Yah, and the water looks pretty deep. We might need to swim for it...
Boo to that! My formulas will get watered down!
For the sake of your belongings and equipment, it would be best to avoid getting wet if at all possible...
You look around with a grim expression, noticing that the terrain before you is a floating mass, untethered to land. You gingerly test it with one foot and see that it shows no sign of sinking... Perhaps if you make use of this floating mass, you can move about the floor without getting soaked. Though perhaps it would be best to look for an alternate route as well... You consider the decision carefully.
Let's go for a ride!
You ask your allies to keep an eye out for other floating masses as you resume your journey.
You look at the spot from whence it jumped and see the silhouette of a much larger fish.
Look at the pretty markings on that fish... Intrigued though you are, you see no need to fish it from the water and so resume your investigation. Time to do some fish sightseeing because uhh, there's not really much on this floor for Story, otherwise.
This is what you've been waiting for, unique fish dialogue!!!
Turning to look at where the sound came from, you see an enormous fish about to swallow a smaller one!
No way...! It just gobbled it up... The enormous fish clamps its jaws around its prey and disappears into the water with another tremendous splash. You take a moment to calm yourselves after seeing the breathtaking sight before resuming your investigation.
You look at the spot from whence it jumped and see the silhouette of another fish.
Did you see that? It was pretty, the way it sparkled all those colors...! Intrigued though you are, you see no need to fish it from the water and so resume your investigation.
Your companions, in reaction to Simon's hushed tones, stop to await your orders.
Obviously it's a monster, so let's get ready to take it down!
Prepare for battle! Your companions nod and move to draw their weapons, when suddenly you hear an unfamiliar voice.
The suddenly appearing figure seems to be a rather young girl. But a clear view at her reveals that she is obviously not human.
What tipped them off, those huge red eyes that are staring into their souls? Who are you? And why do you look so weird!?
...I have given thee my warning. Thou should take care to prepare thyselves should we meet again.
Could that have been...?
It must be the mysterious creature Radha Hall spoke of. The young man in the lab coat stares at the spot where the girl disappeared and continues speaking. I only got a brief glance, but that skin, hair, and... especially those eyes were decidedly not human. Oh, I didn't expect to be right about that. Yeah that was the freakiest part of her portrait and gave me a jump scare in my first playthrough of EO1 when that popped up along with the old version of Red and Black suddenly blaring out of the DS' speakers.
You're right.
But she spoke the same language we do. Ricky quietly mutters while staring at where the mysterious girl had been. Could the girl just now have been one of the mysterious creatures reported by the Radha's soldiers? The only way to be certain is to press on with your investigation. How strange. Oh well, back to fish sightseeing! It's all I care about!
After picking up this... treasure.
You look at the spot from whence it came and see the silhouette of another fish. Whoa, did you see that? It was one mean-lookin' fish... The fish quickly disappears, but not before you catch a glimpse of its glaring eyes and large, split mouth. Curious though you are, you cannot go into the water after it, and so you simply go on your way.
Turning to look at where the sound came from, you find a long shadow moving about the water. That wasn't a snake, was it...? Well, it seems to pose no threat to us, so no matter. Intrigued though you are, you see no need to fish it from the water and so resume your investigation.
You look at the spot from whence it jumped and see the silhouette of another fish.
I wonder if that one's good to eat... You glance at the black fish swimming casually away before resuming your investigation.
You look at the spot from whence it came and see the silhouette of another fish. Oh, look at all the barbels around its mouth. Haha... cute little thing. You watch it swim deeper into the water before resuming your investigation.
You look at the spot from whence it came and see the silhouette of another fish. That fish has quite an odd way of swimming... Indeed, despite the fish's slender build, it's easily swimming against the strong current. You are impressed by its vigor before resuming your investigation.
You look down to see a fish using its fins as legs to walk around!
Huh...!? Dude, look! That fish is walking around on the ground! You stare enraptured by the rare sight as the fish enters the water and slowly disappears into the depths. You leave the place feeling charmed by the wonder of nature.
Unlike the other spots, this fish spot gives us a benefit! However, we only get the TP heal once, even though we can check the fish spots multiple times. Observe the land fish, for it heals mind and soul.
This is what was in that stone. It's not very useful, but it's a way to give your party access to some Highlander skills in Classic? I guess?
Back on the 13th floor...
It's hard to know what left them, but my guess would be the marks are from an aquatic animal crawling on the ground.
...Then it has nothing to do with what we're here for. Let's go, Dude. At Ricky's urging, you return to your investigation of this floor.
Make sure to grab this! It unlocks some secret areas from earlier in the game.
How nice, handing us a backtracking convenience tool, right off the bat!
I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, this is actually a pretty nice grimoire stone for them to hand out, as it's a pretty big boon for parties that lack a Protector, and 75% damage reduction to elemental attacks is a very big boon! On the other hand, it would have been much nicer if they were at level 5, especially for the upcoming boss where negation is far more preferrably than damage reduction! Also by post-game, level 3 walls are not going to cut it. I imagine these are for the Story party, to ensure that you have some kind of elemental protection, even if you've spent all your SP on making Raquna a healer. This is the most accessible EO after all after 4, and kids are dumb as shit!
Before we move onward, let's do a bit of FOE cleanup, as Ragnar forgot to tackle the last two FOEs in this Stratum. First up, we need to get into a fight with an Aquatic Butcher. But we can't do so directly, and have to wait for them to join in on our battle.
Use this opportunity to set up as needed, and leave the least threatening enemy in the battle for last. Preferably weakened, so you can dispatch it quickly once the FOE joins.
You know I'm almost certain this breaks several kinds of overkill laws. It is illegal and that's why we use it.
And there is our guest of honor for today!
Aquatic Butcher
| HP: 3385 | STR: 37 | TEC: 32 | VIT: 36 | AGI: 21 | LUC: 30 |
Damage Vulnerabilities:
 50% |  50% |  50% |
 100% |  100% |  150% |
Disable Vulnerabilities:
 50% |  100% |  50% |  50% |  50% |  50% |  50% |
 10% |  10% |  50% | ||||
 50% |  50% |  50% |
- Charge: Doubles the damage of the user's next physical attack. Interruptable with Sonic Bombs. Has an 80% speed modifier.
- S
- Reaper Claws: Deals 150% melee STR-based cut damage to one party member. Attempts to instantly kill the target, with a 30% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
- Aquatic Butchers always follow Charge with Reaper Claws.
- Aquatic Butchers are less likely to use Charge when they're at 50% HP or lower.
- If Charge is active, use Reaper Claws.
- If the Aquatic Butcher's HP is at 50% or lower:
- 29% chance to use Charge. Display message: "Aquatic Butcher is building up its strength!"
- If Charge doesn't get used, 59% chance to use Reaper Claws.
- Else, Attack.
- If the Aquatic Butcher's HP is at 100% to 51%:
- 89% chance to use Charge. Display message: "Aquatic Butcher is building up its strength!"
- Else, Attack.
Grimoire Skills:
- Charge: Uses the head. Increases the damage of the user's next physical attack. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.
- Reaper Claws: Uses the arms. Deals melee STR-based cut damage to one enemy. Attempts to instantly kill the target. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
Drops:
- Normal:
Red Blade. 80% chance. Sells for 900 en. - 1 needed to make
Ochiba (+113 ATK). Costs 10300 en.
- 1 needed to make
- Conditional:
Volt Shell. 70% chance. Sells for 1850 en. - 1 needed to make
Al Tarf Shield (+27 DEF, +1 TEC, +3 AGI). Costs 2730 en.
- 1 needed to make
Oh no. Oh no. It's weak to Sonic Bombs! This poor thing has no idea what's about to happen to it. I feel so sorry for it. It is a real shame, since these guys could be real tanks that smacked you around in the original. Hell, you had to wait a long time to beat one for the solo quest because of how dangerous they were, even with the level advantage.
I don't know if I can watch.
Oh dear. With that action, its fate is sealed.
This is just pure and raw animal cruelty.
It just did not stand a chance. What an utter bloodbath.
To whoever decided that FOE drop rates shouldn't be 100%, I hate you. lmao, 70% chance, what garbage.
There we go! Yeesh.
The Red Blade unlocks The Ochiba which... we can't use. But I'm sure it's a hefty upgrade for a Ronin at this point!
The Volt Shell unlocks the Al Tarf Shield which is not that great. By this point you can unlock the Body Aspis, which comes with 1 more point of defense, along with coming with 10% Ice resistance. Which is a way more handy attribute to have at this point!
Next order of business is this FOE. I won't be tackling that island with the triple FOEs on it just yet, so you'll have to wait until later to see what's in those chests. Wonder why they made that island so brutal, there was only the 1 Muckdile on it in the original and 2 chests with not much to them. There better be something good there now! 
Creeping Death
| HP: 4500 | STR: 38 | TEC: 31 | VIT: 34 | AGI: 29 | LUC: 30 |
Damage Vulnerabilities:
| 100% | 50% | 100% |
| 100% | 150% | 100% |
Disable Vulnerabilities:
| 50% | 50% | 50% | 50% | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| 10% | 10% | 50% | ||||
| 50% | 50% | 50% |
- Vicious Bite: Deals heavy cut damage to all party members. Average speed.
- Vicious Bite: Deals 100% melee STR-based cut damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 154 to 180 on average. Has no speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
- Creeping Deaths are far more likely to use Vicious Bite when their HP is at 50% or lower.
- If the Creeping Death's HP is at 100% to 51% HP:
- 29% chance to use Vicious Bite.
- Else, Attack.
- If the Creeping Death's HP is at 50% HP or lower:
- 79% chance to use Vicious Bite.
- Else, Attack.
- Vicious Bite: Deals cut damage to all enemies. Slightly slow.
- Vicious Bite: Deals melee STR-based cut damage to all enemies. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
Drops:
- Normal: Gator Skin. 90% chance. Sells for 1370 en.
Hide Cape (+60 HP, +30% stab resistance): Made from 1 Gator Skin. Costs 1500 en.
The Creeping Death is such an utterly unremarkable and boring FOE. It either hits you with a regular attack or effectively hits everyone at once with a regular attack. If you have any form of Cut protection, you've basically already won. So very much like their EO1 counterpart then. Wonder why they chose this FOE to meme in the second game, but I won't complain.
If it can't break through these defensive measures, yeah it's a goner.
Welp. This party can easily turtle through this fight. Hell Forest Guardian wasn't needed all that much. The only party member it really saved was Simon, who would have died without it up. And that's because he was a backliner in the frontline so I could have Dude set up Bloody Offense on all my DPS classes easily. Everyone else would have survived.
And as insult to injury, it's like it never attacked us in the first place.
Even Arthur's version of Delayed Heal (which I really need to upgrade soon) can heal off the damage easily as well! Delayed Heal is nuts. No wonder it got nerfed in 2U. Delayed Heal! It's like Salve, but the turn after! Wow! Not just Salve, but a super Salve! Heals like an utter truck compared to most versions of Salve in the series.
An unremarkable battle for an unremarkable FOE.
However, the gear its drop unlocks is anything but unremarkable! 30% Bash resistance along with a whopping 60 HP boost!? Holy crap, this is flat out the best non-disable immunity we can get our hands on so far! The only one it's really competing with is the Moss Ring, and that's a limited stock item! Definitely worth unlocking as soon as possible! That is very fancy. What was it like in the original? DEF+2, HP+15. Hrm. Man, EO1 equipment tended to suck, huh?
Oh hey, there's Austin. He has new things to say to us in Story mode. Unlike the rest of the town where their floor 14 dialogue is the same as in Classic.
...I'm not that old, you know.
No matter. I just remembered that I forgot to show my appreciation for all the help you've given me. It isn't much, but take this. I mean, it isn't much compared to my life.
Say, do you have some time to spare? I have something I want to tell you. You see... I have earned the enmity of a certain person. I may need your help in the near future. ...That sounds serious. Somebody got a grudge against you or something? If only it was that simple. There are ways to handle a grudge. No... This man has an objective. He's a brilliant man who takes pleasure in disrupting the public order. For example... the pointless poem. A normal man might disregard this as gibberish, but I see it as a plea. You see, by taking the first letter from every word, this ridiculous poem becomes something very different. ...It is an unpleasant method, mocking those who are too addicted to complex reasoning to see through this ruse. Thinking back, that was my first encounter with that fellow. I remember it well... Ah, perhaps I've talked too much. I must be going now. I'm very lucky to have become acquaintances with adventurers like you. I trust that we will meet again.
I don't mind. He had an interesting story. There are better times and places for it, though. I'm sure we'll meet again later.
And now after a bunch of cleanup, we are (mostly) done with the 14th floor.
But first back to town for some more cleanup. Ah the classic of going back to town to then reach a new floor and then going back to town again.
Town dialogue is the same as in Classic, but Austin has another new thing to say to us.
Oh, sorry. I'm not feeling well at the moment. I sometimes wonder why the world doesn't unfold more simply...
And before we move on, there's one more loose end I want to cover. Now that we've reached the bottom of the 3rd Stratum, Queen Ant can start respawning, and she has another prize for us. One that will be very useful for our party.
Once her HP drops low enough, she'll start casting Queen's Verdict, which is a grimoirable skill.
And you bet I want that thing! Gonna have everyone Hunting Horn on this turn so I can get it.
Oh, that's just fantastic! You're more likely to get an enemy skill on a stone if the enemy cast it on a Grimoire Chance turn. However, in order for that skill to even enter the possibility of being on a stone in the first place, the enemy has to successfully cast it. So a bind stopping them or something like that will prevent that from happening, so watch out if you're stone hunting like that!
And that's the kind of Grimoire I want to see!
...I- what. I wasn't even trying to get this. The way my numbers are lined up right now, I only had a 4.096% chance of getting it. Hey congrats, it's not like this skill is fucking terrible or something.
YESSSSSSSS! Getting a level 10 skill on a stone is actually really unlikely at this point. It's like less than a 9% chance if the skill comes with 1 skill. (More skills generated on the stone plummet the chances of getting higher leveled skills.)
At any rate, Queen's Verdict is a fanstastic enemy skill to pick up in Story Mode! At level 10 it randomly hits enemies 3 to 4 times, dealing 110% STR-based Bash damage per hit. It's a great fit for Dude, who can only stab things, so he's no longer stone-walled by enemies that are resistant to stabbing. Sure Spear Assist can get coverage with Arthur and Ricky's help, but it will pretty much go last. But what this also provides, is is the ability for Dude to attack multiple targets. Both of those issues I highlighted are something of weakpoints of the Highlander class, and this skill patches those up very nicely. You definitely want to get your hands on this skill if you can.Now despite all the praises I sung for it, I'm not going to equip it just yet. Tail Whip is still going to be more useful for the upcoming boss.
IF you can get it, remember. You can get through the game just fine without Grimoires, but they really help, even if they're a massive pain to get and you aren't a lucky shit like Arax. And of course you can just drop the difficulty if you're having a hard time, it's not a big deal. Yeah keep in mind that it can take a while to even get a level 10 version of a skill. But honestly a decently leveled version sufficies. You'll probably live if you can only get a level 7 through 9 version.
You continue as usual, but you stop when you sense a strong threat from beyond the door in front of you.
I mean the floor just started, we can't be at the boss yet. ...It's nothing. Thinking that you may merely be anxious from venturing through the forest, you decide to remain quiet about the threat. But Raquna, who had been staring at the door just as you were, speaks up anyway.
Wait a moment, Dude! I'm pretty sure there's something waiting for us up ahead, and it's bad news... It seems that whatever lurks within is a daunting threat even to veteran explorers such as yourselves.
We just started this floor! There's no point in going back! Also yeah, it actually is boss time already. Floor 15 is nothing more than a boss arena. So it's effectively a 4 floor stratum. Weird, but I guess they were making up for the fact that you have to fight 2 bosses in 1 stratum? It's a bit of a shame that B15F isn't really all that until much later, but at least it gets right to the point. We must defeat this adversary! Heh, of course! If we didn't, how would we go on? If it's the calamity making the monsters more savage, that's all the more reason we have to stop it. Now that you are all resolved, you head to face the looming threat.
Now as for my party setup, you might think it's weird that I currently have a bad effect in place. I assure you, that's actually intentional. (I would have preferred using Elderevenge, but I went with the TP Up effect because it had a bad effect.) What does the unstable Grimoire effect do?If you don't have that effect in play, the chances of a generated stone having a certain level on the skill as is as follows:
1%: Likely to get a high level skill
3%: Somewhat likely to get a high level skill
1%: Very likely to get a low level skill
38%: Likely to get a low level skill
57%: Nothing special happening
If you do have that effect in play, then the chances become this instead:
8%: Likely to get a high level skill
17%: Somewhat likely to get a high level skill
8%: Very likely to get a low level skill
52%: Likely to get a low level skill
15%: Nothing special happening
I could go into more detail about what this specifically does, but it would probably just result in a gigantic wall of text that doubles the size of this update at this very point and might as well be a mechanics post instead. So I won't. What this basically boils down to is that this effect causes trash Grimoires to appear more often, but it also increases the chances of getting actually good ones. And if you're stone hunting for good skills to put on Grimoires, this is actually a great effect to be making use of. After all, if you're only hunting for good or even perfect skills, you're not going to settle for worse. And landing on that 25% chance of getting a higher level skill drastically increases your chances of making sure that stone is a good one. (Again, going into the specifics would take way too damn long.) So the increased chances of getting trash is a sacrifice well worth going through.
That said, once you have 75 or more SP invested in a character, the 100% Grimoire Creation chance effect will do more for you instead. Now enough rambling, let's take a look at our party and get on with things.
The more I read and find out about Grimoire generation... the more I don't care about it. What a waste it feels sometimes. So many random factors are in play that the player just has absolutely no control over, making it hard for anyone to care about the system. Which is a shame because as I'll show you later, there's some interesting stuff that you can do with the rewards from the system, it's just utterly bogged down in a bunch of RNG shit.
It's as if an ocean suddenly appeared before you in the forest... Hey, isn't that...? Within the blue-tinted oasis, you see a distant shadow. It must be the inhuman girl you met before... It is your duty to find out whether she is the unknown creature.
The girl's words are close enough to those of humans for you to understand. You may speak to the hostile girl if you wish.
We have no intention of fighting. The disgust is evident on the girl's face as she responds. Dost thou think that coming here with weapon in hand and bloodied raiments would convince me thus? She also gets very insulted if you ask her if she's not human. You're not human? The disgust for your question is evident on the girl's face as she answers. We are the folk of this forest. 'Tis a grave insult to be taken for Man. The last option just has her skip forward to this part. Hark at my words! Thy devastation of the forest boils our blood with madness! Thus shall I follow the dictates of our god and bring judgement down upon thee for violating the accord!
As the sound grows louder in volume, an intense light begins to shine in the area!
A manta ray flies down from the ceiling.
Are you putting me on? This isn't some wandering monster, you know! Dude, you'd better brace yourself for a fight! Hmph, 'tis useless... Hear me, Corotrangul! Smite these vile intruders!
We have to do this, Dude!
Corotrangul
| HP: 9260 | STR: 43 | TEC: 37 | VIT: 33 | AGI: 33 | LUC: 38 |
Damage Vulnerabilities:
| 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 150% | 0% | 75% |
Disable Vulnerabilities:
| 30% | 50% | 30% | 50% | 30% | 75% | 50% |
| 0.1% | 0.1% | 30% | ||||
| 50% | 50% | 50% |
- Ice Breath: Deals heavy ice damage to all party members. Slow.
- Flood: Deals severe ice damage to 3-5 party members. Attempts to inflict sleep on hit targets, with a high chance. Slow.
- Tackle: Deals severe bash damage that pierces party rows. Fast.
- Coiling Tail: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of one party member, with a high chance. Average speed.
- Freeze Aura: Increases Corotrangul's attack by 50% for 4 turns. Average speed.
- Aqua Veil: Sets Corotrangul's fire vulnerability to 10% for 4 turns. Slightly slow.
- Ice Breath: Deals 120% ranged TEC-based ice damage to all party members. The damage ranges from 108 to 144 on average. Has a 70% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
- Flood: Deals 190% ranged TEC-based ice damage to 3-5 party members. The damage ranges from 171 to 228 on average. Attempts to inflict sleep on hit targets, with a 40% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 52% to 66% on average. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
- Tackle: Deals 100% melee STR-based bash damage that pierces party rows. The damage ranges from 174 to 206 on average. Has a 120% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
- Coiling Tail: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of one party member, with a 50% base chance. The effective chance ranges from 65% to 82% on average. Has no speed modifier.
- Freeze Aura: Increases Corotrangul's attack by 50% for 4 turns. Has no speed modifier.
- Aqua Veil: Reduces Corotrangul's fire vulnerability by 140%, to 10%, for 4 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier.
- Corotrangul always opens with Ice Breath.
- Corotrangul's chance to use Coiling Tail is increased slightly if no party members have binds.
- Corotrangul will never use Coiling Tail twice in a row. It has to use Flood, Ice Breath, Tackle, or a normal Attack before it can use Coiling Tail again.
- Phase 1: Lasts from 100% HP to 91% HP. Corotrangul uses Ice Breath, Tackle, and normal Attacks here.
- Phase 2: Lasts from 90% HP to 76% HP. Same as last phase, except Corotrangul will open this phase with Freeze Aura, and then use it whenever it's off its 5 turn cooldown.
- Phase 3: Lasts from 75% HP to 51% HP. Corotrangul starts using Coiling Tail here, and will open the phase with it. Aside from that, it still uses Ice Breath, Tackle, and normal Attacks.
- Phase 4: Lasts from 50% HP to 36% HP. Corotrangul opens this phase with Flood. After that, Corotrangul will use Flood randomly. Its chance is increased based on how few turns are left on its 5 turn cooldown. Besides that, it uses Ice Breath and Tackle.
- Phase 5: Lasts from 35% HP until death. Corotrangul will open this phase with Aqua Veil, and will refresh it on cooldown. In addition, Freeze Aura will no longer be used in this phase. Outside of these, this phase has similar priorities to Phase 3.
- If the Freeze Aura initialization flag is not set, Set the Freeze Aura cooldown to 5, and set the Freeze Aura initialization flag.
- If the Aqua Veil initialization flag is not set, Set the Aqua Veil cooldown to 5, and set the Aqua Veil initialization flag.
- If the Flood initialization flag is not set, Set the Flood cooldown to 5, and set the Flood initialization flag.
- If the Freeze Aura flag is set, decrease the Freeze Aura cooldown by 1.
- If the Aqua Veil flag is set, decrease the Aqua Veil cooldown by 1.
- If the Flood flag is set, decrease the Flood cooldown by 1.
- If this is the first turn, use Ice Breath.
- If Corotrangul's HP is at 35% or lower, and the Aqua Veil flag is not set, use Aqua Veil, and set the Aqua Veil flag.
- If the Aqua Veil cooldown is less than or equal to 0 and the Aqua Veil flag is set, use Aqua Veil. Set the Aqua Veil cooldown to 5.
- If the Flood flag is set:
- Flood cooldown less than or equal to 0: 89% chance to use Flood. Set the Flood cooldown to 5.
- Flood cooldown less than or equal to 1: 59% chance to use Flood. Set the Flood cooldown to 5.
- Flood cooldown less than or equal to 2: 34% chance to use Flood. Set the Flood cooldown to 5.
- Flood cooldown less than or equal to 3: 19% chance to use Flood. Set the Flood cooldown to 5.
- If Corotrangul's HP is at 90% or lower, and the Freeze Aura flag is not set, use Freeze Aura, and set the Freeze Aura flag.
- If Freeze Aura's cooldown is less than or equal to 0, the Freeze Aura flag is set, and the Aqua Veil flag is not set, use Freeze Aura. Set the Freeze Aura cooldown to 5.
- If Corotrangul's HP is at 50% or lower:
- If the Flood flag is not set, use Flood, set the Flood Flag, and unset the Coiling Tail flag.
- If no party members have binds, and the Coiling Tail flag is not set, 19% chance to use Coiling Tail and set the Coiling Tail flag.
- If the Coiling Tail flag is not set, 7% chance to use Coiling Tail and set the Coiling Tail flag.
- 44% chance to use Ice Breath and unset the Coiling Tail flag.
- 56% chance to use Tackle (Targets the front row) and unset the Coiling Tail flag.
- If Corotrangul's HP is at 75% or lower:
- If the initial Coiling Tail flag is not set, use Coiling Tail, and set the initial Coiling Tail flag.
- If no party members have binds, and the Coiling Tail flag is not set, 19% chance to use Coiling Tail and set the Coiling Tail flag.
- If the Coiling Tail flag is not set, 9% chance to use Coiling Tail and set the Coiling Tail flag.
- 29% chance to use Ice Breath and unset the Coiling Tail flag.
- 50% chance to use Tackle (Targets the front row) and unset the Coiling Tail flag.
- 21% chance to Attack and unset the Coiling Tail flag.
- 34% chance to use Ice Breath.
- 24% chance to use Tackle. (Targets the front row.)
- 46% chance to Attack.
- Flood: Deals ice damage to 3-5 enemies. Attempts to inflict sleep on hit targets. Slightly slow.
- Coiling Tail: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of one enemy. Average speed.
- Aqua Veil: Increases the user's fire resistance for 4 turns. Slightly slow.
- Flood: Deals ranged TEC-based ice damage to 3-5 enemies. Attempts to inflict sleep on hit targets. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
- Coiling Tail: Attempts to bind the head, arms, and legs of one enemy. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
- Aqua Veil: Increases the user's fire resistance for 4 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.
Drops:
- Normal: Huge Fin. 100% chance. Sells for 2390 en.
Ocean King Glove (+20 DEF, +2 TEC): Made from 1 Huge Fin. Costs 3080 en.
- Conditional: Venom Spine (Kill with poison damage). 100% chance. Sells for 11540 en.
Arc Drawer (+191 ATK, +3 TEC, +5 VIT): Made from 1 Venom Spine. Costs 163000 en.
Corotrangul is the first of many bosses from this point onward with a rather specific type of behavior. They basically have access to a "super move" of sorts, and it effectively gets put on cooldown after they cast it once, making it unlikely to be cast again soon. However as the turns go by, the chances of them casting said move again rises.As for Corotrangul itself, a lot of the real battle is in the preparation. If you're well prepared for it, it's not too bad a fight. If you aren't, it can get hairy fast.
It can be a major pain on Expert with the Story party due to their limited resources, since you're not likely to be swimming in King Grimoires and max level Action Boost, but hey, at least I got Corotrangul's pronunciation down from how many times I restarted this fight.
Going to be doing some setup here. Simon being in the front doesn't really matter, as this first turn is a freebie.
Raquna is basically going to be spamming Ice Wall throughout this entire fight, as Corotrangul's most dangerous skills are Ice Breath and Flood. Its physicals are very easy to deal with, as it's just a regular attack that hits one person, or basically a regular attack that hits 2 people. Coiling Tail is its other dangerous attack, but I made sure to give Raquna arm bind protection so she wouldn't be locked out of the walls if she gets hit with it. On the other party members, it's just a minor setback at most, so I didn't bother with bind protection there. The fun strategy of use this skill every turn or die. Don't you just love fighting with only 4 party members?
Dude is in the back row to help set up Bloody Offense on all my DPS party members.
Arthur is going to be setting up another big damage buff.
And Ricky... has absolutely nothing to do, so she's just going to use Charged Shot for some chip damage.
Ice Breath doesn't deal that much more damage than its physicals, but it hits everyone, so that attack wears down my party a lot more easily than a regular attack or Tackle.
Dude is going to set up a Tail Whip to deal with Freeze Aura. That buff can send its physicals into one shot territory, so preventing that from going up is something you really want to do! Especially since Raquna can't afford to not spam Ice Wall.
If Corotrangul opts for a physical attack, Delayed Heal should deal with that bit of chip damage.
And these two prepare for murder.
Its physicals do hit pretty hard. But not hard enough to be a one shot thanks to my equipment setup.
Nice to see that we don't have to worry about Aqua Veil anymore. Why didn't I ever come up with this stuff in my playthroughs...
Now is when we start the killing.
Delayed Heal just erased all of Corotrangul's hard work on taking this party down. Delayed Heal's main weakness aside from the cooldown is that it can't heal dead party members. The healing is so strong one shotting party members is the only surefire way to defeat a double Delayed Heal setup. Well that and disables. But Corotrangul pretty much can't touch us.
Yep. Basically can't touch us.
Some very nice damage on Corotrangul there! Unfortunately both Arthur and Ricky missed one of their hits in their assault.
And time for Simon to erase all of Corotrangul's hard work again. Man, now I know how a certain abyssal asshole feels.
Another thing that makes this fight a lot less scary is good DPS. Because taking its HP down to certain thresholds forces it to do something that's either not an attack, or an attack that's very easily dealt with. Since Corotrangul's HP is below 90%, it'll be forced to use Freeze Aura.
Which basically does absolutely nothing, as the Tail Whip debuff from Dude effectively blocks it.
Corotrangul's HP fell below 50%, which means it'll be forced to use another move on this turn.
And I'm actually going to let up on the DPS here, and have everyone aside from Raquna use a Hunting Horn! Because this skill is something I really want to get my hands on! Okay now you're just showing off. Heh. In the attempts where I didn't even bother with this bit of mercy, I was able to kill this thing in 7 turns.
Flood is easily Corotrangul's deadliest skill! It deals a hefty amount of damage, and also can put everyone hit with it to sleep! This is why you really want Ice Wall at a point where it can negate attacks, as it'll negate the sleep component from Flood as well. It's only saving grace is that sometimes it won't hit your entire party.
We've got this in the bag!
Pfft! Like I care about that buff at this point!
I can just have Arthur switch over to Volt! And Ricky has been DPSing with a purely physical attack all this time, so that's not gonna hinder her either! Aqua Veil was a 1% modifier in EO1, but the same strategy worked there, you could easily switch to Volt with your Alchemist, or just use composite attacks and completely ignore the buff. 
To the bottom of the sea with you! Or whatever the hell this watery forest is.
OH BABY!
Oh and our trophy for defeating this boss as well. I guess it's an alright prize. Oh fuck off being so blaise about getting a King Grimoire lmao To be fair, once you can set up the chances to be 100%, it's not really an ordeal to get them.
Overall, not too bad a fight as long as you're sufficiently prepared.
The bizarre monster swimming in the air silently falls to the earth before you. Thou hast defeated the guardian...? The girl, who seems strangely out of breath, glares at your party.
We come in peace! Really! Am I to believe those who not only taint the forest, but vanquished our guardian!? Should have known she wouldn't have bought that. Look, just because we've killed everything we've come across so far doesn't mean we won't kill you! Well, depends how good your drop is...
...I admit, we could have handled that a bit more delicately. Some of what she said caught my attention. Like that we're intruders who taint the forest... and something about their blood going mad. What could all that mean? ...We're so wanting for information that I couldn't even make a guess. Simon sighs while you look at where the girl had stood and notice something on the ground.
What is this? A stone tablet...? It looks like there's something written on it, but... If that girl dropped this, deciphering this writing could help us find out who or what she is. Let's take it to the Radha. They may be able to shed some light on what these mysterious creatures are.
We must find the Geomagnetic Field. As you say. Then let's go on. Whaaaat!? But I'm so tired...
Stop your whingeing, Arthur. Given how it was before, I don't think it can be too far from here. Though your companions have differences of opinion with each other, they trust in you. You turn to the path onward...
One last lily pad ride for the road.
And we're now done with the 15th floor! There's really nothing more for us here.
And now, welcome to the desert! I do suggest giving that track a listen! I like warm, soft sand on a breezy summer's day.
Ah, nothing like stepping into a new Stratum! That we won't be seeing more of for a good while because we have Gladsheim to worry about first!
Well, Simon, take it away.
As the young man chants phrases that still seem foreign to you, the column of light wavers.
It seems the preparations to travel to Gladsheim have been made.
Later. We need to go back to town to report our mission completion.
Corotrangul's normal drop makes this thing which... I guess it's a way to get some armor and TEC on a party member at the same time? Might be useful for Arthur at least. I don't know, I don't really use gloves outside of those weird BIS ones in the other games. Since gloves have never been all that interesting, at least it drops some bows in EO1. Much more useful.
The King Grimoire we got from Corotrangul is the Sea Grimoire, which comes with Abyssal Prayer. This skill has priority and what it does is for a whopping cost of 30 TP, you can reduce the TP costs of the skills your party casts by 10 for the current turn. (Or 1 to 9 depending on the skill level). It's... alright, I guess? Could have some use in explorations. Place it on Simon or Raquna if you really insist on using this.Oh and for the record, it sadly does not work on itself, so the user must front the entire 30 TP cost. And for those that are receiving the effects of this skill, they need to be able to pay for the initial TP cost in order to use their skills, so you can't just cast this if a party member doesn't have enough TP to use a skill. No matter what you do, the TP used up cannot go below 1, so some TP will always be spent. Also if you were thinking about exploiting Recharge with it, I'm sorry to say that it doesn't work as well as you think. Recharge only refunds the actual amount of TP used, it doesn't blindly return the initial cost. I mean at least it's not Queen's Mark?
Our real prize from that battle is Flood! And oh my goodness, this skill is so so very beautiful! It deals 235% TEC-based Ice damage to 3 to 5 enemies in the battle. This is the same amount of damage as a level 8 tier 3 formula, costing only 3 more TP! Not only does getting this save Arthur a ton of SP, allowing him to invest it elsewhere, it also comes with a whopping 52% chance to inflict Sleep on whoever it hits! The story party has great single target DPS, but their crowd control capabilities are very dubious. And this skill patches up that issue beautifully. Arthur's stat spread makes him the 2nd best inflictor in the game, so he can actually put enemies to sleep more often than not. Oh and this skill is faster than the tier 3 formulas, coming with a speed modifier of 80% instead of 60%. It makes use of the arms instead of the head, meaning that head binds can't shut it down completely, and if Arthur gets arm bound, he can just use his formulas instead. And in case you think there's an accuracy catch, there isn't! Has a base hit rate of 99%, just like the Alchemist formulas!So what's the catch? Um... I guess it's an overall 40% damage loss compared to a level 10 tier 3 formula, which deals 330% damage instead? Which is kind of a big hit in damage, but that sleep component making randoms more bearable is a huge benefit and a tradeoff I'm perfectly willing to take since that's easily the story party's weakest point. Oh and it isn't an actual AOE, only hitting 3 to 5 enemies. But in all honesty, that's not really a huge downside. Most formations don't really go over 4 enemies, and pelting even just 3 enemies with a decent chance of putting them to sleep does a lot already. In short, Flood is a fantastic pickup for Alchemists, and an even bigger boon if you're playing Story mode since it patches up such a huge hole in that party. I highly recommend going for this skill if you can!
Again, nice if you can get it, but if you have a turn spare to spam horns, might as well get lucky. Max level spells get very expensive later on, so having a slightly weaker one with a lot of utility is a much better trade, especially since the Story party has so little options for ailments and more interesting modes of play. 
I immediately fuse this baby onto Arthur's Grimoire Stone because after everything I've said, why wouldn't I use this? I kick out Corrode because that debuff wasn't going to be used anymore, and there are much better debuffs coming up anyways. Oh yeah, this is basically the point where the enemy skills really start getting good, especially for the story party!
Time to hand in that mission report.
I'd like to hear a detailed report, but first... The Chieftain has expressed a desire to hear the report directly from you.
We fought with them.
So... it came to blows. ...... In any case, well done, Achievers. Thanks to you, we can confirm that these unknown life forms do indeed exist. But did you retrieve anything that might perhaps give us a clue as to their nature? Yeah! It dropped that stone tablet with those weird letters, right, Dude? I see. Then the Radha will hold on to that stone tablet.
And Achievers... You must speak to no one of what you have seen. There is no need to cause undue panic in Etria's populace. This is an order. Am I understood? And regarding the ruin we called you here to investigate... I would like you to cease your activities there.
What...!? Forget about the forest. Forget about exploring it, forget whatever secrets it may hold, all of it. There are things in this world that man should not involve himself in...
Wait what!? Like hell we're giving up on exploring shit! No. We will investigate the ruin! What...? Pardon, Lord Visil, but I agree. Abandoning not only the ruin, but all exploration of the forest as well, seems like an odd move for Etria's Chieftain. Were you not gathering explorers for the purpose of finding what lies in the forest's depths? ...... Lord Visil? No, it's... nothing. It is as you say... We of the Radha... are staunch supporters of investigation into the forest. You are free to venture deeper into the forest as before. That is all. And of course, I have a reward prepared for you. Well done...
He seems very impressed with your work, judging by the reward he left with me.
I inquired after the strange creatures, but the Chieftain would not answer me. Achievers, won't you tell me what it was that you saw?
I see no reason to hide this from him.
...Interesting. A race that dwells within the forest and bears an enmity toward humans. They most likely know secrets of the forest that are hidden from us. Alas, it seems they view us with hostility... But we speak the same language, and may yet come to an accord. Hmmm... I'll look into this as best I can myself. Thank you, Achievers. The Chieftain forbade you to speak of this, no? I'm deeply grateful that you were willing to tell me the truth regardless. I ask that you continue your exploration of the ruin as well, and come to the Radha if anything troubles you. Now that we've turned in the mission report, the town's dialouge has updated.
Yeah... But don't you think that Visil guy was acting kind of weird? I agree. His words didn't seem to follow any logical consistency. One moment he says to stop, then to go on. He also acted strangely when that mysterious creature was mentioned. I feel he's trying to hide something. What do you think, Dude?
He's hiding something from us. I thought so, too. It almost sounded as though he was already aware of what we found in the depths of the Labyrinth. That's true, but... his name bothers me more. It might be pure coincidence, but Visil... I actually recognize that name. Huh? What do you mean? I remember there being a man named Visil a thousand years ago as well. What's more, he was part of the Yggdrasil Project. What? Wait, so that means...
I mean yeah, they've got a point. It's not like there was technology that could have cryogenically frozen him for 1,000 years. ...Wait. My chieftain is also named Visil. It's probably just a coincidence. Dude's right. Think about it logically. It has to be a coincidence. Well, duh. Though that is strange. The Chieftain of this city sharing a name with a member of the Yggdrasil Project...
Yeah. It bothers me, too... But I don't know what Visil from the project looked like, so I can't say if this is coincidence or not.
Maybe he is related somehow. What do you mean by that? Hmm... Maybe he's a descendant of that Visil, and they've just been passing down the name. Are you suggesting that they've been passing down the name for 1,000 years? That's highly unlikely. I guess... Well, I don't think we should worry about the Chieftain much for now. Our goal is to investigate Gladsheim and activate Gungnir, right? As long as they don't stop us from doing that, there's nothing to worry about.
...She does have a point.
Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let's go to Gladsheim! Later. Before we do that, let's check on the rest of the town first.
I was just thinking how different all of you looked when we first met. All the members of Achievers looked quite nervous when you first arrived here.
T'ey all impressed t'at y'know so much at your age. Most say t'ey love doin' business wit' you.
Valerie immediately talks to us when we go into the bar. At any rate, we're doing pretty fantastic so far, I think! Everything's going great.
Oh, I'm glad to hear it. Seeing veterans like you doing well encourages all the other adventurers. It feels like things are getting a little hectic at the Radha. I think they're going to issue another mission soon.
Well, no point in complaining about it. We gave our word that we wouldn't disclose this to the public.
...That girl really didn't want us in the forest. I'm sure some people are going to explore further. I wonder what the Radha's going to do about that. Who knows? I mean, they weren't even clear if they wanted us to continue investigating. Even if they don't like it, we have to continue our investigation of the forest I mean, we need to, in order to use Gungnir. I know that. But... We can communicate with them. Maybe we'll be able to negotiate with them to let us go further into the forest. ...To use words, not swords. An ideal solution to the problem, but... It all depends on their reaction to us. If they attack us immediately, we'll have no choice but to use force. Yeah, I know, I know, but... We still have a ways to go anyway. You just drink and eat like you always do, and it'll be fine! What do you think I am...? Hey, I'm ready to order! Let me get an order of broiled lamb, some coney stew cooked with herbs, and some high-grade salt pork bisque!
Hey, hold on! Can I get the usual? Oh, and some fine red cheese, and a plate of dried fruit, and also a galette with jam! ...Well, she's back to normal. Indeed... And now for the actual talk dialogue.
But Ricky doesn't eat much, does she? That worries me a little. I'll try to find something she'll like.
...But I know it is a top-secret matter. Rest assured, I haven't spoken of it to a soul.
How's it feel to lead Achievers? Are you enjoying it?
In a cosmic sort of way, yes. Haha! That's the spirit! Your guild's full of skilled adventurers. Of course it'd be fun to lead them. Keep up the good work. It'd be a waste if you didn't enjoy yourself. And that's it for this update! Next time, we'll explore the next part of Gladsheim.Next Update
Previous Update
Table of Contents
