#eo3

Starting a new game+ for EO3: this is my starting team of a Hoplite and Arcanist in the front row, Monk, Ninja and Zodiac in the back row.

Like last time, I also made a character for every other kind of unit: Sovereign, Shogun, Gladiator, Wildling, Buccaneer and Farmer:

I did not realize the NG+ would mean I lost some items, most specifically the keys to the extra areas. I'd actually saved exploring those for the next run after I decided I was going to do 3 runs, so while it's disappointing I'll still need to backtrack, it's not much different than I was planning to do anyway.

I've also raised the difficulty from Picnic to Basic and am making the game more about battling through the labyrinth instead of mapping. Mapping was my main goal in run 1 where I picked Armoroad, this run where I plan to pick the Deep City I'm focusing on learning more strategy and really building characters.

I picked my team based on a recommendation and because it seems like it'll play differently than the Arcanist, Buccaneer, Hoplite, Soverign, Ninja team I played most of the first run with. That team's playstyle was all about debuffing the enemy and buffing the Arcanist to deal high damage fast.

This new team seems to be more elemental focused and it's...okay. Kind of hard to tell right now since I equipped them with the high-level armor and weapons from the last playthorugh so they're breezing through the regular enemies, but I got absolutely TRASHED by the first FOE I accidentally ran into.

I'm not sure I'm how long gonna stick to this lineup. I know for sure I'm going to experiment with a few other units I'm actually more excited about. I REALLY want to give Shogun a good run since I never used it at all after unlocking it, so I'll probably swap him in soon, and for some reason I have a strong urge to do a club build for the Gladiator and try her out.

I also kind of want to put the Shogun and Sovereign on a team because I'm kind of shipping those to guys, lol.

I've also built an all-Farmer team, headed by the only character from the last run so far that will be played regularly: the farmer who is level 20. I figure she'll be good to have in the front if/when any battles happen on the way to or from sites on farming expeditions.

Additionally: this game is going to be more story-focused since I'm playing this as if the old team had time traveled in regret over how things ended and recruited a new team of those who are or are connected to mermaids, people who might have a better perspective on the Deep Ones that are the heart of the conflict (why they're gonna side with the Deep City this time) and advise them through the labyrinth - only stepping in when absolutely necessary (I get in a pinch and need a higher leveled character to get through, lol)

Even looking at this map of B20F, I cannot figure out how to advance into the empty parts of my map.

There are no paths that lead to them and no shortcuts. There aren't any gates that warp you into them, and the entrance to each has a warp gate that takes out somewhere else.

The warps within them are from/lead to other areas within them.

The only way I can see to get to the stairs down to the next floor in E7 is with the warp gate R, which is in E1, which is completely closed off by the H and I gates, and the only other gate that warps into that area is Q, which is IN that area and only warps a tile away, and is also locked from the rest of the map by the H and I gates.

There is a Q gate in the middle of the line of P gates in C4, but the only paths to get THERE are blocked by the G and J gates.

I'm super baffled by this latest mission from the Via Senatus.

It's to go get a teleportation device and all the characters are hyping t his up as some hitherto unknown ability beyond comprehension that must be seen to be believed but....

The portals.

Ariadne threads.

Teleportation is already in the world. Multiple times. You can buy the ariadne threads at the store! However many you want, and everyone is supposed to go into the labyrinth with at least one to teleport back when they're in danger. Why is this supposed to be shocking and an urgent mission?

Even supposing the end goal is to stop the army coming up...the PORTALS. They connect directly to Armoroad and the Deep City. I have literally teleported between the two or from somewhere deep in the labyrinth to one or the other dozens of times now. They can fit my whole party at once and from the people I keep running into, multiple waves of soldiers.

The deep ones/merfolk could come through whenever they want already and the people at the surface are traveling down there in groups ALREADY. People carrying Ariadne threads they can pick off the (apparently plentiful) corpses of those that die against the monsters.

No one needs a teleportation device.

I went with Armoroad to get Shogun to put as the subclass on Bucanner and...the skills I thought I'd get I didn't.

Also: It's been so long since I did anything with my Gladiator's skills I thought I'd messed it up and rested him to reset the skill points and I'd already done things the only way I could, so I lost 5 levels on him for nothing.

Subclassing in general is not working out the way I'd hoped since the skills I want aren't ones you can get with subclassing.

Oh well. I'm playing on picnic so I don't NEED to be super strategic.

I like the Armoroad town people a lot, but there's something sus about the leader's focus on getting down past the city and like...taking it all back? Plus the attitude of the blonde guy. It feels more like people ignoring warning signs and just barging in to take something because they want it.

I sympathize with the Deep City King's mission more - stopping people from going into the labyrinth and feeding eldrich monsters with their pain and fear. But he's the only thing there to kind of like. There aren't any people there aside from the android girl and the shop woman who came down to sell/buy stuff. Also I do think his decision to just hide things and let is simmer forever because he thinks no one is capable of handling it heavy handed and condescending in it's own way.

This feels less like picking the side I think is more right and more like picking the side that's less wrong.

I did a brief look up and apparently both options are grim/sad, with siding with the Deep City being moreso.

And also there's a third option I've missed the opportunity to do.

And there's a NG+ for this game? Did not know that.

Feeling like I might lean toward Armoroad just because that opens the class of Shogun for me to subclass my Buccaneer.

But also: apparently going with the Deep City makes a 4th stratum boss battle funny? I'm so curious!

Blonde guy is blocking my path in one direction on the magma stratum so I can't progress to the next level, but I still have a bunch of it to explore, and I'm also playing around with subclassing and the other units I made for Tarot Guild I haven't been playing with.

PROCRASTINATION IT IS!

I'm having such a crazy good time playing eo3... I <3 my guild