Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City/South & North Seas

Starting Off
This section will attempt to cover the most efficient route in addition to showing you how to discover everything as early as possible. In order to get started, you have to finish and report the first mission, "Prelude to the Forest." Once you meet this prerequisite, you are given the option to start exploring the ocean only after naming your ship and listening to the crash course on sailing. Sailing the seas is very similar to exploring the Labyrinth with the exception of having a specified number of turns per voyage and outfitting your ship as opposed to characters. You'll find that mapping the sea is also no different than mapping the Labyrinth and as such, you should make a good map. Starting off, you don't really have much freedom as to where to go, but the more you explore and discover (also progress in the Labyrinth), the further you can sail. A good idea when it comes to sailing is to turn the boat to face each direction in order to discover points of interest in the distant. Note: Time passes by much more quickly when sailing than it does while exploring the Labyrinth. FOEs will cause your ship to sink if you run into them (they can be defeated with the appropriate cannon), and Golden FOEs are merchant ships that you can trade with.

1st Stratum Exploring
At the beginning, you'll want to head 3N, 2W, and 1N. Be sure to talk to the shepherd to hear his request for lumber and also look to the west to notice the lighthouse. After returning, the harbormaster will inform you of the lighthouse and some mariners who can provide you with "Dried Peas" to increase your number of turns. Set sail once more and head to the island that is 3N and directly to the east to grab the peas, feel free to use your remaining turns or cut the voyage short and return to the harbor. After returning, make sure to swap out the Biscuits for the Dried Peas and set sail once more.

This time, hug the west coast of Armoroad and check the bottom mountain in D-4 to find the "Armoroad Cedar" that the shepherd wanted. Return to the harbor and set sail once again (you can swap the peas for the Biscuit), this time, heading back to the shepherd to be rewarded with "Sheep Cheese". Again, use your remaining turns to explore a little or just head back to the harbor. Go ahead and swap out the Dried Peas for the Sheep Cheese and set sail once again. Start by heading 6W, 1S, 4W and investigate the island for the "Dolphin Statue". From here, head 2N, 1E, and investigate the Skandalia Lighthouse. You'll be taken back to the harbor and are rewarded with 500en and the "Foremast" for your ship (equipping it allows you to move two panels in a given direction per turn). Note: When you reach AND check any tiles marked by a, you will be allowed to participate in its respective Sea Quest. The Sea Quests typically pit (most) of your party against a boss and is a free way to recover your HP and TP upon completion, in addition to granting you a one time reward.

From here, you can check out the "Quests" section to learn a bit more about the rewards, party make up, enemies, etc and challenge them or continue exploring the Sea.

With the Sheep Cheese equipped, you can set sail along the eastern coast of Armoroad eventually reaching the island directly south of Armoroad to find Screwpine Fruit on the Western side. From here, head 1N, 4E and investigate the island for a "Casting Net". Return to the harbor and this time, equip the Foremast. At the start, head 4E and explore the island. If you decide to investigate when you are given the first option, you will discover Bull Ants, the second set of choices will give you Honey Ants, and declining twice will just cause you to return empty handed (Be sure to come back for the other ant to fill out your Barter Log). Now, head 2S, 1E, 1S, 2W, 1N and investigate to discover Batavia to be taken back once again. This time, you will be rewarded with 700en and "Sauerkraut". Again, you can now do sea quests for Batavia. Note: The pirate "FOE" sailing near Batavia will no longer be there after investigating the city.

On this voyage, we can go ahead and acquire "Raisins," voyage equipment, which are cheaper than the Sauerkraut but also provide you with a few less turns (Same amount as a the Sheep Cheese but also cheaper). Keep the Sheep Cheese and the Foremast. From the start, head 2E, 1S, 2E and investigate the reefs to the south to discover Black Pepper. From here, head 1N and investigate the mountain for Raisins. Now sail 1E, 1N, 1W, 2N, 1W, 1N, 1W and investigate the city to discover Ayutthaya. Upon returning, you will be rewarded with 800en and access to Ayutthaya's sea quests.

Sleep at Aman's Inn until the morning and equip the Raisins and the Foremast then sail 5N and inspect the island directly North to discover Niter. Sail 1W, 1S, 1W, 1N, 1W and inspect the monument to obtain a "Fishing Flag". From here, sail 1S, 2E, 1W and (you should have arrived during the day) go for a swim to find a Giant Kelp. From here, continue 2W and inspect the island in front of you to find Terra Rossa. With our current equipment/starting point, it's impossible to reach Ugarit so ignore it for now. Keep the Foremast and the Raisins and set sail once more. Head 3W and 3S to find Crawfish Claw. From here, sail 1W and 1N to find a Sea Turtle. Now sail 2W and investigate to find Light Salps. Sail 1S and investigate here to find Iron Ore. Afterward, sail 2N, 1S, 1W, 1S and inspect the mountains to the East to find Amber. Equip the Sauerkraut and Foremast and set sail again. Head 1E, 4S, 3W, 1N, 1W, 1S, and investigate the island for Ned's Harpoon. From here, head 1W, 3S, 1E and investigate for Breadfruit. Now head 2W, 1N and investigate to obtain "Lime Fruits" (same number of moves as Raisins, but cheaper). Equip the Lime Fruits and the Foremast and head out once again. Head 3W, 1S, 3W, 1N, 1S, 1W, 3S, 1E, 1S, 1E and investigate the island to the South to discover Tortuga Island and receive 1200en upon returning. Set sail once more back to Tortuga Island with the same route and setup. Inspect the skull in Tortuga Island to receive the "Culverin Cannon" (you can equip it to fire at and destroy Red Pirates at the cost of 1 turn). Note: Although you can now sink Red Pirate ships, without better food or an extra slot for the Foremast, there's no real point to using it as they respawn after returning to town. Revisit Tortuga Island a couple of more times for some more loot (You may have to wait some time between visits). Possible treasure per visit can include one of the following: a Coral Necklace or a 500-en Coin.

If you haven't done so already, revisit all the discovered locations (except for the Skandalia Lighthouse) for a few mini-quests that involve visiting previous locations and returning back for some rewards. This next voyage can be a bit tricky due to the time of day required for an event so bear that in mind (You can always go rest at Aman's Inn until the evening and sail then). Equip the Lime Fruits and Foremast and set sail. We will be returning to Batavia on this trip with a slight detour. Sail 1E, 2S, 1E, 1W, 3S, 1E and during the day, inspect the spot to discover Epigraph Piece (these swimming spots may sometimes net you nothing depending on who's last to return). From here, sail 1N, 2E, 2N and if you've been following along, you should already have the Black Pepper they need. The soldier will give you a 500-en Coin and Weapon Tome IV as a reward. The next stop will be Ayutthaya Port, but we will need to do this in two trips given our current gear. Equip the Sauerkraut and the Foremast and sail 2E, 1S, 2N, 2E, 2N, 1W, 1N, 1W and speak to the guard. Afterwards, sail 1S, 1W, 1S, 4W and inspect the island where we got the Sheep Cheese from. Return to the harbor and swap out the Sauerkraut for the Lime Fruits. Follow the previous directions or your own route to return to Ayutthaya Port with the shipwright to receive a 500-en Coin and Weapon Tome I. As covered earlier, Tortuga Island can be revisited more than once, so be sure to reference the above paragraph about its treasures and path to take.

Until you advance to the 2nd Stratum, there's nothing really left to discover in the sea. Feel free to trade with the merchant ships and catch whatever fish you can (different sections of the map will have different fish, usually near the discoverable areas).