I've started this game just recently. need a few pointers.

[isometric]

[Jinggo]

I've been using my Zodiac mainly for the elemental attacks on enemies weak to certain elements. So I guess I've been using mine correctly. My gladiator is my best damage dealer and I guess I should start training a hoplite. My monk is currently my damage soaker and unarmed fighter. Not sure why but it's working for now. Something tells me it might not later. I'll try to keep this stuff in mind as I advance. I'm glad resting only costs 5 levels in this game. It means I don't have to worry too much about making mistakes..

[isometric]

[igniz13]

I beat the whale (barely) and can now access subclasses. I've assigned a few though I'm not confident on my pics (hadn't read some of the responses here before making choices).

My main lineup is now.

P/B H/P G/??
M/G A/Z

I'm looking at shifting in a N/Z but I'm not sure.

My Monk isn't frontline because from floors 4+ I just found they died too easily on the front line and were too essential to my party to have them die to random heavy damage. Had the same problem with my Buccaneer (who's now a B/N) who's retrained so much they're level 10 now. This is also why I brought in a H and G as they could actually stand up to the damage being thrown out with their ability to use shields and good armour.

Hops do see a little useless (with my set-up) mainly useful for not dying and anti-elements. I don't use Line Guard or many of the protective abilities with her. I could make better use of them with my Princess, but I'll be re-thinking my lineup soon.

I like having cc as it helps control tough opponents and some ailments can help. Poison is handy for hard hitters or people you want dead but can't prioritise yet. Blind for people who like to randomly wail on people and binds, well I have bind cut so I may as well.

If Monks can use Clubs with their Fist skils, then my M/G may be able to use Fire and Ice attacks, which will be very useful. I've got my H doing Spark damage (on occasion) and my P can use all the Elemental buffs, which has proven useful.

I'm going to have to re-think things a little bit though. I need/want to sneak in a Ninja somewhere. I had a weird idea for a N/Z and N/W on the back ranks to provide various supports and ailments.

I've never beaten a past EO game but I definitely like having a cc around. Guess it falls out of favour later on, but we'll see.

[isometric]

[igniz13]

It's all good info, I'm just not that interested in doing cookie cutter stuff and more interesting in mixing things up and experimenting.

With PB, I wondered if the Chase skills would count as a buff. Asside from: Prevent Order, Arms and Guard order, I don't use that many buffs. Incidental healing and not dying is the main thing the Princess does for the team. So she often has plenty of time to just stab someone. I did think of making her an /M or H but she'd be double redundant. With a P and an HP I could make one defence focused and the other attack focused, with a little double auto-healing.

If I made the PB offence focused and the HP defence focused, I could move the Monk to the front line for some clubbing action, the HP to the back line with bodyguard and other defensive spells and give the PB AO and EE to amp up the damage with a double G giving howls.

My line-up would be something like.

MG, G?
HP, AZ

With some flexibility with the 5th char.

The AZ was mainly about Singularity boosting Barrages and maybe getting ER with Extend to boost sustainability. I know about front mortar A's, but with how fragile she is at the moment, I'm not sure about it. Though with a more defensive HP I could probably handle it.

The NZ was about Etheric Charge and it fit with an idea for Wielders. It's handy for leveling up potential replacements. One thing about Foes and ailments is that you can throw lots of different ones at them. They may be resistant to re-applications, but throwing lots of different ones at it often works out.

Many of the choices I've made are because I wasn't looking at the stats of things. Sometimes you don't realise how bad skills are until you look at their stats. Etheric Return looks like a total waste, looking at it now.

[isometric]

[igniz13]

I think you're too focused on maths and endgame gameplay, tbh. Just getting Pincushion alone is 21 levels worth of skill points and it costs 19tp for weak damage at my level (sub 30), it might be fine when I've got 99 agi and don't have to think about the 20 skill points I wasted on Rapier and Gun mastery, but until then, it's nowhere near worth the cost.

As for killing them before they kill you, that's a nice idea but it's TP expensive and impractical. You forget that the status ailment attacks also do increased damage from normal attacks, usually for manageable TP costs, they may not be the optimal options, but if I can attack with increased damage and maybe disable or inhibit in some way, then I don't have to worry so much about killing them on the next round or 2 and can use more auto attacks and worry less about healing.

Having said that, with my current set-up, there's too much inactivity going on and I could streamline things more, now that I have subclassing.

Thankfully I've just discovered resting resets the subclasses, which is helpful.

As for experimenting. It's one thing to read the ingame description and see that x skill does this, then read the skill description on the skill calculator and learn the numbers, then there's the deeper mechanical questions.

For example, if Senpuku increases my chance to dodge by 30%, does it take my 10% chance to dodge to 13% or 40%? There's a ton of other questions I should be asking but my internet access is kinda limited. Also, it's not like the deep mechanical information is listed anywhere coherently.

[Liferake]

[igniz13]

Wait, how do you not use a medic in EO2? Or do people just HP cannon everything from day 1? I know I tried using a Warmage first out but it really didn't work and that class is kinda flawed in so many ways.

Anyway, after I fluffed some respecs my team is now.

G AZ BN
NZ MP

but as my BN is only level 11, I do have an alt team of

G PM MP
NZ AZ

With a sneaked in NZ, I can use Dark Ether to let the front row buff or use attack skills as applicable. I'm working towards a frontmortar A. I'm working on the BN because a skill based damage dealer would work out now, thanks to the NZ.

I'm currently wondering if an NP focusing on defensive buffs and heals would work as a near complete alternative to an MP. I'm not confident it'll entirely work out, but as an alternative I could make a frontline Monk replace my BN and maybe keep a BP using guns in the back rank.

[Wolkenritter]

[Liferake]

[igniz13]

Maybe I'll give Warmages another go, but as front line troops I found them a bit fragile and they're your healer as well, plus, they need a ton of investment to work out. Never seen a high level one, so maybe they work out

Anyway,

I got a N/P for the lower mana costs and sustainability. If I run

GH BZ BN
NZ NP

I can use Dark Ether to keep the front line going and then NP to efficiently keep everyone alive. Not sure about the BN, but we'll see. A front line MG or MP would also work as a backup healer.

One thing I'd sad about is that my princess is being left out, they carried me so far and now there's no real place for them. They're such a flexable class as well, what do people do with Princes in general? Do they just get replaced post subclassing or are there some good uses for them (don't say, sub shep, please).

[Wolkenritter]