HIKINEET'S PROFILE

I kind of gave up on exploring all of F17. Was there any other legendary equipment on that floor besides the Unlimited Power accessory? How do I get to the teleport "island" on F18, the teleport tile directly south-west of the stairs leading down?

??? was a difficult boss. This was where I learned Vital Rend is infinitely more useful for bosses/enemies 'cause they will definitely have more HP than your party members and thus deal double damage until they're near dead. Absolute Nova/Lightning/Zap also hurt.

For the most part, I didn't have to use Immunize 'cause ??? only ever inflicted Poison and once Pestilence. I had Randell set up Defense Up & Vanguard on everyone and then Aggravate to draw attacks. Sordis' role was to Power Crush for that very useful Attack Down and then SPP though ??? tended to use Immunize/Cure to ruin the combo. Felicie spent the whole battle not attacking and instead buffing the party's Attack with Charge Forward and giving them healing via Mass Heal Boost/Regeneration. I always have Tyrund set up Bullet Dance first turn, then Eagle Eye, and Power Burst on the same turn Sordis uses Focus Magia, then Extra Step/Double Markshot the following turn. Though for this battle, I picked up Virus/Chaos bullets to give his attacks the chance to inflict Sickness/Panic for 4 turns. Should have differentiated them though since they and Bullet Dance are all represented as a gun icon which makes it hard to tell which buff is active.

Anyway, defeated ??? and the background turned gray...at which point the boss revived due to the Star's Blessing it had equipped. Then, not satisfied with using just one "Player-exclusive" feature, it also Extra-Stepped. I have to say I didn't really feel sad when I killed ???, though that probably had to do with how you barely got to know ???. It was kind of obvious who the boss was going be, considering how they chose to enter the dungeon after all this time. EO is also fond of having an important NPC end up like this with something capable of destroying the world at the very bottom of the dungeon.

Nonetheless, this boss can really dish out damage so attack nerf/defense buffs are a must. When it uses Focus Magia, that's your cue to guard on the following turn. While it's not immune to status, it does however have the means to cure or immunize itself. Which is where a dispel skill like Void/Burst comes in handy, though it can also likewise do the same. I had Sordis and Randell equip the Star Shard accessory and the 30% chance to reflect magic did come in handy.

Its boss drop: the Star's Gift accessory is definitely what I like to get. You said the boss drops can be re-used once per dungeon visit but they remain grayed-out for me. Not that it matters since the Demon Rage became redundant now that I've unlocked and purchased Monster Ward. Still, that boss drop could be changed into an equip with a unique passive buff/gives a unique skill. Likewise, when you get the Malevolent Flame its torch function is unneeded (you've long cleared zone 2; F17 is permanently dark). It too would have been better as an equip like say "Gives the spell 'Foxfire' when equipped. Works like Thunderstorm/Bullet Dance but attack duration is infinite instead."

So F21 has tiles you slide across like you'd find in an ice area. The random encounters get a new battle theme which is nice and fitting since these are the strongest monsters in the game. I don't know if it's true for all of them, but the clouds at least get two attacks per turn. I like the black/red checker color scheme of the place. Can't say the same for the "fake" red chests that give store-bought items. Must be the lighting since when I open them, they turn brown (the color of chests which contain items buyable in the store). If there's one thing I learned from chests in this game, it's that I shouldn't buy too much equipment from the stores because I might find them for free in the dungeon and save money. F22 is the return of damage tiles except unlike zone 3's which you can walk through with impunity, these hurt a lot, aren't fire-element and thus can't be weakened/nulled by fire resist, and still do a little damage even with hazard shoes active. F23 adds tiles that can poison you which can be avoided if you use immunize outside of battle. You can also find randomly-generated Darkstar Beads on the ground which are one-use items that deal Absolute damage to all enemies which is nice if you don't have Natalie. Only problem is zone 4 & 5 enemies are resistant to Absolute.

Considering the Immunity accessory can be bought in the shop and the Immunize skill prevents all statuses and not just Sickness, I probably won't bother walking through all the floors to bring Nessiah to Rhyme even though Monster Ward would make it easy. Having Auto-Reflect or a Critical-booster is a better use of the slot anyway.

So Tired Cure says it cures Exhaust so is there a way for the player to inflict Exhaust? Crawler sub-class' Exhaust Gas just damages SP. I'm guessing Exhaust is the same as poison except for SP? An Exhaust status doesn't really matter anyway since Gas is enough really to neutralize their spell-casting.

I've seen enemies use Pandora's Box. I'm guessing it inflicts a random status effect? I've also seen one enemy cast Magic Mirror which is one turn of Magic Reflect. I'm gonna assume you gave the final boss that ability too which would make it interesting to fight and by interesting I mean: I use Focus Magia and cast a spell but it outspeeds me and reflects it and I kill myself. And if it can't use Magic Mirror/Counterattack, I hope you consider such a boss for a future game. Can Void/Burst dispel Magic Mirror or do they get reflected?

Okay, reached the Devourer. Was there any legendary item on F24? All I found were some store equips and a transcending drink. Actually, I haven't found a single legendary (green chest; unique, can't be bought in store) item yet in the Blackhole. Are there even any at all?

Timeless Blaze... So are you meant to equip Moon Shard and hope it reflects its spell back and OHKO itself? If so, that's anti-climatic. So anything new in New Game+ besides the black menu, keeping your party/levels/items, and higher level enemies? I noticed you can't select the difficulty by holding down shift 'since it gives you 10 Star's Prayers and doesn't have perma-death.

Though really, not much replay value except to play as the four other party members that you didn't get which sadly you can't do on a NG+.

Found the Unlimited Power accessory! -90% MP cost at the price of -90% healing. Though if you cast Heal Boost, you cancel out that penalty, hehe.

Navigating a dark maze with teleportation tiles is gonna be tough, even more so if I want to find all the green treasure chests with 'legendary' equipment like the aforementioned accessory.

What is that glittering tile at the bottom south-end of Floor 9?

Boss drops aren't re-usable for me even when I leave and re-enter the dungeon. Also, found a game-breaking bug where you can repeatedly increase your characters' AP by resetting their sub-class.

Soul Blade damages MP but do enemies even have MP? I guess it's hard to tell 'cause they don't have a gauge. That and you're likely to wipe out random encounters before they run out of MP. Bosses of course would have so much MP that you wouldn't even bother reducing it.

What does boosting Guard Rate do?

Is Critical Stance's Critical Charge buff different from Eagle Eye's Critical Hit rate buff? Also, I know crits normally do x2 damage and equipment/passives can raise it, I was just wondering if PB+1 did more than double your damage for a turn; it says +100% Power Boost which is the same as PB. Also, Smeeping Gas has a 60% inflict rate but Smeeping Gas+1 also says 60%; copy-paste error?

The Crawler sub-class has a passive called First Strike. It gives them a chance to strike a random enemy for normal attack damage at the start of battle. I don't really like it considering even maxed it's only a 60% activation rate. Not to mention it only activates once per battle. It'd be a different story if it could activate every turn. Better yet, a passive Thunderstorm or Bullet Dance-type skill rather than normal attack damage. I looovvveee Tyrund's Bullet Dance. It's like EO's Apollon skill (fires a powerful shot that lands two turns later) except better 'cause it hits each turn.

Randell's Slashdown instantly kills an enemy with less HP than him. So what does the +1 version do besides cost 20 more SP?

Randell's Divider does damage equal to 50% of the target's HP (except bosses obviously). So if used against an enemy weak to light, does it kill them (50% * 2 = 100%)?

His Bloodline Magia turned out to heal more than I thought. Well, still not that useful compared to a SP-healing potion. Plus it doesn't heal much early-game. Would have been better if it gave the entire party Focus Magia or even a unique magic-based buff just for Randell.

His Guardian Angel heals a random ally each turn for 4 turns. That makes it unreliable. Though if it were reliable, it'd just be a re-named Regeneration. Alternatively, it could work like Cover/Protect where Randell takes all the hits for the character who has the GA buff.

I still don't like Felicie, Randell, and Sordis's HP-healing passives. HP-healing is easily covered by cleric spells or potions after all.

Statuses. There's Panic, Smeep, Poison, Sickness. Is that all? Would Stun count as a status for the purposes of Abyss Cage? Would be tricky though to apply both Stun and Sleep on a monster at the same time and Cage it in the same turn...

Anyway, since I made separate save files before the 2nd and 3rd bosses, I decided to test out Abyss Cage on The Imprisoned One inflicted with Sickness, Poison, Sleep (all courtesy of Sordis), and Panic (from Tyrund's bullets 'cause Panic Gas doesn't exist). It only dealt about 700 damage. On the other hand, Pestilence, which deals more damage against poisoned enemies and requires less set-up, dealt 1400 damage. Though it was Ailment-element after all. Still, Abyss Cage being physical-element really ruined it since it doesn't benefit from Sickness doubling its damage. Even then, you can't spam Abyss Cage at full power each turn because the monster wakes up from Smeep if they take damage (even from the poison status) and attacks also have a chance to remove Panic (poison included and also from attacking themselves which is just silly) as well.

Hmm, now that I think about it, Pestilence is also magic-based which is very important since Sordis has higher magic atk. Plus it also means it can be powered up with Focus Magia. With an attack buff, Focus Magia, Sickness+Poison inflicted, and Element Master+4 (from Caster sub-class) increasing super-effective damage by +250%, Sordis can smite that demon for 6,600 damage (and that's not critical)! That takes out most of The Imprisoned's health in one hit. Extra Step, I find, is most useful when you've used Power Burst/Focus Magia on the previous turn. 'Cause then you get to smite your enemies with not one but TWO attacks at double damage!

So in conclusion, Abyss Cage is not worth its high AP price tag to learn. High Flow, the single-target ice spell, deals about 300 damage for 12 SP per cast. In comparison, Cage+1 does 700 damage (with 4 statuses inflicted) for 62 SP at level 18.

Oh, and Sordis is the ultimate demon-slayer! That's gonna be my head-canon now: Sordis kills The Imprisoned with two Focused Pestilences, leaving his party members stunned speechless. I like that statuses are actually useful in this game for boss battles. Most other games just make them immune to everything.

And for the Malevolent Flame, Sickness+Poison+Pestilence also reigns supreme, though ice spells (High Flow) aren't too far behind. With: Elemental Master+4, attack buff, and Focus Magia, my SPP combo dealt about 6,800 damage while High Flow did 5,900 (both at level 28). The fox isn't really much of a threat if you bought that cheap fire-resistant Dragon Guard shield for each of your characters. Plus if you found the Flame Sigil shield beforehand, the character you equip it to will be immune to fire. I gave it to Randell (my Defender) and had him use Protect to take Overdrive Bomb for everyone, hehe. I do love nine-tailed foxes though. Kitsune mask-wearing fox boys are the best.

That reminds me, the Etrian Odyssey series has a day/night mechanic which affects the type of monsters you can encounter since some are only active during during a certain time and asleep otherwise. Plus, the town at nighttime is so beautiful and magical. I'm just pointing this out 'cause it's always daytime in SubStar. In terms of EO classes, Sordis is a Dark Hunter/Hexer and Tyrund a Survivalist/Gunner.

Another feature the EO series is famous for is its FOEs, mini-bosses visible on the map that patrol their dungeons. Though that may not translate over well here since I don't think you can set enemies to only chase you if you're in their range.

A boss encounter with another adventurer party would be pretty interesting. I mean, you can't be the only one exploring the dungeon, right? EO has other guilds, some of which you do end up fighting. Of course, if you do end up making such a boss in the future, it'd be nice if defeating one member permanently powers up the remaining party (like enrage them). A lot of games don't do that which makes the battle easier once you get rid of one of them.

Also, took a look at your LiAr game. Love the character designs (Lou and Mark in particular) and the spooky laboratory setting. The video of the Behemoth boss had great battle music too. I'm excited to play it once you finish it!