Etrian VS: Black Bird Edition

"Who's next?" Muan asks.

"Well... Hm. There's 4 more I want to see, but-"

"I can make time for one extra," the mayor assures you. "Eleven is doable. Thirty five would have been excessive."

While he's talking, Muan quietly brings in the next applicant. A young man in heavy armor comes in. He's struggling to walk in it all. Some brown hair's poking out of his helmet, and he raises the visor to reveal green eyes. "Ow, ow, ow..." he mutters, struggling to pull some hair out of the joint. He gets it out and gives you a winning smile. "Hello! I'm Merrick. Rookie Protector, at your service!"

You can definitely tell he's on the inexperienced side. Everything from how he moves to how he carries himself to the unsullied shine on his armor. "It's a bit odd to introduce yourself as a rookie," you tell him.

"Well, I mean... it's the truth. Mom always taught me to be honest. It would be a problem if you thought I was more experienced and tossed me into something above my head. For me and everyone I'm supposed to be protecting, y'know? But I've got a lot of room to grow!"

"Well, fortunately, we're putting together a brand new guild, so we're considering everyone. What can you do, Merrick?"

"I'm glad you asked! Let's see... Well. We can learn a few bash-type skills to fight on the front line, including one to reduce the attack of enemies. Our guard skills reduce the damage on a line of enemies, protects allies from specific elements - great if you know what the enemy's going to throw at us. Healing and shielding an ally in one move. We can intercept and prevent physical attacks completely, survive mortal blows, retreat... We have some healing abilities, but we're not medics. And our Force Break is top notch - it lets us completely nullify all damage for one turn."

"Definitely useful, if you time it right."

"I know, right? Anyway, is there anything else you wanted?"

"No, that's all I needed to ask. Thank you."

Merrick smiles again, lowers his visor, and heads out of the room.

---

The next to come in is an older man, probably about Muan's age. He's got a few streaks of grey running through his black hair. He's wearing fatigues in forest colors. He stops and salutes on entering the room. "Wulf. Gunner. You have some questions for me?"

"Yes, could you tell me a bit about yourself."

"Of course. Veteran hunter, retired soldier. Inexperienced fighting monsters and exploring the labyrinth, but I know how to use this gun of mine."

"Can you tell me a bit about that?"

Wulf nods. "Naturally, guns ignore penalties from firing across enemy lines. Medical bullts can restore health to allies and remove ailments. Element rounds deal elemental damage and can be charged to pierce enemy lines, or fired in a three-element burst. Sniping enemy body parts can bind them. We can reduce the effectiveness of the enemy rear line. By guarding and laying down cover fire, we can heal the front line. Finally, master gunners are able to fire multiple times when using their abilities."

"I see. Thank you, Wulf."

Wulf salutes again before leaving.

---

The next to come in is a man with beautiful, long, lavender hair and green eyes. He's got a lithe build that's very clearly on display. He's wearing some white, poofy pants and a scabbard for a sword. And that's it. He places a hand on Muan's shoulder and smiles as he comes in, thanking her for holding the door.

He walks over, takes your hand, and gives a small bow. "Hello, dear. I'm Xa. How may I be of service?"

"I'm putting together a guild. Could you tell me a bit about what dancers can do in battle?"

"Oh, of course, of course! For one, we're actually quite competent with both swords and bows." You notice he's yet to let go of your hand, and is patting it comfortingly as he speaks. "Our dances can do so, so many things, dear. Our lovely waltzes heal those on our lines, of health or ailments or binds. Our tangos increase the attack or defense of our line, or make it easier for allies to use skills. And our sexy sambas let us counter enemies, chase attacks, or inspire allies to chase our attacks. Veteran dancers can extend the effects of our dances to all allies, instead of just those on our line. Fan dancing allows us to avoid enemy attacks, sword dancing lets us strike multiple times, and mist dances let us stun our enemies."

"Um... That's really useful, but..."

"Hm? Oh!" Xa laughs and lets go of your hand. "Sorry, sweetie, I completely forgot. I hope you don't hold it against me. Well, ta-ta for now." He grins and twirls and dances his way out of the room.

---

The last of the applicants to come in is dressed in a dark dress and wearing a wide-brimmed and pointy black hat that conceals her eyes. Bright red hair flows down to her shoulders. She's carrying a large staff with a wide blade on the end. "Hello," she says in a soft, effiminate voice. "My name is Alice. A pleasure. You asked to speak with me? About forming a new guild, I assume?"

"Right. You're a War Magus, right? I'm not very familiar with what you can do."

"Hm. Well, I suppose it's better to ask and correct yourself, rather than live in ignorance. We War Magi are exceptional at filling a wide variety of roles. We can use warmight and rockskin to buff allies. We can apply a buff that heals allies when they act or are attacked. We can remove binds and ailments from allies and transfer them to enemies, or use Random Disease to inflict any ailment on an enemy. Our main calls to fame are our War Edge and War Lore talents. War Edge abilities target enemies with ailments and allow us to inflict extra effects like binds, debuffs, extra damage, or healing allies. Under the effects of our Force Boost, we can enjoy those benefits regardless of the enemy's status. And our War Lore abilities are excellent sources of healing. While we don't have the same efficiency or strength of effect as medics, the value of our healing is that it acts quickly, before anyone can react - and then triggers a second time after the fighting dies down and we consider our next actions. I'm sure I don't need to explain why that's useful - any strategist worth their salt can see the value of that, right?"

"Yes, I see how that could be extremely useful. What if you were to be killed before the second time it triggers?"

"Yes, once the spell's put into motion, nothing can stop it." Alice smirks under her hat. "Well, if you think I'd fit in with your team, give me a shout. Until then, I'm going to see if any other guilds might want me. I'll see you around." Alice gives you a flippant wave as she heads out.

---

Muan closes the door behind the last applicant and walks over to the mayor's desk. She leans against it and sighs. "Phew. That was quite a few people... Well, this is an important decision, so it's good to approach it cautiously."

"I'm afraid you don't have much time to think about it if you hope to be registered in time to compete in the festival. So...?"

---

Choose 5.

(A) Yvan
(B) Ziggy
(C) Pako
(D) Darian
(E) Halo
(F) Urvan
(G) Keiko
(H) Merrick
(I) Wulf
(J) Xa
(K) Alice

Well, a team with both a Fafnir and a Highlander on it would definitely want some elemental support from Alchemist and/or Gunner, where Dancer is more designed to chase on normal attacks and boost general parameters. Halo seems intriguing, but I'd kind of like to shuffle Ziggy into the back row if he's going to be our tank... Hm...

Crow, can you take one of two vote sets depending on which helps you update faster? I'll say either...

F (Urvan) H (Merrick) (A) Yvan
I (Wulf) D (Darian)

For a party that sacrifices some healing power (but still has 3 guys perfectly capable of contributing healing) and the ability to deal binds and ailments for raw elemental power. We can eventually smooth out those weaknesses with subclassing. Wulf can do elemental and medic bullets, sacrificing taking on Gunner's higher level damage skills for some support utility. Urvan can focus on Spear Assist and passives, but pick up some AoE. Yvan is a Fafnir. Jesus Christ. Merrick keeps everyone safe and can heal or bash on off turns. Darian won't be palming, sadly, but he can get all those amazing formulae going.

Or...

K (Alice) A (Yvan) E (Halo)
B (Ziggy) G (Keiko)

Ironically enough, Alice would come to serve as the main healer here, but even in the back row Ziggy will need a good Medic to keep him topped up early on since a beast expects to take LOTS of damage. Ailing Slash + Vampire is 2gud, though. That's why we keep Keiko around and make Halo a frontliner. Keiko won't so much deal damage herself as inflict ailments on the enemy while maybe acting as an MP battery for the others. Front line Halo can also do amazing bash damage + stun to further help with Ailing Slash + Vampire. Yvan is around because... Fafnir. Jesus Christ. She can focus more on being the AoE in normal battles with force extending abilities and such, plus SOME elemental damage is always nice.

The subclassong possibilities from every class in the series... it's almost too much for me...

A, K, H, B E

I actually have plans in place to let you subclass into anything. There's a reason why the Shopkeep is insane...

I kinda want the first team still though... Oh well. I'll go with the first formation Cheese suggested. As long as we have Yvan, I'm good.

Current votes are...
.68 Mystic's
1.18 Cheese-1
.5 Cheese-2
1 X
And .68 Original.

Scoring "X is fine but I like Y better" as 1/3 and 2/3.

I mean... Pako's Boost would work just like Trick Samba. And the Break combines Issen and Crusade.

By the way, current by-character rankings are...

4 Yvan
3.5 Ziggy
3.5 Halo
1.86 Darian
1.5 Merrick
1.5 Alice
1.5 Urvan
1 Pako
.86 Wulf
.5 Keiko
.33 Xa

But doing this that way would be... not a smart idea, I think.