the first time, that's not how I want this LP to go. Like, the Royalant fight was tough, but it was super satisfying to do. This was done first try with me running out of things for everyone to do towards the end because there was nothing to do. Because I'm doing around 1000 damage a turn, so this fight is nearly over. In case you thought Immunize was bugged to work against physical (it's not, that's by design), there's one fight in the game that's kind of... well actually just straight up impossible to win if you don't use Immunize because there's no other way to survive its physical attacks. Outside of that one fight, you don't need Immunize at all. (Nor a Medic for that matter. But that is not something I would recommend for anyone to do on their first playthrough.)
Hmm, less good, but hey, all I'm doing is firing arrows, what a life~ Of course, you can't just coast to victory. Once your beautiful buffs are gone, then damage goes back to normal, so remember to keep your buffs up. It only takes a turn to build up the boost for another Immunize anyway, if you want to keep doing that. Remember, buffs can't be extended in this game. Only refreshed.
See, that's more like it! I feel like we're missing out doing it this way. It's nice to just let loose and go all out every once in a while. But yeah, there's such a thing as too easy, you know?
Thank you, next. The Thousand Year Old Blue Woodlands
But where it lurked, you find a stone tablet engraved with a mysterious language. If it came from the unknown shadow, it may be a useful clue. Radha Hall might know more...
It's almost a shame to leave this pretty stratum. I prefer dark and gloomy areas, so this place was midway for me.
There we go, the entirety of B15F! Ah, just kidding, of course there's more. Like much, much, much later. But hey, what kind of crazy stratum will we be in next? This is pretty much just a boss arena floor for whatever reason. Basically this Stratum is effectively only 4 floors long. I guess they thought having 2 boss fights was a bit much otherwise. But anyways, onwards!
The Withered Forest
Weren't expecting a desert, were you? Also I really like this Stratum music, so give it a listen! I don't like sand~ It's course. And rough. And irritating. And it gets everywhere.
Right, got that out of the way, back to town! Festival of Worship
Yeah it barely fit into the bag. Well I was TRYING to sleep! Ugh, my head... If I'm not mistaken, this engraving is some language beyond our ken. I shall assign the Radha's best researchers to it. With enough study, we may gain insight into this girl's precise nature. We'll keep the tablet safe at Radha Hall. You should continue with your investigations. Ah, and how could I forget? We have a reward for your hard work, of course.
Fuck yeah, bitches! Phew. And here I thought we would have money problems again. Hohoho.
She's not even listening. Again. Too hell with the price, money ain't a thang. New stratum means new dialogue... mostly.
1 Huge Fin is required for Fin Bow (Bow, ATK+88, STR+5, TEC+4), sells for 3400en.
I hear y've stepped into parts of t'forest that no soul has reached before. T'at Yggdrasil Labyrint'... I wonder how deep it goes...
You seem weirdly uninjured. Did you even fight whatever it was? There was a giant manta and it went bwaaah, but then Karin gave us shots and suddenly we were all fwoosh and then it was dead!~ Sounds about right. Well I hope you've beaten those big turtles, cause we'll need to do that again. This time, we're tasked with finding a 100 Shell, the shell of a 100-year-old tortoise. The client's from a small village far to the west, but he's collapsed with fatigue. He says he can't return to his hometown without this shell. I don't know why that is... but could you please find him a 100 Shell? Ooh, I've read about a western village with powerful dual wielding warriors, metal guardians and alien trees! That seems a bit ridiculous.
The client's lover entered the Labyrinth by himself, and hasn't come out yet. Have you heard of the landsknecht they called the Rainbow Swordsman? He's a nice kid who's always seen wearing a rainbow-colored bandana. Wait, Raib Swodan? He's a drinking buddy of mine! A bit too friendly, but he bought me drinks, so I never cared! Same! His proposal to that barmaid came outta nowhere, I was crushed... He's a pretty skilled explorer, but his guildmates were injured during an excursion... so he's decided to continue the investigation on his own until their wounds heal. Last she heard, he was going to investigate the 16th floor. He may still be there if you look for him. I hope he's all right... find him before anything happens to him, okay? Alright, turtle time. Does that leave us with rainbow dude? Well, we can't do that until you're back, so don't take too long! Alright, let's get ready!
And not just that, but a path behind it leading even deeper into the Labyrinth. Well, it sounds exciting, but be careful. You don't know what's down there, after all. I don't care what they're doing, but at least they're all gone. Still, not looking forward to the desert. See, I don't like sand-
Wow, three dialogue changes! Ain't this game just crazy! Well? You signed up a good crew, didn't you? A Sudden Gust of Wind Before Your Eyes
Ever thought these turtles looked course and rough? Hmm, definitely some flowery language for them. A bit cheesy and irritating, perhaps~
Behind me, it's getting everywhere! Yeah, I definitely prefer it here.
Well I think this is going swimmingly, all thanks to me, wrap it up you fireheads!
Ooh, I think I see an opportunity. Everyone stand back.
Oh that felt gooooood! Dramatic, but now you're all worn out~ Well I don't heal mental stress, just supply bottles of it.
I am looking forward to that scorching heat, even if I'm horribly overdressed for it.
I can't wait to lie down, that shell is heavy! Oh I could tell... My masters carried it most of the way, sheesh. Oh, and I asked him what he needed one for. Turns out it's used in a festival at his home. They put the shells over a strong flame, and read the future by the way it cracks. Guess how far into the future they can read with this method? That's right... 100 years. Just goes to show that not all the world's mysteries are down there in the Labyrinth...
Well, wasn't that boss fun? It was a rhetorical question, like all my questions, since that strat will get old fast. Next time, it's the fourth stratum. The real Etrian Odyssey starts here! In more ways than one...