Update 9: The Thorny, Not-Too-Tearful Trail



Momoe. Emmett. Quixote.
Hwauuuugh. Yes, Mom? WAIT NO--
Pfft...
That is extremely hilarious!
...Ignore-- Pfft, control yourself, Judith... Okay, ignoring that...remark, we need to have a serious discussion, you three.
Is it about the smell of fish that still lingers from our genuine-but-failed attempt at cooking fish?
No. It's about your ridiculous escapade with Coeurl, and how it nearly got the three of you, Afon, and Elowen killed-- Oh, hello, Sigrid.
O-oh, yes, hi, Judith. There was, um... I-I need Momoe for something. Like, um, right about now.
...I'm still going to give you the lecture tonight, Momoe.
Fine by me! See ya, Judith! You're kinda bad at lying, but still, thank you for saving me.
Mhm.



Let's get on with it after an embarassingly long break.

And we're off to a great start with my bad initial mapping.
exaggerated map outrage goes here

Those are th' weirdest vines I've ever seen.
Kinda looks like someone just covered them all in bright red paint.
Perhaps these thorny vines are stained red by the blood of those before us!
Nope. That shade of red is way too bright for it to be blood.
...No one respects artistic license...
Say hello to damage tiles. It wouldn't be an EO game without them. Step on them, and all your party members will lose 10 HP.
They're mostly a nuisance and serve to make you waste a lot of TP on this floor. Afterwards they just kind of exist.


This early part of the floor is pretty decent for farming bees, if you need to do that.

Like, for example, if you need Sharp Stringers for a quest.

This is also your periodic reminder that a handful of enemies in EOU have a 5% chance to drop Amber Lumps.
It's relatively useful, considering that most of your Nectar uses will be used on a healer unless you don't run a Medic. And you should really just have a ressurection method available anyways.

Oh, hey, we do.








Good job, everyone. ...S-So, those things are purple because they're poisonous, right?
Probably? I'm not sure, and I don't really wanna find out.
Just...leave them in the bag. Ugh, what a request...








The floor of a lot of damage tile puzzles is "you can either go across the damage tiles and take a short path in exchange for HP, or go the long way around and not take any damage."


The heck do plants even need fangs f'?
You look at a carnivorous plant and you question its fangs, not the fact that it exists.

Fanged Vine

HP: 224
STR: 17
TEC: 13
VIT: 13
AGI: 13
LUC: 15

EXP Given: 380

Skills:
Grimoire Skills:
  • Gouging Thorn: Uses the arms. Attempts to inflict blind on all enemies. Has a 120% speed modifier at all levels.
Drops:Damage Vulnerabilities:
150% 100% 100%
150% 100% 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
50% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
100% 50% 100%
These jerks can bind your damage dealers' arms in addition to dealing pretty significant damage to them, and then blind your entire party. They drag out encounters, which is never a good thing when dealing with potentially deadly monsters.
These things are pretty awful on their own, but they're extremely deadly in tandem with high attack enemies due to removing melee attacking and mitigation through binds and blind. Take them out ASAP before your frontliners are completely shut down.

Wagh! It's like my old haircut's back!


Rock-a-bye Fanged Vines, on the jungle floor!
Firstly, please don't shout right after you put things to sleep. Secondly, you messed up the rhythm.
Messing up the rhyme scheme is terrifying Emmett! See?!
It sounds...wrong... My ears are screaming...


Right in the middle of the...mouth-like...opening.








Ooh, that's niiiice.
You look in the direction from whence it came and see a large blossom. You are tempted to approach the flower to touch it, though it may be wise to ignore it and be on your way.
This is part of the Adorable plants quest, so... I don't have a lot of choice here.

I mean that literally, by the way. If you try to run, the following events happen anyway.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Aw, lighten up, Jude. It's just a--
As you reach towards the flower, it begins to wriggle.
Oops.
Vincent.
You blink to yourself, confused, when suddenly the flower leaps at you!




Mmngh... No more...swords...
...Are you a pinball table? 'Cause I just hit the jackpot...
Time for a nice...jungle nap...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Ah, great, the old guy screams in his sleep.

Petaloid

HP: 191
STR: 17
TEC: 20
VIT: 15
AGI: 18
LUC: 19

EXP Given: 700

Skills:
Grimoire Skills:
  • Sleep Powder: Uses the head. Attempts to inflict sleep on all enemies. Has a 70% speed modifier at all levels.
Drops:Damage Vulnerabilities:
150% 100% 100%
150% 100% 100%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100% 100% 50% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
150% 100% 100%
The origin of a common EO enemy (kinda). Petaloids on their own in EO1 were pretty pathetic, since it was single-target. In EO2, Sleep Powder got upgraded to be multi-target, and that change has now propogated to EOU.

With that history lesson out of the way, Petaloids are just kinda annoying on their own, but can make most any random encounter a nightmare very quickly.

Incidentally, if you tried to run earlier, the battle will not be a blindside.
This particular instance of this enemy type isn't terribly threatening due to their tendency to fall over to a stiff breeze, but they can set you up for some serious hurt from other enemies if you aren't careful.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA oh hello, Terrifying Flower.


...Gah-hah! Oh, thank god, it was just a dream, oh, dear god, I was sleeping in the middle of battle.


Okay, jungle naps are quite painful...


Night-night.






You suddenly recall that you had taken a request from a botanist who was searching for where Petaloids dwell. This must be the Petaloids' home... The request will be complete once you find the time to return to the botanist at the pub and report this spot to him.
Now that we know where the Petaloid's spot is, we'll need to report that back to Johan when we go back to town.

I put some Guard Soles on because I want/need to walk over a bunch of damage tiles.

Alright, it's a--ow--good thing we put these shoes on...
Guard Soles reduce damage tile damage down to 1.
It's kind of annoying that they still damage you by 1 in this game. It wasn't a thing in earlier games, damn it!

I feel like questioning why there's a loop of damage tiles here.

You can kinda see what I was talking about earlier here, with the length of damage tile paths compared to paths without damage tiles.
They pretty much shove the gimmick in your face before completely abandoning it because it actually sucks a lot.



Death Scorpion

HP: 258
STR: 18
TEC: 13
VIT: 18
AGI: 14
LUC: 13

EXP Given: 400

Skills:
Grimoire Skills:
  • Numbing Sting: Uses the legs. Deals melee STR-based stab damage to one party member. Attempts to inflict poison and paralysis on the target. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99%.
Drops:Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 150%
100% 100% 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 50% 50% 100% 100% 150% 100%
100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
Death Scorpions can either deal loads of damage with Numbing Sting plus its poison, or annoy you with Numbing Sting's damage plus its paralysis.
These things hit pretty hard and if you aren't taking them seriously the paralysis can catch up to you quickly. That on top of their vague tankiness makes them a fairly moderate threat, but Volt will take them out really easily.

I just kinda put both of the monsters to sleep and killed them before they could get a chance to act, so...
Honestly, giving things a chance is running a risk.





More Sword Mastery for Judith.

Couldn't hurt to have Vince work towards Aegis and En Garde for a bit, given that the Walls and Front Guard are at comfortable levels for now.
Aegis and En Garde will prove to be useful much later. Points in DEF Up don't really hurt either.

Upper Stance gives Momoe more of an attack buff.

Emmett's songs are still a bit slow for my liking, so he's still working on Song Mastery.

And Evil Eye gets ever-so-slightly more reliable.

Oooooowugh, that smell...
Momoe, I know you like to act like a child, but-- MY GODS!
Formaldehydes give you all the drops of any enemies killed on the turn it was used--this includes conditional drops you didn't fulfill the condition for. They're extremely useful for conditionals your party cannot fulfill, or for conditions that are just general pains in the ass like "kill with curse damage."

...And I thought Meregho Saeno was big...
You ever actually seen dat Saeno thing?
No, but I've heard tales of its height...
Giant Moas change direction every 3 turns, will aggro on you when you enter their short cone of vision, and chase you while you're in their "room" until you leave it.

Ooh, I ain't had a good swing in a long ti--
Outta the way, armor boy, I'm the one most in need of a breather.


Judith makes sure to get a firm grip on the vine before kicking off the ground! The vine goes back and forth like a natural swing... The motion of the vine sets off a rush of adrenaline in Judith!


OOOOOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
Judith gives a shout to match the sudden surge of joy! An intense feeling of liberation and satisfaction fills Judith...!


Ah, I haven't relieved stress that well in forev--
But as one might expect, the loud cry lures a monster to your position, which announces itself by charging at you!
...Judith...
Don't. Say. A word.


Nothing I can't handle.
It's all disablers. There's not really enough execution power here to be threatening.

No concluding dialogue for that event.


Went back to town to save.
Petal Coat (+18 DEF, +1 AGI) is made from 1 Vivid Petal (Fanged Vine rare). Costs 600 en.


I suppose these birds aren't particularly observant.
It's very easy to get a preemptive on Giant Moas.

Ooh. This'll let us open doors that previously had white crystals in front of them.

ugh
"Ugh" pretty much describes a lot of early encounters in the 2nd Stratum. They aren't terribly threatening, just annoying and impeding.

I could provide detailed commentary on these rooms, but seriously, navigating around Giant Moas is really easy.

This is a spot that activates when Horticulture is active. Make sure you're prepared before starting it.
nicolas cage
As you walk through the forest, you come to a peaceful grove where sunlight shines through the trees. You take a moment to relax in this calm space, and recall a quest that you undertook at the pub. The quest-giver wanted you to plant seeds in the memory of his late friend, a gardener. He mentioned that a place on B7F would be perfect... This must be the spot.
Just gotta scatter the seeds around-- Yeek!
Just as you plant the seeds in the ground, you feel danger approaching you from behind. You quickly whirl around as a swarm of bees attacks!




Pollen Bee

HP: 164
STR: 17
TEC: 15
VIT: 12
AGI: 20
LUC: 14

EXP Given: 621

Skills:
Grimoire Skills:
  • Poison Sting: Uses the legs. Deals melee STR-based stab damage to one enemy. Attempts to inflict poison on the target. Has an 80% speed modifier and a base accuracy of 99% at all levels.
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 150% 100%
100% 100% 150%

Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 50% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
100% 100% 100%
Pollen Bees are slightly buffed-up versions of Army Wasps. Not sure what else I can really say about them.
They have enough to say for themselves in the form of the actual encounters.

I always knew...bees were the worst...


Bees might be the worst, but that doesn't prevent--


It...doesn't prevent me...from dying, too...
These things hit really hard for small enemies and it can add up really quickly.







Aw, come on.
And here's why this event really sucks.








Buzz off already!









We just wanted t' plant some flowers, you guidos!
...You're stealing Ladette's vocabulary now?
Focus on the damn bees right now!



Five Pollen Bees is actually fairly dangerous, given how quick they are.
BEEEEES this is an early case for falcon slash being really useful

My sword's got more bee guts on it than I ever thought possible...



I got out of it just fine.
That event can be utterly disastrous for a newer player and will likely kill someone who isn't prepared. The poison can easily double-tap anyone it hits in a single turn so it's pretty easy to get overwhelmed quickly.


You turn back to where you planted the seeds and see a giant blue flower, more beautiful than any you've seen. This divine flower must be the very one spoken of in the client's final words. If you were to bring this flower back to town and plant it in the garden, the old man's spirit would surely be happy. You carefully dig up the soil around the flower and prepare to take it back with you to the pub.











Oh, is that the flower that grew from the seeds?
Correctamundo!
I've never seen such a beautiful bloom before. I wish the old man could have seen this. Anyway, thank you. I'll take this to the flower garden.








At this point, I remembered to talk to Johan.
Ah, you've returned! Does that mean...you've discovered where the Petaloids live?! Am I right?
You are right.
What great fortune! Now, please point out where the Petaloids dwell.


Bada-bing.
Oh-ho-ho! So THAT's where they were hiding, the rascals. Good! I'm going to investigate this immediately!


...Hey, Vince, I've been wondering. Why do you talk like this, anyway?
Ehsawha?
I mean, Ladette talks kinda like that, but nowhere near as...exaggeratedly. Otherwise, I've never heard anyone say things like "bada-bing."
...I'm, uh, gonna plead silence on dis.


Now I know in what kind of environment they make their homes. I tried investigating further, but they attacked me and I was forced to flee... Still, now that I know where they live, it doesn't matter! I can go meet them as many times as I want!
I mean, whatever makes you happy.
I'm absolving our guild of responsibility if you get murdered by monsters down there.
My research is far from over, but you've done your job. I've given your reward to the hostess, so get it from her.








The client really enjoyed the results, huh? I could hear him all the way over here, haha. Well, here's your reward. He even threw in a little extra because you did so well.


Axcelas can only be used in battle, and immediately restore 10 Boost to one party member. Not the most...useful item.
With proper setups, you typically only need one round of Boost to do sufficient damage. Baseline Axcelas are underwhelming and mostly good for extra cash.





Sword Mastery 5 unlocked a skill Judith's probably never going to use.
Sorry, this skill is still under construction. Come back in two more games.

Yup.

More Upper Stance attack buff.

Quicker songs.

Slightly more likely fear.


And we're done with B7F.

Let's not go back to town, because there's one small thing I wanna investigate.

Gotta open every door.


Water flows between the trees here, and there are standing pools of water. Merely by standing here, you begin to feel lighter.


This feels extremely nice!





Nope, we are getting out right now.
Now it's town time.


I hope your mission goes well for you. If you earn the Radha's trust, people will respect you so much more here.



Wonder what kind o' weapon I could make from its hide. Oh, don't get me wrong! I'm not askin' you t'go and kill t'Wyvern for its materials or not'in' like t'at!
You're not great at this "lying" thing.



Please be careful.



Yeeeeeees?
...A Wyvern egg must be huge. I wonder how big it would be sunny-side up.
...Oh.


One-armed drunkard:
...If it isn't the talk of the town. You've got another mission to do for the Hall, right? Why're top shots like you slumming with me? You know I'm a liar. Somebody who talks about monsters that don't exist...
C'mon, we know better than to listen to your self-deprecation by this point.
...What's with you? ...Investigating Wyverns, huh? Well, it's their season for laying eggs, so if that's your goal... Once a Wyvern lays her eggs, she'll do everything to rid her lair of any intruders. A half-assed adventurer can't possibly stand up against its breath. But that breath is also its weakness. When she uses her breath attack, she can't use it again right away. ...Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you. Be careful, Tenebris.
Maiden in a white coat:
I've heard terrifying news about a horrible monster deep in the forest. There are people who leave, all set to defeat it, but far too few of them return... You're adventurers too, right? Please...be careful.
Precocious girl:
I know everything! I listened to a bunch of adventurers with my Daddy here at the pub! Um, there are two types of locked doors in the forest. But a lot of people forget about the doors, even after they find the keys! ...Daddy's careless. All the other adventurers laughed at him. Hee hee! I'm a careful person, so I won't lose the key to my house!


Oh lord I am not touching that bottom one for a while. Not because it's hard, but because it's tedious.

A favor to Shilleka III:
Decided to take the request, have you? Good, I've been hoping someone would. Head on over to Shilleka's Goods and ask her what she needs help getting. She's been in a good mood ever since her weapon selection's increased a fair bit. Good luck with this one!






Not quite yet.
It is rare for them to ever leave their nests before the eggs hatch, so you should be careful.
That does it for now. Next time: the Wyvern egg mission, which encompasses most of B8F.
Featuring significantly less damage floors and bees.

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