User blog:Lasatar/Highlander Brings Justice For All

Overview
The Highlander is the main protagonist of the story mode of Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl. As his real name is decided by the player, he is generally referred to as "Highlander" or "The Highlander", in tribute to his class (Highlander). Originally coming from a tribe other other Highlanders, he was sent on a mission to the town of Etria, in order to investigate the ruins of Gladsheim, which seems to be connected to the strange earthquakes occurring around Etria. Upon entering Gladsheim, the Highlander discovers a strange amnesiac girl named Frederica, as well as three members of a Midgard Library investigation team; Simon, Raquna, and Arthur, who have also come to investigate Gladsheim. Sharing a common goal, the Highlander and the investigation team form a party, while Frederica comes along to find out what exactly is going on. I won't say any more than this, because spoilers, and while Etrian Odyssey is not known for its story (and rather its bar-impossible difficulty), I still very much enjoyed this story, and would not like to spoil it for others. If you do decide to play, be wary of F.O.Es

Atributes and Play Style
The Highlander has surprisingly quick movement, and combined with the long reach of his spear, can be a force to be reckoned with. The Highlander will mostly revolve around pacing yourself from the enemy and striking when there is an opportunity. At least, that is what his standard moves are about. Someone who makes good use of his specials must know how to take risks, because they involve the Highlander damaging himself to perform unique and powerful attacks. The Highlander also has a gauge above his portrait, called the Boost Gauge. When it is full, the Highlander will be able to use Action Boost, which vastly increases the speed an power of the very next action performed. This means that the Highlander can be played as either a defensive or an offensive character, which is a nice change. As for sweet and sour spots, the Highlander has a sweetspot at the very tip of the spear (pretty obvious, right? Come on, it's a spear), while the rest of the spear is a sourspot. The percentage values in the moveset are assuming that the attack was sweetspotted. Subtract 1-2% if sourspotted. Unfortunately, many of the Highlander's more interesting moves were unable to be implemented into this moveset, because I couldn't find a use for them.

Moveset
Standard moves ◾Standard Attack: The Highlander will thrust his spear forward for a fast jab. Press twice for two jabs. 3% damage each jab. ◾Side Tilt: Performs a long thrust in front of him. Longer reach than standard attack. 4%. ◾Up Tilt: Performs a sweeping upward manoeuvre with his spear. Lower reach than normal. 5% ◾Down Tilt: A wide sweeping move passing low to the ground. 4%. ◾Dash Attack: A double strike with both ends of the spear. 3% for the butt, and 4% for the tip. Smash Attacks ◾Side Smash: Based off the Spear Assist move from the Highlander's skill tree. A slow, but powerful thrust. Unfortunately, its second function cannot be used in Smash. In any case, it does 8% uncharged, and 11% charged. ◾Up Smash: The Highlander will charge the attack with the spears butt against the ground, and stab it directly upwards. 7% uncharged, and 10% charged. ◾Down Smash: A circular sweeping spin attack that hits both sides of the Highlander. Vaguely resembles Shulk's Down Smash. 6% uncharged, and 9% charged. Specials If you thought that the rest of the moveset was boring, you will be at least a bit more impressed here. ◾Neutral Special: Delayed Charge/Cross Charge. When preforming this move, you can actually perform one of two different moves; Delayed Charge or Cross Charge. The activation is similar to Ryu's light and heavy attacks, with Delayed Charge being a quick tap, and Cross Charge being a longer press. Delayed Charge, when used, will inflict 5% damage to the Highlander, and appears to do absolutely nothing else. However, exactly 5 seconds later, the Highlander will attack whatever is in front of him, regardless of what was happening at that time. It also won't interrupt whatever move you may be performing, instead having a kind of afterimage attacking instead, so it can be a sneaky way to initiate combos. Cross Charge, is similar to Delayed Charge, but will activate instantly, in return for being more powerful. However, if Delayed Charge is used before activated Cross charge, When Cross charge is activated, Delayed Charge will activate early, for a more powerful double attack, stronger than the sum of both of them. ◾Side Special: Head Pierce. A long reaching stab attack. If it hits the enemy’s head (look out, Kirby players), it will disable their special moves for 5 seconds. It also has a 10% chance of doing quadruple damage. ◾Up Special: Well, I wasn’t able to come up with a canonical move here (In a turn based game with first-person battles, what do you expect?), so I had to take a bit of a creative license here. The Highlander will temporarily freeze, and then shoot off in the direction the control stick is pressed, with his spear outstretched. If the Highlander collides with a wall or platform, the spear will stick in, much like Corrin’s side special, except it can be done in any direction. Much like Corrin’s, it can pin foes in place, and you can jump out of it as well. ◾Down Special: Bloodlust. The highlander will sacrifice 5% HP to perform this. It sets up a counterattack, that will activate if the enemy hits the Highlander in the next 20 seconds. The Highlander will still take damage, but the enemy will take damage as well. If the Boost Gauge is full, however, this move will change to action boost. Action Boost will drain the Boost Gauge fully, and set the Highlander up. The very next attack performed by the Highlander will do five times the damage. Which means, if you’re lucky enough to get it on a critical Head Pierce, it will do twenty times the damage. Pretty unlikely, however. Final Smash Kupala’s Soul. Upon using the final smash, the Highlander will become coated in a light green glow for the next fifteen seconds. During this state, the Highlander is drastically powered up, with doubled speed, attack power, and defence. Stage Idea Yggdrasil Labyrinth The Labyrinth lying in wait beneath the town of Etria. Similar to the Mushroomy Kingdom from Brawl, upon selecting this stage, you can end up in one of several possible stages. Note: The stage that you spawn in is dependent on what music plays, meaning that you can alter what stages you end up by altering the chances of different music playing. For example, the theme “Ecstasy” only plays in the Claret Hollows, meaning that if Ecstasy is the only selected song, you will spawn in the Claret Hollows. Also, if the music is set to a boss theme, you will definitely encounter a boss. The boss you get depends on what Stratum you’re on. No matter which stage you land on though, you can be sure that it will be very big. The first possible stage is the Emerald Grove. This Stratum is full of green trees and lush scenery. For the most part, this stage is safe, but you could encounter the odd enemy. The boss of this Stratum is Fenrir, the leader of the wolves. The second Stratum is the Primitive Jungle. It’s fairly similar to the Emerald Grove, but the forest is a lot more dense here, and you have a higher chance of encountering enemies. The boss of this Stratum is Cernunnos, the king of the jungle. However, you might encounter something else instead, should you get the music theme “scatter about”. Heh heh heh. The third Stratum is the Azure Rainforest. This place gives off the feeling of being underwater, but it’s not. Speaking of water, there are lakes around the place that you can fall into. The lily pads on top of the lake are safe to walk on though (mostly). The boss of this Stratum is Corotrangul, the lord of the celestial ocean. Though, if “scatter about” is chosen, something else could appear. Heh heh heh. The forth Stratum is the Sandy Barrens. While the other Strata had winding tunnels, this one is more open and easier to navigate. This does by no means mean that nothing happens here. quite the contrary. You will be attacked by some of the sorest folk affected by the corruption of Yggdrasil. They will come at you in quite large numbers, too. There are also warp tiles around the place, which transport you to the opposite side of the stage. The boss of this Stratum is Iwaoropenelep, the guardian of the Forest Folk. No special “Scatter About” boss this time. The fifth Stratum is Lost Shinjuku. This is a unique area that contains the ruins of buildings from long ago. It is actually what happens to Tokyo after a millennium of unrest. There are areas that you can indeed fall off from and die, so be careful. You can encounter a variety of bosses here, with different songs. Although, I will say that the main boss is known as Etreant, which is reached through “Throne of Creation”. There is also a “Scatter About” boss, and a “Towering Pair” boss. The sixth and final Stratum is known as the Claret Hollows. This place, if you can even call it a place, is at the very core - the very heart - of Yggdrasil. You can think up any definition that you want for this place, but mine is summed up by one word: Hell. There’s only one boss here, and that is Primevil. It can be fought by changing the music to “Battlefield’s Awakening”, but you do not want to go into this unprepared. Now for the music that plays during this stage. Remember, changing the music will change which version of the stage you end up with. Initial Strike: This theme plays in the Emerald Grove, Primitive Jungle, and Azure Rainforest. It's a regular battle theme, so don't worry about bosses. Destruction Begets Decay: The regular battle theme that plays in the Sandy Barrens and in Lost Shinjuku. This is actually one of my personal favourite songs from the soundtrack. Ecstasy: Regular battle theme of Claret Hollows. Sounds like you have gone to hell. Dyed in Scarlet: Boss battle music for Emerald Grove, Primitive Jungle, Azure Rainforest, and Sandy Barrens. Not my favourite piece of music, but some people must like it, hey? Towering Pair: Awesome sounding theme that only plays during a certain boss battle in Lost Shinjuku. No more spoilers. Throne of Creation: Theme used for the Etreant fight, which is the main boss of Lost Shinjuku. Not really my thing, but I suppose it fits the boss fight it was given to. Scatter About: The theme used for "special" bosses, and the only battle theme to appear in ever game in the entire Etrian Odyssey series. If you select this, be prepared for a tough fight. As a result, it has a default of 0%, so you must adjust this chance via mymusic. Battlefield's Awakening: Only plays during the fight against Primevil. You're in for a tough time if you get this theme, so it also has a default chance of 0%. Only select this theme to play if you want a true challenge. Also, this theme will play during the Highlander's final smash, interrupting the current music. Furnace of War: Secret song that must be unlocked. Instead of spawning in the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, you spawn in the ruins of Gladsheim. The End of the World: Another secret song that must be unlocked. Puts you into the depths of Gladsheim, in a boss battle against M.I.K.E. One of my favourite songs from the soundtrack, and suits the situation extremely well.

Palutena's Guidence
Pit: So we've got brawlers, sword users, bow users, and the like, but this is the first time I've seen a spear user. Palutena: That's the Highlander. He comes from a tribe of people like him, who value the saying: "True Justice For All". Pit: But I haven't done anything wrong. Why's he fighting me if he values justice? Viridi: Did you seriously forget where we are, or what game this is? Pit: Oh, right. Anyway, what's his deal? Palutena: The Highlander has very long reach due to his spear. He tends to play defensively, but can get aggressive when he needs to. Pit: That sounds like he's capable. Although, his spear may have long reach, but my bow still outranges him. Palutena: Good observation. Although, he'll be able to disable your bow with his Head Pierce move. Then you'll have to fight him close quarters.  Viridi: That's not his only trick. He'll sacrifice his own HP to make life for you more difficult. He's a risk-taker, I'll give him that much. Pit: Okay. I think I've got this. Just stay away and shoot him, and avoid Head Pierce. Palutena: Well, he could always counter your arrows with his Bloodlust skill, directing the pain to you. Pit: Oh. Great. Looks like I'll have something to watch out for. Anything else, like, how strong is his final smash? Viridi: The Highlander's final smash is so awesome that even the background music changes. That's probably because it's powered by the all natural forest folk leader, Kupala. Pit: Never heard of them before. But whatever. This guy is going down!

Poll
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