I haven't updated in awhile, have I

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4th Stratum Experiences, first steps into 5th Stratum
[spoiler]First off...new battle theme rocks.
Second off...I started off the searching of a new stratum the way I usually do after saving...get owned by a FOE xD. Shelltor wiped my whole party with one attack that did like 450+ dmg to everyone or something like that.
16F wasn't too bad to navigate. Did run into an event at one spot which nearly owned me.
*2 Killpions to fight*
Me: Ok, no problem. *Kills both*
Me: Not bad, but they sure pack a punch. Where's the catch?
*Immediately gets thrusted into part 2 of the event fight with 3 Killpions*
Me: Uh oh, not good. *Kills all 3, but Ronin and Landsknecht are both on low HP*
Me: Alrighty, heal time and then I'll...
*Gets assaulted by 3 more Killpions*
Me: You've got to be freaking kidding me

. I'm going to die because my Ronin and Landsknecht are on very low HPs.
Somehow, I got lucky and didn't Game Over there. Just had to revive my Ronin once.
After that experience and checking for hidden area on 16F, I went on.
17F...well, other than an event at one piece owning my party (Go go petaloids putting my whole party to sleep, then owning me with attacks that hit everyone in the party resulting in Game Over time), I found the stairs to 18F almost immediately.
I knew that meant bad news. Turns out 18F was the first time experiencing pitfalls. Joy.
...Until I find a pit that took me to 17F and a guard who was selling a key I wanted very badly. 10k en? Fine.
Went to see what kind of doors I could unlock with it. Turns out I found some treasure, some new FOEs that looked just like old enemies I fought, but beefed up. Lovely.
Also found a long winded path on 9F...fraught with pitfalls I couldn't see until I stepped on them. Oh god.
All it lead to was more treasure and so on. I couldn't seem to find someone for a quest I was on at the time.
I did manage to get an item that unlocked the best armor for Medics. Boss farmed for rare drops until I scored enough money to purchase it.
After that, returned to the 4th Stratum to continue going higher.
17/18F took awhile to navigate with pitfalls in spots and all that.
19F looked nice, but there were some nasty enemies. Big Moths could confuse the entire party while Wrathbuds apparently have an insta kill attack or something like that. Yikes.
20F which I just got through today was nasty. Petaloids from the 17F event spot started appearing. Also were some birds that could lower my party's defense.
And then...there's Venombugs. Hello evil nasty powerful enemy. An attack that can hit everyone for around 150 or so dmg and cause poison? Damn. Can come in groups of 3? Double Damn. Being paired with those defense lowering birds? Triple Damnation Icecream Sundae! I saw my Landsknecht get rocked for close to 400 dmg from a Venombug after his defense was lowered.
And after all that? The 4th Stratum boss was easy. Had accessories on to resist confusion, but more importantly, Harpuia's defense sucked. My Ronin and Gunner were both doing 200 a hit with their best boss killing skills (Midareba for Ronin and Ricochet for Gunner). Only my Alchy got killed once by an extremely powerful single target attack that hit for a total of 550 dmg or so.
5th Stratum has been breached. The music is quite nice here.
...I also hate Mandrakes. I thought they were cute...until I had one pull out a Shriek skill on my party.
Next thing I know, 3 of my characters are dead. Party wide insta kill skill oh my god

.
Tempted to boss farm to get the Youtou (unlocked via Harpuia's normal drop) and the Bomb Axe (unlocked via Hellion's conditional drop). Not quite sure yet. The Youtou is tempting for the +50 TP boost.
Party members are all at lv45.[/spoiler]