Etrian Odyssey 3 HD: Elder Dragon

Channel:

TitaRussell

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Published on June 30, 2023 4:15:03 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unELbP5oB-E

Game:

Etrian Odyssey III (2010)

Duration: 7:54

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3

This dude 100% gave us the final quest in Etrian Odyssey 4
Difficulty: 10/10
There is an argument to be made for this being the hardest boss in the entire game even surpassing abyssal god and while I'm not sure I agree I fully understand. Let's talk about this.

The boss always opens the fight with supernova but he also begins the battle fully bound so this will always fail honestly kinda funny and take your free turn of setup.
But this is a warning because every turn that's a multiple of 4 the boss will use Supernova and this attack will kill you. I don't mean 600 damage to the party this attack does over 7000 damage to everyone ending the fight instantly.
Head binds are useful against bosses like progenitor, alraune, or abyssal god, they are a requirement against this boss. The only ways to stop this attack is by either binding its head or using Aegis shield as a get out of jail free card, or Uroboros guard if you hate yourself enough to comb through floor 23 for it. But even with it's main gimmick countered you don't get a free win.

This boss not only has scarlet Ice and black fire which are the obligatory strong elemental attacks found on most superbosses but Green Flash which is a "you die now button" dealing well over 1000 damage against anyone that isn't a tank stacking volt resist.
Then there's ancient breath healing him for 1500 HP while curing any negative afflictions really this is where you want to save aegis shield in case he busts this out on turn 7
On top of all that he has grand dive which may as well be super nova light because it deals way too much damage to the entire party and worst of all wing rush which only hits one row of party members but it has a priority boost, and now you know why Ranma packs a sonic dagger.

On top of everything this is the tankiest boss in the game resisting all damage types and having a higher defense than even abyssal god while having 44800 HP, the second highest in the game with Kraken being a very distant 3rd at 30000 while being weak to all damage types.

So... why don't I hate this boss? Well because someone at Atlus actually playtested this fight and this is the only enemy in the series, that I know of, that doesn't have bind decay.

I won't get into specifics but bind decay is essentially enemies increasing their resistances to binds you can't just stunlock them. The only attack that can be stopped by a bind is supernova but as long as you have a max rank bind skill you're probably gonna score the head bind. It strikes a surprisingly fun balance all while being backed by end of raging waves, the most iconic boss theme in the series by this point. It actually strikes a genuinely fun balance and if I had to bring along any NPC party member Kirikaze is the best of them and the only good ninja.

Hilariously this boss is weak to arm binds but they're complete worthless unless you're going for a rare drop.

For winning you get the script Immortal. The description really sells it short saying it restores allies statuses... that means ailments and bind, and even things like petrification or death, yep it's a revive skill on top of restoring some HP and TP.

Now hopefully the finale will be out soon but I've first gotta go hunting

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