How far should I increase Chop, Mine and Take in Etrian Odyssey?

Question

Skill-points are very limited in Etrian Odyssey and I have to think hard, in which skills I should invest. Chop, Mine and Take have no influence on fights, but they can provide some material, that I don't get in another way (at least on the same level). How much should I invest in these skills?

Answer

Assuming you mean Etrian Odyssey 1, the best option you have is to build out a party of 3-5 Survivalists. Level them up a bit, either by themselves or with some members of your main party. They should work on Chop, Mine, and Take - Survivalists, unlike other classes, can learn all three - as well as at least one with Stalker and Escape.

Stalker lets you get to gathering points without so many encounters. Escape lets you get out of the few encounters you'll have. If you have more points, 1st Turn lets you Escape before the enemy even gets to go, even if their agility outclasses yours. Once you're done gathering, Warp Wire back.

Don't give anyone else gathering skills. You're right; it's a waste of points.

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Automap feature for Etrian Odyssey?

Question

For the DS Etrian Odyssey series, is there a way to have the game build your map for you as you progress? Currently I have to draw the features of every tile. This is tedious and boring for a game that seems otherwise fun. Is there away around this or is it really a core mechanic of the game?

Answer

There is an auto-map option in the options that you can access from the pause menu and the title screen. When it is activated, it will automatically perform the actions of "painting", which colors the tiles you walk on. As the movement of FOEs is only shown on tiles that you have physically walked on, this can be handy to activate if you feel the need. It will not draw walls and other dungeon features, though, so that falls on you to handle.

Making the player draw the map is a core mechanic and appeal of the series - it is intended to be part of the experience. Different individuals will map it out differently: I put a wall in front of a door, while my brother puts walls around the door as if it were a passage. As part of the game is to make it your own experience, there is increased creativity in leaving the map detail and style entirely up to the player instead of even suggesting how it might be mapped.

There are also some early quests that rely on you drawing the map - so automatically performing the task for you would make such tasks very easy, aye? And don't worry - they are very lenient and care primarily about walls and floor only, namely because different gamers will use the symbols differently. There are also one or two points where you'll be given parts of the map, but these can be altered to fit your own style of mapping.

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Some tips to alleviate the process if it starts to get boring. For the most part, it's a matter of reducing the frequency of updating the map.

• Use the auto-map for floors. While it will only use one color, it can be a big time saver when you don't want to map it all out yourself.
• Get a feel for distance so that you can map the walls of a room from a distance. This makes it so that you only have to look down every once in a while instead of each step you take.
• Perform your mapping movements in sets - such as walking along the entire length of a wall and then drawing the full wall only when you've crossed the entire distance.
• Draw parts of the map during battle transitions and the animations of actions. Battle text auto-scrolls after a point so you can easily squeeze in certain map needs during this period.

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Is the Dark Hunter in Etrian Odyssey on par with the other front-row classes?

Question

I get the feeling, that the Dark Hunter is significantly weaker than other classes for the front row (Landsknecht or Protector). I have a party of around level 25 and I'm in the Dungeon on B7 and my Dark Hunter dies more often than the others. Is this class not comparable to the other meatshields, or do I play/build him wrong? On the build-department, I concentrated on the attack-department (but did the same with the Landsknecht) so I increased attack up, whips and some whip-skills. Is that a wrong build?

Answer

Unfortunately, your suspicions are correct: the Dark Hunter is considerably less survivable than the meatshields. The trick, though, is that they're not a meatshield. The Dark Hunter's speciality is inflicting status effects like binds, and (at low levels) supplementing your damage dealers. If you were a little higher in the Labyrinth I'd suggest swapping them out, but those binds are going to come in handy in the stratum you're in, and as the Dark Hunter levels, their damage dealing becomes increasingly worthwhile.

Dark Hunters are probably best used as a supplement to your main damage dealers; I'd start building towards the binds. Dark Hunters can only damage from the front row and tend to be high on the move order, so you can ensure their survivability by correctly binding whatever enemy you're facing.

Remember, also, that Etrian Odyssey is a game where party composition is very important. Don't expect to stick with the party you have for the entire game.

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