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Rabbi Raccoon
Mar 31, 2009

I stabbed you dude!
It could easily cause a war between all three countries, each side with different plans. A triad of tactics, you could say

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SIGSEGV
Nov 4, 2010


Narratively it doesn't make sense for it to be anything but salt, and that looks like the path to the plot if nothing else, it's just that there is no stealth exploitation possible, it means that Dragan has decided there will be a war, and that is a bit of a leap to start from.

Well, he does seem to be a driven fellow.

Rawkking
Sep 4, 2011
I didn't get the read that the resource can't be stealthily exploited, it seems like Dragan is preparing to do either that or just wants everyone's secrecy to give more time for Aesfrost to invade. And Thalas is suggesting to his brother the Archduke that they should 'keep the secret safe' by silencing Dragan.

It seems like the secret would leak eventually if being stealthily exploited (but possibly not before balance of power shifting quantities of salt are extracted?), but what is going to leak things a lot earlier to Glenbrook and Hyzante is when things get messy in the incoming scuffle between Thalas and Dragan.

Maybe if there was actually no iron at all in the mines and they continued to operate, but even then they might be able to siphon the salt for a period of time before invading.

Rawkking fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Nov 25, 2022

JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever
I hope that it is something realistic like salt and not some contrived magical bagatelle. Fantasy plots, at least to me, are for more interesting when they are about identifiable human motivations and struggles than unrelatable things such as flights of dragons or evil necromancers. I've seen that with my favourite fantasy author. When the stories are about international politics, internal backbiting or struggling with unrest, I can relate to that. When there are ancient gods and prophecies and alternate planes of existence I can no longer suspend my disbelief, for lack of a better term.

Rabbi Raccoon posted:

A triad of tactics, you could say

:hmmno: I would not have phrased it that way.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

Rabbi Raccoon posted:

It could easily cause a war between all three countries, each side with different plans. A triad of tactics, you could say

Of course, I didn't even think about that. Each side aligned with one of the Convictions, which would be the perfect way to get a "morality" driven route split like in Tactics Ogre.

Cloacamazing!
Apr 18, 2018

Too cute to be evil
Which author is that? Sounds interesting.

I stopped playing before it actually got revealed what they found inside the mine, but it never occured to me that it could be anything but salt, given that this is the central conflict of this world as far as we've seen. Hyzanthe has a monopoly on salt, the Roselle are being used as slaves in the saltmines, (Aesfrost visit stuff) there are salt smuggling rings, the salt prices keep rising, etc.

Black Robe
Sep 12, 2017

Generic Magic User


JustJeff88 posted:

I hope that it is something realistic like salt and not some contrived magical bagatelle. Fantasy plots, at least to me, are for more interesting when they are about identifiable human motivations and struggles than unrelatable things such as flights of dragons or evil necromancers. I've seen that with my favourite fantasy author. When the stories are about international politics, internal backbiting or struggling with unrest, I can relate to that. When there are ancient gods and prophecies and alternate planes of existence I can no longer suspend my disbelief, for lack of a better term.

:hmmno: I would not have phrased it that way.

...Maybe fantasy isn't your genre, then.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.
Update 17: Visiting the Mines



Welcome back! After some developments in the mines, we’ll be starting off this time at the Rosellan village.



Is it exactly as you hoped?
It is indeed. I can hardly wait to see it finished!
I am glad to hear it.



Roland and Hughette walk in to the village.

There you are!
Prince Roland? And Hughette besides. What brings you here?
We were looking for you.
We inquired around Castle Wolffort and heard you all had come here.
Has something happened?
Father has asked me to keep watch over the mines. Won't you join me?
You scarcely need ask, of course!



And we can present Dragan with the gifts we procured abroad.
A fine opportunity to get to know the man better. He is quite talented, is he not?
He is a man with grand visions for the future, that much is certain. I shall tell you more of him along the way.
Then let us waste not one moment more. To the mines!
I'll have the dress ready in time for the ceremony, milord.
You have my thanks, Jerrom.






We head over to the Grand Norzelian Mines.



Inside, we find Dragan deep in thought.

How will Gustadolph respond to my offer? I should think there's but one logical answer... Should he refuse for some reason, I will need Father's aid. I must apprise him of the situation.



What's this!?



He rushes up to meet the group at the entrance.

Prince Roland! And my friends of House Wolffort... To what do I owe the honor?
Apologies for the sudden nature of our visit, Dragan. I have come on Father's orders to offer our sincere gratitude, as well as to observe the mining operation.
Splendid! The miners will no doubt be heartened by Your Highness's presence.
Does the mining continue apace?
Indeed it does, There are no problems to report. And what of your trip abroad, Lord Serenoa?
It was most enlightening, indeed. We even brought something for you, I do hope it's to your liking.



It is. I understand they are used as talismans in Hyzante.
This gift would fetch unfathomable value in the duchy. I...I cannot thank you enough.
It is enough to see you happy.
I am glad our deliberations were not in vain.
Dragan, I believe it was you who said the future is in the hands of the ardent youth. We are of like mind. Let us shape the future together!




I suspect we will reach across the border and ask for your cooperation in due course.
And I shall gladly assent.
Yes, we eagerly await your offer. Now then, I was thinking I might examine the quarry...



?
One of the tunnels caved in but a few days ago. I would advise against entering just now.
Did you not assure us moments ago that the mining continues apace?
The miners are working to repair the damage as we speak. It is simply too soon to allow you inside.
Was it caused by a blast?
It was, in fact. We were perhaps a bit overzealous in attempting to remove some of the bedrock.
I'd no idea your explosives were so powerful. How do you make them. anyway?
I would love to tell you, Your Highness, but I'm afraid we must keep some of our secrets. What I can say is that salt is a vital ingredient.
Surely you jest!
I thought you'd be surprised. I could scarcely believe it myself, at first. A gargantuan tome in the Archives opened my eyes to the many uses for salt, beyond seasoning our daily dishes. And now I pass what I've learned to you, Lord Serenoa, as a token of my gratitude for your visit.



Dragan hands Serenoa a pretty huge book.

The Power of Salt?
'Tis a compendium of my research on the uses of salt. I encourage you to peruse it at your leisure.
I most certainly shall. 'Tis a most valuable gift.
Fascinating, indeed. I, too. would like to read it when you are through, milord.
I look forward to hearing your impressions.
At any rate, I see the sun hangs low. Shall we save a tour of the mine for the morrow?
Yes, perhaps that would be best.
Yes, of course. I shall prepare entertainment and lodgings for your party at once.



As a nice touch, we actually get the book as a note we can read.



We’re also given a moment to explore at least this opening area.

The mines appear to be operating apace. Perhaps I'll survey the operation more closely until my bedding is ready.



It’s at this point that I remembered that you can actually zoom out in this game, so we can see the whole area. This one isn’t too complicated, it’s mostly a raised central path that winds around in a vaguely clockwise manner, while everything on either side falls off pretty quickly.

Going around, we’ll find 450 coins, some Stone, and, most importantly, the Vanguard Scarf accessory. It doesn’t have any statistical bonuses, but does automatically give the wearer the first turn in any fight. As might be expected, this can be used for a ton of different purposes and is a really convenient option to have.

We can go talk to our companions, but most of them are simply marveling at the size of the mine, how nice it is to see Aesfrost and Glenbrook cooperating, or how pleasant/interesting it was to talk to Dragan.



Roland is especially glad to have brought us. The other NPCs have some interesting things to say as well.



Aesfrosti Miner: By all rights, he should be the nation's prime minister,. and yet he's performing glorified border duty in the middle of nowhere. I can't imagine he's happy about it.
Svarog... That's Frederica's uncle. If Minister Svarog is indeed as capable as this miner would have me believe, how did he end up steward of Twinsgate?

This miner gives us information on Frederica’s uncle and Dragan’s father, Minister Svarog. Another miner says that the iron in this mine is going to be sent off to the consortium, where it’ll be under Clarus’s jurisdiction.



Aesfrosti Soldier:The rest of it may be unstable as a result. We cannot risk letting anyone through.

But an Aesfrosti soldier does stop us from going any further into the mines.



The last thing for us to do is talk with Benedict for the sole convictions choice here.

Running a mine—let alone one owned by three nations—is no easy task. The lack of unrest is a credit to Lord Dragan's leadership. To that end, indulge me with a hypothetical: Suppose you led this operation and an incident occurred. How would you respond?



I would order an investigation into the cause. and find the party or parties responsible. There must be no cause for bad blood between our nations.
A fine answer. Sniff out the cause, and you stand to prevent it from happening again. All three nations have a vested interest in the mine's success, and must therefore be equally held to account for their actions.
Indeed. We have much to gain from this venture, but it is a fragile thing that requires constant vigilance.



With that, we’re done with the exploration, and this relatively brief update. Next time, we’ll go on that tour of the mines.

OOrochi fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Nov 25, 2022

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


If the salt is an important part of the explosive being used and assuming that this is real world black powder then the salt must contain high amount of potassium nitrate and possibly sulfur too.
Designing a process to refine the minerals out of the salt must have taken Dragan a while, especially considering he'd have to begin with a very large amount of salt to refine any useful quantity of trace minerals.

In short if we end up on opposite sides of whatever conflict is coming, we should take care not to kill him as he is incredibly hard working and creative.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you
Here is the Power of Salt from the notes








By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


I am disappoint

Nothing but vague impressions of the potential uses.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you

By popular demand posted:

I am disappoint

Nothing but vague impressions of the potential uses.

Dragan already said he's not sharing the actual stuff he found as that is trade secret at this point. He already made the Explosives.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


Sure but he could have at least included some notes on other stuff:
'A solution of refined potash salts shows great promise for fertilizing crops' or something like that.

Quackles
Aug 11, 2018

Pixels of Light.


By popular demand posted:

I am disappoint

Nothing but vague impressions of the potential uses.

I mean, I get the feeling the actual book is a lot longer and more technical, and we've got the player-friendly summary.

JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever

Quackles posted:

I mean, I get the feeling the actual book is a lot longer and more technical, and we've got the player-friendly summary.

While playing a video game, only one would read an entire book of any size on the uses of salt: no-one.

While creating a video game, only one would write an entire book of any size on the uses of salt: also no-one.

All I'm saying is that no-one is a hell of a guy/girl/pronoun/vague concept.

AlphaKretin
Dec 25, 2014

A vase to face encounter.

...Vase to meet you?

...

GARVASE DAY!

It looks like you've got the screenshots of Roland's line and the one about Svarog swapped.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.

AlphaKretin posted:

It looks like you've got the screenshots of Roland's line and the one about Svarog swapped.

That I did. Thanks!

MonsterEnvy posted:

Here is the Power of Salt from the notes

Thank you for sharing it. If people want, I could post more of the notes, but my general plan is to not do so since there are a lot of them.

Quackles posted:

I mean, I get the feeling the actual book is a lot longer and more technical, and we've got the player-friendly summary.

And yeah, that's the general impression I got for a lot of the notes.

TheGreatEvilKing
Mar 28, 2016





Little late to the Anna writeup, but it's worth noting that if all the enemy healers are dead Anna can basically solo entire maps at that point by attacking every other turn with Take Cover.

I may, uh, have resorted to this on Hard mode.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.
Update 18: Character Overview 4

To finish off the initial set of characters, here are the next two overviews.
Hughette Bucklar





Hughette is our first archer and one of my favorite units. Stats-wise, she’s not particularly special, with below average HP and physical defense, average strength and speed, and low magical defense. Hughette also has a low movement of only 4 tiles, but because she’s on a bird, she can fly over enemy units and ignore elevation during combat. Because of that, she’s actually surprisingly mobile and can get wherever she needs to be without much fuss. As an archer, she has a basic attack range of 2-4 tiles, and has a weapon upgrade that can increase the range of her normal attacks, no skills, up to 5 tiles. Her shots all follow a wide arc, so she can usually shoot over intervening obstacles without much issue.

Hughette’s active abilities are almost all very powerful. Blinding Arrow and Shadowstitching Arrow are incredible crowd control tools. Blinding Arrow has a 90% chance to proc its effect, which decreases the target’s accuracy by 70%. This lets Hughette both support the front line, and also lets her easily win most archer duels despite her arrow weakness. Shadowstitching Arrow’s ranged immobilization is also super powerful, letting you break up enemy formations or keep a super heavy hitter out of combat. In general, a solid majority of her turns will be using one of these arrows since their debuffs are just consistent and useful.

Her next two abilities are solid, if nothing exceptional. Focus is a great way to spend an extra TP to essentially guarantee that the next strike will hit. Sights Set can hit multiple units if Hughette is positioned well, but the attacks aren’t particularly strong, and I find that the AI often changes its moves to avoid getting its squishy characters shot. It’s decent as a crowd control option, or to sandpaper some advancing melee units, but I usually find the other skills to be more impactful.

The only real dud of her abilities is Fell Swoop. It has the exact same power and TP cost as Shadowstitching Arrow, has no debuff chance, can only hit adjacent tiles, and is on a mobile flyer. Pretty much the only situation it’d ever be useful is if Hughette gets immobilized and she desperately needs to finish off an adjacent foe. Otherwise, just use Shadowstitching.

Hughette passives are all pretty simple. Hawk’s Bane gives her a 30% weakness to arrows, which isn’t really a big deal. A Rise in Range only works on her first normal attack of the fight. I’ve occasionally used it to pick off an enemy who got weakened before her turn, but most of the time it’s essentially a nonfactor. The most active one is Insult to Injury, which greatly boosts her crit rate against weakened enemies and can be great when trying to pick off weakened healers or mages.

Her final ability is Shooting Star, which for 4 TP lets her use an attack with a huge modifier and a massive 8 tile range. It’s a great burst damage tool, actually the strongest single target attack from any archer, held back only by Hughette’s two basic arrows being so useful that she’ll rarely have the TP to actually use it. One neat aspect of it is that, as part of the attack, Hughette flies up high and fires the arrow at the top of her arc. Because of that, the game treats her as being significantly higher than normal for line-of-sight purposes, she it can hit targets that he might otherwise not be able to reach.

Overall, Hughette is a great support unit and decent damage dealer. Her long range means that she can almost always hit whatever you want her to hit, and almost every single shot of hers will be getting the higher ground bonus. Her statuses are easy and consistent to inflict on enemies and have significant effects once inflicted. Her biggest perk, though, is the flying movement. It gives her tons of flexibility for positioning, and can mean that she can be right in the thick of a fight but perfectly safe up on top of a building. She’s great at flying behind enemies to trigger extra follow up attacks as well. There’s rarely a map that she can’t take advantage of in some way, and she’s relatively self sufficient so she can fit onto most any team in most any battle and make incredibly valuable contributions.

Also she can used for incredible cheese on some maps and I love her for it

Corentin Jennar





Finally, the last character in our party is Corentin. An easy comparison is that Corentin is Frederica, but with less damage and much more utility. He has the 2nd highest magic and 2nd highest magic defense, both behind her, he has the same low HP, and actually edges her out to have the lowest physical defense in the game. He is, however, a bit faster than her, and has a weapon upgrade to increase his movement to 5 vs her 4. A key thing to note as well is that the ice patches from his magic are generally both easier to apply than Frederica’s fire, and often more useful. They can be annoying if you are going on the offensive, but on defense they’re great for slowing down the enemy advance.

His active abilities are all strong. To start with the straightforward ones, Icy Breath does decent damage in an AOE and spreads ice all around. Frosty Fetters does great single target damage and, as demonstrated, the silence can be absolutely killer for enemy mages. Lastly, Shield of Ice grants the target a single charge of invincibility, which can be nice if you can time it correctly, and a pretty powerful counter attack. It’s a solid ability, but I often find it difficult to get the timing down and not waste it on a random archer or regular enemy attack instead of a real heavy hit. That’s especially important since 3 TP is a pretty high cost for a single move.

His other two active abilities are a bit weirder. Wall of Ice lets Corentin spawn a 3-tile wide wall to block enemies. Each section of the wall has its own HP and they’ll stick around until destroyed by an enemy. It’s really his defining ability and is one of the best crowd control options in the game, since you can just pop it down and block off corridors, prevent enemies from climbing up mountains, and essentially just make your own bottleneck anywhere on the map. To make it even better, the tiles targeted are also frozen, so even once the walls go down, they’re still slowing enemies down.

His last regular ability is Icy Tomb. It’s a bit odd in that, instead of targeting anyone, it will hit all enemies standing on icy tiles within 4 tiles of Corentin. It’s quite powerful, only slightly weaker than Frosty Fetters, and despite the condition is actually pretty easy to use. Since Corentin will be spewing ice all over anyway, it’s pretty likely that enemies will end up on a frozen tile, especially if you throw a spell or two at the main melee.

Corentin’s passives are all simple. Blessing of Ice and Ice Resistance give him a 45% innate resistance to ice damage, and a 30% weakness to fire damage. TP+ on Ice does exactly what it says on the tin, and gives Corentin 1 extra TP if he starts his turn on a frozen square. It’s hugely impactful, since it means that with proper positioning he can cast every turn without the need for support or to kill an enemy. That makes him much more self-sufficient than the other mages tend to be, and makes it much easier to use his big spells.

Finally, his ultimate ability is Glacial Moon, which has a long range, huge AOE, and freezes the ground to set up for Corentin’s other abilities. It’s actually not particularly impressive damage-wise, since it’s only slightly stronger than Icy breath. But the AOE and range synergize well with his other crowd control tools to let him hit a bunch of people at once pretty easily. It also works very well with some of the support characters who can grant allies TP, and with the right setup he can spam it almost every turn.

Overall, Corentin is a wonderful mage with some of the best crowd control in the game. He starts off strong with his damage and walls, falls off a little bit in the midgame, and then comes roaring back once he gets his last weapon upgrade and TP+ on Ice. Since he’s so reliant on ice to do well, he’s not quite as plug and play as other units can be. However, there are a number of other units who either spread or appreciate ice so he can end up as the core of a very powerful combination in the late game and subsequent playthroughs.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


I like the naming scheme of some of the characters: how will you name the soldier appointed to shield a prince? Bucklear.
How will you name a famed king? Gustav Adolf.

Cattail Prophet
Apr 12, 2014

One interaction that may not be immediately obvious is that the game lets you use attack items (or anything, really) on empty squares, or even ones occupied by allies, as long as doing so affects the terrain. This means that in a pinch, literally anyone can set up ice for Corentin to stand on.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.
Oh huh. Chucking ice stones at Corentin is an idea I'd never thought of before. That's a pretty cool option if you're desperate.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.
Update 19: Defending Dragan



Welcome back! Last time we had a look around the mines, this time something is going to go wrong.



We come in on our party talking amongst themselves while Dragan speaks with some of the miners.

No word from below, you say? They haven't tried to flee, have they?

Miner: No, ser. I‘ve not seen a single soul emerge from the mine.
Very well, then. I shall make contact with them myself.




Suddenly someone cries out.

Was that—!?
It came from within!



Dragan and Serenoa run further in.

What is the meaning of this?!



Up top, an Aesfrosti soldier kills one of the miners.



And the others reveal themselves to be soldiers in disguise.

Aesfrosti soldiers! Why are they at the mines?
No... Did he see through my plot!?



So this is how they respond. Those dogs!



And with that, we’re put into battle. The goal for this fight is defeat all enemies while keeping Dragan alive.



Thankfully, it’s not as bad as protect missions can be in some games. He’s a mage with a boatload of HP, so though he has low defenses he can still take a few hits.



Annoyingly, he is an uncontrollable ally instead of a normal unit, and starts out pretty far ahead of all of our units. Thankfully, Dragan’s AI isn’t terrible and he will generally run towards the group and safety, but he will still get hit a time or 2 before he can move.



Up against us, we have a bunch of Aesfrosti Blades, who are your basic swordsmen. They’re sorta bulky and deal decent damage, especially when they have the TP for a Mighty Strike.



There are also three bowmen. Two can shoot poisoned arrows, and one cant shoot a slightly stronger ice elemental arrow. They don’t deal quite as much damage as the Blades, but can be annoying to deal with since they’ll be far away. For whatever reason, only one of them has the Jump Bangle accessory, which just boosts their jump by 1.



Our last physical enemy type are the Shieldbearers. As you might expect, they’re physically imposing with a ton of HP and super high physical defense, but their magic defense is almost nonexistent. Their Shield Slam is similar to Erador's Ram Foe, so you need to be a little careful with positioning your units near ledges with them around.



We also have a single Aesfrost Battlemage to deal with. It’s highest leveled unit on the map and has pretty high magic, so its icy breath can be pretty nasty. That said, it’s 3 TP, so it’s not that hard to prevent a 2nd cast.



And finally, there is a single Aesfrosti Healer. All it has is Cure Wounds, which is annoying but we should be able to deal with just a single source of healing.



On the map, enemies are generally split into 3 groups: one set on the central path with both of the magical people, one set of 2 Blades, a Shieldbearer and a Bowman on the lower left area (conveniently covered by the stat box here), and a Blade and a Shieldbearer on the right. There’s also a stray archer on the high ground and third Shieldbearer all the way in the back.



For our side, we can bring everyone with no issues. I have them split up into three groups, with the goals being for the right side to quickly take out the two guys and then join up with the middle, the middle is to advance up and make sure Dragan doesn’t die, and then the left side is supposed to have Erador tank while Corentin and Anna deal with the distracted units.



I gave Frederica the Vanguard Scarf so she starts things off by dealing about a third of the right group’s total HP in damage.



While the first enemy move takes off a quarter of Dragan’s HP.




Thankfully, Dragan’s actually decently fast and hits 2 of the Aesfrostis with a spell before running back towards us.



Roland and Hughette keep chipping away at the right enemies, leaving both under half health.



And Benedict buffs up Dragan’s defenses as he and Serenoa block off the central path to keep Dragan safe.



Now here is where I do something very stupid. If you remember, Erador has the Steelback ability, which reduces damage when attacked from behind. However, I forgot that he doesn’t actually unlock it until level 5. So here, I use sprint to put him in the perfect position to get crit a million times without any damage reduction. He’s also the lowest level on the team since he missed the last fight, so his stats aren’t as high as they could be.



Needless to say, things go poorly for Erador and he goes down in relatively short order.



Thankfully, at least the right side is going well, with the Shieldbearer down and the Blade almost dead.



In the middle, Dragan reaches safety only a little worse for wear, and Benedict and Serenoa prepare to deal with the chasing enemies.



Though Erador’s down, Corentin and Anna are still able to put out some good damage. The two of them take down the Shieldbearer and then start pulling back to the center.



And in the center, enemies start ramming themselves into Serenoa’s Flame Shield counterattacks.



On the right side, Roland finishes off the Blade, while Hughette blinds the archer on the high ground.



Benedict also takes a beating from the enemy ranged attacks and spells, so I have to use a pellet to heal up.



And on the left, Anna and Corentin have dealt with all but one Blade.



With the right side taken care of, Hughette flies over to take out some of the enemies in the center, assisted with follow up attacks from Serenoa.



Annoyingly, the last Blade from the left group is able sneak behind Corentin and take him out before Anna can finish them off.



However, now that the sides are both essentially dealt with, we can start pushing up the center. Roland kills one of the remaining blades.



As we move up, Serenoa also learns Hawk Dive, which is a huge boost.



Taking out the final Blade on the left triggers some dialogue from Dragan.

But I know I am in the right! They will not take me so easily!



And then taking out the last Blade triggers even more.

Aesfrosti Soldier: Tch. No one said nothin' about Wolifort showin' up.



With most enemies down, we’re entering the cleanup phase of the fight. Though we do end up eating a 2nd cast from the battlemage after all.



Also, Dragan has a brilliant idea to turn away from the archer on the raised section, and thus eats a crit for another quarter of his health.

I cannot die... Not until I make my dreams for the future a reality...



However, Hughette is able to take out the archer before he gets another turn, so Dragan is finally safe.



And soon after, she and Serenoa can take out the last Shieldbearer.

Their numbers dwindle! Keep pressing the attack—victory is at hand!



From there, it’s cleanup time. We wear down the healer and archer pretty quickly.



In the final approach, Dragan ends up close to Roland, triggering yet more dialogue.

Why do they attack the mines? Do they mean to shatter our alliance?
That must not be allowed to happen! I will make sure they do not succeed!



And then Serenoa finishes off the mage and last enemy with a Hawk Dive.



With everyone down, the fight is over.



Everyone gathers after dispatching the assassins.

What is the meaning of this!?
Why's Aesfrost attackin' the mines? Are they gonna melt down their own forges next?
lncomprehensible. The miners have all been slain...
How... How did it come to this?
Lord Dragan, you know something of this, do you not?
You've nothing left to hide. Talk.
l underestimated him. I never thought he would go this far...




Mid-sentence, another assassin appears and hits Dragan with an arrow!

Dragan, no!
There are survivors!
How dare you!?



Hughette fires back and takes him out.



Forgive me... Had I but spoken the truth... It would not have come...to this... I thought at last...l could step out of their shadow... That I had the upper hand... Father... Father, forgive me...



What in the world is happening?
We can do naught to set this right. milord. Let us inform the king at once.



At that moment, a herald from Glenbrook comes running in.

Speak it now.

Herald: Whiteholm Castle is under attack, Your Highness! ‘Tis the Aesfrosti army!
What in the—!?
drat it all! The hell is goin' on!?
Control yourself! At any rate, we must confirm exactly what has happened.
Let us return to the kingdom. Frederica...my heart aches for you, but—
We've no time, I know… I am with you.




Herald: Yes, milord. Take care. The army has the crown city surrounded.



Everyone heads out and some time passes while the herald works on the burial.



When Thalas and another Aesfrosti soldier walk in.

Ah, a survivor. Kill him.



The Aesfrosti sprints up to the herald and shanks him.



What a pity that your dreams of being prime minister shall be nothing more than that. Tell me, does it pain you? Hehehe...



Aesfrosti Soldier: Lord Thalas, a word. The entire regiment of assassins have fallen as well. This bodes ill.
It matters not, so long as the miners have been slaughtered. Saves us the trouble of having to silence them.

Aesfrosti Soldier: But, milord—
Enough! Dispose of our dead and be done with it. My brother will wish to hear that we did.

Aesfrosti Soldier: Aye, milord... Shall we bury Lord Dragan as well?
No. Leave him to rot or fill the belly of some mangy cur.



And with that, the “new dawn” is finished.

Rawkking
Sep 4, 2011
Well, they really did kill him. RIP.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


poo poo just got real, though I wish they wouldn't have pulled the old 'suddenly assassin' routine.

megane
Jun 20, 2008



It's always the cutscene assassin that gets ya.

Blastinus
Feb 28, 2010

Time to try my luck
:rolldice:
Crap.
I feel like we're going to lose a lot of characters in the Cutscene Dimension before this game is over. It's pretty dangerous in there.

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
The inverse law of ninja power also applies to assassins apparently

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you

By popular demand posted:

poo poo just got real, though I wish they wouldn't have pulled the old 'suddenly assassin' routine.

I assume it was one of the Bowmen on the map who just survived his wounds, and decided to take his shot while everyone's guard was down.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.
Update 20: Encroaching Darkness

Hello all! Apologies for just going dark for a bit, got hit hard by end of year stuff and just did not have the time to sit down and edit. Now that it's all done, I should be good to go for a while.








We start the chapter on the streets of Glenbrook.

Glenbrook Captain: Hold strong! Don't let them get to the castle!
Glenbrook Soldier: Aye, ser!



That soldier then rushes forward and immediately gets killed by an Aesfrosti soldier.



Glenbrook Subject: Aesfrost... Aesfrost is attacking!

The civilians all run off and the camera moves northeast.



Over to Frani and his guardsmen.

What!? Why does the duchy march against us? This is a flagrant breach of the treaty! Levy a complaint against Archduke Gustadolph immediately!

Glenbrook Soldier: I fear we're past the time for formal complaints. Your Highness! We can hold them no longer. We must inform His Majesty at once!
O-of course. My father and Cordelia must be protected at all costs!



Frani and the soldier rush further back into the castle while the guardsman line up at the gate.



And the Aesfrosti forces slowly approach as the scene fades out.



We next head over to Castle Wolffort.

Aesfrost invaded the crown city by night!? Preposterous! Gustadolph... What is that bastard scheming?



Your Majesty... Fetch my armor! I march to the crown's aid!

Servant: Please, my lord—at least wait for Lord Serenoa and his retinue to return...




Servant: Your heart, milord! Summon a healer, quickly!

One of the soldiers goes running off.

drat it, death cannot take me yet! Serenoa... Benedict...

The scene fades out there and we go back to the world map.



Where we’ll head over to House Telliore for a side story.



The crown city is under attack? By whom?

Silvio’s Subordinate: Aesfrost, it appears... They say the archduke himself leads the charge.
Gustadolph! Then this will be no mere skirmish.

Silvio’s Subordinate: What shall we do, my lord?




Silvio just thinks for a moment.

Protecting the royal family is House Wolffort's duty. Let us bide our time and see how they fare.

Silvio’s Subordinate: You would not make for the capital, my lord? Our kingdom's very fate hangs in the balance.
Which is all the more reason why we must not act rashly! Aesfrost is too strong a foe for House Telliore to face on our own! For now, tighten our defenses. And bring me what information you can.

Silvio’s Subordinate: Yes, my lord.




The soldiers leave as the scene fades out once more.



However, instead of heading into the castle we’re first going to check out the character stories. They are how we have optional characters join us once we fulfill the convictions conditions for them. It’s easily possible to fulfill the requirements earlier, but this chapter is the first time one can appear. In fact, it is guaranteed that there will be at least one character available at this point, no matter how you make your choices.

Because they can be triggered at any time, some of the story bits are a bit awkward to have right now, but they’re overall not bad.




Currently, we have 3 characters waiting to join, and we’ll start with the serious looking youth.



We start his story in the encampment.

Thank you for agreeing to see me. My name is Julio.
So ye're lookin' to pledge your service to us, eh? They tell me ye're from the crown city. Somethin' happen to drive you our way?
I'm afraid so...




Why have you brought me all the way to this place? Whatever it is you wish to speak about, I should hope it is important, I am a busy man.
It is indeed. It concerns the Grand Norzelian Mining Venture. Pardon me if I am being presumptuous, but I came across a most curious thing when I was reviewing the particulars of the arrangement the other day. There were documents that I did not recall having seen before. Specifically, documents pertaining to the compensation of the workers contracted to transport the iron out of the mine.
...ls that so?
Following the paper trail, I could not help but notice that a not-insignificant amount of coin had made its way—through paths most circuitous and befuddling—into your hands. Something easily overlooked at a glance, but my eyes are sharper than most... No doubt you have a logical explanation for this?
I haven't need to explain it. Even if I were guilty of whatever it is you have the gall to accuse me of, there is naught you can do about it. All that l have done, I have done with Prince Frani's full backing.
You would claim that His Highness is complicit in this!?
The high-and-mighty are always scratching each other's backs—everyone knows that. Everyone, it would seem, but you! Hehehe…
… To think the crown prince would be party to such corruption... Has our kingdom truly sunk so low?
It would fall on your head should word of this get out. Considering the nature of the crime, I shudder to think of the punishment. Luckily for you, I've every intention of keeping this matter between us—so long as you don't go running your mouth. Why, I'll even toss in some coin to sweeten the deal. A fair enough bargain, wouldn't you say?
Coin? I spit on your coin. I will not remain silent—I cannot. I will root out the rot of corruption that plagues our realm, no matter what it may cost me.



Patriatte attempts to attack Julio when there’s suddenly a thud at the door.



What's this!?

Julio takes use of the distraction to gut punch Patriatte and then sprints away as we head back to the present.



Ah... Now it's comin' back to me. Ye were Ser Maxwell's second-in-command during the tourney. weren't ye? Ye didn't stand out much, but ye held your own well enough. Aye, I reckon we could find use for him yet.
Very well, then. Be welcome among us. Erador, see that our new friend gets settled in.
Thank you, my lord. You have my word that I will serve you well.



And with that, Julio joins our group. Next up is the boy in strange clothing.



This one starts on a path just outside our encampment.



Wolffort Soldier: Hah! Big words from a shady-looking fellow in that ridiculous garb. Begone at once!
Ridiculous!? Why, I'll have you know that these robes are a treasured relic of...

Wolffort Soldier: Did I ask about your robe!? I said begone!
Wait, I say! ...Ho there! Lord Wolffort! Can you hear me!?



Serenoa and Geela are apparently nearby and head out.

Wolffort Soldier: This strange lad demands an audience with you, Lord Serenoa. and stubbornly refuses to leave.
The name's Narve. Grandson and last disciple of the archmage Grandante, here to offer my services!
...The archmage Grandante? Forgive me, but in all my years of studying the arcane arts, I've never once heard that name.



Ah, I'm...sorry if I offended you.
You needn't apologize, miss. Let's start over, shall we? Let me show you just what the final disciple of the archmage Grandante can do!



Narve charges up and sends a massive burst of wind sideways.



Wolffort Soldier:Incredible!
Well? What do you think?
I've never seen anything quite like it. Were you born with magic like this? Or perhaps...
My illustrious grandfather—the archmage Grandante, that is—taught me all I know! Please. let me join your army! I'm most certain my sorcery could avail you to no end!
Lord Serenoa, this boy possesses remarkable talent. I must admit he would make a formidable addition to our forces.
nods. Thank you, Geela. Narve, I welcome you to House Wolffort.



And with that, Narve joins our forces as well. Once we head back to the map, we’ll finish up with the barkeep at the encampment.



The barkeep is sitting there in thought as Serenoa and Erador come up.



Well, if it isn't Erador. Have a seat, You've ample choice.
Who are you and what've you done with the barkeep? The one I know ain't prone to melancholy.
She is when word of a fellow barkeep's misfortunes reaches her. It's all in this letter: people are takin' to plunderin‘ to survive this war. and my friend's tavern was destroyed beyond repair.
Here's hopin' your fine establishment escapes unscathed.
Aye, I can't bear to think of what I'd do without this place...
My heart goes out to ye. As if times weren't hard enough with customers...
I can't think straight for worrying so much. You're a soldier, aren't you? Can't you just go out there and crush your enemies so we can be done with all this?
Hah! If only it were so easy. What I wouldn't give to wield a flagon every day instead of a blade.
Never took you for the type to make excuses, Erador.
Erador is doing everything he can. The realm suffers because of my failings.
Forgive me, Lord Wolffort. It was hardly my intention to blame you…What with things being as they are, I haven't been myself these days...
But enough of this. All the mopin' in the world won't change a thing. It's time for action. My lord. As you can see, I'll have no choice but to shutter my tavern if the war doesn't end...and soon. So let me join you. I think you'll find that pourin' ale isn't the only trick I have up my sleeve.
Ah, but where are my manners? Hossabara's the name, my lord, at your service. A barkeep I may be, but good drink isn't the only way I know how to heal what ails people.
I can vouch for that, my lord. Hossabara's good to have around in a pinch.
Then I see no reason to refuse. You are most welcome among us.
Hah! Heartenin' to see you're the decisive type. I won't let you down!
An' you've made a good decision as well. Couldn't have picked a better lord to serve, I tell ye.
Aye, I gathered that the way you're always singing his praises.

And Hossabara joins our forces as well.

With that little derail done, we’ll head right over to Glenbrook for the exploration




We can see that the gardens have been heavily fortified and are now guarded by the Aesfrosti army.




There’s a click and Anna and Hughette run out of the fountain.



They each take out one of the guards.




And with the guards gone, everyone else follows.

Secret tunnels beneath the castle—who'd have thought?
None but the royal family knew of this secret. They were built as a last resort, should the worst come to pass... It doesn't appear anyone else has been down here before us. Father must still be within the castle.
Along with a host of enemy soldiers. They appear to have breached the gates.

Frederica inspects one of the bodies.

It truly is Aesfrost. But I do not understand why...
We will seek understanding later. For now, we must protect His Majesty and the royal family.
Aye, we'll smuggle 'em to safety one way or another.
We must take care—the castle has fallen into our enemy's hands.



We now have a chance to explore the gardens. Like every time, we’ll start off with the items. Going around, we can find 900 coins, a piece of stone, 2 poison recovery pellets, a large HP recovery pellet, and 2 fire stones.



Next we’ll run around the wall to the south to find this wounded soldier.

Glenbrook Soldier: You've come—ngh!—in our hour of need. I thank you...for your loyalty...
'Tis my duty as lord of a high house. Come, brother. let us defend our kingdom!

Glenbrook Soldier: Urk!
Stay strong, good man!



But alas, it is too late for our friend.

Rest in peace. You have more than earned it.



Having that happen gives us some information on Glenbrook’s High Houses.



Next we’ll head to the other side, where Frederica is tending to a wounded soldier.

Hold fast, brave soldier! Pray, tell us what happened here!

Glenbrook Soldier: Gustadolph... He stormed...the castle... Nghk!



Sadly, this one is also too far gone and succumbs to his wounds.

What would drive him to do such a thing!? What drove my brother to such madnessl?

Most of the other party members talk about the slaughter and how we need to hurry inwards, but Erador and Roland both have opportunities to boost our convictions.



Makes me sick, thinkin' such cowards serve our king...



We cannot expect them to fight. My only concern is that their money does not fall into the hands of our enemies.
Grounded as ever, I see. True, they wouldn't offer much resistance... An' I reckon we won't need to worry about their riches! They're a shrewd lot.
You may be right about that. Nonetheless, I pray they are not among the dead.
Enough talk though, eh? The king's countin' on us.



We must hasten to my father's side!



Pray, hold. You are of royal blood, which may make you a target as well.
I know this well. You have my word that I shall not endanger my father's rescue. But so help me, if they lay a finger on him...!
I feel your anger in my very bones, Roland. But we must not let rage consume us.
Please, just let them be safe...

Thankfully, there is one bright spot in all of this mess.



After petting the cat, it’s time to end the exploration and head back to the world map.



And next time we’ll fight our way deeper into the castle.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


:asoiaf: a full scale assault, and so quickly!
Clearly Gustadolph believes that mysterious discovery in the mine is worth anything and everything.

Blastinus
Feb 28, 2010

Time to try my luck
:rolldice:
Crap.
Oh, Frani, you're a hilarious idiot. Soldiers are massacring your troops in the streets, and your immediate thought is, "I better write a sternly-worded letter about this."

JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever
Does any of what is currently happening have to do with the LPs decision about which nation to visit first? Feel free to reply in spoiler tags if you feel the need.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


I don't imagine that our actions could have prevented this invasion since the triggers (the discovery in the mine) were completely out of our control.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you
The primary changes would be getting a different party member and knowing more about Gustadolph and Asefrost.


By popular demand posted:

:asoiaf: a full scale assault, and so quickly!
Clearly Gustadolph believes that mysterious discovery in the mine is worth anything and everything.

If you go all out without warning victory is much more likely. The Crown Prince did not even know who was attacking until the enemy was already in the city, Glenbrook was not even slightly prepared for this attack.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.

JustJeff88 posted:

Does any of what is currently happening have to do with the LPs decision about which nation to visit first? Feel free to reply in spoiler tags if you feel the need.

We'd have a bit of a different context if we'd gone to Aesfrost, and a different party member like Monster Envy said, but the Aesfrosti invasion will happen no matter what choice you make. It would have been a really neat decision to even have that early decision change the path of the story, though.

OOrochi
Jan 19, 2017

On my honor as the Dawnspear.
Update 21: More Characters

One thing to note for all of the recruited characters moving forward: all of them start out as a veteran class, so they come in with access to a higher proportion of their abilities and have an initial max TP of 4.

Character Overview: Hossabarra Freyya



Hossabarra is our second cavalry unit, and she’s an interesting support/front-liner hybrid. Stats-wise, she’s basically Roland but slightly worse. Her HP is a little higher, as is her luck, but everything else is a little bit lower. Despite that, her strength is still quite high and everything else is slightly-below average at worse. She also doesn’t have a spear, instead whacking enemies with a club that only has a typical melee range. A key thing to note, though, is that Hossabarra does not have Roland’s 0.7x damage multiplier, so her damage ends up much higher, closer to Serenoa and other DPS units. Funnily enough, despite being mounted, she only has 5 movement like some of the faster footsloggers, though she does have an upgrade later on that boosts it to 6.

Speaking of upgrades, Hossabarra is one of the characters where her weapon upgrades dramatically affect her viability. Since she’s a bit of an all-rounder, her low starting stats really make her awkward to use early on. However, her upgrades can make a huge difference since she can boost her HP, both defenses, and double-dip her weapon strength to boost both her damage and healing power. Once she gets some levels and upgrades, she turns from a hard-to-use, relatively fragile unit to a decently independent support unit that really shines when working with a smaller squad of people on their own.



For abilities, Hossabara has a mix of support and damaging ones. She’s actually our second healer, starting with the Be Brave ability. As a healing move, it’s okay. It’s slightly stronger than Geela’s basic cure, and hits 4 spaces at once, for a hefty 3 2 TP. However, those spaces are only the ones directly adjacent to Hossabara, and, as a key thing to note does not include herself. Because of that, it can be a bit awkward to hit more than 1-2 allies with it, and it does not help keep Hossabara herself alive at all.

Her other two normal active abilities are both damaging ones. Cleave hits a 3-tile wide line of enemies for 2 TP, but it’s a little weaker than her basic attack. It can be used to set up some hilarious things like proccing 3 follow up attacks at once if she can flank the main battle. But that’s a very dangerous situation for her to be in, so it usually ends up just being a way to get a little bit of extra damage on bunched up enemies. Meanwhile, Pushback is a neat positioning tool. It does a decently strong attack to one enemy and shoves them back 3 squares. It can be neat to shove enemies off cliffs or open up a group of enemies to let Hossabarra get some follow up attacks in. Just make sure to take them down before they can gang up on her.

Next, we’ll move on to her passives, which are almost all wonderful. But we’ll start with the only bad one, the same extra damage from spears one that Roland has. It’s not a huge deal, just keep them away from her if possible. Moving on to the good ones, we’ll start with Desperate Defense. It’s not stated anywhere in-game, but Hossabara’s version of Desperate Defense is insane. For comparison, Erador’s version of it is a 20% reduction in damage. For Hossabara, once it procs she only takes 50% damage, just flat out. As expected, this is a massive boost to her durability. As long as she doesn’t get blown out with a huge attack, this lets her hang out in the front line and heal/support much more effectively. In that vein, she has an incredibly significant passive, HP Recovery for Two. Once she has it, whenever Hossabara makes a follow up attack, both she and the instigator heal for 10% HP. It’s great for both keeping her alive and helps you top up allies without using valuable TP or actions. It’s also effectively a 20% heal on Hossabara if she’s really low, thanks to Desperate Defense.

Her other passives are tied together a bit. Trekking for TP gives her a bonus TP whenever she moves 5 or more squares. Hossabarra’s abilities are all relatively high cost, and she wants to have extra TP floating whenever possible, so this is a pretty huge boost. It also synergizes very well with Up and Up, which boosts Hossabara’s damage by about 3% per TP she has, maxing out at a 15% boost when she has 5. Though it sounds small, this can be a pretty big increase overall, and ends up giving her one of the strongest basic attacks in the game.

Finally, we come to her ultimate ability: Catapult. It’s a really neat utility skill, which costs 3TP, and lets her chuck an adjacent ally to any location within 5 squares of their starting position, totally ignoring elevation. It also boosts their defense and magic defense for 3 turns, helping them survive wherever they end up. Like other movement skills, this has tons and tons of applications, from tossing archers up to unreachable sniping spots, to helping people flank, to uniting the party on scattered starts, and whatever else you can think of. It’s an incredibly nice tool to have and has come in absolutely clutch for me on some of the most difficult maps.

Overall, Hossabara is a really interesting character. She’ll never be the star of the show in any aspect, but her varied kit, stats, and mobility make it so that she’ll end up being very useful wherever she is. Her main issue is that that’s only true once fully upgraded. Without all of her skills and upgrades, she’s much more of a master of none than a jack of all trades. That runs into the issue that most upgrade materials are only available in limited quantities per run, and all of her good upgrades are high-tier, and thus even more expensive. Because of that, she only has the opportunity to even begin shining in the latter third of the game, and even then it’s debatable whether it’s worth spending so much on her in a first playthrough. I absolutely loved using Hossabara in my later runs, but there’s much more of a trade off for doing so in the first go.

Character Overview: Narve Oparyn



Our next character is Narve, the Rainbow Mage. As the name implies, he is a mage and has a typical mage statline of low strength and defense, but high magic and magic defense. Compared to the other mages, Narve has slightly better physical stats, especially HP which is actually a decent bit above average, but slightly worse magical ones, including the 2nd worst magic stat of the lot by a pretty significant margin. He’s also relatively slow to get around, with only 4 movement and no way to upgrade it.



Abilities-wise, the name of the game for Narve is versatility. He has the exact same AOE healing spell that Geela does. His heals won’t be quite as strong, but an extra healer is always nice to have. Additionally, unlike the other mages, who focus on one or two elements, Narve has all 4 elemental magics available. However, they’re just the basic spell from each element. Scorch and Icy Breath are exactly the same as the spells that Frederica and Corentin have, respectively. He also has 2 new ones that we haven’t seen yet.

The more straightforward one is Spark, which is lightning elemental. It only hits a single target, but is significantly (about 40%) stronger than the other 3 spells. Importantly, it also has a 30% chance to paralyze the target for a round. This can be absolutely huge if you can proc it on a threatening target. Lightning also has a unique interaction with puddles, water, and any conductive material like metal stairs or rails. If Spark targets a square containing any of that terrain, it flows through it and also hits any connected squares with conductive terrain in them. The damage in the connected squares is significantly lower, but the paralysis chance is exactly the same. On some maps, or with support from allies, this can turn Spark into both an incredibly potent damage and crowd control tool.
This flow does have friendly fire, which would sound like a downside, but can be mitigated pretty easily if you pay attention. Meanwhile, enemies don’t fully take into account who might get hit through the flow, and on some maps, an errant Spark cast from an enemy mage could lead to half of the enemy team getting hit or paralyzed, including the casting mage themself.
Overall, spark on its own gives Narve at least some form of niche, but there’s another mage later on who, in my opinion, can make better use of it.



The other new spell is Whirlwind, which is an interesting, if hard to use, spell. Unlike the other spells, it has a limited range, starting directly adjacent to Narve. Once cast, it hits the targeted square, and then the squares in green behind it. Once Narve has unlocked the passive Extending Your Reach, the third row in red is added to the mix. Anyone it hits has their facing rotated to be directly away from Narve. Hypothetically, thanks to the lack of friendly fire, this could be used to set up some great back attacks on enemy units. However, thanks to Narve’s low movement and its short range, it’s tough to actually set things up for it, despite its massive AOE.

Passive-wise, Narve is pretty simple. He has weapon upgrades that will boost either his fire or ice damage, and then either his lightning or wind damage, by 10%. These help compensate for his lower magic stat pretty nicely, though they won’t make up the entire damage differential between him and other mages. Pierce defenses automatically inflicts a magic defense debuff on whoever he hits, which is great for further turns or if other mages are in the fight. And then Extending Your Reach increases the max range of all of his spells by 1. It partially makes up for his low movement, and can be especially nice for Spark targeting.

Finally, we have his ultimate ability, Mystic Beam. For 4 TP, it targets a straight line of 6 squares out from Narve. Any enemies it hits take a decent amount of damage (about equivalent to an upgraded Scorch or Icy Breath), and any allies are healed. Sadly, the heal doesn’t take weapon strength into account, so it ends up being significantly weaker than Sanctuary or anything Geela could cast. it’s a pretty underwhelming ability. The damage is low, the heals are low, the targeting is a massive pain, and it costs a high amount of TP on a very hungry character.

Overall, to reuse the saying, I see Narve as a Master of None. He can do all of the elements, but only at a surface level. He can heal, but it’s weaker than any other healer. Every ability costs at least 2 TP, but he has no TP boosting passive. He can absolutely work, especially if used with Corentin or supported by someone like Julio who can boost his TP. The main issue is that, anything Narve can do, another mage can do better. And I often don’t see the versatility that he brings as being worth a slot over another, more focused mage.

Character Overview: Julio Wrightman (yes, really)



Julio is a really neat support character who’s focused around manipulating the TP of both enemies and allies. Stats-wise, he’s an all-rounder like Serenoa, with above average HP, Strength, and Defense, with about average stats in everything else. He also has 5 movement like most of the more mobile characters. All of his abilities are relatively short ranged, so he wants to be able to hang out around the front line, and his stats allow him to do so pretty successfully.



Julio’s abilities are split between buffs for allies, and attacks that debuff the enemy or do something weird. This is pretty well codified with Moment of Truth, which grants an adjacent ally 1 TP and a strength/magic boost for 3 turns, compared to Not On My Watch, which hits an enemy for about 25% more damage than a basic attack and decreases their TP by one. Moment of Truth makes Julio some units’ best friend. Once it’s upgraded to only cost 1 TP, Julio becomes able to effectively donate his turn to any mage and let them cast continuously. Not On My Watch is a little more situational, but can be super helpful in preventing mages from casting or keeping a big enemy off their nastier abilities. The 2TP cost means it can’t be spammed, but it’s still nice to have.

The same dynamic then plays out with Inheritor and his ultimate, Intimidation. Inheritor just straight up transfers all of his TP over to an ally, super helpful for pulling off ultimates in clutch situations. While Intimidation hits all 8 tiles surrounding Julio, does significant damage, and drains 1 TP from all of them. It’s usually even more situational than Not On My Watch, but if you can get the right grouping up, it can delay or even fully stop what would otherwise be a nasty set of turns.

His last two abilities are relatively simple. Finish Them costs 3 TP to give an ally 2, but works from range. It’s easier to position at the cost of being less efficient, but still useful. Finally, his most straightforward ability is Best Regards. It’s a magical melee attack. It scales off his sort of low magic stat, but has a massive multiplier to make up for it. It depends on the enemy as to whether or not it’ll be more effective than a physical attack, but if nothing else it’s a great option to help delete enemy shieldbearers.

For passives, Julio has 2 really good ones. K.O. TP+ gives him TP back on a kill, just like Frederica. It’s a nice incentive to put him in combat, or at least have him deal with anyone trying to flank the mages. His only other passive is TP Barrier, which is a great defensive ability. It makes it so that every TP he holds reduces incoming damage by 5%, capping out at 25% with 5. Admittedly, Julio doesn’t really want to hold on to his TP, but it is great to keep him alive until someone needs a boost. Combined with his solid defenses, he ends up being quite bulky.

Over all, Julio is a neat support unit that I really like. His skills are all useful in some way, but there’s also a lot of overlap between them. He’d really love one more skill, like Erador’s provoke, in order to let him serve as a debuffer/tank, instead of just a TP battery. That said, he’s still a very good unit to use, and can dramatically increase the effectiveness of any TP hungry unit, especially mages.

OOrochi fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Dec 18, 2022

AweStriker
Oct 6, 2014

There’s some inconsistencies in the writeups:

- Does Be Brave cost 2TP (spreadsheet) or 3 (breakdown)?
- Mystic Beam somehow got the auto-revive description in the spreadsheet

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
I really appreciate the character breakdowns. It seems like Julio might be the most immediately useful new addition? I'm sad that the rainbow mages isn't more powerful, but I guess not every char can be a winner.

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Quackles
Aug 11, 2018

Pixels of Light.


I honestly really like Narve, mostly because he's able to hit AoEs and heal. I ended up preferring him as backup healer over Hossabarra.

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