Ooh, time travel and Yoko Shimomura? DO WANT!

@Tech101 Sorry I was mistaken when we chatted on MH. The 2nd stratum begins at B5F so each stratum is 4 floors in size.

I just reached the third stratum and holy cow it's hard. Also some amazing story stuff happens after the 2nd stratum which I don't think was in any of the previous EO games. Really excited to continue. BTW the 2nd stratum boss is freaking hard. Once you're up to it, If you want tips just ask.

Now that I beat DQ9, I am ready to take a break from it and start EO3. Wish me luck...I'm a noob with Etrian Odyssey.

You will love it just give it a lot of time as this be much longer and harder then dragon quest9.

@H-Mac Thanks for the info ill make sure I keep that in mind when I get there in another month or so so don't forget how to beat it LOL!

I screwed up and let both my DS and DSi go dead on me the other day and fired up YS7 on my PSP and been playing it like crazy. Its not Atlus but it might as well be Atlus published and you guys will love it as well. Titanos battles are almost Monster Hunter Esque and just a awesome game.

So...I started EO3 last night.

Wow...um...I have even mapped the first level of stratum one and I've gotten game over a bunch of times. I sure wasn't mentally prepared for this game! Is there a strategy I should follow? I was set on mapping out the whole level first. Should I instead map a bit...grind there...map a bit more etc.?

By the time you have the entire Floor mapped out, you should be strong enough to handle the monsters on that floor just focus on finding the stairs and the best places to farm so you can afford to buy some armor so you'll stop getting Game overs.

@Mickeymac...thanks for the tips.

Hmmm...maybe I should go back and read the instruction booklet a little more closely. I didn't realize I needed to find a place to farm.

Unless they changed it, it should be called an "Item Point." In the first game, you had to make sure you assigned Skill Points to skills such as Chop, Mine, and Take in order to utilize one. They're very important, and if you can find an easy route, don't be afraid to make a party dedicated entirely to farming.

Ha ha. I had to run back to town to sleep after my first battle. Two people died. What Mickeymac said do a little mapping go back to town sleep do a little more till You become strong enough to stay longer. The prince and monk are your healers so have at least one of them in your party at all times. Farmers give you more experience if the right skills are selected and can also increase your money a whole lot faster in the early part of the game by increasing his or hers gathering skills. Have fun and good luck.

Edit: by farming he doesn't mean all farmers although you could make a ton of money with all farmers that not a bad idea.

Thanks...I am having fun...I'm just trying to understand it a little better.

That's how I got through the first game. 4 Guys with only Gathering skills, guarded by a main. My money problems were gone in about 30 minutes.

In EO3 you don't even need to do that. Party of 5 farmers with max Harvestry and Keen Nose means you'll get 20 items from each harvest point (meaning 60 items = max inventory size). One farmer has Safe Stroll maxed which means no random encounters the whole time. One farmer has To Market which warps you back to town. Perfect item gathering setup.

@HMac.... I was actually thinking of doing that myself. Rolling out with 4 Farmers and on Gladiator and just maxing out my money.

There is still a lot of money to be had on the sea questing. Just discovered another island and got 1300 just for that.

Can you sea quest at any time or do you go into the labyrinth first?

It opens up after you map the first floor I believe. If not shortly after that.

@H-Mac So I just got neds harpoon am I supposed to be able to do anything with it yet and does it bring in that giant fish I can't seem to catch?

Wow...I AM a noob at this. I just realized that I didn't have ANY skill points allocated! DOH!

I'll get there...and thanks for listening to this enthusiastic EO noob!

I'm thinking about getting EO3 and I was wondering if it would last me a long time, by that I mean will it be done in just 20-30 hours or will it last for weeks or maybe months?

I bet H-Mac has already put that much into this game. I would say the first one of these games set me back 100 hours. So yeah you are looking at no less then 80 hours to get everything You want put of it. I've put about 5 hours into the sea exploration and that's not even the main quest!