Is it possible to prevent being ambushed by a FOE?

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Is it possible to prevent being ambushed by a FOE?
Posted On: April 30, 2024

FOEs, unlike regular encounters, appear on the map. They always face a direction, and if you walk into them from behind, you always get a preemptive strike. Conversely, if they want into you from behind, they ambush you.


Except every once in a while when I walk head-on into a FOE, I still get ambushed. I can't tell if this is purely random chance or if the battle-start algorithm is getting confused in very specific circumstances. I've played later EO games and have no recollection of ever running into this. I also don't think I've ever gotten a lucky preemptive strike in the same way, but those seem to be a lot rarer than ambushes even with random encounters (I'm not using any passive skills that affect ambushes/preemptive strikes).


Is this just purely random chance, the same way with regular encounters, or is there some specific way I should move into FOEs to avoid this?


I'm playing the Origin collection version, if that matters.


Question from user qazmlpok at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

Head-on FOE encounters have a chance of being a surprise attack or a preemptive attack. I don't know how I never noticed it before.


According to This LP post, the formula for an ambush/preemptive attack is based on both sides' LUC and AGI. This is for EO2, but I suspect the general idea is the same throughout the series.


These stats are not shown in-game, but this reddit post includes google spreadsheets with enemy data for all games, including the hidden stats.


FOEs will typically have higher stats than common stratum monsters, so engaging a FOE early on means there's a higher chance of getting ambushed. For example, Warbull, one of the strongest common monsters at the end of stratum 1, has 18 AGI and 20 LUC. Ragelope, the first FOE, encountered several floors earlier, has 27 in both AGI and LUC.


Answer from user qazmlpok at gaming.stackexchange.com.


[BACK]
Is it possible to prevent being ambushed by a FOE?
Posted On: April 30, 2024

FOEs, unlike regular encounters, appear on the map. They always face a direction, and if you walk into them from behind, you always get a preemptive strike. Conversely, if they want into you from behind, they ambush you.


Except every once in a while when I walk head-on into a FOE, I still get ambushed. I can't tell if this is purely random chance or if the battle-start algorithm is getting confused in very specific circumstances. I've played later EO games and have no recollection of ever running into this. I also don't think I've ever gotten a lucky preemptive strike in the same way, but those seem to be a lot rarer than ambushes even with random encounters (I'm not using any passive skills that affect ambushes/preemptive strikes).


Is this just purely random chance, the same way with regular encounters, or is there some specific way I should move into FOEs to avoid this?


I'm playing the Origin collection version, if that matters.


Question from user qazmlpok at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

Head-on FOE encounters have a chance of being a surprise attack or a preemptive attack. I don't know how I never noticed it before.


According to This LP post, the formula for an ambush/preemptive attack is based on both sides' LUC and AGI. This is for EO2, but I suspect the general idea is the same throughout the series.


These stats are not shown in-game, but this reddit post includes google spreadsheets with enemy data for all games, including the hidden stats.


FOEs will typically have higher stats than common stratum monsters, so engaging a FOE early on means there's a higher chance of getting ambushed. For example, Warbull, one of the strongest common monsters at the end of stratum 1, has 18 AGI and 20 LUC. Ragelope, the first FOE, encountered several floors earlier, has 27 in both AGI and LUC.


Answer from user qazmlpok at gaming.stackexchange.com.


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