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Personally, I think the Princess AND Monk is a bit overkill and I think everyone knows by now that I don't find the Farmer class useful at all. I'd try to squeeze in a Shinobi if you have a Meteor-based Zodiac (which you should as the elements aren't that great).

Ph - Pr - X
Sh - Sh(Clone) - Zo

That's the "ideal" set-up I think here; the Shinobi provides good support (multi-target sleep, Petrify if you want it, and can sub Zodiac for Dark Ether and Meteor as well as the elementals) and gives you a sixth team member that is controllable.

While the Monk does fit there in the X spot, I just think it's too much healing. I had just a Princess (and some healing items) and that was more than enough for the main game. I'd make the argument for something like a Warrior or Pirate for the last spot; Pirate would be my personal choice for landing Blind, Head Bind, and damage via Million Thrust.

All that said, your outlined group (Ph Pr Mo / Zo Fa) would probably work if only due to the fact you'd outlast everything with that much healing. Killing things would be a bit tedious due to the low damage output the group has (and/or TP heavy) and, honestly, the Farmer doesn't really add that much to the group.

Defaul AI targeting prioritizes those with the highest HP and then it goes from top-left (spot 1) to bottom-right (spot 6). Front-row a Princess with a class with higher HP (Phalanx) and in position 3 makes them fairly safe. You will want to keep Healing items at the ready, though, just to kick the auto-heal back in.

That said, they do get a row-target buff that heals over time so you have ways to "set and forget" healing that will compensate for the occasion where the Princess takes damage. Really though, Healing items are that much better this time around so you'll actually want to keep some with you. The Princess is more of a "you'll always be at 100% for every fight" type class than a reactive healer in battle. I had no troubles just setting up her Healing buff and riding that and passive regen for every fight in the main game.

As for Pirate, they have an okay TEC+2*LUC so they'll actually land Blind/Head Bind fairly often. Trickster makes them very self-sufficient as far as TP usage is concerned (i.e., keep In the Dark at 5-7 so Trickster heals more TP than you spend). They're less of an all-out damage class than other options (namely, Ballista, Warrior) but the small support they do add is worth it. To be honest, Million Thrust can potentially outdamage a Warrior (since the multiplier is a +3% per AGI) and it technically costs less than Blade Rave/Nine Smash (22 after Trickster vs 27/25).

Due to status effects being easier to land, I liked the idea of abusing that fact in this game. Blind and Head Bind cripple the accuracy of bosses and you can super-charge the Limit bar with a Pirate and get a free "super" skill every few turns. Eagle Eye is a nice way to make FoE/Bosses take more damage as well (35% more damage when maxed).

It's just a better utility option than other choices and still does respectable damage and without being "all-in" with their TP consumption.

not sure how accurate this is..but this might help give a general idea ...

http://etrian.nyleveia.com/2010/01/08/a ... a-round-8/

Using Zaraf's and negzee's skill simulator I created some builds.

[spoiler]Phalanx/Shinobi Build
Level: 70
Level Cap: 70
Total Points: 77
Available Points: 0
Retired: No

Common Skills
TP Boost: 10/10

Main Class: Phalanx
Shield Mastery: 5/10
Spear Mastery: 4/10
Fire Guard: 10/10
Freeze Guard: 10/10
Shock Guard: 10/10
Blitzritter: 8/10
Taunt: 10/10

Sub Class: Shinobi
Conceal: 10/10

Shogun/Pirate Build
Level: 70
Level Cap: 70
Total Points: 77
Available Points: 0
Retired: No

Common Skills
No skills learned

Main Class: Shogun
Dual Wield: 10/10
Endure: 4/5
Bloodstained Spear: 3/10
Restore Will: 1/10
Suicide Assistant: 5/5
Spiritual Unification: 3/5
Ikkitousen: 10/10

Sub Class: Pirate
Rapier Mastery: 8/10
Gun Mastery: 8/10
Self-taught Swordplay: 10/10
Lady Luck: 10/10
Eagle Eye: 5/5

Monk/Prince Build
Level: 70
Level Cap: 70
Total Points: 77
Available Points: 0
Retired: No

Common Skills
No skills learned

Main Class: Monk
Focus Energy: 10/10
Fist Mastery: 10/10
Chakra Zeal: 3/10
Healing: 5/10
Full Healing: 5/5
Line Heal: 5/10
Party Heal: 10/10
Burst Fist: 10/10

Sub Class: Prince
Royal Bell: 9/10
Attack Command: 10/10

Shinobi/Pirate Build
Level: 70
Level Cap: 70
Total Points: 77
Available Points: 0
Retired: No

Common Skills
No skills learned

Main Class: Shinobi
Smokescreen: 10/10
Conceal: 10/10
Flesh Bullet: 10/10
Ninpou: Fukimi-bari: 5/10
Ninpou: Heat Haze: 3/5
Ninpou: Beckoning: 3/10
Ninpou: Clone: 1/1

Sub Class: Pirate
Rapier Mastery: 10/10
Gun Mastery: 10/10
Million Thrust: 10/10
Eagle Eye: 5/5

Zodiac/Warrior Build
Level: 70
Level Cap: 70
Total Points: 77
Available Points: 0
Retired: No

Common Skills
TP Boost: 10/10

Main Class: Zodiac
Ether Mastery: 9/10
Thunder Mastery: 1/10
Singularity Theorem: 5/5
Return Ether: 5/5
Thunder Astrology: 10/10
Meteor: 10/10
Ether Concentration: 5/5
Dark Ether: 5/5
Planet Observation: 5/5

Sub Class: Warrior
Avenger: 3/10
Berserker's Oath: 1/10
Charge: 5/5
Wolf Howl: 3/10[/spoiler]

From the looks of things I'll probably need to Retire and increase the level cap in order to get all the skills I want (Especially for the Monk). Which is pretty much what I'll be doing once I unlock that secret class I'm using anyway.

Of course I won't be following these builds until I unlock that class anyway. It would be smarter to focus on elements on the Zodiac and dagger skills with the Ninja.

Anyway, any opinions? Or suggestions?

Oh god.

After spending an hour searching for and reading EO III reviews/hands-on...
Every one of them noted the Princess and the Farmer.

Princess is obvious;
Farmer - While one side is telling me that with skills such as finding better items,
getting more money, recovering TP and increasing the experience gained,
the Farmer is definitely worth it,
you, Scy - whom I find experienced enough to count as a whole side :3 -
keeps telling me that Farmers are good,
but that they are pretty inferior to most of the other classes.

Also, I've read multiple things about each Class,
and all this has made me more confused than Higurashi's 8th episode did.

Which is definitely something. >->


So, My party would be:

Princess / Hoplite / Pirate
Shinobi / Zodiac


Pros & Cons of each Class - As far as I know:

Princess:

[spoiler]Pros: Healing powers, acceptable attack/defense,
all-around pretty good; especially for the beginning.
Cons: They're not as powerful as, say, a Warrior would be.
Other than that, I haven't really got any.

Anyway, since I didn't use a Princess in the Japanese game,
my soon-to-be-called Louise (or not?) has already secured a place in my party.
More info is, of course, welcome, but not necessary.[/spoiler]

Hoplite:

[spoiler]Pros: Good defense, acceptable attack;
kind of a Protector, and they're always handy.
Cons: Do they have other skills besides protecting your party?

I can see this one being useful,
but getting replaced by a class that's better - or making me wish that I had. [/spoiler]

Pirate:

[spoiler]Pros: Skills can make for great attack power;
are pretty good all-around.
They seem to bear some similarities to the Dark Hunter.
Binds and all are pretty handy.
Cons: Their skills would be extremely helpful in boss battles,
but it seems to me that, in normal battles, a Warrior, for instance,
would be better.
Pirates also need TP to be useful; if they run out of it, they're pretty much useless.

Overall, the Pirate class seems good;
I just don't really like the design and feeling of having a Pirate in my party. Of course, that's just me, and I probably will create one for my party.
[/spoiler]
Shinobi:

[spoiler]Pros: My Japanese playthrough made me believe
that their clone is about three times as likely to get targeted
as any normal party member -
Which is strange, if you were to believe the targeting order given to us by Scy -
Namely, that targeting goes from the Top-left to the Bottom-right (IIRC),
which would make him the least targeted character.
Still, the fact that their skill costs have the potential to decrease by 9 (!) TP is very handy.
Cons: Their attack is horrible.
Their skills may be good, but, as far as I know,
that's pretty much the only thing.

In the end, while the Shinobi is an interesting Class,
I just end up with the feeling that they could be replaced
by a Class that is much more useful.[/spoiler]

Zodiac:

[spoiler]Pros: The only (?) Class to feature elemental attacks.
From what I've heard,
they've got some truly destructive spells to unlock.
Cons: Lame attack/defense.
Since they're the only elemental class,
I find it hard to believe that elemental skills play a particularly big role.
Also, they're heavily reliant on their TP, which is bad, especially in the beginning.
However, I've also heard that they've got some kind of TP recovery ability, which might completely nullify this problem.
Coupled with the fact they can,
according to what I've seen in this graph that's wandering around somewhere here, reach over 800 (9000!!!) TP,
they might be extremely useful in spamming strong,
all-enemies targeting spells.
Especially if you factor in their TP recovery.

All in all, I don't feel a Zodiac would be particularly useful.
Sure, they might have some nice skills,
but from what I've experienced, they're severely lacking in the attack/defense stats.
I feel that they, too, could be replaced by a much better Class,
but this feeling is turned upside-down by their potentially huge amount of TP.
So, I'm not sure about this Class.[/spoiler]


Also, as a little extra:

Farmer:

[spoiler]Pros: Skills that would prove really handy in the beginning; Experience boost, and an epic design.
Cons: They probably won't be very useful after the Second Stratum or so,
seeing as I'll likely have enough money by that time.
Also, his horrible attack/defense would give him some considerable disadvantages when fighting Third Stratum monsters.

They're like a must-have in the beginning, but their worth seems to decrease a lot about halfway in the game. [/spoiler]


Secondly, it seems that a lot of the Classes I've planned for now
might be better if I'd replace them with other Classes,
but subclass them somewhere mid-game.


Examples I've had in mind:

A Hoplite [spoiler]seems to be more of a luxury in the beginning of the game;
I'm sure I'll make it through the Second Stratum without her.
Since I won't need more than 2/3 defensive skills,
it might be better to just have her as a subclass.
I don't know who should be the main Class, though.[/spoiler]


A Pirate [spoiler]seems to be of better use against bosses.
I'm pretty confident that I won't really need him against the first two bosses,
and if I just take nothing but those few (?) skills that make him handy,
I might just replace him with, say, a Warrior,
who would be really handy in the beginning due to high attack power,
and having a Pirate's attack skills coupled with his power
could prove to make for an extremely substantial tank,
with some nice skills to boot.
[/spoiler]

A Shinobi [spoiler]seems to have few skills that are truly handy.
Most of his skills are, afaik, nice, but not a necessity.
For example, I could create a Farmer,
who would be great in the beginning, and when his worth drops, I'd make him take a Shinobi as his subclass,
Making for high agility and an overall better chance in the Third Stratum.
Also, his `get expensive items more often´ skill would be a nice extra through the entire game.[/spoiler]

Finally, a Zodiac. [spoiler]Their ´hidden potential´ seems to be unlocked
when they reach a point where they have a lot of TP - meaning that they're better left until later in the game. ->
Making her a subclass of a different character with a considerable amount of TP might prove to be a better solution.
I do not, however, know which class is both handy in the beginning,
and has lots of TP.
A Monk might be useful for this; considerable attack power,
a lot of TP and the guarantee that, even if my Princess were to die,
the party wouldn't be screwed would make a fantastic combination with some Elemental spells later on.
I can see a Monk/Zodiac being handy from the beginning 'till the very end of the game.[/spoiler]


Another question: if, say Class A would have little TP,
but class B would have lots, and I'd subclass B to Class A,
would Class A receive a boost in TP?
And, if so, would this also work for other stats - for instance, attack etc. ?


Classes I don't like, nor want:

Wildling, Arbalist...I can't remember any other classes, beside the secret ones.



...I hope that I've asked all my questions now.
I'm truly looking forward to your answer;
You'd be a God if you were to comment on every planned combination I thought up. :3


Well, anyway, if you've read everything I wrote here:
Thanks for reading!

PS: I'm going to get some sleep now, so I might not answer for ~16 hours or so.
(-> School and all.)
Well, good night, everyone! :3

Edit: Oops, still awake. :3

I've carefully re-read every post you made on this page, Scy,
and I've slightly changed my opinion of the Pirate Class.
I still think they're meant to be good at boss fights;
however, a 135% multiplier is very seducing.
Also, since a Pirate seems to be a somewhat mediocre - compared to a Warrior - but still acceptable fighter, I'll just create a Pirate for my main party. Would sub-classing him to a Pirate/Warrior increase his attack power? Because if it wouldn't it'd be pretty useless to have Warrior as a subclass for nearly everything. Afaik, they don't really have special skills; just some nice base stats.