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 Fire Emblem: Engage is the seventeenth and (at time of writing) the most recent entry in the series. Following the massive success of Three Houses, it was easy to believe that the next game would be a more polished version of that same template - and whatever your take on Engage may be, it is very definitely not that. The series has a long-standing habit of tweaking where any individual game falls on the Strategy-RPG spectrum, and Engage slams it hard back toward the Strategy side of that scale. Gone are the monastery, teaching, the calendar, and time management - this is, at least in terms of structure, a sequel to Sacred Stones more than anything else. In their place are the "Emblems", echoes of older Fire Emblem characters that allow for a short burst of power and come with a set of unique skills that drastically change how a character plays, each of them hilariously broken in their own way. I think this purity massively improves the playable part of Engage, and as a game, this is easily the best the series has been since at least Path of Radiance. It is far and away my favorite of the "Modern" skill-based Fire Emblems, in large part because it throws a lot of the stuff that defines modern Fire Emblem directly in the trash. However, this has seemingly come with a cost: Engage's writing is, on the whole, awful. At its best, the plot is a Saturday morning cartoon in which the good dragon and his royal allies beat up the bad dragon - a standard, if unexciting Fire Emblem plot. At its worst, the writing is both nonsensical and cowardly, going out of its way to avoid paying off any of its potentially interesting plot threads while also hurriedly wrapping up character arcs and attempting pathos that is entirely unearned. Supports are okay, but have a bad habit of frontloading both the worst supports (generally) and the ones that put the character gimmick front and center. And the less said about bond conversations the better, mostly because the vast majority of them are three lines long. Engage is a lot of things - it's bright, colorful, silly, and earnest (perhaps to a fault), with art by a vtuber artist that really shows. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a repudiation of Three Houses, but it's clearly aiming for something in the complete opposite direction, and it's understandable that the fans are generally divided between "it's garbage" and "it's great" with very little in-between. Maybe the DLC does a better job of bridging the two camps? I wouldn't know, I didn't buy it and I honestly don't plan on doing so for this LP, but color me doubtful. The LP This is a screenshot LP with occasional video links for big blocks of cutscenes or otherwise important moments. When present, they will be called out  like this. I will do my best to make the LP presentable without watching the videos, but the voice acting is generally pretty good and the music is worth listening to. Updates will be whenever I feel like it, but I'm generally aiming for once a week, probably Monday. We may do twice a week at the beginning to at least get the ball rolling, we'll see.Spoilers Normally, spoilers really annoy me because I shouldn't have to ask people to not talk about the final boss while we're in Chapter 3. This story, however... Look, I'm still gonna make that ask, but frankly, Engage's story isn't really worth spoiling. It's gonna go exactly where you think it's going, and "plot twists" from Chapter 20 will be blindingly obvious by Chapter 5. I trust we understand each other on this? Table of Contents Prologue: The Emblems Chapter 1: Awake at Last Chapter 2: Queen Lumera Chapter 3: Hostilities Chapter 3 End Chapter 4: A Land in Bloom Somniel: Part 1 Chapter 5: Retaking the Castle Somniel: Part 2 Chapter 5x: Budding Talent Chapter 6: The Stolen Ring Somniel, Part 3 Chapter 6x: Mysterious Merchant Artix fucked around with this message at 21:35 on May 13, 2024 |
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Mar 21, 2024 21:29
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Before we begin, you should really watch uh...whatever's going on in this intro cutscene. You had better believe that it plays every time you boot up the game, so look forward to getting a healthy dose of RISE FROM A THOUSAND YEARS AGO.  First things first, we need to pick our avatar. A lot's been made of Mika Pikazo's art for this game, and while I generally agree that it works better in 2D than 3D, I still think it looks fine. The only thing that really bugs me is the crossed bangs. Default name is Alear, which will do nicely.  We'll be playing on Hard Casual - the former because I think it hits the sweet spot between "punishing mistakes and having some teeth" and "lmao go gently caress yourself" that some hard modes like to flirt with, and the latter because even with the benefits of Divine Pulse, I'm still not going to deal with resetting because someone ate a 1% crit on the final hit against a boss. Besides, there's another kind of interesting fun in "Oh my god half my team is dead, can I even still win this chapter?" which I'm sure we'll run into sooner rather than later. There is also a fixed growth mode if that's your thing, but it is very much not mine. I assume it works similarly to FE9's, but you can go check Serenes Forest if you really care. Prologue Cutscenes Anytime there's a big block of cutscenes (usually at the start and end of chapters) I will link them in video form like so. You don't have to click on them, but the game is quite pretty in motion and the voice acting/music are both worth hearing.   We open on Alear making his way through a castle full of baddies.   Hey, it's that guy from Smash Bros!    We pass by a couple other folks with a few old friends in tow. For better or worse, this is an anniversary game, but we'll get to all of them in due time.   Now. It’s time to engage. The others fought hard to clear a path for us. We can’t let them down! You’re here ─ at your end. This place will be your tomb.  Gameplay! As much as you can call the tutorial "gameplay," anyway. If you've never seen or played a Fire Emblem before, this probably isn't going to be the LP for you, but we'll do our best to cover the bare minimum. First and foremost: movement. Blue is your range, red is how far you can attack. If you're coming from the other modern FE games, you may find Engage to be fairly stingy on movement - the default for infantry is only four tiles, with cavalry starting at five. Our ~mysterious foe~ isn't in range yet, so all we can do is advance for now. You have no hope of defeating me. Not even with your Emblem. Thankfully, he'll come to us. Note the faint red line going from him to us - this is not necessarily an indication of aggro, simply that based on his movement and weapon range (or Emblem skills once they're relevant) he could attack us. It's a handy way to see if a move is going to completely gently caress you before you commit to it, if nothing else.  Enough talk, have at you! To die here was ever your destiny. The rings are mine.  We trade blows twice. Things uh...aren't looking good. It’s time, Alear. Engage! Fortunately, we have a trick up our sleeve.    Emblem engage!   We'll talk more about engaging in Chapter 1 when it's actually relevant in a way that isn't "press button to win tutorial," but it does come with a neat transformation sequence, including an entirely new outfit. And this will be true for everyone! It's one of coolest little touches in the game.  Yeah, that's a little more like it. gently caress him up, Alear.     Lodestar Rush is a fun one, and we'll be leaning on it a lot in the early game. Seven attacks (nine if Alear is doing it) at 30% strength is a hefty damage boost when you need it. You have nothing to celebrate. You are weakness itself. You will never defeat me.  Know that I will always be with you. And that we will stand together again, as we did this day. If ever we cross paths again, I hope you will remember me. Indeed, that you will remember all of us who took up arms to fight by your side: the 12 Emblems.
Artix fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Mar 24, 2024 |
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Mar 21, 2024 21:30
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Fajita Queen posted:I really, really hate whoever started saying this and spread it throughout the entirety of Fire Emblem discourse, because it's broadly speaking complete bullshit. Mika Pikazo has been a popular artist for a long time, the art style she's known for predates (japanese) vtubers as a concept, she only designed three of them, and based on the timing of when Engage started development she was almost certainly contracted to do the art for it before she ever made a vtuber rig. The issues with Engage's art style (if you even wanna call them issues) are mostly due to bad art direction. There was an interview that basically revealed that they kinda just had her design a whole bunch of characters without much information about them, which leads to the main actual problem, which is that the character designs aren't really cohesive with each other and the setting. There isn't much in the way of thematic design for the royalty and retainers of a given country, etc. I don't say that derisively! Obviously Mika Pikazo's work predates her vtubers, but with Engage coming out well after the boom it's really hard to see them any other way, personally. I'm not even saying the character design is bad, just that you could slot Alear right next to the next wave of Holostar boys and literally no one could tell anything was wrong. He even has his own stupid lore video ready to go! Also re: the writing, I'm very much in the camp of "When it hits, it hits really well, but it misses both far more often and far worse." It's fine to be cheesy, and I don't have any real complaints about the general plot progression aside from a handful of endgame plot points, but most of its big emotional plot points fall flat for me. On the whole though: XainZero posted:Fire Emblem Engage is stupid (positive). (Chapter 1 tomorrow)
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Mar 24, 2024 17:43
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For the purposes of the LP, Byleth is male and Corrin is female (because that's what the game uses). Robin is part of a package with Chrom as a DLC emblem and is male. You get Lucina in the base game.
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Mar 24, 2024 18:51
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Chapter 1: Awake At Last  Where am I?  Whoa. Tell me you're seeing this!  You're awake! Huh? You're really awake, yeah? You're the Divine Dragon! Uh... No way! Well, that's certainly something to wake up to. Our excitable friends run off, leaving Alear to look around the room for a moment before we move on.  Calm down, calm down, you two. What's all of this ruckus about? Meet Vander, ostensibly the adult in the room. We'll see how that plays out.  It's a miracle. An utter miracle. The Divine One, awake at long last... That I might live to see you standing before me. What an honor. Um, not to be rude, but...who are you? Ah! Apologies. I lost myself for a moment there. My name is Vander. I am the 32nd Steward of the Dragon. Hello, Sir Vander. Oh my, Divine One! There is no need to address me as such. Simply "Vander" will do. See! I told you the Divine Dragon was awake! Yeah! We were telling the truth! Oh, sorry! We were so excited we forgot to introduce ourselves. We're the 33rd Stewards of the Dragon! My name's Clanne. Pleased to meet you. And I'm Framme! We're twins. We've been waiting forever for you to wake up! As Stewards of the Dragon, our mission is to protect and provide for you. Generation after generation of our predecessors waited for you to rise from your slumber. I'll admit, I am astonished to see it has finally happened. A thousand years? That's how long I've been asleep? Indeed. Your mother ─ Lumera, the Divine Dragon Monarch ─ has long awaited this day. Finally you, a Divine Dragon yourself, have awakened. This surely signifies great things. Slow down. This monarch you mentioned ─ she's my mother? And I'm a "Divine Dragon," you called it? Oh dear. Is your memory hazy, Divine One? I know my name, but...that's about it. You can't remember anything else? Maybe you're just feeling groggy 'cause of all that sleep? But I don't even know who I am. Fret not. Such lapses in memory are to be expected after sleeping for so long. If I may... You are a Divine Dragon, a member of a royal family of dragons revered as deities. Queen Lumera, the Divine Dragon Monarch, rules over the Holy Land of Lythos. In the war a thousand years ago, she defeated and imprisoned the wicked Fell Dragon. You, Divine One, are her only child. The war, the Fell Dragon... I feel like I can almost remember, but... Please, do not trouble yourself trying to bring it all back at once. Your memories will return in time. You are a being of immense power ─ a deity, no less. I have heard many a tale of your kindness, nobility, and bravery. Your unflinching heroism. That's a lot to live up to. For now, let us head to Lythos Castle. Queen Lumera will be thrilled to see you. Perhaps the reunion will help stir your memories. OK, then! Onward and downward! To Lythos Castle!Phew, that was a lot of words that don't say much of anything. We've got amnesia after sleeping for a thousand years, but now that we're up it's time to go see Mom who is also the Queen. This setup has never once ended in disaster, so we can presumably look forward to an entire game of hanging out and drinking tea in the castle. There's also something to be said for how the game treats Alear himself - characters are deferential and overly polite, sometimes to an obnoxious degree, but it's important to note that for the majority of folks that we meet in the game, they quite literally worship him. God is not only real, he is standing in front of you, and he wants your help to murder that man on the other side of the battlefield.  All this time, I've been sleeping in the sky? You have, yes. The place where you slumbered is known as the Somniel. A fortress built upon an airborne island to ensure your safety. It is perhaps the most secure place in all of Elyos. Only a select few can set foot there. I see. And you three live there with me? Yup! As stewards, we spend our time caring for you and managing things around the Somniel. It's a sacred place, so we work as hard as we can to keep it shipshape! Royal family members visit us all the time! Well, visit you, really. The prince and princess of Firene visit especially often. I see. Thanks for filling me in, Framme. You too, Clanne. Ah! The Divine One said our names! And thanked us! I think I'm going to faint...unless I already did. Am I dreaming? Need I remind you that you are in the presence of the Divine Dragon! How many times must I tell you to behave in a manner befitting your station? Divine One, please forgive this embarrassing breach of decorum. Breach of decorum? Haha, I'm actually enjoying their enthusiasm. Hehe! You're just as kindhearted as I always imagined! Lythos Castle. The...Divine Dragon Monarch is there, you said? Yes. I suppose a thousand years have passed since you've been home. Don't worry. We'll be right there with you. You can hold my hand if you like. Thank you. How long have I been wearing this ring? Since before I fell asleep? That blue stone... It reminds me of something... Anyway, thank god, something we can finally kill. Huh?! Wh-what are those horrible things?! Vander! Are creatures like that common around here? They're not. I've never seen them. Nor have I heard of such monsters appearing in Lythos before. This is a land of peace. Understood. Well... Shall we fight them? As you wish, Divine One! You whose bravery knows no equal. Huh? We haven't the slightest idea who they are. We don't know how they came to be here. And... They worry me for some reason. So, we run! I, er, well... Did the Divine Dragon really command me to retreat? We'll keep them distracted for you! What the ─ Come back! Come back this instant!  Clanne! Framme! Hold on! We shall come to you!Well done, children. The first opportunity to get yourselves killed, and you gladly took it. Let's go bail them out, shall we?  Vander! Divine One! Stay back ─ it's too dangerous! Clanne and Framme were trying to protect me. I have to help them. This is no time to run. Please, let me fight. All right... But stay on your guard.  And with all that, we're finally cut loose for... Well, another tutorial map. But at least this one has some actual gameplay. Let's start with our heroes.  Base Class: Dragon Child Class Type: Dragon Personal Skill: Divinely Inspiring - Adjacent allies deal +3 damage and take -1 damage. Base Stats: HP: 22 (60% + 10%) Str: 6 (35% + 10%) Mag: 0 (20% + 0%) Dex: 5 (45% + 10%) Spd: 7 (50% + 15%) Def: 5 (40% + 10%) Res: 3 (25% + 10%) Luck: 5 (25% + 5%) Build: 4 (5% + 5%) Alear is our lord, very much in the Eliwood-type mold. He's pretty fast and reasonably accurate, but his strength can be a little shaky. Fortunately, none of that really matters, because as a Dragon-type unit, he's going to get most of his utility out of Engaging. Each of the different class types comes with their own set of passive buffs regarding Emblems, but Dragons typically have the best ones and his class skill shortens the recharge timer by a turn for good measure.  Base Class: Paladin Class Type: Cavalry Personal Skill: Alabaster Duty - If Vander is adjacent to Alear, grants Crit +5 during combat to both of them. Base Stats: HP: 40 (60% + 15%) Str: 11 (25% + 15%) Mag: 5 (10% + 0%) Dex: 10 (25% + 10%) Spd: 8 (35% + 15%) Def: 10 (35% + 15%) Res: 8 (20% + 15%) Luck: 6 (10% + 10%) Build: 8 (5% + 0%) As with many early-game paladins, Vander's job is to take hits and soften up enemies for other party members to kill. Unlike most of the recent examples in the franchise, however, that's about the extent of his usefulness. While his growths aren't atrocious (though they are bad by Engage's standards), his bases are terrible and levels are hard to come by given that he's a promoted unit. Can you make it work? Sure! Engage has a lot of tools available to make up for a unit's shortcomings. But you are really going to have to spend that capital to get Vander up to speed.   We'll talk more about Clanne and Framme next chapter once they formally join us. For now, just note that they're here, and we should probably attempt to save them. The fighter closest to Framme will chase the pair of them to the north once the chapter starts, but thankfully he's the only one with any interest in them.  If we really wanted to, we could run Vander right up to the guy threatening Framme and then let the rest of them suicide into him while Alear cleans up the mess. But that's both not very interesting and a little risky since even in the thicket, Alear still has a 40% of getting hit by these guys and will need three hits of his own to kill a single bandit.  For now we'll let the bandits come to us. Alear should be able to comfortably kill both of the guys to the left once Vander takes a swing at them, and Framme can take a hit.  Just one, though! She'll run once she's taken damage and Clanne will block her off, but he's got a whopping 1 HP on her so you'd better be quick.  The rest of the bandits come to us with predictable results.  I intended to have Alear clear the way and send Vander up to get the guy chasing Framme, but astute viewers will notice that there is a rock in the way.  We'll have to settle for busting these guys' heads instead. Vander catches up with him next turn. If we had gone after him immediately, we could have actually killed him here, but unfortunately he gets to escape into the Cutscene Zone after this turn.  Reinforcements! On Chapter 1? Is that even legal? Emblem Marth More enemies! They just keep coming. You're all trying to protect me. I should be protecting you! If only I could... Alear... Huh? You must remember, Alear... Who... Who said that? Know that my strength can be yours. I know that voice. "If ever we cross paths again, I hope you will remember me. Indeed, that you will remember all of us who took up arms to fight by your side." The 12 Emblems... Upon this revelation, Alear starts running away from Vander, directly into the middle of the bandits. Divine One? Divine One! You mustn't do this alone! Don't worry! I'm not alone! Help me. Lend me your strength in this fight!   Oh, Marth, Mr. Fire Emblem himself. The main theme kicks in and we get a couple action shots of Marth and Alear fighting the bandits together.    It's all very exciting, but drink it in while you can, because no one else is going to get an intro like this.  That was amazing! We did it! Thanks for your help, Marth, truly! Of course. It is good to see you. I was able to answer your call, because you remembered me. Do my eyes deceive me...or is that an Emblem of legend? Of course, let's not forget that we've still got some stragglers to deal with. With your help, Marth, we might just make it. Will you join us? Of course. I will fight alongside you from here forward ─ your ally, until the very end.So now that we officially have one, let's talk about Emblems. We'll do a deep dive in what Marth specifically brings to the table once we have access to our home base in a couple chapters, but since he's all that we have right now, we'll use him as our example.  First and foremost, you get a chunk of stats for equipping an Emblem. Which stats go up depends on the Emblem and what your bond level is, but they generally correspond to that unit's archetype. Marth gives a roughly even spread of strength, dex, and speed, but later ones will be significantly more specialized. Second, Emblems are the source of the game's skills. Some you get simply for equipping the Emblem in question, others require you to actively be synced up. Each Emblem also has a special attack or skill that can only be used once per engage, usually (but not always) some kind of powerful attack. As we saw in the prologue, Marth's is Lodestar Rush.  Finally, every Emblem comes with a set of three special weapons you can use only while engaged. These are usually themed to the character in question and almost always include whatever legendary weapon that character used. For example, Marth starts with a rapier and adds Mercurius and the Falchion as you raise his bond.  We can already see the benefits of having Marth around, and we haven't even properly engaged with him yet! Compare that to the combat forecast Alear had in the first half of the chapter. Suffice to say that we clean these boys up pretty quickly.  It's only Chapter 1, so it's best not to extrapolate too much on what the game's power curve is going to look like, but it's worth saying it to put it out there: We started this map doing 9 damage once, and we're finishing it by doing enough damage to one-shot these guys from full health, despite not gaining a single level. Emblems are wild in this game.  End of Chapter  Yeah. And, uh...sorry. This all happened because we ran ahead. I'm the one who should apologize. You put yourselves in danger trying to protect me. It's such a relief you're both safe now... Divine One, I hear more enemies approaching. More? I thought we'd gotten them all. Evidently not. These creatures... Will there be no end to them?  Well, that escalated quickly.  Fortunately, it seems to be on our side.   Yes, it's me. Thank you for saving us. What a joy it is to see you, Alear. Oh! When I sensed you had awoken, I flew here as fast as my wings would carry me. I hope you're not hurt. I'm... I'm fine. What a relief! You cannot understand how I've missed you, my dear child. Oh! You're...my mother. What's the matter? Don't tell me... Oh! I see. I'm sorry. I'm sure you weren't expecting this. No, I must apologize. I was so overcome with joy, I hugged you as hard as I could. I take this to mean you've forgotten...everything. I suppose it's to be expected. A thousand years is a very long time. Vander explained that I've been sleeping since... since some war that happened back then. Yes. You suffered a terrible wound. And... and because of that... A wound? I don't remember that. Or this world, or anything. Don't fret, young one. I will speak to you of all you've forgotten. Regardless of what you remember, I'm simply glad to have you back, my dear child. Still...this isn't the reunion you hoped for. Oh, don't worry about me. It's solace enough just to hear that sweet voice of yours! And to gaze once more into your eyes. What lovely colors they are, Alear. After each map, we get dumped on a version of it that we can wander around and either chat with folks or pick up assorted goodies that are lying on the ground. There's nothing to see here (yet), so let's just talk to Mom and get out of here. 
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Mar 25, 2024 21:43
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Chapter 2: Queen Lumera  This opens on a big overview of the world, so bear me for a second. Admittedly, it is one of the coolest-looking versions of the map, so it's got that going for it, but the subtitles are kinda hard to read over it so I've transcribed them alongside the images.  Firene, Kingdom of Abundance. Brodia, Kingdom of Might. Elusia, Kingdom of Knowledge. Solm, Queendom of Freedom. The Land of Lythos, home of Divine Dragons. And Gradlon, domain of the Fell Dragon. Fallen to ruin. A thousand years ago, our lands endured a vicious war with the Fell Dragon. We called upon heroes from other worlds to aid us. Heroes known as Emblems. With them, the warriors of our nations fought as one. In the end, we were victorious in defeating and imprisoning the Fell Dragon. In the years since, our world has been safe. If his shadow stretches across the land again, then we must fight him anew, as we did in ages past. Fell Dragon Sombron must be stopped.Lotta suprises here, it's understandable if you need a second to process it. "Purple dragon bad, Divine dragon good" isn't going to blow any minds as far as Fire Emblem plots go, and it's not going to get much wilder as we go.  So this is Lythos Castle. It's beautiful. I'm glad you think so, Alear. Though you may not remember this place, I've long waited to welcome you back here. Welcome home, Alear. ...I'm home? Yes, you are. Ah, I feel overwhelmed with joy! I may cry. Queen Lumera... Vander. Clanne. Framme. Thank you for all you've done. You are worthy stewards indeed. You and your predecessors, watching over my child all these years... I am ever so grateful. You are too kind. Yeah, it's awful nice of you to say that! I'm starting to feel woozy... Aw yeah! Go us! We just got praised by Queen Lumera herself! The Corrupted? Those enemies you were fighting out on the grasslands. Oh, I didn't like those things one bit. Just the sight of them made my blood run cold. Understandably so. The Corrupted are corpses revived by an evil power. The Fell Dragon used them as his soldiers in the war. Before the start of that bitter conflict, Elyos had known peace for eons.  Despite tireless searching, we could not determine where he'd come from. But seeing the destruction he wrought, there was no doubt of his evil intentions. Now the Corrupted are spreading once more. This may be a sign of his return. No... I wonder if it is mere coincidence that you awakened as all this unfolds... If the Fell Dragon has been released, then we must prepare for battle. I can't imagine fighting someone like that. Worry not. I doubt he will attack anytime soon. This castle is filled with the spirits of Divine Dragons ─ the Corrupted cannot enter it easily. Let us devise a plan now, while we have the opportunity. Emblem Marth. That it has. Thank you for lending your aid against the Corrupted. You're welcome. But of course, I could help only because Alear remembered me. You know, it is possible the others are awake now, just as I am. Perhaps you are right. Sorry, but... What do you mean? Who's awake? There is something I should show you. Follow me. This is the Ring Vault. It is where the Emblem Rings are enshrined. Those of the Holy Knight, of the Sage Lord, and of the Azure Twins rest here. As well as the Ring of the Princess Exalt and finally, the Ring of the Instructor. Each dwells within an Emblem Ring, as Marth resides in the Ring of the Hero-King. So, counting Marth, there are six Emblem Rings. Wow. In fact, there are twelve ─ six here, and six entrusted to the other countries as a precautionary measure. What do you mean? The Emblems grant world-altering power to whoever has all 12 rings. For generations, the Divine Dragons used this power to ensure peace and prosperity in Elyos. Indeed, that was how we locked away the Fell Dragon. But many have sought to steal the rings and use them for their own nefarious purposes. Which is why they're scattered all over the continent, not just stored here. Precisely. The rings offer their power but once every thousand years, at which time the Divine Dragon travels across Elyos to collect them from each nation's ruler. With a thousand years having passed since last time, I was planning to carry out this ritual soon. "Summoned"? It is how one calls for an Emblem from a ring, just as you did earlier with Marth. Only those with royal dragon blood are capable of summoning. That includes you, my child. Oh... You must be talking about the phrase that popped into my head. An invocation, you mean? What was it? "Shine on, Emblem of Beginnings." I wasn't even thinking about it. The words just...fell from my mouth. That was how you summoned Marth. ...What was your focus ─ your intention ─ when you spoke those words? I wanted to help Clanne and Framme. I didn't want to lose them. I wanted to protect them. Your focus was on helping others. Remember that intention whenever you summon Emblems. Not to keep the power for yourself, understand? To borrow so you may protect others. I understand. I will say, I like this little twist. Tea time with mother in the castle? No. Battle to the death with mother? Now you're talking my language.  You need to train your body and mind to unleash an Emblem's full power. Vander, Clanne, Framme. You will be aiding my child in this battle...against me. Queen Lumera, even in a practice battle, I could not turn my weapon on you. Good writing in this game can be hard to come by, but I love Lumera's poo poo-eating grin here. "Oh you don't want to fight? Well that's too loving bad, because I do, and I'm coming for blood."  No, dear. Not at all. How could you think so? I made these opponents from plants and rocks. Nevertheless, their abilities are the same. Drop your guard and you could be hurt. They're really unsettling. Can we train with something else? They give me the chills. Listen. You must push through your fear and face whatever opponent stands against you. Never run away. You are my child, the protector of all ─ the Divine Dragon Alear. Don't worry, Divine One! We'll back you up every step of the way. Yeah! What Framme said! As loath as I am to battle against Queen Lumera...orders are orders. I pledge to bring us victory. Thank you, everyone. Now, let's begin. Since defeating Lumera is the goal, we might as well start with her.  Lumera is a significant step up from the pseudo-boss bandit we had last chapter, but she's content to stand here and let you get the first swing in before she starts moving; rest assured that later bosses will not be this understanding. She is standing on a thicket though, so she can be a bit slippery before you lure her out onto neutral ground.  Base Class: Mage Class Type: Mystical Personal Skill: Verdant Faith - If Clanne is adjacent to Alear, grants +10 hit to both of them. Base Stats: HP: 19 (40% + 0%) Str: 1 (35% + 0%) Mag: 8 (10% + 25%) Dex: 11 (40% + 5%) Spd: 9 (50% + 0%) Def: 4 (30% + 0%) Res: 7 (25% + 25%) Luck: 4 (20% + 5%) Build: 4 (5% + 0%) In the blue corner, we'll start with Clanne who has a very...interesting set of growths. His bases aren't terrible and the mage class bonuses are doing a lot of work to keep him afloat for now, but Clanne really wants to switch to a physical class, or at least a mixed attacker that lets him stretch that strength growth like Mage Knight (tomes and one of swords/lances/axes) or High Priest (tomes/staves/fists). For now, his primary utility is taking advantage of being a Mystical unit; on-foot mages have the benefit of ignoring terrain bonuses when they attack.  Base Class: Martial Monk Class Type: Qi Adept Personal Skill: Crimson Cheer - If Framme is adjacent to Alear, grants +10 avoid to both of them. Base Stats: HP: 18 (55% + 0%) Str: 3 (30% + 10%) Mag: 5 (25% + 25%) Dex: 8 (35% + 0%) Spd: 7 (55% + 0%) Def: 4 (25% + 10%) Res: 8 (30% + 20%) Luck: 5 (25% + 10%) Build: 3 (0% + 0%) Framme, on the other hand isn't going to be doing much fighting at all, ideally. As a monk, she'll be our primary healer for the first few chapters, but it also means that she's stuck with fist weaponry - they have a Brave effect if you initiate the attack, but they do damage based on an average of Str and Mag and broadly have very low Mt to begin with. And when I say low, I mean an Iron Sword has 5 Mt; Iron-Body Art? 2. Thankfully, staff exp will do a lot of the heavy lifting for getting Framme levels, and both of her offensive growths are passable if you really want to commit to her, but she's probably not anyone's long-term choice as an endgame healer.   We'll deal with that archer in just a second. For now, let's let the kids get a taste of fighting.  Alear can't quite reach him, but Vander can, and combined with Alear's damage bonus we knock him out before he starts harassing our squishier units.  As mentioned, Lumera will stay put until you've engaged with her at least once. The thicket's annoying, but it doesn't matter for Clanne who can also slide up right next to Alear for a damage bonus.  Alear's forecast is a lot less rosy, so we'll get in position and let her attack us.  A good call! That would have killed us if we had attacked first and gotten hit.  After we patch up Alear, Clanne does the needful. Now, let's start the map for real. Fantastic work. You fought together splendidly. Let's move on. Wait over there a moment. This time, I will be more hands-on. I intend to fight as if in an actual battle. Furthermore, I will be using this. Indeed it is. I'm inviting an old friend to join us.  Emblem Sigurd. He looks like a strong opponent. Each Emblem has their own abilities. When allied with them, you can call upon their unique powers and skills. Whatever Sigurd's power is, it won't be the same as Marth's. We'd better keep our eyes open.Oh Alear, you have no idea. Before we begin the second half of the map, we should quickly turn our attention to something new that's popped up.  This blue circle is Emblem Energy, and any unit that ends their turn standing on it will instantly have their engage meter fully charged.  To the left, we have an archer and soldier. To the north, a pair of sword cavaliers, and Lumera herself with a shiny new toy.  She's faster, tougher, and has picked up an extra point of movement from Sigurd. Put a pin in that last one, we'll come back to that pretty soon.  For now, we'll start the march forward. Clanne and Alear take out the fighter to the right, while Vander holds the line on the left.  Our first level! It's...okay. You really want to see some strength on Alear sooner rather than later, but speed and defense are nothing to sneeze at in the early game.  We also get out first bond level with Marth. I won't be calling these out unless we get anything really important from them, which Sword Agility is...not. 10 crit is a steep price to pay for avoid, especially since so many of Marth's other skills boost avoid without the weird drawback.  The archer snuck into a bush, which is a little bit annoying, but that's a problem for next turn when Clanne can deal with him. We kill the soldier, and Vander rolls the dice on a 33% chance.   I don't know what version of RNG Engage uses, but I think it's the same one as Fates where stuff below 50% is a single RN and anything over 50% is an average of 2 RNs. Either way, we'll take that.  Come, Sigurd. So yeah, let's talk about Sigurd briefly. Equipping him gets you +1 Move - engaging with him gets you +5...plus 1 more for being a Dragon, giving her a cool 12 Move. In a game where even mounted units only have 5-6 movement, this gives you an absurdly abusable range, as Lumera is swiftly demonstrating. To rub salt in the wound, his first engage weapon is a horseslayer, which is surely an intentional decision to punish this exact strategy. She's less dangerous on your turn, but you still have to pick and choose your spots against her very carefully. You can't set up lines against a foe that can run circles around your units. That was incredible. Lord Sigurd is remarkably swift. Perhaps we should be grateful this is a mock battle... I would agree with that assessment, Vander.   So let's take stock. Vander is dead, Lumera is on the loose, and we have a mostly-dead archer and a pair of cavs bearing down on us to the north. lmao it's not looking good chat  If we can get her over here without losing anyone else, Clanne can take a big chunk of her remaining HP off. Bit of a big if, with everything else going on our side of the map.  Time to take advantage of Framme's class skill. Chain Guard makes it so that if a unit adjacent to her gets attacked, the damage is negated and she takes 20% of her max HP in damage instead of the intended target. It only works at full HP so we only get one shot at this, but since the boss AI should move first, we should be okay.  Your enemies will not hold back, and neither will I. That is why you must defeat me. Relax, Alear. What a delight it is to see you in battle after all these years. Well that's...not what I expected her to do, but it solves the problem of her potentially just attacking Framme outright. I don't know how much damage she would have done if not for chain guard, but she missed anyway so it doesn't matter. We get some chip damage in, but miss the follow-up on a 93%.   Meanwhile, the cavaliers run face-first into our rapier. It doesn't go well for them.  Two can play this game, mother.  End of Chapter  There is much to improve upon, but this is a wonderful start. Great work, Alear. Thank you. I can't believe we had to fight against Queen Lumera. Yeah, well, I can't believe we won. Though you have only just awoken, your power seems to be growing already, Divine One. I'd like for you to have this, Alear. Yes ─ an ancient blade that can be wielded only by Divine Dragons. It served me well for many years, but now it is yours. Consider it a prize for your victory today. Thank you. Someday I'll prove that I'm worthy of this sword. I have no doubt. Is this another Emblem Ring? No, it is purely ornamental. You see, before your slumber, I made you a promise. What was it? I said I'd give you a birthday present that suited you perfectly. I was working on it in private, but I was unable to finish it in time... That birthday has long since passed, but I would quite like to give you this gift now. I'm sorry... I can't accept. Why not? That ring fulfills a promise you made me, right? But I don't remember that promise. It'd feel wrong accepting it ─ like I was taking a present meant for someone else. Please offer me this gift again once I've remembered everything. Everything, you say...? Did facing me in battle stir any recollections, Alear? It didn't. I'm sorry. You need not apologize. It doesn't matter what you can remember right now. I only hope that one day, you will think of me as your mother. As you did a thousand years ago. ... Forgive me. I was so thrilled to spend time with you again. I suppose I got a little carried away, didn't I? Oh, no. It's all right. Haha, I don't mean to put you on the spot. Perhaps we should call it a day, hm? But let's agree to chat again in the morning. What do you say? Pinky promise? Haha, all right. There still isn't much to see on this post-finish map, but if we wander around a little, we can find three different cats in the plaza. No other animals, just cats. Queen Lumera: crazy cat lady? You decide. Elsewhere in the castle...  There is so much to catch up on. So much to see and do together! We can chat for hours, take long walks, share meals. And then... If my child's memories are truly lost, I wonder... Emblem Sigurd. I am here. There's something I'd like to discuss with you.
Artix fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Mar 29, 2024 |
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Mar 29, 2024 00:10
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Please, that's Pandreo's job. (I actually used him as a secondary caster, pretty much all of your possible units for arts have garbage strength, so you either have to pump magic twice as hard or send someone unrelated down Master Monk)
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Mar 29, 2024 01:37
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Pyro Jack posted:It's bold to make your first Mage have the worst Mag growth but I have no clue why they decided to give him that in the first place. We'll talk about this in Chapter 6(?) or so, but the short version is that the first wave of recruits that Engage gives you are almost all what I'm going to affectionately call "project" units. Most of them have some major flaw such that the replacements that we get in the second wave aren't just higher level and more ready to contribute, they're just outright better units, unless you've really committed to giving them levels and emblems. It's sort of similar to Radiant Dawn in that regard? Think of them like the Dawn Brigade.
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Mar 29, 2024 12:07
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Chapter 3: Hostilities  Queen Lumera seem so kind and caring. I'm sure she was a wonderful mother. If only I could remember those days...   You know, I'm sure that's nothing. Everyone has dreams where they turn a nice shade of Evil Red™ and burn down their home, right?  What was that? Was that me? I was. But yes, I'm all right. Were you here this whole time? You were wearing my ring when you went to bed. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to take it off. That's all right. Keep it on. Then if something happens, I will be able to help. Besides, after a millennium together, I would feel uncomfortable if we were separated now. Hmm... You knew me back then. You must be able to tell me something. Well... You were kind, as you are now. There's no need to remember everything at once. Take your time, ease back into your memories. Lumera advised that too, didn't she?Clearly Marth got a crash course in PR from Caeda at some point, because that is some next-level dodging the question. Yes, she did. Sorry ─ I don't mean to be impatient. It's all right.*rumble from offscreen* What was that? I'm not sure. An enemy raid? We had best take a look. I'm worried about Lumera and the others. Agreed. Ah, Divine One! Thank goodness you're safe. What's happening? Tell me. Some enemies busted right through the castle walls like paper. Suddenly, BAM! They're here! What's worse, they fought their way into the Ring Vault. If you ask me, they're trying to get their hands on the Emblem Rings! Even as we speak, Queen Lumera is defending the vault. We must fly to her aid! Sounds like a plan. Follow me! A quick intro this time! Don't worry, we'll pay for it later.   Peg Knights! They're weighed down a little by their lance, but they're surpisingly tough to knock down at this early stage, and naturally they can fly (with all the complications that comes with). The standing pillars are solid walls, but anything else is fair game.  The boss is our first enemy knight, a class that is more exaggerated than it usually is for Engage. In a lot of FE games, knights are annoying, but can still be smashed through with a little persistence. Here, you need a minimum of 14 damage to even scratch them, let alone make any headway.  Our starting position is...not great, to be honest. Both of these mercenaries will take a couple whacks to take out, and the soldier is conveniently right next to one of them, which means Vander is in trouble if we send him that way. That pair of peg knights off to the right will immediately be on top of anyone that goes up the right side, and they'll shrug off anything Clanne tries to throw at them, which is a problem because that's the only place he can really reach. The safe strategy is to bundle up the gang and move everyone off to the left to get through the first couple turns; the difficulty is definitely front-loaded here, and if we make it through that, it'll be smooth sailing for the rest of the chapter. But I like to play a little aggressively, so let's instead opt for Plan B: They can't hurt us if they're already dead.  On one hand, engaging is very powerful and you absolutely should be holding on to it to get the maximum benefit out of a limited-time buff. On the other, there's a pile of emblem energy sitting right there, and the opening turns are by far the most difficult part of the map. This sort of thing is exactly what it's here for.   This is exactly what we're looking for in the early-game. Strength, speed, and defense are everything Alear wants right now, and Break Defenses is a really useful add-on to get some free damage for something you're going to be doing anyway.  "Wait, what the hell is 'Breaking enemies'?" I hear you asking. Well, it turns out that after Three Houses downplayed the weapon triangle, we are BACK. If you have WTA when you attack an enemy, you will Break them.  When you break an enemy, you negate any attacks that they haven't yet done in this battle. They also lose the ability to counter the next attack that they receive. A free follow-up attack is a big deal! And there are very few enemies that can't be broken, the vast majority of them being armored enemies.  There isn't much we can do without putting Clanne and Framme in the line of fire, so we'll let Alear and Vander take the brunt of the punishment here.   Through this door, right? Yes. This is the one. Then let's go. I hear voices. Someone's coming. Made it! And not a moment too soon...  Prince Alfred of...Firene, you said? Could it be? Are you the Divine Dragon Alear? You finally woke up?! I did, yes. That's amazing! You know, I've waited ages for this to happen. There's so much to talk about. Later, of course, after we've taken care of these scoundrels. Who are they, anyway? We're not sure. They attacked so suddenly. Well, let's do this quickly ─ pin down whoever's in charge and get some answers. Lead the way, Divine One!A few extra sets of hands is welcome here, so let's meet the gang.  Base Class: Axe Fighter Class Type: Backup Personal Skill: Moved to Tears - If an ally joins a chain attack when Boucheron attacks, Boucheron deals +2 damage. Base Stats: HP: 29 (85% + 25%) Str: 10 (20% + 20%) Mag: 0 (0% + 0%) Dex: 8 (50% + 5%) Spd: 7 (45% + 10%) Def: 6 (35% + 5%) Res: 3 (20% + 0%) Luck: 5 (15% + 0%) Build: 9 (20% + 5%) Boucheron is an odd one. Similar to Clanne, the class growths for fighter are doing a lot of heavy lifting to keep him afloat, but it's not really clear what he does want to do. In a lot of ways, he's already there? For better or worse, he's reasonably fast with a ton of build - you can very easily make up for a lack of strength growth by equipping bigger and heavier axes, even if it's not a perfect fit. He's definitely going to need some help to get over the promotion hump, but Warrior Boucheron was one of the MVPs of my last playthrough.  Base Class: Noble Class Type: Cavalry Personal Skill: Self-Improver - If Alfred waits without attacking or using an item, he gains +2 Str for one turn. Base Stats: HP: 27 (65% + 15%) Str: 9 (40% + 15%) Mag: 2 (5% + 0%) Dex: 10 (35% + 5%) Spd: 6 (40% + 5%) Def: 8 (40% + 20%) Res: 5 (20% + 5%) Luck: 8 (40% + 15%) Build: 6 (10% + 0%) All of the royal characters have their own special class which is obviously just a normal class with a small bonus - in this case, Alfred is just a lance cavalier, but with better growths. I admit, I've never actually used him, but it seems like Alfred's destined for Great Knight or something similarly tanky - his HP is solid, and a 55/60 Str/Def growth is pretty hefty (our actual knight who joins next chapter is 55/80 for reference).  Base Class: Archer Class Type: Covert Personal Skill: Energized - When Etie recovers HP with an item, she gets +2 Str for a turn. Base Stats: HP: 21 (45% + 10%) Str: 10 (40% + 15%) Mag: 0 (0% + 0%) Dex: 11 (25% + 25%) Spd: 6 (35% + 10%) Def: 3 (25% + 5%) Res: 2 (30% + 0%) Luck: 8 (25% + 5%) Build: 4 (5% + 0%) There are, generally, two schools of thought regarding archers. The first is that barring some shenanigans, you're not going to have an enemy phase to work with, so you should put everything into making goddamn sure that the one hit you DO get counts - the Warrior approach to bows, if you prefer. On the other side, you have units that forego strength for speed, making up the raw damage by always striking twice and either trading that speed surplus for stronger, heavier weapons or picking up damage skills. Etie is squarely in the first camp with a very good base, 55% Str growth, and a personal skill that boosts it further. Her speed is only so-so and her build is so low that's she gets weighed down by an Iron Bow, but both of those things can be patched up with Emblems, and really, does it matter when she casually one-shots another pegasus for 150% of its max HP?  My arrows are perfect for knocking airborne enemies out of the sky. With these muscles, I'll have those fliers dropping like flies! Yeah, that'll do girl.  If I'm near an enemy you're fighting, I can jump in and land another hit on them. Call on me if you need some extra oomph. Boucheron is a Backup-type unit, which requires a little more explanation but the short version is that it works a lot like Fates' Offensive Pair-Up. For now, we just need to get him in position - note that even though we have WTD, we're not going to be broken by this guy. That's a privilege that only attacking units get.  When we get Alfred in position, we see the Chain Attack show up. The important things to note here are: A) Every backup unit that is in range and capable of contributing will. If we could somehow surround this guy with four Boucherons, we would get three chain attacks with every combat engagement. B) Each chain attack does a small, fixed amount of damage at a flat 80% accuracy. There are ways to improve it (Heroes do two chain attacks if they're at full health, for example), but they're few and far between. This is because chain attacks completely ignore defenses. The utility of this is generally more for the enemy than you, but it is there, and we'll cross that bridge in about...8 chapters or so.  We're just shy of knocking this peg knight out. This is about to be A Problem™.  Framme is going to sneak into this pocket to top off Boucheron. What could go wrong?   Well, they could have a javelin, for one. Should I have reset at this point? Probably, we're only two or three turns into the map. But instead consider: You don't need to heal if you never get hit.  The north side of the map has the boss, a couple mercs, and a couple pegs. The pegasi will reach us long before anything else in this group, so realistically we just have to contend with the mercenaries and the boss.  First, though, let's take out the trash down here.  Yeah, that's a Clanne level alright. If we're going to use him long-term, he'll appreciate the strength, but it's not what we need right now.  Vander and Boucheron will be handling the pegasi, while Alfred deals with the mercenary and Alear gets an EE recharge.    In retrospect, I should have had Boucheron kill the second pegasus instead of Vander but whatever, it's one kill. What's important is that the boss can really only swing at Vander now, which will hurt, but not nearly as much as it would against anyone else.  I have my orders. No one reaches the vault. Vander does his job. If we leave her alone, she'll pop her vulnerary, so let's not give her a chance to do that.  Mages are the traditional answer for knights, as Clanne amply demonstrates. Fortunately, there's so little left here that we can spread some exp around before dropping the hammer.    Alright, for real this time. gently caress her up, Clanne.  End of Chapter   So surrender now. If you refuse, I will stop you. *she teleports behind Alear* Ah! But how?! Do I detect a hint of fear? Of course I do.  Look out!  Now, why don't you hand the rings over to me?  Hm.  I am shocked. Shocked! That they would kill off Lumera like this. Well, okay, not that shocked.   Huh?! What's the matter? My staff isn't helping her. She's hurt really bad, and... It's her Divine Dragon powers ─ they're almost totally wiped out! ... A Divine Dragon losing their power... It's the same as losing years of their life. The thing is, there's no reason Queen Lumera should be drained like this. It doesn't make any sense! But why? All the years you were sleeping...healing...I was transferring my Divine Dragon powers to you. I hoped it would be enough to bring you back to me someday. But now, it would seem that I am completely spent... Oh no, this is my fault! I did this! No, my dear... You have to push those thoughts away. There is nothing a mother wouldn't do...to see life return again...to her beloved child. But I... I had...so hoped to give you the ring I made, as well...but that's not possible now... Listen to me, child... Those who invaded here... I sensed the power of the Fell Dragon within them. ... You must not allow them to capture any more of the rings. Please...I beg of you... Gather together all 12 rings. And...when your scattered memories return to you, you must fight on with the utmost divinity. I believe in you, my child! I understand. I'll collect the rings. I swear to you! And I'll fight. I'll do whatever you want. But please...don't leave me...Mother! Ah... Ah, young one...how I've longed to hear you call me that... All those years...I held out hope. My heart is fuller than you could ever know. It can't end like this. You were going to give me that ring once my memories came back... You promised! And there...there are so many things you haven't told me yet! You said that we would talk! I did... There's still so much I wanted to say to you... Being your mother ─ becoming your mother ─ has brought so much happiness into my life. I know...and I'm happy to be your child, in this moment ─ here and now ─ and a thousand years ago. I am. Don't go... Stay with me until I remember again! Please, Mother ─ I need more time! Haha... Oh, my sweet one. I'll be with you always and forever.  Mother... No! Please! The Divine Dragon Queen... She has left us. Mother, please wake up... You promised you'd stay by my side... You have to... You have to keep your promise!
Artix fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Apr 1, 2024 |
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Apr 1, 2024 21:52
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This is all technically still part of the end of Chapter 3, but it made for a good transition point so I spun it off as a "prep" update. Anyway, yeah, Lumera! I get what they're going for, but the game falls into the trap that countless stories before it have: You just aren't going to make me care about a character you introduced a chapter ago. If this happened, say, after Chapter 10 or so when we've had a good chunk of the game to build a rapport with Lumera, this would work a lot better! It's not entirely clear how long it's been since we came to the castle (although I get the feeling it's not very long), but even if you could convince me that Alear cares because he has no memories, no connection with others aside from his retainers, etc, I still don't because she's been a walking bundle of death flags from the second she was introduced. Intermission 1: The Funeral  It was the final service we could provide Queen Lumera as stewards. I can't believe she's gone. C'mon, Framme. Think how hard this must be on the Divine Dragon. We gotta hold it together. I'm trying, but... ...Lumera. I never thought our paths would diverge so soon. Nor I. And to leave a child behind. I did that in death... A bitter memory. I vow to protect your offspring in your absence, Lumera. If we could grant our power now... Marth. You know that's not possible without the other Emblems here. Yes, yes, I know. This is awful. Sorry I couldn't have done...something. No, Prince Alfred. Without you, our losses may have been even greater. Our kingdom is in danger. My mother sent me to ask Queen Lumera for help. All over Firene, our people are being attacked by these...creatures. Creatures? What kind of creatures? These things are like people, but...cracked, almost crumbling. The Corrupted. Oh, so that's what you call them. Yes. Corpses brought back to life. No wonder they wouldn't listen to us. They just keep attacking everything. We sent our knights out to hold them off, but it's a losing battle. My kingdom is being destroyed. Divine One...will you help us? Please, come with me to Firene. Me? What can I do? It was my mother's help you wanted, not mine. Queen Lumera is gone. You're the last Divine Dragon. We need the power of the rings to save Firene. And only you can do that. ... Sorry. I don't mean to press the topic. I'll return to Firene. We'll...do what we can. You will?! I don't want more families to be torn apart ─ more people to suffer. Even if I'm scared, I have to push through my fear. Now that my mother is gone, it's my duty to step into the role of Divine Dragon. And if each kingdom is protecting rings, I take it Firene has one, correct? That's right. Then I need to go there anyway to honor my mother's request. She asked me to gather all of the rings and bring peace back to Elyos. That's great to hear! Thank you, Divine One. Happy to help, Prince Alfred. Just "Alfred" is fine. I've been visiting you at the Somniel since I was a boy. I think of you as...an old friend. A very, very old friend. I appreciate that. Actually, I can't remember anything from before I fell asleep. Nothing? This world is new to me. I appreciate having friends who can teach me about it. I'll do my best. Can't say I'll know much compared to Queen Lumera, but I'll try. Thank you, Alfred. We can now start finding some goodies by looking for glowing spots on the post-battle map. Most of the time they're fairly inconsequential - ingredients for cooking, or a handful of bond points, but ingots are what we're actually looking for. As we'll soon see, forging weapons is arguably second only to giving a character an Emblem in terms of a power increase.  Also, we start seeing post-battle conversations that relate to the plot that's going on. This is less important for the royals since they're actually involved in the plot, but it's nice for characters like Etie and Boucheron who are going to stop existing after next chapter outside of supports. ...Unless they were the MVP of the map, in which case you get a generic "Divine One, did you see how cool I was?" conversation. That's okay, you didn't actually care what they were going to say, did you?  The Somniel would be uniquely useful. A little out of the way, isn't it? I can't imagine how we'd get everyone there and back. As a Divine Dragon, you can travel there no matter where you are in the world. I can? Indeed. Furthermore, one can only enter the Somniel with a Divine Dragon's power. Without Queen Lumera's blessing, even we stewards couldn't have set foot there. That is what makes it a safe haven. Well then, yes. Let's use it as our base. But before we depart, can you give me a moment? Hm? We'll be gone a while, so...I'd like to say goodbye to my mother. Of course. Take as much time as you need. This journey will be a long one, but don't worry. Vander and the others will be right beside me. I will fulfill my duty as the Divine Dragon. I will find all of the rings, just as you asked. And then I'll return to you, Mother. I promise.Again, this would all hit much harder if we had known Lumera for longer than 30-ish real-life minutes! But such is the peril of killing off an early-game character.  I didn't realize how...spacious this place was. It is rather quiet, I know. But it will liven up as we gain allies. We may need someone to supply us with equipment as well. Something to consider. Right. Hm? A piece of jewelry... I don't recognize it. The crystal looks unusual. Where did you get this? On the ground in the Ring Vault, after the siege. I thought it might be yours, but apparently I was mistaken. No one has come forward, so it must have belonged to an enemy soldier. I'll dispose of it. Wait. It's familiar somehow, even though I've never seen it. Then please, do take it. Perhaps it will help jog your memory. Thank you, Vander. Once we've rested for a bit, let's set out for Firene. A cute touch that I like a lot is that anytime you hit a proper loading screen, the game will have these little pixel versions of your last battle party running across the bottom. RIP Framme, doesn't get to be here because she got stabbed by pegasi.  The Somniel itself is trying to be a condensed version of the Monastery from Three Houses. It certainly gets some things right, mostly in that it is significantly smaller than Garreg Mach and provides a handy list of places that we can warp directly to, but it fails in one of the most important ways: it is stuffed with things to do, almost all of which are obnoxious, but they're just useful enough that you don't want to ignore them. Or at least, that will be the case. Right now, the only thing we can do is talk to the folks scattered around the Somniel and trigger any supports if we've unlocked them.  Whichever emblem Alear has equipped will always be in the central square. Otherwise, folks are randomly placed, and if they have an emblem equipped, they'll be nearby that particular character.  Each character also has a set of civilian clothing they wear while inside the Somniel. It's a shame that they can't be used in battle, because at least a couple of them are significantly better outfits than their actual battle clothing. Looking squarely at you, Celine.  And on the other side of that quandry, Vander would consider a tux and monocle to be relaxing, everyday attire.  You don't have to actually find a person to support with on the map, you can simply pick it off the Talk menu, and thank god for that. But if you really want to make it personal, you can? Give them a shiny pebble you picked on the way over for good measure. (I am not going to do this for every support we unlock, but I will include them in the video since they're fully voice-acted)  Oh, hello, Clanne. I was just tidying up a bit. Tomorrow's a busy day, so I thought I'd get it out of the way now. Let me take care of that. You should get some rest! That's all right. I can handle it. No, no. That won't do. I'm gonna have to insist. But... Please? You know, I waited a long time for you to wake up. And not just me. The stewards before me spent their whole lives waiting. So...please, let me do it. Honestly, truly, I would be honored to help. Very well, you've convinced me. I'll leave it to you. Thank you, Divine One. I should be thanking you for taking such great care of me. I'm very lucky to have you as a steward. You mean it?! Oh man. I'm so happy I could faint! Haha, please don't. Now that I'm free from tidying up, I'm going to get some rest.  Alright, enough of this. We'll have plenty to talk about next chapter, once the Somniel is more open for business.  Wow! A prep screen! There's not really much to worry about now since we can deploy our entire army, so the only real complication is who we give Sigurd to, and if we choose to move Marth. For this chapter, I'm going to make the executive decision to put him on Alfred, but I'll leave at least some of these strategic decisions up to the thread in the future.
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Apr 4, 2024 21:13
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Maybe! I don't know exactly how much QoL stuff like that has been added since my first playthrough but I definitely remember it overriding the conversations you would actually care about.
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Apr 4, 2024 23:12
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Alright thread, flash vote time. You have until I post the update tomorrow (~24 hours from time of posting) to name this:
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Apr 7, 2024 21:31
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Chapter 4: A Land in Bloom  What a beautiful place. Isn't it? And no sign of the Corrupted, so that's good. That was quite a trip, crossing the sea all the way from Lythos. I hope you're not worn out. I'm fine. Good, good. Listen, I'm sorry for twisting your arm to come with me. Alfred, it's all right. I wanted to come. How about before we arrive at the castle, you tell me more about this kingdom of yours? Happy to! Let's see... Firene is one of the four nations of Elyos, in the southwest. Our people value peace above all else. We haven't seen war for centuries. You must come from a long line of capable leaders. That's kind of you to say. Peace doesn't always come easy. Mother had to hammer out a nonaggression pact with our neighbors. The pact says there won't be war between us, Solm, and Brodia. Right ─ Solm, the Queendom of Freedom and Brodia, the Kingdom of Might. You've got it. Solm is an open-minded country. They've always had good relations with Firene. He's always launching attacks on Elusia to expand his own territory. I take it Elusia isn't in the alliance. No. Honestly, they're so far away, we don't interact with them too much. We know it's snowy there, with long winters... And that some Elusians worship the Fell Dragon. The Fell Dragon? It's troubling, I know. But...people can believe what they believe. Sorry... I didn't bring it up to turn you against Elusia. It's not them I hate ─ it's the Fell Dragon. Him and the one who killed my mother.A surprisingly nuanced take from Alear for a guy that didn't know anything about the world a chapter or two ago, but I guess "Actually yeah, gently caress them and their entire country" doesn't exactly vibe with the tone the game is setting.  Oh, sure. It's the "Ring of the Caring Princess." Doesn't look like anything special. Until I met you and Marth, I thought the Emblems were legends. I can't wait to tell my sister they exist! She'll really be knocked for a loop. You have a sister? Yeah ─ the princess of Firene, Céline. She's at the castle with Mother right now. Princess Céline. I look forward to meeting her. Just call her Céline. I'm sure you two will get along great. Something's off. What is it? I think there might be trouble ahead. Ah, I understand that look of despair. He's realized that the camera has moved to an overhead view, and there's only one thing that can mean. The Corrupted. They're everywhere. I can't stand to see them overrunning this peaceful town. I have to drive them away. Divine One, will you help me? Of course.Meanwhile...   Princess Céline. I beg you to make your retreat. We'll handle this. More of the fiends might be on the way. Hurry! Louis! Chloé! You can't possibly expect me to─ It is our sworn duty to protect the princess. We will hold the line for you as long as we must! You have to leave. If you should fall here, who warns Prince Alfred of the invasion to come? I concede the point. But I'll return for you both. Please hold out until then!*she leaves*  Apologies, Chloé. Might I say, I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get to see you run off with Her Highness yourself. A knight should never leave his princess's side. The sooner we win, the sooner that will come to pass. What say you, Chloé? Shall we? Yes! Let's!And so we come to our first prep screen. As with many early-game maps, there aren't that many decisions we need to make here - we don't need to bench anyone to get under the deployment limit, and we have no real reason to be shuffling inventories yet. That said, we do need to decide on a home for Sigurd, and for a single chapter we might as well just slap him on Alfred.  Again, we'll do the full deep dive after this chapter once we're back at home base, but the short version is that Sigurd boosts Dex, Def, and Build, with a fixed point of Move. Gallop is the skill that boosts your move by 5 while engaged, and being a Cavalry-type unit means Alfred gets a +2 to that, pushing him up all the way to 13. This is less abusable for us, because we have to be concerned with trivial things like "not getting swarmed by 50 dudes and immediately dying," but is still extremely handy to have in our back pocket.  Anyway, let's get the lay of the land. To the east, a soldier and a pair of knights being backed up by an archer and a pair of soldiers just offscreen on that bridge. As we saw with the boss of last chapter, knights are not to be taken lightly, even with the benefit of effective weaponry.  In the north, we have a lot of high-mobility enemies. A pair of axe cavaliers, a sword peg knight, and a knight to keep you honest.  Alfred, Boucheron, and Alear will be leading the charge north. The remainder of the army will head east to rendezvous with Louis and Chloe.  Speaking of, they've found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Chloe can take maybe one shot from the archer, and there's a pair of mages off to the east. It's not hard to see what the game wants from you here, but we'll deal with that in a second.  Base Class: Knight (Lances) Class Type: Armored Personal Skill: Admiration - If there are two female allies within two spaces, Louis takes -2 damage. Base Stats: HP: 30 (75% + 20%) Str: 13 (40% + 15%) Mag: 0 (0% + 0%) Dex: 11 (25% + 10%) Spd: 3 (25% + 0%) Def: 16 (50% + 30%) Res: 1 (0% + 0%) Luck: 4 (25% + 0%) Build: 8 (15% + 5%) Louis has one job, and that is to be goddamn invincible against physical attacks. Certainly, this is at least partially because IntSys made knights insane in Engage, but even without the class bonuses, Louis is just a really loving good knight. 16 defense is enough to shrug off just about anything outside of bosses in the early-game, and he is both strong and accurate enough that he can get away with being a one-hit wonder, especially if he hits that 25% speed growth enough to not be doubled by literally everything. The last time a unit like this was this good out of the box is probably Oswin, and where Oswin was primarily carried by his massive bases, Louis has the benefit of his growths being exactly where he wants them. So yeah, he's pretty good.  Base Class: Pegasus Knight (Lances) Class Type: Flying Personal Skill: Fairy-Tale Folk - If there is a male and female ally within two spaces, Chloe deals +2 damage. Base Stats: HP: 26 (75% + 5%) Str: 8 (25% + 10%) Mag: 4 (35% + 5%) Dex: 13 (40% + 10%) Spd: 13 (55% + 10%) Def: 5 (30% + 0%) Res: 9 (25% + 10%) Luck: 10 (25% + 10%) Build: 5 (5% + 0%) Chloe is a lot like Clanne, in that her growths don't really match the class she's in. Her default promotion adds Staves to her repertoire, something that helps to get some utility out of that magic growth and a flying healer is never a bad thing, but suffice to say that the error bars are very wide. As we saw last chapter (and will continue to see in this one), it's very easy for a mixed unit like Chloe or Clanne to get nothing but their other primary offensive stat, and we're a long way from getting something a Flame Lance or Levin Sword to take advantage of it. Chloe can very easily turn into a flying death machine, especially if she gets moved to a dedicated physical class to offset her low strength growth. She can just as easily be forced into strictly being a support unit, especially since she absolutely does not have the build to use the heavier lances if she gets strength-screwed. One side note: you may notice that groups of units that come together tend to have...synergistic skills, for lack of a better way of putting it. Obviously, there are far more female units in the game than just Chloe and Celine, but it's also not a coincidence that Louis' skill is perfectly suited for him to be deployed with them, considering our lack of options right now. Alear's whole group is similar, with Clanne, Framme, and Vander all getting bonuses for being near Alear. It'll be less common as the game goes on, but it's a neat idea when they do it, and later groups of retainers do tend to have similar types of skills, even when they aren't directly synergizing like this.  Céline? What are you doing here? I thought you were with Mother. I was, but... Alfred, the Elusian army is marching on the castle. What? Why? I cannot say. Before they arrived, Mother sent me to warn you. But then we were ambushed on our way to Florra Port... Louis and Chloé stayed behind so that I might have a chance to escape. Please, we must hurry back to them! Absolutely. Yes. Mother gave it to me. Why do you... Goodness gracious! The Divine Dragon?! You're here, you're...awake! May I say, it is truly an honor! The words... They're coming to me... Care for us, Emblem of Echoes!  I am Emblem Celica. I detest violence...but I will always fight to defend the innocent. Thank you for answering my call. So...this is the Emblem that was in Firene's ring. Emblem Celica. How marvelous... Divine One, with your blessing ─ and hers, of course ─ I would like to fight by Celica's side. I must protect the people of this village and ensure Louis and Chloé's safety.  Well, it's better than letting the AI try and keep Louis and Chloe alive at least.   Base Class: Noble (Tomes/Swords) Class Type: Mystical Personal Skill: Gentle Flower - All allies within two spaces recover 50% more HP when they use an item to heal. Base Stats: HP: 22 (50% + 0%) Str: 7 (35% + 5%) Mag: 9 (25% + 10%) Dex: 9 (30% + 5%) Spd: 10 (45% + 5%) Def: 5 (30% + 5%) Res: 7 (40% + 10%) Luck: 11 (50% + 20%) Build: 4 (5% + 0%) On paper, Celine is in the class that Clanne desperately wants, because you can call her a mage with a sword or a mercenary with tomes, and neither is all that wrong. In theory, she has the bases to make either work, but in practice, she is far too squishy to see a lot of direct combat and her 4 build means anything that isn't a slim sword will weigh her down. Barring an extremely good set of level rolls, she's pretty much destined to be...well, Clanne, right down to having nearly identical growths and slightly better bases. She does get Ignis as a class skill, allowing her to add half her strength or magic to an attack (whichever is the off-stat), but that's about it. Whether or not that's enough to justify her use, I'll leave as an exercise to the reader.  On to the map itself, our most pressing problems are with Chloe and Louis, so we might as well start with them. Chloe is just strong enough to take out these mages in one go, and it pulls her out of archer range for good measure. Louis goes to the village behind her and gets a cool 2000 gold for his trouble.  On the eastern front, we have an axe knight and a soldier immediately bearing down on us. Magic hits them hard, but crucially, not hard enough to actually get a kill.  Equally obnoxious, the soldier has just enough HP to survive a swing from both Vander and Etie (who does another 10 damage).  This is a weird setup, but I think we can make this work. The soldier should see that Etie can't counter and go after her, which Framme will chain guard. The knight can suicide into whomever he wishes (probably Clanne), and we're just out of range for the other knight and archer. With no other real options for attacking here, Celine gets a javelin from the village.  To the north, we'll engage in some Boucheron shenanigans. Not only do we get to break this guy, Alfred's follow-up will get a bonus hit.  Or at least, that was the plan. gently caress 'em up, Bouch.  I don't remember if this was implemented in Three Houses or not, but a small detail that I like is that when you have fortifications like this on the map, an enemy that takes position in one will show up on it at the start of combat. Do your best, little archer.  As expected, the soldier takes the bait on Etie, and Clanne takes one on the chin, before giving us the most Technically True statement possible.  If you didn't immediately save the villages, the game gives you a...let's call it a "subtle reminder" about the mechanic. Who doesn't love a good village pillage?  Alear, where did you get that? It was in the Ring Vault. Vander found it after the battle at Lythos Castle. Why? Do you know what this is? The Draconic Time Crystal. An artifact capable of reversing time itself. There is a limit to its power, but still, it could give us a keen advantage. Time Crystal, huh? So it's not just a pretty piece of jewelry. Relax. Since we have it, I suggest we put it to use.Spoiler: It's the Divine Pulse. You get 10 charges per map to go back and redo moves if things end poorly for you. Note that RNG is preserved - if you get killed by something or miss an important attack, it will happen again until you change the actual sequence of events leading up to it.  We've got friends closing in fast, but once again, Chloe is just strong enough to deal with this mage. Surge is a unique spell, slightly stronger than most magic and guaranteed to hit, but only at melee range. Also crucial: this bush she's standing on is just out of range for every single enemy in the immediate area minus the pegasus, whom Louis will be dealing with.  Back with Team Alear, we can whack this guy and steal his hand axe, which we promptly give to Boucheron. With double the range, he effectively triples the area that he can contribute to a backup attack, making his chip damage add up that much faster.   Look, Framme's level wasn't that great either, but at least she got Str/Spd. What the gently caress am I supposed to do with this, Etie?  There's a couple knights coming this way, so let's bust out our new toy, shall we? Celica comes with a number of magic benefits, but the one we care about right now is "Warp Ragnarok."  First we need to pick a target. We need to be within two tiles of an enemy, but otherwise can go anywhere within a 10-tile range.  Once we have our unfortunate victim decided, we come to them and shove massive chunk of magic damage down their throat. It's like Bolting or Meteor, but with a more personal touch.     It's very satisfying, or at least it would be if Celine wasn't a single point short of killing these guys.  Chloe heads south to finish the job, while Louis takes up position in the choke point. He misses this attack, but that's not really the point here. Thanks to the windmill, neither the archer nor the cavalier can get past, so they'll just ineffectually bounce off his armor.  Clanne is also just shy of a kill here, but that's fine. Framme patched him up, he can take another hit if he needs to.   Did Alear need to use hand axe backup shenanigans? No. But Alfred did, and it's fun to set them up.  It turns out, that soldier had a juicier target than Clanne. Let's see if we can salvage this.  The time crystal allows you to go back several turns and select any specific point that you want to jump back to. Our story went awry when Celine overextended, so let's go back to that.  This time, Chloe hangs out in the river where no one can reach her. The soldiers will live...or one of them will, anyway, but Chloe lives to fight for another turn.  We're losing ground, are we? Well, that's easily remedied. Release the Corrupted! A pair of knights spawn between us and the boss, heading toward Alear's group. Not having a mage in that group is going to be rough.  From here, we're more or less just cleaning up. Alear and co will (slowly) wear down the knights, as the rest of the group cuts up through the middle of the map. And along the way, we can make a reunion happen. Chloe, I am relieved to see you're all right. You too, Princess Celine! I was able to find Alfred - and the Divine Dragon, no less! After that, the Divine one summoned Emblem Celica from within my ring. A noble dragon, summoning ancient spirits to save the day... That sounds just like a fairy tale! It does. Now that I have this power, let's give this story a happy ending, shall we? Let's do it. These pegasi that spawn behind us are pretty rude, though. Funny, but rude.    We get a handful of levels as we take out the trash, some of them better than others. Alfred getting speed is good, but he's going to need a lot more of it if he's going to hang on to a roster spot.  Lance Power is at least slightly more interesting than Sword Agility because generally lance users are either fast enough that they don't mind losing a bit of avoid, or are so slow that they were going to be hit anyway, so it doesn't matter either way. Is it good? No. But as far as basic emblem skills go, it at least has a niche for someone like Louis.  This mage makes approaching the boss require at least a little care, since the two will be more or less on top of each other. With a patched-up Chloe, though, we can neutralize him pretty easily.   Sometimes, you just want to absolutely ruin a boss's day. Say what you will about how overpowered Emblems are, whether they overshadow the actual units they're attached to or not, but drat does it feel good to make a man just melt. I would have won, you know... If they'd given me real soldiers... End of Chapter   Alear, you gotta pay more attention. This is like the third time in four chapters that you've been attacked after routing the enemy, it's just embarassing at this point.    Thankfully, someone is watching our back.    It was nothing, really! I only did what anyone else would do. Are you here by yourself? I am. I saw the fighting and thought I could help. You're braver than I am. I can't stand the Corrupted. I was so startled I couldn't think. You really did save my life. I see... Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm the Divine Dragon Alear. Veyle... Might I interrupt? What is it? Even with the Corrupted gone, it may not be safe for her out here. Perhaps we should escort her home or to an inn. That's a good idea. Hey, Veyle, do you live around here? She's gone...Our mysterious savior, gone as soon as she appears. Rest assured, this is not the last we'll see of Veyle as the game goes on, but it'll be a while before we get any real answers.  Céline, did you see a girl pass this way? Small with long hair? Barefoot? No, I'm afraid I didn't see anyone matching that description. OK, thanks. Did you need something? I wanted to thank you. Alfred told me that you accepted Firene's request for aid. And your help in the battle was the difference between victory and defeat. Thank you, truly. Don't mention it. Alfred and I are friends. I was happy to help. Friends? He said that? Imagine speaking so casually with the Divine Dragon... Please, allow me to apologize on his behalf. There's no need to put me on a pedestal. I just woke up, and the world is new to me. I make mistakes like anyone. Is that so? I thought surely the Divine Dragon would be an all-seeing, all-powerful being. But here I find that you are rather more...human than I expected. Perhaps we can be friends. Then what do you say, Céline? Friends? I would be honored.
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Apr 8, 2024 22:28
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My first Chloe was very good, my second one spent almost the entire game as a staffbot until I finally got her a Flame Lance and she was...okay after that, but by that point killing things wasn't her job, it was just a nice bonus when she could snipe something.
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Apr 8, 2024 23:56
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CullenDaGaDee posted:Just out of curiosity, do you plan to do any major reclassing or do you want each unit to try and stick to their designated role? My rough plan is that I'm gonna call the shots until Chapter 6 or so, then we'll take stock of who's worth keeping, who might be salvageable with emblems or class changes, and who's gonna get benched the second we have viable alternatives. Hard is not that hard, as long as we don't do anything really stupid I should be able to accommodate at least a few requests.
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Apr 9, 2024 02:33
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Intermission 2: The Somniel  Before we head back to the Somniel, we need to handle a little bit of Very Important Business.  Forget "pet the dog," you can just take the dog with you. This is probably someone's pet, but if the Divine Dragon says times are tough and he needs Fido for the war effort, are YOU going to say no?  We could adopt other animals if we were so inclined, but there's not really a reason to unless you have a personal attachment to one, for reasons that will make sense once we get back to base.  Hm? Name's Durthon. I'm an armorer. And this here's Anisse, purveyor of goods. We saw you tradin' thumps with those things. Figured you might be in the market for supplies. Yes. If you need, we'd be happy to provide you with quality weapons and items. Anything to defeat those creatures. They pose a terrible threat to traveling merchants like us. How would you feel about moving to our base? You can sell your wares from there. Ahem, Divine One... What? We don't have any facilities. These two could be a good addition. You're gonna let us open shops at your base? If you'd like to. We'll need plenty of weapons and items from here on out. It's a haven. You won't find any creatures there. You got yourself a bargain! Can't wait to do business together. Thank you for this. I will do my utmost to ensure you receive the finest items. What, did you just have that in your pockets or something? You've been holding out on us, Vander!  Back at base, lot of things are now open to us, but we'll start with one of the most important ones. Emblems are capped every five levels until you go back to the Somniel and have a Bond Conversation. It is good that we can talk after I spent so long silently watching over you, Alear. I know what you mean. I'm really glad to have you at my side, supporting me in person. Okay, so... "conversation" is a strong word, but they are all unique for each combination of characters and emblems, so that's not...nothing...? More importantly, BL5 opens up skill inheritance, a core part of how we break the game over our knee.  Durthon and Anisse have opened the armory and item shop respectively in the main plaza. These are the only shops that we get in the game, so they'll update their inventories roughly every 3-4 chapters (usually coinciding with when we clear a country's story missions).   At some point in the near future, we'll want to grab that Illuminate staff (or at least a torch or two) but for right now we'll just grab that spare hand axe and javelin.  To the east of the main plaza, strength training is now available.  Each of these has a short minigame that gives you a small boost to Strength, HP, and Dex respectively. It's kind of comical how the game frames this as some sort of decision you have to make, because +2 Strength is way more impactful than +2 HP or +2 Dex will ever be, and there is literally no reason to not do push-ups every single time.   South of the training yard, we have the stable. Here, we can select up to five animals to laze around the yard, each of which will give us a different present every time the Somniel gets refreshed. Cats give you fish, chickens give you eggs, etc. It's a cute little system, but dogs give you ingots for forging, so there is no reason to not have five dogs at all times.  Inside the cafe, we have the donation board. You can send a big chunk of cash to a country to get bigger rewards from the after-map exploration and unlock new animals for adoption. It is very important not to overextend yourself with donations; even the first level of donations costs a cool five grand, and we only get money when we finish up a country. That said, L2 is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things, and getting double rewards for ingots is absolutely worth the expense in the long run.  Finally, we have the ring vault. Here, we can do skill inheritance and create Bond Rings, both of which are critically important.  Skill inheritance allows you to pick up an Emblem's skills for yourself, provided that: A) You have reached the required bond level for that skill (minimum BL5 to inherit skills at all) and B) You have the SP to afford it. You get SP with each action you take in battle (or by using a consumable), but only if you have a ring equipped, so it can take a long time to build up for something expensive like Break Defenses at a cool 2000 SP. Note that there are multiple levels of the same skill - Sword Agility 2 outright replaces Sword Agility 1 if you inherit it, but if you inherit a low-level version of a skill, it knocks the cost of that skill off the price of the higher-level version. For now, we're going to pick up Avoid +10 because it comes with no drawbacks and we already get Perceptive by having Marth equipped. It's a cheap one if we choose to move on from him, though.  So if you need a ring to get SP and learn skills, what about everyone who doesn't have an emblem? Enter Bond Rings.  These are generated via an in-game gacha and serve to showcase some of the notable side characters from each game, complete with their original art (within reason, Marth uses Shadow Dragon art and Celica uses the Echoes art). These bond rings give small stat bonuses and allow the user to collect SP even if there aren't enough Emblems to go around. Higher levels give better stats (and very rarely come with their own skill), but given enough bad rings and bond fragments, we can eventually merge our way up to an A or S ring. So with all that out of the way, let's finally talk about our Emblems.  Marth Stat Boosts: Dex (1-4), Speed (1-4), Strength (1-3) Weapons:
Inheritable Skills:
Engage Skills
Marth is all about getting in extra hits and not getting hit in the process. Almost all of his skills give avoid bonuses (especially if you're doing the attacking), and he thrives on units that are either already fast, or just fast enough that they need one little push to get over the doubling threshold (see Alear in Chapter 1). Unyielding is okay as far as survival mechanics go, but it'll be a looooong time before we see the upgraded versions of it, and 20% healing isn't gonna cut it against anything that can actually hit the person with Marth's bonuses on a regular basis. Of the characters we have now, Alear is still probably the best candidate to use Marth, but any physical unit with even passable speed would love to have him.  Sigurd Stat Boosts: Def (1-4), Dex (1-4), Build (1-3), Move +1 Weapons:
Inheritable Skills:
Engage Skills
Sigurd is a little weird, but ultimately all about movement and how you choose to utilize that. Canter lets him get in and out of trouble with relative ease, Momentum encourages you to strike at far targets for a bigger bonus, and Gallop is the equivalent of putting on 6 pairs of boots at will, with all the tactical options that opens. You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a unit that doesn't want a little extra movement in their back pocket, but Sigurd generally matches best with units that are already mobile to take advantage of Momentum (Alfred, Chloe, etc) or are capable of surviving without any real support. Taking a unit like Louis and letting him zip around the battlefield with 10 move is not only hilarious to see, it lets him get to chokepoints long before the game expects you to be there and he doesn't really care about having friends with him unless he runs into mages.  Celica Stat Boosts: Magic (2-5), Res (1-4), Strength (1-3) Weapons:
Inheritable Skills:
Engage Skills
Celica is our first magical emblem, and while she's very, very good in the opening sections, she has a bad habit of falling off pretty hard later on, mostly because the stuff she does just doesn't scale well as the game goes on. Marth has big chunks of his kit devoted to getting extra hits and boosting avoid, Sigurd has huge movement buffs and can hit multiple enemies in a line... Celica mostly just Hits A Dude Really Hard With Magic™. That's not to say that's a bad skill! You can get a lot of mileage out of "hit a dude real hard," but it can't be the only thing you can do, and that's where Celica meets her downfall. For now, she'll primarily be used to patch up units that have failed to get any magic on their own. There won't be a ton of competition for her, but Tome Proficiency opens some interesting doors for class changing if we were so inclined. Chloe probably wants staves more than she wants tomes, but she can absolutely make it work as a flying mage for a couple turns. Naturally, Clanne, Framme, and Celine would all appreciate the extra magic that Celica offers (and it would give Framme a real attack for good measure), but she can only go to one of them, and some of them are in deeper holes than others. *coughClannecough*  Finally, on the south side underneath the Somniel, we have...this.  Ah, so you have found it at last. Vander? What do you know about this little one? Not much, unfortunately. It began to appear shortly before you awoke from your slumber. Queen Lumera once said it is something of a guardian spirit for the Somniel. She claims to have played with it in her youth. She did?! So this creature has been alive for a very long time. You know, I do feel a sort of...affinity toward it. It seems to have taken a liking to you as well, Divine One. Would it please you to care for it? If it is truly the guardian spirit of the Somniel, doing so may bring some manner of benefit. What a great idea. Now that I've met it, I'd like us to be friends. Let's see... I'll call you... You did this, thread. I hope you're happy.  It's nice to meet you! I hope you like your new name, Marf :3. It looks well pleased. Don't forget to say hello to it when next you see it around. But let's be real, I know what everyone's here for re: Marf.     A couple supports for the road. I do not suggest either of them, but they're in the video.  Prep screen! I've taken the liberty of moving Sigurd over to Louis for now, both because he is absolutely hilarious with him and because I'd really like for Louis to at least get a cheap Hit +10 skill from him. He's right around 80-ish hit on most enemies, in the "just inaccurate enough for it to come up on a regular basis" zone.
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Apr 11, 2024 21:24
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I've already recorded Chapter 5 and I intend to keep Sigurd on Louis at least long enough to get a +Hit skill on him. I have no strong opinions on what to do with Celica though, Clanne finally got his first point of magic and neither he nor Celine is really impressing that much. I'm going to default to leaving her on Celine until some of the better casters join, so if you'd rather see something different, now's the time to speak up before I do Chapter 6 and Jean's paralogue.
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Apr 11, 2024 21:29
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Some minor housekeeping notes: I will be on vacation next week, so I will be recording the next chapter tomorrow. If you want to see something other than Celine!Celica, now would be the time to speak up. Otherwise the schedule looks like Chapter 5 on Monday, Somniel 2 on Thurs, and then either 5x or 6 depending on if the paralogue is available (I'm pretty sure it opens after C5) next Monday. There will be no update the week after that, and hopefully we should be back to normal around the start of May.
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Apr 14, 2024 02:29
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Chapter 5: Retaking the Castle  Before each chapter, we find ourselves on the world map. Eventually, there will be skirmishes on some of these completed nodes, but we're not there yet. For now, we have a short description of the next chapter, along with a very rough difficulty indicator. This is how we'll be going through the game - when the main plot gets "harder" than any sidequests that we have available, we'll be taking some time off to go clear those first.  There's the castle. It's so quiet... Where are our knights? Or the Elusian soldiers, for that matter? You said they were marching toward the castle when you left. They've probably made their way inside. But then...what of the townsfolk? What of Mother?! Let's hurry.  Who's to say? Is it inside the castle? Out on the grounds? I'm asking all polite-like ─ c'mon! I'm not in the habit of speaking to lowly vermin. That's all that you are ─ the lot of you. The mouth on this one. You think I won't gut ya where you stand?!  Lady Zephia! One of our soldiers says he spotted the princess fleeing before we arrived. How curious. Did you perhaps give that daughter of yours the ring for safekeeping? ... Aw, well, isn't this tragic. We'd simply hate to resort to violence. But you leave us no choice. By virtue of your silence, we will now kill every living soul in this castle, one by one. Please, no! Look, mom, I know that you specifically sent us away so that we could escape with the ring, but what if we came back and walked directly into the enemy general's open arms? Surely, there are no flaws with this plan. Alfred! Céline! Oh, look. The kids are home. You Elusian scum! Get away from her! Hm-hm. Who's going to make us? I'm glad you've come. Now we can see for ourselves if the princess has the ring. No! Please, leave my children alone! Of course. As long as you tell me where the ring is. I... Ah. Young Céline does have it, doesn't she? We'll have to kill her, then. The prince, too, for good measure. Take Her Majesty away. We'll continue our conversation later, if need be. Unhand me!*Nelucce takes her away off-camera*  Huh? You... You look familiar. No. It couldn't be. Who are you? I am the Divine Dragon Alear. Such lies. Lumera is the last of her kind. Shows what you know. The Divine One was asleep for a thousand years. Really? When did that beastly woman have a child? Hmph. Very well. Perhaps you can tell me what happened to dear Lumera, then. I've been so worried about her since that awful battle at Lythos Castle. How do you know about that? How, indeed? You stole the rings? You killed my mother?! She died? Oh, that poor dear. Murderer! I will avenge her! Why? I didn't kill her. Though, I will say, your coming here was quite helpful ─ assuming you are the beast's offspring. You'll never take them. Never. You were after our ring. I won't waste my breath on explanations. But I will tell you this. The kingdom of Elusia has freed Lord Sombron from his imprisonment. The Fell Dragon has returned? No... Of course, even we couldn't have accounted for...you. His return must have awoken you. Show a little gratitude. You're wrong. I awoke because of my mother. Because she waited for me, all these years... A touching tale, I'm sure. Now, if you'll excuse me. What can we do? To start, we defeat these soldiers and take back the castle. I'm not going to let them hurt Queen Ève or anyone else. I was hopin' you'd say that.We're coming up on the end of the "tutorial" section of the game, and while we still have one major gimmick the game has yet to introduce, both it and the "doors and breakable walls" of this chapter lead to interesting enough design that these chapters still feel like complete ideas.  Immediately to our north, we have a whole host of dudes, including a knight, archers, fighters and a mercenary, with more just inside the doors. If you're playing even remotely aggressively, this chapter has a lot of areas where you can very easily trigger a ton of dudes crashing down on you at once, and we really only have like...two units who are capable of standing up to that. Thankfully(?), the group inside will ignore us until we break down the door, even if we put a ranged unit up against the wall to try and tempt the hand axe fighter.  The boss has a dangerous group of flunkies, most notably the pair of cavaliers who are packing 11 speed and thus capable of doubling more or less all of our physical units aside from Chloe. And Nelucce is no slouch himself, 24 ATK is strong enough to outright one-shot Framme and come within a single point of doing so to Clanne, for reference.  Finally, in the northwest corner we have a pair of chests behind a long, thin corridor of dudes (there's a knight at the start of it just off-screen). We're going to have to move fast to get these - the game will spawn a thief on turn 1, and these guys aren't in any hurry to move.  After a little deliberation, this is how we line up. Louis and Alfred are heading west through the mercenaries with a little backup from Celine. Everyone else is heading north to the doors.   There's no time to find the key! Let's use brute force to knock it down.A wonderful suggestion, Alfred. The door only has 30 HP so it isn't that hard to get through, it's all the dudes surrounding it that are the problem.  Right off the bad, Louis' iffy accuracy ruins what should be an easy kill for Celine. Alfred will be over later to poke this guy, but he's going to survive with ~2 HP and get a swing off at Celine before he gets melted in the enemy phase.  Meanwhile, Alear and Clanne deal with the knight and Vander takes a swing this archer from afar. Everyone else forms up behind them, just out of reach of the other enemies.  There's our thief, in the middle-left. Thankfully, he only moves a couple tiles a turn on this map, but we do want to get over there as quickly as we can.  Etie and Bouch whack the mercenary to our right and uh...yeah, let's go with that, Bouch.  With the candelabra in the way, we can only draw over one of the fighters, but Alear should be able to easily handle him. No point in having Vander draw the merc since he'd just get broken on the attack and not actually accomplish anything.  Hey, she got build! The magic is nice, too, but if push comes to shove, that's what Celica is for. Anyway, these boys have lined up all neat and tidy for us down that tight corridor. You know what we do with that?  Why, we just plow straight through all of them! It won't do much damage to the knight, but it'll knock a big chunk off the rest of them and more importantly, it'll plop Louis right in the way of the thief on the other side.    Most engage attacks have cool animations. Override is just kinda...there.  Meanwhile, Alear and friends are cleaning up the central area.  Chloe picks up a big crit and a solid level. Build would have been even better, but for right now, she's golden as long as she keeps getting strength.   With Louis having gotten all up in their personal space, the knight starts coming south towards us while everyone else takes a swing at our invincible orb boy. Still better than Alfred, who gets giant fans(???) instead of orbs when he's engaged with Sigurd.  The only way this could be better is if he got more defense. He even hit his token res growth!  With all the enemies in our immediate vicinity taken care of (aside from that archer who will happily do nothing against Louis and get a javelin to the face for his troubles), our main forces line up against the door while Alfred and Celine do their best to catch up to Louis.  Now this is what we're talking about. A few more of those, and Framme might yet be in business.  Our first attempt at breaking in the door has Alear in position to take the two fighters while Clanne hits the knight and Vander heads off to the east to get the archer.  It goes poorly.  While we come up with a new strategy, Louis reaches the chests. Obstruct creates a pillar of ice on a tile of your choice, making it impassible until an enemy destroys it. The pillars only have 1 HP so they're not exactly sturdy, but they do an excellent job of cutting off routes or slowing down a foe that would otherwise have a clean shot at your units. (There's an armorslayer in the other chest)   This time, Etie breaks down the door and we let them come to us. The knight has a Ridersbane, so Vander is off dealing with the archer instead.  Congrats, Alear! You didn't immediately die this time.  We're going to need some extra firepower to properly clean this up, so let's call in Celine from the left side.  With the knight out of the picture, the rest of them fall very quickly. It's very cathartic to see like 5 blue arrows on an attack preview, even if 80% of them are useless because the first one will kill the enemy in question.  Meanwhile, Alfred and Louis get to work on this wall near the boss.   Of course, we can't have nice things for long. The archers are whatever, but as mentioned on the prep screen, these cavaliers are very scary. Chloe and Alear are the only ones who aren't going to be doubled by these guys, and they don't want to fight them for lance reasons rather than speed ones.  If we wait underneath the walls, we're just out of range of the archers, so we can draw out the cavs relatively safely. In a perfect world, I would have Bouch ready to hop in the other side, but he's just a bit too far away.  It's only Chapter 5, and we can already see that Vander is falling off hard. If not for his base 40 HP, he would already be borderline unusable, and even that's not gonna last long if he's regularly being doubled for 15+ damage a turn.  More pressing are the mercenaries that have joined us. There is absolutely no way we can take on all these guys with this formation, especially with Vander an inch from death, so we'll have to retreat a bit.  While we're dealing with that, Alfred and Louis drop the monk in the boss's entourage.  Unfortunately, Celine has nowhere to retreat *to*, and we've already used Warp Ragnarok. But we've got more than one dumb trick up our sleeve here.  One fireball isn't going to cut it; even with the bonus damage from Resonance she's only doing ~16 damage. But two fireballs for 9 damage each? Now we're in business. It does mean we'll have to eat the hit in between attacks, but better one hit than five of them.  On second thought, let's not attract the attention of the boss.  We're still gonna poke this guy so that he can't Chain Guard, but this time he gets to live. Alfred stays behind Louis rather than lose his head a second time.  Yeah, I uh...don't recommend this particular move, but don't let me stop you!  That sure is a Louis level.   We catch a huge break when Etie crits this mercenary. This isn't to suggest that it will be easy to get through another 3.5 dudes this turn, but our frontliners are in such poor shape, I don't think we would have survived the archers if we had to focus down another high-priority target.  I really tried to puzzle out a way where Vander could kill this cav, but even with Alear boosts and a Bouch backup hit, we came up a single point short. This sucks, but someone's gotta do it and Clanne has the lowest damage here.  It only took you four levels, but you finally got A point of magic. I'm so proud of you, Clanne.  So here's where I really start to panic. It's hard to tell from the screenshot, but we're one pip short of having a full engage meter, and I was really counting on using Lodestar Rush here.  And yet, from exactly 10 squares away, here comes Louis to save my rear end.   With the additional damage from Override, we're back in business. And Framme gets another good level for good measure.  Nothing left to do but bait out the last pair of cavs and paste the boss. You love to see it when the effectively weaponry comes out.  Sure, one for the road, Etie.   As usual, our plan is to introduce him to the business end of as many emblems as possible in one turn. Looky here, the runaway princess! I'll make you fly the coop again. I am not running this time. It will be you who flees for your life. Another smattering of stats we like to see, but not a lot of them. Celine will want strength once she promotes, but we're still a ways off from that.  That little red gem that was under his health bar? That indicates that he has a whole-rear end second health bar we have to burn through before he stays down for good. I think they're officially called revival stones or some poo poo, but I always call them break bars because they look like the indicators from Fate/Grand Order.  Suffice to say that he will not be getting up from this one. You invaded my castle and threatened my mother. I'll slay you where you stand! Oh, the prince of Flowerland is threatening me! I'm real scared!  I'm genuinely surprised it wasn't Louis! I guess the big damage Warp Ragnaroks outweighed the Overrides. End of Chapter  Oh, that's a relief.Well, we put in the work, we might as well go properly meet the queen.  My children, you're safe. What a relief. We have a guest, Mother. Someone came all the way from Lythos to see you. The Divine Dragon? Queen Ève, it's an honor to meet you. I'm so glad that you're all right. I've come here by invitation of Prince Alfred. Just look at you. Awake at long last. I am Ève, the queen of Firene. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome you. The Divine Dragon has come to help our country, Mother. We were just in time to rescue Céline. And get this! The Divine One summoned Emblem Celica from our ring. The legendary Emblem! Oh my, how extraordinary. Thank you, sincerely. You have my deepest gratitude. My family is safe because of you. Well, she's... She's gone. My mother passed away. No... That's awful. I'm so sorry. Some intruders entered the castle. They tried to kill me, but... She gave her life to protect mine. Oh... How tragic... I'm glad that...that I could spare your children the pain of losing their mother... My heart goes out to you... Forgive me. We've only just met and here I am, laying my grief at your feet. I just wish I could have saved her too. Divine One... While I cannot take away your sorrow, perhaps I can help you bear it. To reunite with her, and then lose her so soon... I can only imagine how painful that was. For now, allow yourself to grieve, knowing that I grieve with you. Thank you, Queen Ève. Your warmth, your kindness... It's almost like she's here with me.While the actual death of Lumera may have been played up a bit too soon, the grief aspect of it is surprisingly well-handled. Eve gets to act as the mother that Alear is very suddenly missing, and Alear gets at least a little bit of closure by ensuring that the same doesn't happen for Alfred and Celine.  Better. I'm sorry you had to see me like that. No, we shouldn't have dragged you into all this right now. I'm sorry, Divine One. As am I. But if I hadn't left when I did, what might have happened to you, Céline? Or you, Queen Ève? I'm proud to serve people in need, like my mother did. Thank you. Now, the Elusian leader... She said her kingdom released the Fell Dragon. I take it that's why the Corrupted are appearing in Elyos again. Now there's no question that the Fell Dragon's after the rings. Which means we need to hurry. Head them off before they can reach the next one. Queen Ève, your country's ring... May I take it? Of course. The kingdom of Firene gives it with love, trust, and gratitude. Thank you very much. There is something you should know, however... What? Since when? There is another ring? Here, in Firene? It was kept secret to avoid conflict. For generations, knowledge of this ring has been confined to the monarchs of Firene. However, now that the Fell Dragon has arisen, it is best to dispel the shroud of secrecy. It is commonly thought that the Divine Dragon gave one ring to each country's leader. However, Firene received a second. The Ring of the Dawn Maiden. I see... To ensure that no one would find it, the ring was hidden away far from the castle. It rests in a shrine on the Brodian border. Ah, I remember those old ruins. What? You do? Yeah. Mother took me there after Father died. She told me to keep the location in mind. At the time, I didn't know why... Now it makes sense. I was preparing you for the day you became king. So you are leaving, Alfred. Yes. I want to do my part to end this war. With your blessing, Mother, I'm going to help the Divine Dragon bring peace to Elyos. Mother, I would like to join as well. Alfred... Céline... You have my blessing. I know you will serve the Divine Dragon with honor. On one condition: Swear to me that you will come back alive. I swear it. I swear it. Thank you very much, Queen Ève. I trust that you will take some time to rest prior to your departure. The journey ahead will be arduous, but know that you are all in my prayers. May good fortune shine upon you. Huh. Aren't we forgetting somebody?  Really? You sure about that, darling?  You're shaking like a leaf. I take it you failed to obtain the ring. Uh! Apologies, ma'am! Those guys were tougher than they looked! But I─ I can tell you things! Stuff that'll help you track it down! Like the fact that Princess Céline ran off with it. The Divine Dragon has it now. Pretty good info, right? Heh... Whaddaya say? How 'bout we call it even this time around? I won't let you down again. Oh, how naive you are. After you fail me once, there is no second chance. AAH! Hmph.Well, no one can say he didn't get what he deserved. Admittedly, "The Prince of Flowerland" was a pretty good burn. RIP in piss, Nelucce.  I was expecting to get at least one. At least now we know that Lumera is dead. Yes, but there's another Divine Dragon to take her place. I can't believe that beast had a child. It does explain why she was so willing to sacrifice her life. What should we do? The battle at Lythos Castle took its toll. We're in no shape for another confrontation. We'd best lie low for a spell. Leave them be, for now. Understood.
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Apr 15, 2024 22:29
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The Somniel, Part 2  Who might you be?  And I am Pinet, a clothier. Pleased to meet you. I'll cut right to it. Our friend Durthon wrote us and said he opened a shop at your base. And, well... We'd like to go there too. We'll be a real help! I can strengthen your weapons. My clothes and accessories won't win you any battles, but they will catch eyes and turn heads. If Durthon vouches for you, that's good enough for me. Please, come along to the Somniel. Really? That's great! You'll be glad to have us around, I promise. Indeed. Thank you, Divine One.The remainder of our shops are quickly filled in, with one of them being far more important the other.  Pinet sells new outfits for us to use in the Somniel. If we could wear them into battle? 100% different story. But to use my precious forging material just for the home base? Heresy.  Speaking of the forge, let's really break the game open now. Exchange is exactly what it sounds like, letting us trade up and down the material scale at roughly a 9:1 ratio - someone will inevitably correct me on this, but it's something like 9 Iron to a Steel and 90 to a Silver.  Forging is exactly what it sounds like, trading ores for stat upgrades. As you might guess, not every forge is created equal - Liberation gets +2 Mt for going from 0 to +1, but +1 Mt and +5 hit for going from +1 to +2. Additionally, different classes of weapons have different sets of forges - Steel weapons tend to have bonuses that reduce weight and add some crit, whereas knives and special weapons (Levin Sword, Flame Lance, etc) strictly gain might.  Engraving gives a weapon a specific set of bonuses based on the emblem you choose. You can only have one weapon engraved with a specific emblem at a time, but you can change which weapon is engraved at any time for 100 bond fragments. Of the characters we currently have: Marth: +1 Mt, +10 Hit, +10 Crit, +5 Avoid, +5 Crit Evade Celica: -1 Mt, -1 Wt, +50 Crit Evade Sigurd: +1 Mt, -1 Wt, +20 Avoid As you could probably guess, these more or less mimic their actual stat patterns - Marth is good at a little bit of everything, Sigurd is about going fast, etc. Note that you can only engrave a weapon if the Emblem in question is actually in your party. You won't lose the engraving if they leave the party (and they will, which emblems you have available will vary as the game goes on), but you won't be able to change it until they come back.  Finally, the Arena is now open. After each chapter, we get three fights to pick up some extra experience before we move on. I usually use it to try and pick up a level when someone ended a map with like, 80-90 exp, but there's no wrong way to get some extra levels.  The game automatically uses whatever weapon you have equipped, so you may want to tweak what you're using before you jump in, and it randomly picks an opponent from among the units in the army. It will try to pick someone appropriate for whichever character is training, but the further in the game we get, the more likely it is to just give up and either give you a literally unwinnable fight or make you fight, like...Framme. I got Vander for all three of my attempts, so none of them won and I didn't get any levels.  Emblem training is a bit of a misnomer, because it's literally just buying bond levels with fragments. It doesn't actually matter if you win the fight or not, which is good because the emblems use one of three fixed stat distributions and all of them are well above our capabilities right now.   Alear is a sweet boy, but generally (and especially in these early supports) he is a black hole of personality. "Divine One" this, "Divine One" that... He really needs to get to the B and A ranks before we start getting to anything even remotely interesting.    Framme, meanwhile, gets one of the better early supports with Boucheron. Chloe's schtick about eating weird folk food is...definitely something. Not at all what you would expect from her, but she and Boucheron are the first characters to have something that resemble a personality and not just a character gimmick.  On to 5x! We'll have to make our first roster decisions, although admittedly this chapter doesn't have a lot going on. But we'll get to that on Monday.
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Apr 18, 2024 21:24
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Chapter 5x: Budding Talent  Before we continue on to the secret shrine, let's take a quick detour over to this little island. Most of the game's sidequests are directly related to our emblems, but this is one of the two that are just there for us to tackle whenever we choose. Both of them give us a new character, so we might as well tackle them as soon as they're available, starting with this one.   And you're looking chipper today! I told you that cold would be gone before you know it. Thank you, Jean. You didn't burn yourself or anything preparing it, I hope. You worry too much. I'm old enough to manage a simple pot of tea, I assure you. Hm-hm, it makes me happy to see you growing up so fine.So we have the town doctor and his son, the latter of whom doesn't seem to be entirely trusted yet. No prize for guessing which of the two is our new recruit. Hm? What's going on out there?  These guys all bounce up at the same time, like they choreographed it or something. It's very cute, for a trio of corpses. What the devil are those beasts?! This will get ugly. Jean, go and hide! I'll take care of bringing people to the clinic.*Sean leaves the scene* This way, everyone! If you're unhurt, then assist someone who's injured! We must pull together! I know Father told me to hide, but how can I? I have to do my part too!  Get moving! There's shelter at the clinic! Keep your wits about you, everyone! I'll patch you up once the crisis has passed. We can't stand idle with the Corrupted on the loose. Let's save those villagers! A short and sweet intro for a short and sweet chapter, but we've got a couple decisions to make on the roster before we start.  The enemies in this chapter are kind of scattershot, there's a lot of stuff without any real unifying theme or structure to their formations. Here in the southeast corner we have fighters up close, a cavalier and mage behind them, and then an archer on either side in the back.  The northeast corner has fewer, but no less variety of troops, although it does have the boss and a lot of hedges. Seeing as the boss is an archer, we'll have to approach him carefully so he doesn't constantly run around with an extra 60 avoid.  Finally, directly to our north is the village itself. Sean (and Jean, who appears on the first turn) will spend their time healing anyone who gets attacked by the Corrupted, so as long as you get up here before they're being attacked on all three fronts, it is extremely easy to keep everyone alive.  Vander and Clanne drop for Celine and Louis, both of whom are just better at doing their respective jobs. Otherwise it was a toss up between benching Alfred or Etie, and Alfred won the coin flip. Chloe would have been coming regardless, but she's trying out the Celica ring for fun.  Father, I'm here to help! If we split up, we can treat everyone! Jean?! I thought I told you to run and hide! I can't stay hidden away when there are so many who need my help! After all, Father, am I not your son? You taught me that a doctor does whatever is needed! My lessons have sunk in, I see. Very well, then! Come and give me a hand!  Jean is...rough. We'll talk about him later, but right now our priority is getting up there before too many corrupted start attacking villagers.  We immediately spread out and cover the choke points. Celine (and Framme, later) are going to head north around the house while the rest of the gang heads east. It would be nice to have Chloe finish off that fighter, but Louis is just far enough out that the archer can sneak a shot behind him. For now, everyone just advances.  You can tell which enemies are "supposed" to go after the villagers, because they have weird weapons like this Slim Sword. Then again, lots of enemies have weird weapons on this map; there's a Surge, Poleaxe, and Armorslayer all floating around if you aren't paying attention to enemy equips.  Framme ate the axe hit for Celine, so let's repay this bandit appropriately.  Yeah, that'll do! You'd think 4 build wouldn't cut it, but Liberation is ridiculously light and can be forged to be as strong as a Silver Sword by the time we're done.   Meanwhile, our first taste of Celica Chloe and I have to say, I approve. The wing ornaments are a neat representation of her pegasus while engaged.  Even Alfred gets in on the fun. Most of the fun toys are way too heavy for him to use effectively, but when you only need to hit once, that doesn't matter as much.  We get a rare sighting of Sword Celine to handle this mage. Surge can't hit from range, but her fireball would only do 3 damage, so we'll get up close and personal.  This guy is no threat, but the cavalier conveniently blocked by the Corrupted's hand has an armorslayer, and even Louis fears those when he's under half health. Fortunately, he won't move, so we can swing by and kill him at our convenience.  One unfortunate side effect of running a physical unit with Celica, even one with a decent magic score, is that you just don't have those last couple points of oomph when you need them. I would love to Warp Ragnarok the archer, but we're about 5 damage short, and Chloe will certainly eat poo poo between the mage and archer when he survives.  Chloe, Alfred, and Bouch all have ranged weapons equipped, so the mage gets to pick his poison. He chooses poorly.  This peg knight is a problem, but she's the only one advancing right now and we got here quickly enough that Louis can turn his full attention to her as soon as he javelins this fighter. Sean actually ran outside the village to heal Louis, which I appreciate since Framme sure wasn't gonna catch up anytime soon.  For whatever reason, none of these guys near the boss move except for the boss himself. Since her engage is about to run out, we might as well burn Warp Ragnarok while we have it.   With the peg knight dealt with, the chapter is effectively over. The boss is more annoying than dangerous, and everyone else can be killed at our leisure since they either don't move or won't actively attack us.  With that said, let's get ourselves a child soldier. It's not safe here! You should be running! I can't. I'm the local doctor's son. I won't leave until I've helped the injured! Huh... You've got a lot of heart for a kid your age. All right. Let's join forces and save those villagers! I really appreciate the help. My name's Jean. Now come on ─ there's work to do! Base Class: Martial Monk Class Type: Qi Adept Personal Skill: Expertise - Doubles class growths. Base Stats: HP: 19 (50% + 0%) Str: 4 (20% + 20%) Mag: 5 (20% + 50%) Dex: 10 (35% + 0%) Spd: 7 (40% + 0%) Def: 4 (25% + 20%) Res: 8 (20% + 40%) Luck: 3 (25% + 20%) Build: 3 (5% + 0%) The game would like me to tell you that Jean is your Est - the classic, extreme growth unit that needs a lot of help to get started, but once they do, they're very good. But that's not really the case here? Obviously he's going to be a few levels behind Framme, but he can easily get those first couple levels on staff exp and because of how Expertise doubles class growths, he'll get a lot of magic to start out. After that though? Jean is basically a blank slate - if you move him into something like Fighter or Knight, suddenly he has a 60% strength growth. Move him over to Mage, and he becomes a walking magical nuke. Whatever you decided to do with him, Jean will be good at it - the only question is whether it's worth putting the resources into him to get there.   There's not much I can do with it, at any rate. Better it should go to a soldier like yourself.*Received an Energy Drop.*  Louis gets in position to bait the boss. He can't hurt us, and from this position he can't get to a shrub to attack us either. I've got better things to do than try and smack a guy with 80 avoid.  Solid. She's going to want more speed since she literally can't get build as a monk, but as long as she keeps getting magic and HP, we can make it work for now.  I probably mentioned this before, but engage attacks can't miss, so you can take your 32% hit chance and shove it.  We're saved! And it's thanks to the lot of you. I'm glad no one got hurt. I was a little worried there. You can't know what this means to us. We decided to give you this to show our thanks.*Received Surge, Pure Water*  End of Chapter  Come now, Jean. Give the nice people a proper thank-you. Oh, right. Thank you for saving our village. We saved it together. You did well today, Jean. Oh! I introduced myself to you, but I never asked your name, did I? Well, there was a lot going on. I'm the Divine Dragon Alear. The Divine Dragon?! From the land of Lythos?! Oh, please forgive my rudeness! Don't mention it. Like I said, there was a lot going on at the time. I've been on a journey to defeat the Fell Dragon and bring peace to the world. The whole world? Wow. If it's all right with you, Divine One, can I come along and help?! Jean! What's gotten into you?! My dream has always been to become a doctor so I can save people. And that hasn't changed. But with monsters running rampant, I might die before I can do that. Look what just happened! At the Divine Dragon's side, I think I can learn to fight and to heal people at the same time. That's all very well for you, but what about the Divine Dragon? You'd just be a burden. Oh, I wouldn't say that. Not if what he did during that battle is anything to go by. If Jean wants to come, I don't mind. Though I understand why you'd be worried. What? You're actually allowing him to go? Father, I told you, you don't need to worry about me. It's not like I'm never coming home. In fact, when I do return, I'll be a first-rate doctor. You'll see! How quickly they grow up... Of course, Jean. Be a good boy, a hard worker, and an attentive student. And come home safe. I will! Thank you, both of you. I can't wait to start working alongside the Divine Dragon! The feeling is mutual, Jean. I have a hunch that I'll be leaning on you a lot in the days to come.That's a pretty short chapter, so let's do a little cleanup in the Somniel before we go.  We cash in a bunch of our iron ingots to get Liberation up to +2 and then go wide to make a lot of Javelin +1's and other basic equipment.  Chloe gets an okay level in the arena. Celine should have, but got smoked having to fight Chloe and Alfred came up about 10 exp short.    While Chloe and Boucheron have something that resembles a personality, Alfred...does not. His whole schtick is about getting physically stronger, and the game is going to do its damndest to make sure you don't forget it. Celine is also pretty one-note, but at least the game goes a lot of different places with her tea obsession. Reminiscing with Chloe is a very different support than the international politicking that she'll do with later characters, even if the framing is the same. Next time: Chapter 6 and another emblem
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Apr 22, 2024 21:30
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So what I'm hearing is Swordmaster Jean. 
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Apr 23, 2024 00:52
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I'm going to record Chapter 6 later today, hopefully to have it ready for Monday. In the meantime, consider the following: Right now, we're right at the border between the "wave 1" and "wave 2" recruits. It's debatable which side of the line you want to include the Chapter 6 recruit on, but regardless, we're about to start getting replacements for our initial set of units. Given that, let's take a look at how our current crop is doing, who might need some help, and who's headed for the bench as soon as we have an opportunity. If this helps you make any sort of decision, the next major batch of units is comprised of an archer, a mage, a pair of swordfighters that functionally grade out to a myrmidon and a mercenary, a cavalier, and a knight. Louis is not in any danger of being superceded, but Etie, Clanne, and Alfred could find themselves in trouble pretty soon.  Alear is looking pretty solid! Marth's bonuses help a lot, as does that Liberation +2, but he's holding his own better than I expected him to. He's a little more fragile than I expected, and would probably like the Angelic Robe we got from Nelucce, but you could do a lot worse than this Alear.  It's weird to say that Alfred's problem is that Louis exists, but it...kinda is? He's okay, not strong enough to take down high-priority targets cleanly, not bulky to enough to survive on his own without help, and not enough speed or build to use weapons like the ridersbane or steel lance that would make up for either of the former problems. And we could fix this! Sigurd is almost tailor-made for Alfred, providing speed, defense, and build... But Louis has better bases where it counts and gets all of those same benefits from Sigurd, taking him from good to incredible where Alfred merely goes from okay to good. In the absence of Sigurd, Alfred does have a very good bond ring, but there are a lot of units who would really like that ring, including Bouch, Etie, and basically every single one of the upcoming recruits.  Bouch is about what I expected, coasting more on backup usage than actual talent. He hasn't hit his speed or his build growth much, and his offense is quite low for using axes, but we did just get an energy drop and no one will be challenging him for axes for another couple chapters. If he can get it going before then, there may yet be hope for the Bouch, but his future probably rests on whether or not he gets an emblem that can give him bows, because Berserker isn't going to fix any of his current problems.  Framme has been more or less exactly as expected. She's actually a little tankier than you might expect, having hit that 55% HP growth on all 4 levels, but still should probably be kept away from direct combat if you are't doing Chain Guard shenanigans. Otherwise she's fast enough to not be doubled by almost everything and has been picking up magic at a pretty regular pace, so we should probably be thinking about getting her tomes so we can go High Priest instead of Master Monk if she's going to see long-term use.  Celine, while definitely better than Clanne, is stuck in the "solid at most things, not great at anything" hole. She's fast enough to not be doubled, but not fast enough to do so against any of the really dangerous enemies. She's got solid magic, but her damage isn't great because she isn't doubling most enemies. That build proc and solid strength makes her a pretty good mage killer with that forged sword, but her res isn't high enough to survive a prolonged battle. The one thing she is better than anyone else (for now) is Warp Ragnarok, and even those days are numbered. If we're going to use her, we need to commit to it now so she isn't completely blown out of the water by either of the next two mages that join.  There isn't much to say about Louis - he starts off very strong and as long he doesn't completely whiff on his speed growth, he will continue to be very strong. He loves having Sigurd in the early-game, but even without him, Louis would be an extremely dangerous unit. Great Knight fixes the worst of his speed problems, bringing him up to "bad" rather than "doubled by literally everything" (promotion gains are +1 for General, +4 for Great Knight), but also means he gets hit by both cavalry and armor weapons, plus he loses his passive that makes it so that he can't be broken. If we do ultimately go that way, he would love to pick up swords so that he can use Greatswords, but we'll probably get that soon anyway from Sigurd.  god please just get some build Chloe Okay that's not fair. Her two levels thus far haven't exactly lit the world on fire, but base Chloe is good enough that she doesn't need to be picking up tons of stats yet. Any decisions we have to make here are purely long-term - any combination of tomes, staves, and swords would all make her life better, because something would have to go catastrophically wrong for us to not promote and use her.  I'm not gonna say much about Jean since he just joined, but the assessment from last update stands. Whatever we ultimately do with Jean, he will be pretty good at it - the only question is getting him there, and whether it's worth giving him one of our precious emblems and/or second seals to do so.  Vander has his uses, but has largely been powercrept by the combination of Alfred and Louis. About the only thing he can do no that no one else can is take several high-damage hits to the face between his 40 HP and acceptable Def/Res combo. This will not last, and Vander has likely already seen his last days of combat.  Clanne is worse Celine. Everything that we said about her is true here as well, and he doesn't have swords with which to pick a fight against other mages. To his credit(?), he has gotten a decent amount of strength in his otherwise bad levels, but that's really only relevant if we commit to getting him promoted, and right now that's a really big ask.  This is probably unsurprising given her low growth totals, but Etie really hasn't done much of anything. She's still probably going to be the first unit off the bench if we have an opportunity, simply because being able to instantly swat a peg knight is a good thing to have your back pocket, but she's slow, she can't take a hit, and she's only gotten a single point of strength in her levels to this point. Even if we weren't getting another archer very soon, she would likely be relegated to backup duty regardless. We have an emblem coming up next chapter, so we'll shuffle emblems after that. In the meantime, we have an Energy Drop (Str +2) and an Angelic Robe (HP +5) that we can hand out. We do not have to, but the longer it sits in our inventory, the less useful it is overall. In particular, the unit that joins next chapter would love that Energy Drop, but we can approximate the effect by forging knives instead. Choose wisely!
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May 1, 2024 20:02
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Chapter 6: The Stolen Ring  Now that we have a couple open nodes on the world map, we'll start seeing skirmishes pop up. It's nice for getting some extra exp or forging material, but Engage throws us a curveball - at least on Hard and above, skirmishes are scaled to where you are in the plot, NOT where they show up on the map. This means that once we reach a certain point, the encounters will be hard enough that it will be functionally impossible to catch up anyone that falls behind. And that's fine, they were probably benched for a reason, but it can be a rude surprise if you come into it with the intent to get someone up to speed.  Anyway, let's get ourselves another ring.  The landscape's gotten rockier. We're near Brodia. It's all mountains up there. I'm seeing fewer villages as well. Makes this a good place to hide an Emblem Ring, I suppose. Yeah. The closer you are to the Brodian border, the colder and quieter it gets. Look. Not a soul in sight. You're right. There's no one around... Except her. Oh! I wonder what she's doing here. Ugh... Ugh... She's crying. Well, doesn't that break the heart? I'd better help. I am her prince, after all. I won't stand by when my people are suffering. Alfred, wait!Alfred isn't the smartest boy, but his heart is in the right place. There's a very Eirika and Ephraim kind of relationship that he and Celine have, with regard to how capable they would be as rulers.  Hey there! Huh? What's the matter? Something I can help with? Zuh... Zuh... I knew we'd startle you. Sorry for popping up out of nowhere and─ Zappy! You came just in time! I'm saved! Uh... I lost something earlier and there was nobody around to help, so I got real stressed out. Meet Yunaka. There are many strong opinions to be had about Engage, but pretty much everyone loves Yunaka. Hiya...papaya? Huh! I've never heard that one before. Anyway, what did you lose, Yunaka? It's a little round ring. Kind of shiny with a hole in the middle? Oh, and it talks, for some reason. Come again? Yeah, I figured you wouldn't believe me. I believe you. It might be an Emblem Ring. Please, go on. What did it say? Hm... If I remember right, it asked me to take it to the Divine Dragon. To me? Is that─ Did you─ Are you saying you're the Divine Dragon? Yes, I am. I'm sorry I didn't mention it sooner. And now that we're doing introductions, I'm Alfred, the prince of Firene. I think I just had a heart attack... Nope, false alarm. Whew. I'm so sorry. I never meant to impact your health. Yunaka, how did you find the ring? I was walking along the border, minding my own business, when I heard a woman's voice. "Help me... I'm right here... I'm by your foot." Huh. You're quite the performer. Anyway, I picked up the ring and she said, "Take me to the Divine Dragon." But at that point, I had no idea where the Divine Dragon was! So I told her I couldn't help. She knew the way, though. Told me to start heading for the capital of Firene. That's good advice. The quickest way to get to Lythos is through the capital. But on the way, I was attacked by bandits and ran off full speed...and now the ring's gone. I must have dropped it somewhere! Woe is me! But now that you're here, you're gonna help me find it! Right? Right? After hearing her story, this definitely sounds like an Emblem Ring. Probably the Ring of the Dawn Maiden. But that means someone took it from the shrine. Or it could be another Emblem Ring. We'll just have to find it and see for ourselves. All right, Yunaka. We'll help you. Golly, that's great news! She'll be so happy if you're the one who finds her! Let's start by retracing your steps.So Yunaka is A Lot™. It's hard not to smile at how silly she is, even while it's incredibly obvious that she's hiding a lot under that peppy exterior. We've known her for approximately 5 seconds, but did anyone not immediately twig that she stole this "missing" ring?  Maybe somebody got to it before we did. Yeah, everyone's combing the area. If it was lying around, we would have found it by now. You're sure you didn't lose it before the bandits attacked? I had it on me when I passed through that ghost town over there... Huh?! What is it? It looks like the town's overrun with bandits. What? How can you tell? I'll bet these are the same chumps who ambushed me earlier. Let's take a closer look. These are the bandits I ran into earlier, no doubt about it. And that means one of them's got... Aha. Right there. You see it? Yeah. A burly guy with something glinting in his hand. That's got to be our missing ring. What do you think, Divine One? Is it an Emblem Ring? Hmm... He's too far. I really can't say. You must have great eyesight, Yunaka. Yeah, I have a killer's eyes. What was that? If you ever need something looked at real good, I'm your gal! Hehehe...Smooth. Anyway! What's the plan? Now we've got two problems that need solving. A stolen ring, and a town full of bandits. The ring's our first priority, but we can't leave them unchecked. We'll only attract attention if we all charge in at once. I say we split up. You know, send in a small group to recover the ring. Nice and stealthy. All right. OK, then! C'mon, Divine One, you're with me! And now it's time for the final real tutorial map: Fog of War. This chapter is actually quite easy, and as long as you don't blindly charge forward all the time, you're not in any real danger from foes hiding in the dark.  Base Class: Thief Class Type: Covert Personal Skill: Trained to Kill - Grants Crit +15 when on terrain that provides an avoid bonus. Base Stats: HP: 25 (50% + 5%) Str: 8 (35% + 10%) Mag: 5 (25% + 0%) Dex: 14 (40% + 20%) Spd: 12 (45% + 15%) Def: 9 (15% + 15%) Res: 7 (45% + 5%) Luck: 8 (25% + 15%) Build: 5 (5% + 0%) Hiya Papaya! Yunaka is a bit of a funny one, because it's very, very easy to make her into a killing machine. Her personal skill is very easy to use since she's a covert unit and you want to put her on to good terrain regardless. Knives are both ranged and very good for forging since they get +2 Mt per level, and they inflict poison for even more damage to boot. The problem is that all of those are things the thief class brings to the table - this is not to discount that big crit bonus by any means, but what Yunaka brings to the table is a lot of magic and res. This makes her a fine mage killer if you were so inclined, but our next thief comes in with 15 strength, so she needs to hit that 45% growth seven times between now and Chapter 11 or we'll just turn around and give all her fancy forged knives to the new guy, who will be even better at her job. The energy drop that we got last chapter would help a lot, but that's currently earmarked for Chloe. We'll have to see how the RNG treats her.   With the map being dark, there isn't really much else to see at the moment. There's a couple guys (including an enemy thief) in the southwest corner of the map, and the boss is hanging out on this pseudo-throne tile in the northwest corner.  Alear and Yunaka are locked into the upper portion of the map, so the rest of the gang assembles in the south. Etie and Clanne are here for what is probably their last map unless they turn things around real quick.  Slipping through a side passage. Smart thinking, Yunaka. There he is! Let's take him by surprise! Good idea. Please, take me to the Divine Dragon.  This'll net me a nice lump of gold. The boss doesn't need to know about it... Hahaha! Oh, dear. You can't even hear me, can you? I hear her! That's the voice from before! That's definitely an Emblem Ring. Yunaka, will you help me get it back? Of course, you weirdo! That's why we're here. Right. Well, thank you. You know... Now that I hear her, your impression was incredibly accurate. Hehe, stop! You're gonna make me blush!  First order of business, let's get ourselves a ring. We got the ring! Heal us, Emblem of Dawn! I am Emblem Micaiah. I sense the future shifting... Now victory lies ahead. Ah, so it is the Ring of the Dawn Maiden. Yunaka, I entrust this ring to you. Me?! But I... She belongs with you. All I ask is that in return, you help us defeat these bandits. Will you join with Emblem Micaiah? Yeah, OK! I won't let you down! Alear and Yunaka have a pretty straightforward path over to the boss. This little alleyway is only one tile wide and has plenty of cover for either unit to make use of as you go. If you want to take it slower, Yunaka can also snipe these guys from the other side of the wall.  On the south side, Framme lights this torch to reveal a mercenary hiding in the darkness. We'll have company coming up from below in a turn or two as well, but most of our forces will be going through the middle.  Canter also gives us a chance to spot this mage hiding behind the bushes. He has a Thunder tome, which is 1-3 range but can't double under normal circumstances. Since we know where he is now, we'll have Louis retreat a step or two to get out of his range.  Meanwhile, Celine and Bouch head up to deal with this fighter. He has a Hammer, so while he's not likely to hit anyone, it will hurt if he does, especially if that someone is Louis.   Looks like our cover's blown. They're snuffing the torches. Don't sweat it. We can relight them as we go.After the first turn, the torches go dark. This would be much more of a problem if the boss actually moved, but he will stay right where he is until you get in his attack range, so we just operate on standard fog of war procedures.  Longbows in the darkness are rude, and I appreciate that he has the courtesy to both miss Framme and give me that bow when I kill him.  Solid. Clock's ticking on Alfred, so he'll need a few more of those in short order or his roster spot is in trouble.  We have a mercenary friend who was hiding in that one little corner of darkness, but Bouch and Celine have the area under control.  Magic, but no speed, no strength, and a lot of stuff we generally don't care about. I guess the defense is nice, for all that it matters.   Jean pulls out the Illuminate staff and reveals...a whole lot of nothing. The mage we already knew about, and that guy way over at the edge of the screen is the thief we saw before they put out the torches.  Not so scary without the cover of darkness, huh?  If we were playing this safer, Yunaka would be weakening these guys for Alear to get the kills, but Alear is dodgy enough that it really doesn't matter. Besides, we need to feed her some levels so we see what we have sooner rather than later.  That said, we can get her some exp in a slightly more unorthodox way. One of Micaiah's link skills is "Cleric", which allows the unit to use staves regardless of whether or not their class should be able to.  Since this guy ran way out on his own, we might as well have some fun with him. Fists will break any of the secondary weapons (bows, tomes, and knives), and while it doesn't come up much, it is very funny when it does.  If Alear was actually in any danger, this would have been much less funny, but you did it, friend. You got the big crit with your...uh...shoe-knife.  Yunaka finishes the job and Alear presses forward. This is much less dangerous than it looks, largely because this is the last enemy on this upper path, but also because it's Chapter 6 and we already have 0% hit rates showing up.  Eh... It's okay. The defense is nice.  In the south, we have a Jean level. This is what we want to see if Jean is going to have any long-term use.  It's a little hard to see, but there's an unlit torch between us and this bandit, so Chloe can attack with impunity.  Alfred comes over to pick her off, and reveals what lighting the torch would have gotten us: absolutely nothing!  Okay, NOW there's no more enemies on the upper path.  Look, he didn't die, and that's what matters, right? That's what vulneraries are for! Alfred got whacked by a bandit last turn, so Bouch and Chloe return the favor.  This bandit tried to attack Louis with a slim sword, and it went about as well as you'd expect.  Unfortunately, we are exactly one tile away from being able to see the boss. It would have been nice to pop Chloe's Warp Ragnarok, but her engage runs out this turn.  It does last just long enough for him to come and pick a fight with her first, though. This is good, because now she can get a counter in instead of being broken by his hand axe.   Last turn, let's get this cleaned up. Bouch and Clanne deal with the archer for a level that has speed and not much else.  After we patch her up, Chloe and Alfred get the mage behind the boss.  Against Teronda himself, Celine is a single point shy of breaking the first health bar, so Yunaka takes one on the chin for the team.  And we end as we always do, by shoving the boss full of emblem swords.  End of Chapter  If not for you, we'd be scratching our heads in an empty shrine right about now. I can't thank you enough. It was nothing, really... I wonder who took it from the shrine in the first place. It must have been those bandits, right? Uh... Well... What's the matter? I didn't find the ring. I stole it. Huh? I was strapped for money, and when I saw the shrine, I figured it might have valuables. I went inside, heard Micaiah's voice, and pow, there's the ring staring right at me. I was just looking to make a quick bundle of dough! I'm sorry. I see. When I learned that you two were royalty, I panicked and kinda, well...lied. Really, I'm no different from those bandits. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me. Hold on. You were planning to sell the ring? Yeah... Well then, why didn't you? You could have run for the hills as soon as the Divine Dragon handed it to you. We're useless in the dark. Would've been easy to give us the slip. But instead, you stuck around and risked your neck for us. Why? When she started talking to me, I got this feeling that I just couldn't shake. I felt like...like I had to help her get to the Divine Dragon. Yunaka has shown me nothing but kindness. Fighting by her side, I saw a bright path ahead. When I sensed Sombron's return, I called out in the dark. It was she who answered. I am to blame for entangling her in all this. Yunaka has done nothing wrong. I hear you. But she did lie to us. As prince, I'm not supposed to let that go without some sort of punishment. Lay it on me. I can handle it. How about...joining our forces? Say what now? We're on a journey to collect the Emblem Rings and defeat the Fell Dragon. I know it's a lot to ask, but... Will you pledge yourself to our cause? What do you think, Alfred? A fitting punishment? I love it. Our army is pretty lean, so adding a new recruit makes a lot of sense. And Yunaka clearly has raw talent. She could be a real asset. I won't let you down. Thank you. Both of you. Uhh... Hehehe! Hiya papaya back atcha, Divine One! With that settled, let's hurry onward. We've got to cross into Brodia, right? Yes. Mother sent a letter to the Brodian king when we left the castle. He should be expecting us. Good. The kingdom of might... I'm curious to see what it's like there. See, we got a new party member, a new emblem, and a new dog out of this chapter. Nothing but good times.  Huh? Is that... Hey! Hm? You're the girl I met in Florra Mill Town! Veyle, wasn't it? Oh! What a coincidence finding you here, Alear. I'm glad to see you again. You left so abruptly last time ─ it really caught me off guard. Do you live around here? No. I'm just passing through. Well, looking for someone, really. Who are you looking for? A person I must talk to again, no matter what. My brother. You were separated, then... I'm sorry. It's painful to be apart from one's family. Do you have any idea where to look? None. I don't even know what face to look for. We've been apart since I was very young. But he did give me something long ago ─ this. What a pretty stone. It's my good-luck charm. I know that as long as I have this, we'll be reunited someday. I'm sure you will. But don't forget to take care of yourself. Look ─ your leg's wounded. This kind of thing happens all the time. Thank you. You're quite kind to help a complete stranger like me. You're not a stranger. You saved my life, remember? That makes us friends, as far as I'm concerned. And friends help each other. Friends... Should I not have said that? No, no. I'm just so happy to have someone I can call a friend. It's like a dream. I can't recall the last time I was treated with such kindness. What do you mean by that? Are you sure? Thank you for the bandage. Hope to see you again, Alear. *she leaves* There she goes. See you around, Veyle.
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May 6, 2024 21:51
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Fajita Queen posted:Unless she gets really screwed in her growths, I'm all in favor of using her forever and forging the hell out of a knife for her. I have some bad news about *checks notes* literally everyone's levels in 6x.
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May 7, 2024 04:30
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Chapter 6 Supports  First thing on the agenda today, we turn Yunaka into a monster. Or at least, more of one than she already was. If she picks up some strength along the way, all the better, otherwise we just move this baby right over to the next thief.  Despite this, she only beats Bouch in the arena because he missed one of his axe hits. And that...sure is a level for our trouble. We never turn down build when it comes up, but 6 build doesn't do a lot for her. 7 would let her use Silver Daggers without penalty, and Steel only weighs 5 so that wasn't a problem anyway.  lmao thanks game, appreciate that one Anyway, since we're here, we might as well deal with the elephant in the room.  Stat Boosts: Magic (1-4), Res (2-5), Luck (2-6) Weapons:
Engraving -3 Mt, -1 Weight, +40 Avoid, +20 Crit Avoid Inheritable Skills:
Engage Skills
Micaiah is all about pure, unadulterated staves bullshit. Just on a basic level, she lets literally anyone use a staff, they get to heal themselves on top of healing others, their status ailments are more accurate, and god forbid that you're engaged with Micaiah because then all of those things also happen on an area instead of a single target. And we haven't even talked about Great Sacrifice, which not only heals every friendly unit on the battlefield, but gets you a giant chunk of experience in the process. Her weapons aren't great, none of them are particularly strong, but she still has Nosferatu so you can't call it a bad list either. Really, the worst you can say about her is that her stat bonuses are underwhelming and she probably wants a unit who can bring at least a little bit of magic to the table. Other than that? She works on just about anyone, and is a strong contender for the best emblem in the game.  The cafe is also now open, allowing us to get easy support points and stat boosts all at once. First, we pick which characters are dining. They'll both gain support points with Alear, and if they can support each other, they'll get those too.  Next, you pick the dish in question. You can see which stats will get boosted, which ingredients you need to make it, and whether your dining partners will even like it.  Provided that the chef in question is actually capable of making the dish, you get a ranking and (maybe) a bonus effect. Poorly done dishes provide less benefits than advertised, good ones go above and beyond as Framme aptly demonstrates.    In today's batch of Alear supports, he meets the Firenese Royal Knights. They are uh...something, that's for sure.    Elsewhere, Etie and Alfred are being weird about muscles, Bouch tries to get Framme into Game of Thrones, and our MVPs are busy being weird about people-watching.  Finally for today, we have the well. It's pretty straightforward: you throw garbage in, come back after a map, and get different (hopefully better) garbage back out. The higher quality the stuff you put in, the more likely you are to get an upgrade, but this is an easy way to recycle weapons and items we're no longer using. At worst, we'll get something similar in a different type and we just chuck it right back in the well.
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May 9, 2024 21:22
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Important notes: As mentioned in the last(?) Somniel update, which emblems we have access to will change throughout the game. For the purposes of class changing, this mostly doesn't matter - Marth provides swords, but so does Sigurd, Roy, Ike, etc. In the case of magic, however, Celica and Micaiah are our only source of Tomes, and Micaiah is (currently) the only one who can give us Staff Proficiency, and we will be losing access to both of them after Chapter 10. If there is anyone in the party that we want to switch to a magic class, we need to give them one of these emblems now so they have time to get those proficiencies before we lose them. A few options:
Pick your poison below, who are giving Celica and Micaiah to?
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May 9, 2024 21:41
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Not true, actually! Leif has it at rank 4, Micaiah's is rank 6.
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May 9, 2024 21:47
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FoolyCharged posted:You are forgetting the most important optimizations. If you bench her for the other thief or the third knife wielder you leave your team desperately short on "Zappy" energy and find yourself without a "Hiya, papaya" in sight. This leaves your team under performing to a depressing degree. I mean, with hard-hitting analysis like this, I can't say I'm in much of a position to argue. The numbers check out!
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May 10, 2024 14:17
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We can, realistically, probably only salvage two of our current project units. Both Jean and the 6x recruit will functionally replace Celine if we stick with them long enough to do some class changes, or we can promote Celine and let the others get washed out by the upcoming mages. I'm going to record 7 shortly, but my current thoughts are that we drop Alfred and Celine, Framme stays until we get one of our mages promoted, and we see if we can get either Jean or 6x up to speed before we lose Micaiah. Both should get tomes and staves in the process, so the class change shouldn't be an issue. Bouch is also pretty borderline, but he's level 7 which is just close enough that we could drag him to 10 with a bow emblem if we absolutely had to, and promotion gains should get him back on track. E: 6x and Jean are both looking good after Chapter 7, so F's in the thread for Celine. Artix fucked around with this message at 23:14 on May 12, 2024 |
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May 12, 2024 21:21
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Chapter 6x: Mysterious Merchant  One more distraction before we move on with the plot. A little thief, you say?   Sorry, boss! The thief was too quick for us. We lost track of where she went! We're supposed to be the thieves, you bums! We steal ─ we don't get stolen from! *sigh* Well, she can't have left this fortress yet. Go catch her! No excuses! Yes, boss! Am I about to hear an excuse?! There's a tough-looking bunch headed right for us. They're armed too! Typical. How much worse can today get? Whatever, this won't stop us either. Battle squads, in position and ready to move! I want our thieves in the treasury now. Once the treasure is secure, get to a safe place. Got it, boss!Having one of those days, huh, Mitan? God, I feel you. It's a shame we have to kill you.   Hey, is someone talking? Sounds panicked, whoever they are. Move your butts and get in position! Is there about to be a fight? I'd better find someplace to hide! I guess this is my best option...*she hides inside the chest* Can you believe the luck we're having today? Less talking, more stalking. Make sure your gear is ready before things kick off! Uh-oh. This is way too many bandits to make a clean getaway.So, dumb story time. As you may or may not know, I'm one of a few folks working on an FE romhack called Awful Emblem, and we had this exact joke on a very, very early version of one of our Act 1 maps. Admittedly, ours was a surprise instead of calling out that there was a unit inside the chest, but still, it was more than a little funny to see an actual FE game use the idea.  I feel sorry for all those poor villagers who had their valuables stolen. Precious keepsakes, family heirlooms... Let's see if we can put them back in the right hands. Though it looks like we're in for a fight before that can happen. Just 8 units today. The last spot was between Bouch and Alfred, and Alfred is currently rocking something stupid like +2 Str/Dex/Speed/Def thanks to meals and other bonuses.   This is a very symmetrical map, with our starting points in the southwest and northeast corners. Lots of axes all around, but broadly speaking, we want to send swords on the left side, and lances on the right.  The two thieves will be heading directly for the treasure room, so they can be safely ignored - both in the sense that we can just kill them afterwards if we need to, but more importantly, they won't be picking a fight with us. Still, we definitely don't want Anna to be turned loose with armors on all sides of the treasure room, so we'll do our best to beat them there.  Mitan is no joke, either. She's going to be taking almost every hit on the chin, but 26 Atk means she's dishing them out as well. 11 speed is surprisingly fast for what she does, too.   We start the assualt as we often do, by crashing Louis into the nearest guy as hard as possible. With Sigurd's boosts, he can easily outrun the thief on the right side, but the one on the left will be a little trickier.  With three fighters in our immediate vicinity on the left, we'll take a more defensive approach. This effectively cedes the treasures to the thief, but with any luck, Louis will be there waiting for him anyway.  The mage to the far south has a thunder tome. This doesn't make him dangerous, but it is annoying to position when you have to account for the mage equivalent of That Longbow rear end in a top hat™ all the time.  Sup, bro?   Even Framme gets in on the action. She even gets the kill, thanks to a well-timed roundhouse kick. Those Lythos meal bonuses are doing a lot of work here, but you can see the theory on how Framme could work for us, if we really wanted to put the time and effort in.  ...And we will definitely have to put the work in.  Louis comes up a couple points shy of finishing the other thief, but thanks to Canter, we can park him directly in front of the door. His options are now to double back toward Alear's group, or stand there and die. Mission accomplished either way.  Alear, buddy, we gotta do better than this. I guess if you're only going to get one stat, it might as well be speed.  Jean, I know you're training to be a doctor, but I don't think this is what they mean when they say "kill them with kindness."  With the thief forced to take the long way around, he's easily intercepted by Alear and now the chapter is functionally over. We have a couple guys to clean up in the middle, but we can tackle both them and the boss at our leisure.  Chloe tries on the blonde look today, although I don't think those double scarves are doing much for her. Was Celica's outfit better? Hard to say.  Not you too, Louis! Is nothing sacred this chapter?  Louis absolutely could have dealt with this guy on his own, but we already know that Louis can handle himself. This could be the last hurrah for Celine, so I'm hoping to see her get at least one more level this chapter to see if she's got anything left in the tank.  The monk only has 1 HP, so she'll flee rather than fight. Let's go ahead and pop our little thief out.  Only one thing to do now if I wanna get out of this. Time to show my skills! There was a child in there?! We have to hurry and rescue her from these bandits!She spawns as an NPC, and she is absolutely going to try and book it, but Alear is right next to her so she won't get far.  Thank god someone still knows what a good level looks like. Was beginning to lose faith on this entire chapter.  And the game didn't immediately take it away from me? I'm shocked, honestly. Steel weapons are dangerous at this point in the game!  Alright. Come here, you.  But you're not a bandit, right? So why don't you keep me safe? Well... I mean, I could, but─ It's a deal! Thanks a million. You might not think so, but I'm pretty handy in a fight. Let me help you help me!Thanks...?  Base Class: Fighter Class Type: Backup Personal Skill: Make a Killing - [Luck]% chance of getting 500G when this unit kills an enemy Base Stats: HP: 29 (55% + 25%) Str: 10 (15% + 20%) Mag: 2 (50% + 0%) Dex: 9 (50% + 5%) Spd: 7 (50% + 10%) Def: 4 (20% + 5%) Res: 5 (35% + 0%) Luck: 3 (45% + 0%) Build: 7 (5% + 5%) Clanne, meet Anna. Anna, meet Clanne. Like her long-lost brother, Anna desperately wants to get out of her current class into something more fitting, and she's drat good at it if you're willing to put in the work to get her there. Really, her problem is getting started at all - her 7 build means that she takes a minimum 3 speed penalty from any axes, and she's not any stronger than Bouch. Micaiah will do a lot of good work here, especially since she'll want at least one of tomes or staves regardless, and she can do it without having to actually get into fights. Is that worth it over getting Jean rolling? Or Framme? Remains to be seen, I suppose.  It's a little silly to have Framme and Jean be doing this much direct combat, but it'd be a shame to waste the huge food bonuses that they have right now. Besides, then they have an excuse to heal each other for even more exp!   Now this is something special. We're gonna hold onto this for probably...two more chapters? No one is actually capable of promoting yet anyway.  Not an incredible level by Jean standards, but it does have everything we care about, so we'll take it. The defense and res he's been getting is nice but I would really like to see him get some HP...  While this isn't completely foolproof, the game will generally tell you if a boss will move. This can and frequently does change after you begin combat with them or break a health bar, but for now, we can safely swat her friends before turning our attention to Mitan.  You know what? Go for it, kid.   As we get our chip shots in on the boss, a couple levels for the road.  I guess...today could get worse after all...And then Chloe went and hosed it all up so Alfred couldn't get his. Ah well, we'll just have to send him to the arena instead.  End of Chapter  You guys are really strong, huh? Do you have room on your team for me? You want to join us? I should warn you, our battles will be much more grueling than that. You'd be placing yourself in danger. I know I'm small, but I pack a punch! I can take care of myself, guaranteed. Besides, I've got nothing better to do. Not until I figure out where my family went. You lost your family... It gets lonely on the road. Maybe if I travel with you folks, our paths will cross someday. Well, if that's what you want, I have no objections. I'm Alear, the Divine Dragon. Looking forward to working with you. Oh, and the name's Anna. But you can call me Lady Anna. Pleasure to be in business with you!Anna's chapter is real thin even by Engage's plot standards, so let's clean up in the Somniel.  We got pretty lucky with the well this time. Books give SP, and we'll want as many of them as we can get our hands on. A free Obstruct staff is nothing to sneeze at either!  That, uh...wasn't it, Alfred. If your fate wasn't sealed before, it almost certainly is now.   The less said about Framme the better, but Yunaka's supports are genuinely quite interesting. She clearly has some kind of assassin background, but is broadly happy letting you believe whatever you want about her, as long as you don't know she kills people.     The rest of our goobers are less interesting, unless you consider mistaking an eel food stand for a snake one interesting. Easy mistake to make, honestly. Go get your own food, Chloe. Next time: Onward to Brodia!
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May 13, 2024 21:35
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Materant posted:I remember the Lyn who gained exactly one point of defense over the course of the entire game, myself I feel like this is really underselling the whole thing, Both that single point of Lyn defense AND the point at which Hector had more strength than skill came in 32x. 
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May 14, 2024 14:13
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