Gaming Advices for character building in Etrian Odyssey 3

[Ritsuki]

Hi,

I've just started Etrian Odyssey 3, but I'm a bit confused with all that skill and class stuff. Just discovered that there are Common Skills, so now, I don't know if I should continue raise my Class Skills first, or my Common Skills... Fortunately, I'm still at the beginning of the game.

Here is my party :

LV4 Gladiator - LV3 Monk - LV4 Zodiac - LV4 Ninja - LV4 Arbalist


Fundamentaly, I'm just asking what would make a good and equilibrate party, and how to use skill points efficiently

Thanks in advance.

 

[Isabelyes]

Hi,

I've just started Etrian Odyssey 3, but I'm a bit confused with all that skill and class stuff. Just discovered that there are Common Skills, so now, I don't know if I should continue raise my Class Skills first, or my Common Skills... Fortunately, I'm still at the beginning of the game.

Here is my party :

LV4 Gladiator - LV3 Monk - LV4 Zodiac - LV4 Ninja - LV4 Arbalist


Fundamentaly, I'm just asking what would make a good and equilibrate party, and how to use skill points efficiently

Thanks in advance.

If I were you, I'd just ignore the Common skills, with the exception of TP Up, which should be maxed out for TP-dependant classes like the Zodiac.

Furthermore, your party is pretty good.

Gladiator: I don't use him, so I wouldn't know what you should do with him. However, make sure to get Berserker Vow and Charge; both can multiply your damage so efficiently it's just not funny anymore.

Monk: Well, Healing skills, I'd suppose. Also, make sure to get Refresh and Unbind around level ~4,5 -> That's when they become row-focused, rather than healing only one individual.

Zodiac: METEOR. Seriously, I can't stress this enough. Forget the elements; Meteor is your best. friend. EVER.

Ninja: Cloning skills, ofcourse. I found Izuna to be quite handy every now and than. Also, Kagerou is great for the beginning of the game.

Arbalist: Never used them, nor do I have anyone subclassed as one.


Later on, you'll get the option to choose subclasses. With the exception of the Class-exclusive skill, you'll be able to put skillpoints in every skills of the class you choose.

I'd recommend:

Gladiator/? (I have no idea)
Monk/Princess (Because of her crazy passive healing skills, and her great great great row-buffing skills, like Attack Order and Prevent Order. Seriously, this is great.)
Zodiac/Gladiator (Berserker Vow + Charge + Meteor is MASSIVE DESTRUCTION! Also, throw in a Princess' Attack Order for even more killing fun.)
Ninja/Zodiac (Ninja's 'Decrease every skill's TP cost' coupled with Dark Ether and Clone will enable the whole party to use skills without any cost at all, save for the 2 TP used by the two Ninja's. Also, use Dark Ether on the Zodiac's Row every single turn.
This will enable you to cast Meteor in every single random battle, which, needless to say, is pretty fucking awesome.)
Arbalist/? (I wouldn't know...T-T)

Anyway, I'd recommend getting a Hoplite. Maybe subclassing your Gladiator as one might be a good idea, but personally I'd just ditch the Gladiator and go for a Hoplite. Their Line Guard is extremely helpful. Clone her, and make her guard both rows every turn to greatly decrease damage gained from e.g. bosses etc.

Also, Pirate's are pretty handy, partly due to their Hanging skill (binds head), and their Lights Out coupled with the 'Gain 10 TP when using an attack skill' skill. Also, Eagle Eye (Reduce one enemy's defense for three turns) is madly awesome in combination with Meteor (and Attack Order, Dark Ether, Berserker Vow, Charge, and maybe even the Limit Skill Charge Tactic, but, eh.)


...I understand this might be a little bit overwhelming.
Forget my explanations; just go with the party and whenever you need the info, it'll be here.

Good luck - you'll need it! ^-^

Edit: If you want more help, I'd recommend PM'ing me instead of posting here. I'll probably forget about this thread in a few days, so I won't notice anything you post here.

 

[Ritsuki]

Wow, thanks for your advices

 

[vanillakokakola]

I've been wondering about this as well. I've got:

Front Row: LV 8 Pirate - LV 8 Monk - LV 8 Hoplite
Back Row: LV 7 Farmer (I LOVE item collection in RPGs) - LV 8 Zodiac

And sometimes if I know I'll be only battling and not doing any item collection, I'll switch the farmer out for a LV 4 Wildling, but I'm not sure that he's the best choice.

 

[dgwillia]

Truthfully, i doubt think having a Main Farmer class is really useful. Whenever i needed to get items, i'd usually swap half of my party out for level 5-10 Farmers, then keep my Princess or Monk with them and go item hunting.

You'd be better off Sub Classing something as Farmer (Since they have REAALLY low attack and not many Weapon options)

So far, iv been using....(All level 38-39)

Front Row Gladiator, Monk/Zodiac, Princess/Buccaneer (Might rest this one

 

[vanillakokakola]

I had NO idea about subclassing. What should I replace my farmer with? I don't really know what would compliment my party well as a second back-row character.

 

[dgwillia]

I guess it really depends, my favorite backrow is probally Wildling, because they can do pretty good damage if you give them a spear (And Subclassing Hoplite gives them extra damage and defense), plus they can Summon animals that have pretty awesome effects.

Seeing the other classes you have, Wildling or Arbalist would be your best bet. Unless you might be interested in a Princess. (In which case you'd have to switch something to Back Row, since Princess's get targeted like crazy in the back)

 

[shiningnegro]

I wouldn't bother with common skills, making your class skills now is a lot more useful. Common skills are much better when you are high level when you got all the class skills that you need and don't want to put skill points into moves that you would never use

Also your team looks nice your probably going to need extra healing items in your inventory since your monk is the only healer

i suggest:

with your Gladiator get stun attack and max that as fast as you can helps so much even against bosses
with your Arbalist get the Giant Hunting skill and max not right away but gradually it will make it the strongest person on your team
with your monk focus on healing and get that class skill that increases healing rates don't bother with fists yet low level it isn't good

i didnt have a Zodiac or Ninja (My arbalist is subclass ninja just for cloning)

 

[WarBuddhaV]

My setup currently

Front
Gladiator/Shogun - Just raw TPless melee damage, generally save TP for boss
Hoplite/???? - When I know the enemies are going to hurt, I use him to draw attention and soak up damage, making the princess cast defense buff the first round. I might make him ninja for evasion boosting powers in all honesty.

Back
Princess/Monk- Super Awesome Healing Powers.
Zodiac Ninja- Cheap but extremely Powerful magic.
Arbalast/???- Can't decide with this one, thinking about doing zodiac for that No TP for a round ability and just let my casters go crazy, but if I did that I'd just as well make another zodiac/ninja, so for now I have her as is, saving her SP.


This game is fuckin awesome. It's brutal in difficulty requiring constant grinding. On top of customizable classes, this is an RPG I've been waiting a long time for. Also not all of those are multiclasses, just two different characters.

 

[Isabelyes]

I've been wondering about this as well. I've got:

Front Row: LV 8 Pirate - LV 8 Monk - LV 8 Hoplite
Back Row: LV 7 Farmer (I LOVE item collection in RPGs) - LV 8 Zodiac

And sometimes if I know I'll be only battling and not doing any item collection, I'll switch the farmer out for a LV 4 Wildling, but I'm not sure that he's the best choice.


@Subclassing:

Pirate/Princess
Monk/Princess
Hoplite/Ninja
Farmer -> Ninja/Zodiac
Zodiac/Gladiator

And then you can just do whatever I'm doing, except that your Monk/Princess will be far better than my Princess/Monk.

Explanations:

Pirate/Princess: Having two Princesses is just really awesome. For example, if one of them is head bound, you can still use the other to remove her - and everyone else's- binds. Also, if an enemy uses a nasty free-ailment-for-everyone skill - like the Sixth Stratum's Dreamsmasher, whose most horrible petrifies everyone, mostly used at the first turn - you can use prevent order on both rows, thus rendering your whole party safe to whatever your enemy might be doing (regarding ailments, ofcourse).

Monk/Princess: Because of the second Princess. Also, Having one Healing-focused character is just nice.
Another benefit of having two Princesses is having everyone healed for ~100 HP at the end of every turn - as long as both have max HP. However, you won't have to rely on simply one person to have max HP; if one of the two Princesses gets damaged, the other might be able to heal her, and everyone else etc.

Hoplite/Ninja: Line Guard on every row, every turn. Now that's effective. Also, things like getting an evasive boost and all are pretty nice.

Ninja/Zodiac: See my first post in this thread.

Zodiac/Gladiator: Again, see my other post.

Hope this helps!

~Isa-chan



QUOTE(dgwillia @ Nov 21 2010, 09:23 PM) Unless you might be interested in a Princess. (In which case you'd have to switch something to Back Row, since Princess's get targeted like crazy in the back)

I disagree. I've got a Princess in the Back Row, and she's doing just fine.
I'd advice against placing her in the upper-left spot, though. That's the one that gets targeted the most.
(Note that this is not a mere observation; it's actually part of the way the game works, you know.)

 

[dysan]

ultimate strategy:

front row:

prince
prince

back row:

prince
princess
princess

max out their heal after turn/battle/while walking

lol try it!

 

[Isabelyes]

ultimate strategy:

front row:

prince
prince

back row:

prince
princess
princess

max out their heal after turn/battle/while walking

lol try it!

Dude.
Overkill.

Go for it. ^-^

 

[shiningnegro]

Unless you might be interested in a Princess. (In which case you'd have to switch something to Back Row, since Princess's get targeted like crazy in the back)

I disagree. I've got a Princess in the Back Row, and she's doing just fine.
I'd advice against placing her in the upper-left spot, though. That's the one that gets targeted the most.
(Note that this is not a mere observation; it's actually part of the way the game works, you know.)

I never noticed this upper-left spot being the most targeted my arbalist is there and usually never gets attacked unless its an aoe move but my shogun on the upper-right gets targeted like crazy unless my hoplite provokes and she is standing in the front and centre

o.o maybe i shud move my hoplite over a bit

for OP my team: My team is made so that if i press "L" i can walk away and bosses die

Arbalist/Ninja - just Clone and double my striking ability (my best damage dealer)
Hoplite/Shogun - mainly for reducing damage for my front row, provoking, maxing the parrys are very helpful
Shogun/Gladiator - maxed stun attack is like a 50/50 chance to stun and with dual wield increases those odds to somewhere between 66%-75%
Princess/Hoplite - princess can wear the same armor as a hoplite so their defense can be just as high, my main buffer and protects the back line from damage
Monk/Princess - main healer

My team has binds on all of their weapons my team doesn't use TP a lot only when its necessary

 

[Isabelyes]

My team has binds on all of their weapons my team doesn't use TP a lot only when its necessary

You forged them that way, I suppose? That's pretty smart.
I almost never use Forge, due to its cost and my heavily skill-based party.
Not that I've ever got a TP shortage, mind you. ^-^

Still, your party seems pretty good. Lots of ideas and combinations I never really thought about - I've been too focused on making Meteor awesome.
It is, mind you, but still. If I'll ever replay this game, I might try your strategy.

@OHKO-ing bosses: Does this also count for the Dragon?
I think not...*Evil grin*

Anyway, keep up the good work, I guess! :3

 

[shiningnegro]

My team has binds on all of their weapons my team doesn't use TP a lot only when its necessary

You forged them that way, I suppose? That's pretty smart.
I almost never use Forge, due to its cost and my heavily skill-based party.
Not that I've ever got a TP shortage, mind you. ^-^

Still, your party seems pretty good. Lots of ideas and combinations I never really thought about - I've been too focused on making Meteor awesome.
It is, mind you, but still. If I'll ever replay this game, I might try your strategy.

@OHKO-ing bosses: Does this also count for the Dragon?
I think not...*Evil grin*

Anyway, keep up the good work, I guess! :3

I dunno about the dragon i haven't seen it yet (nor do i know where it is), When i New Game+ i wanna try a tp oriented team with a whole new line up and play style.

 

[Ritsuki]

Eh... What is this 'bind' thing ?

 

[shiningnegro]

Eh... What is this 'bind' thing ?

Every skill in the game is linked to a part of the body (head, arms or legs), if one is bound the skills using that part cannot be used. Some extra things binding legs makes that person or monster not able to escape (which is good for parasan's), binding arms lows the damage that person or monster deals