Need some help, I feel weak

[beigemore]

I bought EO3 last year and really enjoyed it. I stopped playing for several months, though, because the game felt like it was becoming too difficult to progress in. I'm not sure if it's because of my equipment, my skill points, or what. I'd like for someone to take a look at this and tell me what's wrong my with group. I've made it as far as the second floor of the third stratum (B10F I think). When I read about other people playing the game, their characters generally are lower level than mine and they're blowing through the enemies compared to me. I haven't retired anyone or even reset their skill points yet.

Anyhow, here's what I've got.

Hoplite / Gladiator lv 39
- Guardian 10/10
- Shield Master 10/10
- Parry 5/5
- Magic Parry 2/5
- Line Guard 3/10
- Antifire 1/10
- Provoke 5/10
Equipped with Oomiyari, atk 231, def 169

Gladiator / no sub lv 38
- Endless Battle 10/10
- Sword Mastery 10/10
- Break 2/10
- Rush 5/10
- Blade Rave 10/10
- Berserk Vow 1/10
- Wolf Howl 1/10
Equipped with Flachion, atk 209, def 154

Arbalist / no sub lv 38
- Giant Kill 10/10
- Bolt Master 10/10
- Proper Form 5/5
- Heavy Shot 8/10
- Front Mortar 1/10
- Fire Barrage 1/10
- Ice Barrage 1/10
- Volt Barrage 3/10
- Armor Piercer 1/10
Equipped with Gandivam, atk 209, def 120

Monk / Princess lv 39
- Form Qi 10/10
- Healing 5/10
- Full Heal 5/5
- Line Heal 5/10
- Party Heal 5/10
- Refresh 2/10
- Unbind 2/10
- Resurrect 7/10
-- Guard Order 3/10
-- Prevent Order 1/5
Equiped with Tewhatewha, atk 170, def 127

Prince / Zodiac
- Royal Veil 5/10
- Triumphant Cry 5/10
- Monarch March 1/10
- Reinforce 1/10
- Attack Order 6/10
- Guard Order 5/10
- Ad Nihilo 1/10
- Prevent Order 1/5
- Rally Order 5/10
- Protect Order 10/10
-- Ice Mastery 1/10
-- Ice Star 1/10
Equipped with Cinquedea, atk 132, def 136

[Liferake]

Hm. My first thought is "With TP heavy skills all over the front row, this could really use a TP battery." So I recommend swapping out your P/Z for a N/Z. Jack up Kaburi no Sue and Dark Ether to max, Then you can decide whether you want him/her to double as a magic caster or knife user (Izuna).

Rest your hoplite, and subclass ninja for Senpuku and the such. Accounting for the rest:
LV34 Hoplite/Ninja
- Shield Mastery 5/10
- Antifire 10/10
- Anticold 10/10
- Antivolt 10/10
- Bodyguard 1/10
- Line Guard 2/10
- Provoke 3/10

The Anti's are important for mid-end game. I recommend working for the Parries again, then start working on Senpuku, or Bushin first if you want to put up double Line Guard or two antis at once.

Try getting Level 7 Refresh (AKA Party Refresh) and Unbind (Party Unbind) on the Monk asap. Then your choice going for Protect Order or Ad Nihilo.

Arbalist and Gladiator are looking good for now, I don't know what to suggest for subclasses.

Might want to see if you can get anymore perspectives before committing to what I've suggested.

[Cross The Rubicon]

I agree with Life Rake, you need TP recovery. A ninja subclassed as zodiac works wonders if your going pure support with knife skills (although personally I prefer katanas for their high slots and power for on bind procs and kubikiri) I hear that a Zodiac Ninja works too thanks to their massive TP growth, so you could utilize the zodiac's superior tech stat as a backup caster and toss a few meteors around. Dark ether always has priority over all other actions as far as I have seen, so the lack of speed doesn't hurt that much.

A ninja/prince may not be a TP battery like the N/Z but it's not a game breaker, and you get cheaper Buffs, TP and HP regeneration, as well as the typical ninja utility skills. bunshin has it's perks on this as well, but it would compete with the Hoplite/Ninja

As for the Hoplite, you have two choices depending on what path your planning to go by or not, both are wonderful builds.

You have your cookie cutter Hoplite/Ninja that as life mentioned earlier can bunshin to effectively tank the entire party. Or to spice things up for the Deep City Route, you could run a Yggdroid/Hoplite for their awesome base stats. EM barrier for auto counter attack, virus scanner for status affliction resistance, and the typical Hoplite skills. Just Remember to put a point in spears so you can use something remotely better the knives.

Typically Gladiators are pretty damn solid on their own, however, Gladiator/Arbalist allows for Nine Smashes to hit more often thanks to the proper form skill line. Buccaneer is another good subclass for pincushion and faster limit bar regen. You could also do a Gladiator Monk for Unarmed and Breakfire Fist.

If you went the Armaroad Route, Gladiator Shogun is no doubt a solid option. Since Dual weilding can let you use different weapon skills by abusing how the game treats your off hand weapon. So You could do say, nine smashes while using a katana and a club.

For Arbalist, Gladiator is no doubt the best subclass option available, Since the Charge and Beserker Vow Skills are amazing with a Gaint Killer buffed Front mortor with a 250% damage increase from a level 5 charge, oh and Beserker vow just elevates that to astronomical levels of damage, combine that with the fact charge applies to both attacks when double action kicks in... Lovely.

[Wolkenritter]

[Cross The Rubicon]

[beigemore]

Hmm ok. Thanks for the tips. What I'll do is rest my hoplite and monk, and replace the prince. I forgot to mention that my Hoplite also has max hp bonus. I should keep that, correct?

[Wolkenritter]

[Liferake]

I never did find max line guard to be that much more helpful than level 2 or even just level 1. Early in the game, low level Line Guard was important to keep the Lynx, Bird, Crab, and Snake from out-right murdering your front row so you could hopefully kill them quickly or heal the wounded quickly before they actually kill someone. Later on your using it for the same purpose, to stop a row from outright being murdered by something so you can heal it off and survive it once again when it comes back. Unless your collective front row defense is REALLY BAD (Which since there is this thing in the shop called armor, it shouldn't be.), you do not need a higher than level 1 or 2 Line guard.

I know the Anti's aren't that great pre-4th stratum, but getting those 30 levels of work out of the way is for the best so that you don't have to worry about getting it later. (Essentially, getting the most important things first so all you have to do later is focus on the neat passives.)

[Wolkenritter]

[Liferake]

Yeah, other than their average strength and another attack against the hidden narmer, they do feel useless against them. I mostly just go through having one so I don't have to make one halfway through (Probably the same way with most people). Bodyguard and line guard can be used to protect the Glass Cannon on your side, but that's about the extent of the usefulness of Hoplites early on.

Also, The Spellcheck suggest "Shoplifters" for "Hoplites". I think that is hilarious.