Last day for the Atlus 3DS contest

I know I want more 3DS games. That's why I've been entering this contest like a nut. So, here goes the last entry.

What can I say? Etrian Odyssey is my favorite 3DS series. The art is so cool and the dungeon crawling was very exciting. I admit I've gotten jaded over time after 4 games, so I'm looking for new quirks to keep my attention. I'm actually thinking of playing Untold on the highest difficulty possible. Then I'll have to really flesh out and develop my characters. The only thing is that I like to move quickly through the labyrinth, so if the encounters are more difficult, it might impede my progress and make me frustrated.

I played EO4 on casual the first time through, then on normal with a few level 1 characters. Speaking of which, I also need to figure out if I want to play through story first or go with classic. Kind of torn between it. But I usually only use one main party without switching characters too much, and the story party seems very balanced with the default classes, and there seems to be an option to reclass them later too.

Decisions, decisions. Just glad I finally got my hands on this game, and I hope it compels me to play like these games usually do.

More EOU skill lists and descriptions

Medic

Hp up

Tp up

Atk up

Heal mastery

Scavenge

Focus

Cure

Heal

Salve

Regenerate

Delayed heal

Unbind

Refresh

Revive

Diagnosis

Immunize

CPR

Caduceus

Clear strike

Anaesthetic

Toxin injection

Curare

Safe passage

Chop

Hp up

Tp up

Atk up

Heal mastery: enables healing skills and increases HP recovered through healing

Scavenge: Raises drop rate  

Focus: recovers TP if user's HP is maximum

Cure: heal 1 ally

Heal: bigger heal to 1 ally

Salve: party heal

Regenerate: HoT 3 turns

Delayed heal: party heal next turn

Unbind: removes binds from 1 ally

Refresh: " ailments

Revive: resurrect 1 ally

Diagnosis: raises crit rate for 1 line (buff)

Immunize: raises party's ele def 3 turns

CPR: gives the party a chance to survive mortal blows with 1 HP for 3 turns

Caduceus: melee bash attack to 1 enemy; may stun (staff)

Clear strike: bash to 1 enemy (higher tech, more damage)

Anaesthetic: sleep 1 enemy

Toxin injection: poison 1 enemy

Curare: paralyze 1 enemy

Safe passage: lowers damage from hazard floors

Chop:  find more resources at chop spots

Alchemist

Tp up

Formula mastery

Firelight

Scavenge

Focus

Alchemy

Fire formula

Flame formula

Inferno formula

Ice formula

Freeze formula

Cocytus Formula

Volt Formula

Spark Formula

Thor Formula

Paoin Formula

Light Formula

Light Tincture

Analysis

Dilution

Flee

Sight Formula

Return Formula

Chop

Tp up

Formula mastery: enables alchemical formulas and raises damage from ele atks

Firelight: ranged fire atk at turn's end to enemies hit by light or pain formulas

Scavenge: raises drop rate of items from monsters 

Focus: recovers TP at a turn's end if the user's HP is at max

Alchemy: discarding converts items into ent

Fire formula: ranged fire atk to 1 enemy

Flame formula: fire atk with splash effect 

Inferno formula: ranged fire atk to all enemies 

Ice formula: ice formula to 1 enemy

Freeze formula: ranged ice that pierces enemy lines

Cocytus Formula: ranged ice attack to all enemies

Volt Formula: ranged volt atk to 1 enemy

Spark Formula: ranged volt atk to 1 enemy line

Thor Formula: ranged volt atk to all enemies

Paoin Formula: melee bash atk to 1 enemy; front line only 

Light Formula: nullifies pays atks to user this turn

Light Tincture: " ele atttacks

Analysis: hitting enemy's weakness lowers def for 3 turns (buff)

Dilution: lowers all enemies' ele def for 3 turns (debuff)

Flee: consumers party's HP to escape

Sight Formula: displays all FOEs on map

Return Formula: Ariadne Thread skill

Chop:  allows the user to find more resources at chop spots

Gunner

HP up 

Atk up

Gun mastery

Double strike

High caliber

Penetrator

Recharge

Cover fire

Medic bullet

Head snipe

Arm snipe

Leg snipes

Fire rounds

Charged fire

Ice rounds

Charged ice

Volt rounds

Charged volt

Charged shot

Ricochet

Shell shock

Vulcan stance

Action boost

Take

HP up 

Atk up

Gun mastery: enables gun skills and increases damage with guns

Double strike: normal atks may hit twice (passive)

High caliber: raises dmg of crits

Penetrator: normal atks may pierce enemy lines (pas.)

Recharge: may recover the TP used for a skill (pas.)

Cover fire: when user guards from the back, front may recover HP

Medic bullet: removes an ally's ailments and recovers HP

Head snipe: accurate stab to 1 enemy; head bind

Arm snipe: snipe at enemy arms

Leg snipes: leg snipe gun skill

Fire rounds: ranged fire

Charged fire: charged fire shot

Ice rounds: ranged pierce and ice atk

Charged ice: ranged ice atk to 1 enemy; lowers def until activation

Volt rounds: ranged stab and volt atk to 1 enemy

Charged volt: charged volt shot

Charged shot: charged stab attack

Ricochet: multiple atks to all enms

Shell shock: lowers atk, def, hit rate, and evade of rear enemy line; may stun

Vulcan stance: user's normal atks do more dmg and hit all enemies for 3 turns (buff)

Action boost: the user has a chance of acting multiple times on the next turn

Take: allows the user to find more resources at certain taking spots.

Ronin

HP Up

TP Up

ATK Up

Katana Mastery

Severing Slash

Crit Up

Slantwise Cut

Upper Stance

Horse Slash

Swallow Strike

Flame Grater

Clear Stance

Razor Dodge

Arm Strike

Lightning Stab

Drawing Stance

Beheading Cut

Charging Slash

Frigid Slash

Perfect Chaser

Peerless Stance

Breath

Indomitable Cry

Mine

HP Up

TP Up

ATK Up

Katana Mastery: enables Katana skills and increases damage dealt with katanas

Severing Slash: Occasionally kills all enemies instantly at the start of a battle

Crit Up: Raises critical rate

Slantwise Cut: Melee cut attack to 1 enemy. Enables skills requiring a stance afterward

Upper Stance: An overhead stance that raises physical attack and defense for 3 turns.

Horse Slash: Upper stance only: Melee cut attack to 1 enemy

Swallow Strike: Upper stance only: Multiple melee cut attacks to 1 enemy / Uses the initial strike’s momentum to strike multiple times afterward

Flame Grater: Upper stance only: Melee cut and fire attack to a line of enemies

Clear Stance: A stances that raises phys atk and def for 3 turns

Razor Dodge: Clear Stance only: Evade enemy attacks / Reads the enemy’s movements to dodge their attacks. Activation rate lowers with each time it activates.

Arm Strike: Clear Stance only: Melee cut attack to 1 enemy. May bind the enemy’s arms. 

Lightning Stab: Clear Stance: Melee stab and volt that pierces through enemy lines.

Drawing Stance: A stance that raises speed, hit rate, and evade rate for 4 turns. 

Beheading Cut: Drawing Stance only: melee cut 1 enemy; instant kill

Charging Slash: Drawing Stance only: Melee stab attack to 1 enemy

Frigid Slash: Drawing Stance only: Ranged cut and ice attack to all enemies. / A slash with a blade coated in frost.

Perfect Chaser: Stance only: Follow all allies’ normal attacks this turn with another attack.

Peerless Stance: Stance only: Enables all stance skills for 3 turns

Breath: Restores Hp to the user and adjacent allies

Indomitable Cry: fear to all enemies

Mine: find more resources at mine spots

Hexer

Hp up

TP up

Curse mastery

Staggering Word

Sapping Curse

Frailty Curse

Leaden Curse

Deceit Curse

Blinding Curse

Madness Curse

Torpor Curse

Corrupt Curse

Stoning Curse

Cranial Curse

Abdomen Curse

Immobile Curse

Evil Eye

Muting Word

Conflict word

Suicide word

Relapse Curse

Revenge Curse

Luring whisper

Chop

Hp up

TP up

Curse mastery: Enables Curse skills and increases success of ailments

Staggering Word: stun (passive)

Sapping Curse: lower enemy phys/ele atk 3 turns

Frailty Curse: lower enemy phys/ele def 3 turns

Leaden Curse: lowers enemy speed 4 turns

Deceit Curse: lowers enemy hit rate 4 turns

Blinding Curse: blind enemy line

Madness Curse: panic enemy line

Torpor Curse: sleep enemy line

Corrupt Curse: curse 1 enemy

Stoning Curse: petry 1 enemy

Cranial Curse: head bind

Abdomen Curse: arm bind

Immobile Curse: leg bind

Evil Eye: fear enemy line

Muting Word: feared enemy line unable to move & lowered def

Conflict word: feared enemy line attack each other

Suicide word: feared enemy line attack self

Relapse Curse: lowers all enemies' recovery rate from ailments 3 turns

Revenge Curse: untyped atk that is stronger the lower the user's HP

Luring whisper: raise encounter rate

Chop: find more resources at chop spots

Protector skills list

HP up
TP up
Def up
Shield Mastery
Aegis
En Garde
Prayer
Provoke

Parry
Fortify
Defender
Front guard
Rear guard
Fire wall
Volt wall
Ice wall

Bravery's gift
Shield smite
Shield rush
Cure
Party cure
Flee
Safe passage
Mine

HP up

TP up

Def up

Shield Mastery: skills & inc. def.

Aegis: may survive with 1 HP

En Garde: passive guard

Prayer: party recovers HP and TP after battle (pas.)

Provoke: raises chance of being targeted 3 turns (buff)

Parry: repels all physical attacks to the user's line for this turn

Fortify: raises the user's def for 3 turns (buff)

Defender: raises the party's def for 3 turns (buff)

Front guard: lowers phys dmg to front line 

Rear guard: " rear line

Fire wall: protects against fire for all allies

Volt wall: " volt

Ice wall: " ice

Bravery's gift: raises max HP while taking party's damage

Shield smite: bash to 1 enemy; may bind

Shield rush: bash to all enemies; lowers physical attack power

Cure: restores an ally's HP

Party cure: " party

Flee: escape from battle to floor entrance

Safe passage: lowers damage from hazard floors  

Mine: allows the user to find more resources at mining spots

Highlander skills list

Here's a list of the highlander's skills:

Highlander

HP Up: raises max HP
ATK Up: raises phys attack
Def up: raises phys defense
Spear Mastery: enables spear skills and increases damage
Blood lust: may perform a normal atk when health is lost (passive)
Turning tide: recover HP for all allies when user slays an enemy (pas.)
Battle instinct: may make all allies immune to ailments for 5 turns after battle starts (pas.)
Allied bonds: When skills use HP, allies recover HP at turn's end

Long thrust - ranged stab to 1 enemy
Head pierce: stab to 1 enemy, may bind head or kill instant
Spear assist: melee stab 1 enemy, gains element of skill that activates it
Draining thrust - conumes HP to attack front enemy line
Draining burst: consumes HP for a melee stab atk to all enemies
Legion thrust: consumes the party's HP for a melee stab atk to the front enemy line
Legion burst: consumes party's HP for a melee atk to all enemies
Delayed charge: consumes the user's HP for a ranged stab atk to 1 enemy 2 turns later

Cross charge: consumes the user's HP for a melee stab attack. Stronger with Delayed Charge.
Bloody offense: consumes user's HP to raise a line's phys/ele atk for 3 turns (buff)
Spirit shield: consumes HP to raise one line's ele def for 3 turns (buff)
Blood fortune: consumes party's HP to raise their ailment success rate.
Stigmata: may bind an enemy and the user.
Black sabbath: drains all enemies' HP/recovers party's HP. Transfers ailments/binds to allies
Limitless: charges up for increased damage on next action, which ignores equipment limits
Mine: allows the user to find more resources at mining spots

EO:U Gameplay impressions

The core EO gameplay returns here in the form of an EO 1 remake. The gameplay is actually closer to EO IV though because the new interface, battle system, and skill trees seem most like that. This is good because EO IV was an improvement. I find it kind of hard to go back to the older games now that we are in the current generation.

It is quite cool you get one point in skills in the Mastery tree just by putting points into the Mastery skill itself. For instance, on the Highlander, putting 5/10 into Spear Mastery unlocks all the skills down to Spear Assist, which is useful in doing Elemental damage. It is kind of like the Landsknecht's links in EO IV, although I think it only does one attack.

Otherwise, Alchemist, story character Arthur, was my party's most consistent highest damage dealer. Maybe that's because I was using the 4/10 Fire spell bolstered by the Highlander's elemental buff. I was playing on Standard  difficulty by the way, and I will likely stick with that for my first playthrough.

I'm excited to see the full game in October. Thanks, Atlus.

Etrian Odyssey Untold first look

Demo impressions:

I'm excited to have a new game to play so soon after the last one...

Story mode is cool right off the bat and looks to be very compelling. It's nice not to have to try to come up with your own party for once, and the starting party seems well balanced. Highlander is a nice addition to play with.

Otherwise, all of the classes from the original Etrian Odyssey game return, although classic mode is not available in the demo.

Since it's on the 3DS, it doesn't even feel like a remake; it feels new and fresh like EO IV did.

Atlus has done it once again! For me, this is a must-buy.

EO 4 Skills

Now that I'm playing the demo of the new EO, one of the first things I noticed were the skills...

I didn't post this before, because you can see them in the game. However since I made my own list of some classes' skills, here it is:

Landsknecht

Sonic Raid - Close-range attack against 1 enemy at turn's start

Blazing Link - melee fire attack on 1 enemy. Adds Fire attack to ally's next strike

Freezing Link - " ice

Electric Link - " volt

Power Break - melee bash attack to 1 enemy. Lowers physical damage 3 turns

Mind Break - melee bash. Lowers elemental damage 3 turns

Power Boost - Increases physical attack power

Vanguard - Lower defense for 5 turns while acting first and increasing attack

(Initiative) - when attacking before enemies, damage and acc increases

Double Strike - attack twice with weapon

Spiral Slice - melee cut attack that splashes

Penetrate - (rapier) stab attack that pierces enemy lines

Iron Wall - increases defense against physical attacks

Swordbreaker - Chance of halving physical attack damage to allies on your line

Improved Link - For 3 turns, more allies gain added attacks from Link skills

Sniper

Leg Snipe - leg bind

Arm Snipe - arm bind

Head snipe - bind head

Chase bind - passive chase bind

Long Shot - ranged stab attack 1 enemy

Steel Arrow - ranged stab that pierces across enemy lines

Flank Shot - ranged stab to an entire line of enemies

Lock On - Increases critical rate for 5 turns

Scavenger - Increases drop rate for materials from defeated monsters

Spotter - Increase party's hit rate 5 turns

Silver Arrow - Ranged stab attack to 1 enemy that ignores buffs and physical def

Squall Volley - Ranged stab attack to enemies at random

Bullseye - Increase crit rate (Passive)

Eagle Eye - Decrease 1 enemy's phys def for 3 turns

Camouflage - Decrease encounters

High Caution - can prevent party from being surprised

Bushi

Proficiency - Recover TP when performing normal attack

Nerve Strike - melee bash attack 1 enemy. May paralyze (4/8) - story character's starting skill allocation

Moon Slash - katana, melee cut entire line (1/8)

Skull Crusher - mace, melee bash 1 enemy, head bind (1/8)

Blood Surge - Lose HP/TP when you act for increased damage (2/6)

Endure - Once per battle, recover HP when you get to 0 (2/4)

Roar - eliminates buffs on enemy and does untyped damage (2/4)

Power Boost - Increases physical attack (2/10)

Shockwave - Ranged cut to all enemies, costs HP (4/8)

Ice Slash - ice cut (3/8)

Fire Strike - fire bash (3/8)

Deep breath - recover from blood surge (1/4)

Charge - physical attack power next increased (2/4)

Defiance - pays attack power increases with two weapons (2/8)

Imperial

Proficiency - Decreases drive cool down by 1 turn (*)

Sharp Edge - Melee cut 1 enemy. Reduces cooldown by 1 turn (3/6)

Impulse Edge - Melee cut 1 enemy. Recovers TP. used after Sharp Edge (3/6)

Assault Drive - Melee cut to 1 enemy. Lowers DEF until use. 8-turn cooldown (4/10)

Heat Sink - Reduces cooldown by 3 turns (2/4)

Rear Guard - Has 1 ally act last and increase def, 5 turns (1/6)

Power Boost - Increases phys atk power (2/8)

Cool Edge - Melee cut 1 enemy. Reduces cooldown 2 turns. Used after Sharp Edge or Impulse Edge (3/6)

Charge Edge - Melee cut atk 1 enemy. Increases atk power next turn. Used after Sharp Edge or Impulse Edge (2/6)

Flame Drive - Melee fire cut. Lowers Def until use. 9-turn cooldown (4/8)

Freeze Drive - Ice " (4/8)

Shock Drive - volt " (4/8)

Hawkeye - Decreases 1 enemy's ele def 3 turns (2/4)

Absorber - Recovers some TP after striking enemy's weakness (2/6)

Hunter Sense

Ignition - Cools drive blade and prevents from overheating 3 turns (1/8)

Overdrive - Null Ignition for ranged untyped atk to all enemies. Lowers Def

Finisher - Recover TP when defeat an enemy

Wide Effect - Skills that target 1 enemy may gain splash effect

Accel Drive - Melee untyped cut 1 enemy. Lowers DEF. 9-turn cooldown.

Drive Mastery - The more your drive blade overheats, the more damage you do.

Element Boost - Increases ele and untyped atk (3/8)