Etrian Odyssey 5 (4th Stratum Party)

Sadly due to the 3DS having lost Miiverse and Nintendo not providing us with an alternate screen shot capture method, I'm stuck with limited quality Vita Camera Images. Well, they at least give some idea what I'm going for with each character. Speaking of characters it took awhile to decide the party in question. Went back and forth on a few ideas and then it finally hit me. I'd just take some characters I already used and give them life, a new form to speak.

That amd  I felt given what I had set up when finalizing a 3rd Stratum party that I couldn't just ignore these characters. It also gives me an excuse to switch to a new party. As for Hanami's party? Just consider that party intact for now. If I want to make up something dramatic for them, it can be done later. For now, this is what I have for the 4th Stratum party.

Chikane is the leader of the guild and pretty much has everyone in her power in some form.  Sakura is devoted to her. Annie is now in love with her. On top of that she can raise the dead and turn them into her servants. However it gets harder and harder to revive someone. Thus on occasion she needs fresh corpses to join her guild. Thankfully, she got a couple of those earlier thanks to her new toy. Thing is while Chikane found that Sarah and Kurumi had potential, they need to die first to clean the slate.

I wanted her to use a Necromancer portrait because it felt fitting for the idea that she'd be turning people into undead servants. Originally I wanted her to be a Pugilist, but after some testing she's now a Shaman. Which works because since she's supposed to serve an evil God, she can further contrast Becky. Who in theory serves a good Good. She's definitely more effective now.

Sakura  in some ways is kind of like a Monk in her true form. Her use of Pugilist skills represents the punching side of  Monks. To represent the healing side of things, she can always use items. Just like anyone else can, but let's not get technical. Her devotion to Chikane remains as strong as ever. She's willing to break any enemy with her bare hands. Defeating foes one by one.

This decision came as a result of wanting to take advantage of retirement, alter class, and even using the DLC portraits I purchased.  I was originally going to have someone else use the Medic portait, but decided to breath new life into past party members.  The Medic portait seemed like a perfect fit for her. Meanwhile her being a Pugilist is because I wanted a front line fighter, but didn't want either a Masurao or Fencer in this  party.

Raised from the dead by Chikane and given new life, she now dedicates her second life to her master. She is incapable of turning against her.  Sure Chikane is the reason she died, but that's just it. In addition to Chikane having power over her, Kurumi seems herself as having been "conquered" by Chikane. Plus she's accepted that if Annie is devoted to Chikane's cause, she should be too. Any sense of resistance she has is gone.

In her new life, Kurumi is a harbinger, but she's more of a defensive backrow one that uses a lot of debuffs. I decided to use the other harbinger portrait to round out this party. She was originally in the front row under a different name. However I realize that she should instead of be  a new version of Kurumi and that she should in the back row.

Sarah is more or less the same situation as Kurumi the only difference being is that she tried to stay dead, but eventually caved in. Sweet talk about being able to fight along side Annie and Kurumi again tempted her and she accepted being revived into a new life. I mean does it matter if they are killing monsters or innocent people if they are doing it together? Yeah, this guild is kind of messed up.

In her new life she becomes a Dragoon representing her new found stance of trying to keep her Master and friends safe from harm. (That and I figured  the Dragoon was a good fit for the Gunner Portrait. Even if Sarah will be more Shield based than Gun Based)  Despite their current predicament, she still feels  a bond with Kurumi and Annie.. She even feels one form with Chikane. While she and Kurumi had resisted Chikane during their first life, they can't deny she had an effect on them.

Annie totally in love with Chikane both in terms of romantic love and pure lust has killed many members of other guilds. She's even destroy sacred moments. However her real purpose/goal is to kill higher level beings that Chikane wants destoyed and she wants them destroyed because her evil lord wants them destroyed. Annie is pretty much doing Chikane's job for her. Not that Annie is going to complain at the current moment. Annie has always had a secret desire to be a Warlock. Yet another reason she became Chikane's lover. Annie was offered a chance to become one. Chikane promised her as such and well Chikane kept her promise. There's no reason to break it and as a Warlock, Annie is far stronger.

I had originally leaned towards just having Annie remain a Fencer and used a modified version of her Fencer portait. However I decided against that because I want to save the 3rd use of Fencer for the 5th Stratum. I also felt this was a good time to make use of the Protector portrait since it held a sword. Sure the Warlock doesn't use a sword, but the sword can be seen as a symbolic item rather than a practical one now. I also wanted her to become a Warlock in part so she could have her skin become blue just like Chikane's is. A symbol of her change.

Stratum 5's party is not yet decided fully, but for a clue just assume that Chikane's party will face off against Hanami's party.  Also that there is a good chance of me using the School Girl portrait in the 5th Stratum party. That's all I'll say about my party plans there.