Any advice on building a team?

[darkrose91]

Okay, so I just finished EO1. However, because I wanted to try out every class, I used all nine of them in my playthrough, and while I did manage to complete all of the quests and beat the final boss, my team is severely underleveled and my skill point attribution is far from ideal. I figured this wouldn't cut it for the post-game, and since I dislike level grinding, I figured I might as well start over with a good team planned out in advance. I've been looking through various sources for information on team building, but there are some conflicting opinions, and there are still a lot of things I don't know. So I'd appreciate some advice on how to build a good team. Brace yourself, I have lots of questions.

My planned team:
Front row: Landsknecht, Protector, Medic
Back row: Survivalist, Troubadour

Landsknecht:
I was thinking that a dual sword/ax build with both Allslash and Crush seemed to be the best option. However, a pure ax build with Crush and Stunner and/or Silencer is also attractive. Does anyone have a preference for one or the other? Are the chaser skills any use if you have Crush? Is Hell Cry worth it if you also have a Troubadour with Bravery? If I can only choose either DEF Up or HP Up, which one should I go for?

Protector:
Most of the builds for Protector I've seen have five points each toward the Antifire/Antivolt/Anticold skills. I thought that Immunize protected against elemental damage pretty well, so are these skills any use?

Medic:
I used a pure medic on my first playthrough, but I'm going to try a combat medic this time, since everyone seems to like them and they sound like fun. Some people say that it's best to not use Salve 2 and just use a maxed out Salve, but I'm a bit hesitant; can somebody confirm that this is a good option? Also, should I be using Immunize in every random battle later in the game?

Survivalist:
During my first playthrough, I ended up maxing out 1st Turn since I used it and Immunize for every random encounter later in the game to prevent the enemies from slaughtering me before I could get any defensive buffs up; however, this was probably because I was underleveled, so I'm guessing that if I'm sufficiently leveled, I shouldn't need it? Also, is putting any points into AGI Up or Quicken worth it?

Troubadour:
I spent a lot of skill points on lowering the cost of Blaze/Frost/Shock on my first playthough, since I didn't like how much they costed. However, most builds I see for Troubadour use Relaxing and sometimes Healing; I did fine without Relaxing all the way to the final boss on my first playthrough, so is it necessary for the post-game? If the rest of my party has all maxed TP Up and TP boosting equipment, do I need it? Is Healing any good? Otherwise, I'd prefer to have the points for lowering the cost of the elemental skills.

And lastly, I have a few general questions. Most of the other post-game teams I've seen look similar to the one I have planned, so how viable are other classes? Is Retiring any of the characters worth it? Also, what skills should I get first for the early game?

Like I said, I have lots of questions. Thank you for taking the time to read such an absurdly long post.

[noodles]

I haven't played the non-remake version of EO in a hundred years but I'll try to remember

dark hunter, protector, ronin
medic, hexer

defender and immunize, then taunt and parry from the protector

foxus on DH and H working together to get binds, then evil eye stuff once you can use it

ronin does all the elemental damage

again the game came out almost 10 years ago so i'm not sure if this actually works. But something similar trivialized the whole game in EO:U!

[Wolkenritter]

Landsknect:
I would go for both swords and axes. Using swords for Allslash during random encounters and axes for bosses and FOEs. Keep in mind you can 't change equipment mid-battle so make sure you have the right weapon equipped for whatever situation you're currently in.

You won't be able to run with Silencer or Stunner though. Lands are pretty tied up for skill points considering how much Allslash, Crush and Hell Cry (If you choose to get it) will take up. Both of those skills aren't very good anyway. They sound good on paper, but their damage is low compared to Crush and due to the Lands poor LUC and TEC, their infliction rates are also very low.

Protector:
The Anti series are only important during post-game. They make outright immune to those elements which is important since the bosses in post-game have moves of those elements that will tpk you without them. Immunize does work on all elemental damage (Including physical elements), but it won't be enough to mitigate 1k of damage from Wyrm's Searing X_X

During the main game though you can probably ignore them and work towards Defender and Smite.

Medic:
Salve II is better in post-game since max HP values are much higher and you have more TP to burn. During the main game though, yeah Salve is probably better. IIRC Salve II restores around 300 when maxed for 20TP whereas Salve restores 150 for 10TP.

Combat Medic is a great idea but you won't really start to see it in action until probably 3rd or 4th strata. You should still treat them like a regular Medic and work on Immunize and Salve. Once they're maxed you can start working on Caduceus and ATK Up.

Survivalist:
You only need 1 point in 1st Turn, but getting is a very good idea, you will need it throughout the entire game, plus Survs are more suited to bosses and FOEs than random battles. Normally I just 1st Turn my Lands for Allslash to go off before the enemies move. Quicken is probably not a good idea to max, since you're not gonna really use it. You only have 3 buff slots, and with a Troubadour present you're not gonna have any room for it. Trickery however is a really good debuff, so if you have spare points, maxing it is not a bad idea. AGI UP doesn't really do anything noteworthy afaik, but it wouldn't hurt to put points in it.

Troubadour:
Once you start using Relaxing you'll probably wonder how you even got so far without it! Relaxing makes a lot of the higher TP skills become a lot more viable so its a highly recommended skill. I would also max Bravery as well, since its a huge damage buff for the entire party. Its also necessary during one post-game fight. I never really used Healing myself tbh. It takes a buff slot that's better reserved for Immunize, Relaxing or Bravery.



Retiring is not worth; getting your levels back is a pain since EO1 doesn't have any really good grinding spots besides Treefrogs, and even those are pretty slow.

As for other classes, during post-game a lot of the classes are a lot less viable. Buffs are crucial for manipulating a lot of the post-game bosses so a Ronin is absolutely useless during post-game. They're a pretty terrible class anyway, which is a sad fate they share in every EO game.

DHs are interchangeable with Lands for bosses and FOEs. Whip DHs are pretty flawed during post-game though; since they really require a specific party line up to work well. Sword DHs are perfectly fine though and can be very powerful when used properly.

Alchemist is only really good for random encounters. They're pretty good at nuking things with AoE spells, but their huge TP costs and low damage output make them a hindrance during bosses and FOEs. Its worth noting though that Ironcrabs are immune to all damage but volt.

Hexers are only worth using if your using a whip DH. Due to how late they come into play though, I find myself never really using one. They're nowhere near as amazing as they're in the other games.

[darkrose91]

@noodles: Thanks for the advice. I think I'll try something like that on subsequent playthroughs; for now, I think I'll stick with the classes I can access from the beginning.

@Wolkenritter: Thanks, that clarifies a lot. It's good to know that the Anti- skills are necessary for the post-game; otherwise I probably would have ignored them and gotten slaughtered by those bosses. I have a pretty good idea of what to go with now.

[Wolkenritter]

That post came out really messy. Early morning typing @_@

[darkrose91]

Alright, here's what I have in mind for the final skill builds:

Landsknecht
HP Up: 9
TP Up: 10
ATK Up: 10
Swords: 10
Axes: 10
2-Hit: 3
Allslash: 10
Crush: 10

Protector
HP Up: 5
TP Up: 10
DEF Up: 5
Shields: 10
F. Guard: 3
B. Guard: 3
Defender: 5
Antifire: 5
Antivolt: 5
Anticold: 5
Fortify: 5
Smite: 10
Aegis: 1

Medic
HP Up: 10
TP Up: 5
ATK Up: 10
Caduceus: 10
Healer: 8
Cure: 3
Cure II: 3
Salve: 3
Salve II: 10
Immunize: 10

Survivalist
HP Up: 5
TP Up: 10
AGI Up: 3
Bows: 10
Trickery: 10
Quicken: 3
1st Turn: 1
Ambush: 10
Multihit: 10
Apollon: 10

Troubadour
HP Up: 5
TP Up: 6
Songs: 10
Bravery: 10
Blaze: 5
Frost: 5
Shock: 5
Relaxing: 10
Recovery: 5
Erasure: 1
Divinity: 10

There are still a few choices I'm uncertain about, but I think it's a pretty solid team.

[Wolkenritter]

Don't see any issues. I'm not a fan of Aegis since I feel that if it triggers you were in a fight that was going terribly anyway. But besides that, I see nothing wrong with it.

[darkrose91]

Yeah, I mainly have Aegis because I had a leftover point and didn't know what else to do with it. I may just put it into HP Up instead; I'll decide when I get there. But anyway, thanks for the feedback; it's been a big help to me.

[SteelCrow]

I remember when I played this game, my Troubadour didn't ever spend much TP, since the songs had unlimited duration and I got hooked on Relaxing early. Just to burn off TP, I left Blaze, Frost, and Shock all at lv1.
HP and TP Up scale disproportionately for different classes. For Troubadour, lv10 of both is +50%, but for Protector lv10 HP Up is +30%. Healing and Relaxing scale off of maximum HP/TP, thus better regen.

It was pretty nice not needing to stop at the inn all the time.

I also played through the main story without a Medic. My Troubadour's Healing did most of the work, with my Protector reducing damage overall and filling in burst healing with Cure. Never went into end/postgame though.

I agree with the word on Aegis. Even if I did get it, I would all-in max it out and build my party around it. There aren't any other death-related skills in EO1, though, later games play around with death a lot more. *cough* Blood Return *cough*

[darkrose91]

Playing the game without a Medic? You are braver than I, then... Though I see how it could be feasible the way you describe it. If Relaxing scales off of maximum TP, then I might have to put a few more points into TP Up. I'm still not sure if Healing is worth it, though, since I do have a Medic, and with limited buff slots Healing might be taking the space of something more useful. Thanks for the feedback, though.

[SteelCrow]

Oh, I forgot to ask darkrose, what part of the game do you think you'll remember the most? Things may have impressed you and you may have had fun, but what was most significant to you?

For me, it was the moment I entered Lost Shinjuku. That was a paradigm shift for me. Thinking back, I think it was one of my best experiences with a video game telling a story with just gameplay and presentation.

[darkrose91]

I think my favorite part of the game was whenever I finished a stratum and moved on to the next one. Every stratum is basically a process of learning what enemies and FOEs there are, what skills to use against them and how to manage TP to avoid burning out too quickly; you also map the floors and learn how to navigate them. By the time you beat the boss, you're an expert on the stratum... and then you enter a new stratum with new rules and you have to start all over. It's exciting to discover the new enemies and FOEs and floors, and to see the new, often beautiful visual theme. It gives the game a certain rising action/climax/falling action rhythm that I adore. Not many games do that as well as EO did.

[noodles]

[GhostsandDragons]

[darkrose91]

Yeah, I noticed how much damage they could do. Survivalists are my favorite class in the game, too.