lapismaid

Chapter 3x (6/22): Promoted Rody. It's, uh, a map. Not much to say, so why not include Chapter 4 here too? Chapter 4 (3/25): used 1 Rescue Well okay, this map isn't much more interesting. Unless you think "Marth dodges everything to save a Rescue charge" and "Ogma and Yumina die horribly" is interesting.

Athena and Frey.

gimme HORACE and ETZEL, hope i don't instantly regret these decisions

Chapter 3 (6/16): Rare(?) footage of FE12 enemies actually trading Vulneraries. So this clear was kind of sloppy, due in part to me messing up some stuff and not really being entirely sure how to fix it on Turn 3, and missing something very obvious on Turn 5, but it all works out in the end.

Looks like a new version of the patch was uploaded a handful of hours ago, fixes a couple of little things. If you've started Prologue I think (think) you can just keep using your save and it'll be all good. Might wanna update the main post with it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WDtj3PUm4G0UrPigioCE3K5aNHoOui3l/view

NO I WANTED ASTRAM Vyland and Lena, they better not disappoint me (Vyland probably will).

Instinct tells me to firstpick Michalis, so uh. I will. @Carmine Sword

Eh, y'know what, count me in. I need something I can play during work breaks.

Chapter 2 (6/10): Not gonna lie, I got some pretty major BS in my favor on Turn 2, I shouldn't have moved Rody where I did. But when you get results like that... well, as the ancient proverb says, "we take those". Also, I adjusted the screen sizes to make the smaller screen more readable while keeping the main gameplay screen the focus, hopefully it's easier to look at now. I probably won't be showing prep screens from here on out, as my computer already wishes to explode every time I render one of these and they just sort my inflate the video time by a couple minutes. Still gonna show Drill Grounds, promotions, etc.

alright so maybe it's been a year, and sure, maybe i foolishly lost the save from my previous redo but, due to the Mummy's Curse, i cannot rest peacefully until I come back to this and get it out of the backlog Now with videos! Chapter 1 (4/4): Same Avatar build as before. Nothing too remarkable here, it's Chapter 1 after all. Having the Growth Drop for Marth finally is going to be a huge help, though.

Hey, it's only been a year and change! That's like, significantly less than two years. Chapter 19 (5/107): Def Bond to Linde so she could live stuff easier. Gave Linde an Arms Scroll to hit C Swords so she could Armorslayer the boss. Forged +2 Mt +5 Hit Armorslayer called Can Opener. Convoydropped the Lifesphere after killing the boss so Marth could pick it up and uh, not die to stuff hopefully. Ended up being totally unnecessary as Caesar pulled and ORKO’d all but one of the Horsemen, AS ACCORDING TO PLAN. OBVIOUSLY. After killing the boss, Linde pulled back to a weird spot that left her in range of all the boss area HMs and the lower right Ballista. With some healing and DRACO FROST HOLDING GEOSPHERE SUPPORT, she traded over a Javelin and ended up critblicking some HMs and Wolf, which probably didn't matter too much since she could've killed them over the next couple turns if necessary, but it made things way simpler. Turn 5 Marth moves into position and gets Again’d for the seize. Chapter 20 (5/112): Fed Caesar an Arms Scroll for A Bows. Everyone charged forward and muscled their way through the treasure room while Rody and Jeorge went on an adventure to grab the Fortify (not sure if i'll even get any chances to use it when Again exists, but?). On Turn 4, Linde opens the door to Hardin and clears out the Sniper and two mages. Grabbed the Bullion, Brave Lance, Master Seal, the Again. I should probably figure out where to use the 5 Again charges I still have. Caesar walked up to Hardin and Parthia crit for an OHKO and Marth seizes. Chapter 20x (4/116): Str Bond to Linde so she could ORKO whatever the boss’s name is. Moved up and killed stuff. Chapter 21 (5/121): Gave an Arms Scroll to Cain so he could use Excalibur. Sold a bunch of shit. Probably could’ve saved an Again if I tried harder, but eh. Bought a bunch of boosters. Chapter 22 (5/126): Capped Linde’s Str with the Energy Drops. Yeah. Forged a +10 Dragonpike because why not. Frost died tanking a Meteor to the face. Chapter 23 (2/128): Had Arran run ahead, use a Pure Water, then get Again’d into range of the Fire Dragon just south of Gharnef. Everyone else killed stuff near the start and moved up. EP Arran pulled all the enemies near Gharnef down and also kinda died. Turn 2, Caesar and Linde cleared a path for SORCERER DOLPH to Rescue Cain, who then moved up and Rescued Marth. Used my last Again to let Cain Starlight ORKO Gharnef, no crit necessary. Endgame (2/130): Standard +1 Thoron forge so Nyna could kill Maria. Had Caesar kill Lena, Sirius got Danced to recruit Nyna, Marth got Rescued by Cain, and I hit the save. Needed a crit from Marth and, after Medeus eats Elice, a crit from Gradivus!Linde to secure the victory. Could've only needed one crit if I’d saved an Again from Ch 21. RIP Frost and Arran, your sacrifices were not in vain.

I’M BACK BAYBEE Chapter 28 (15/121): Heath, Erk, Ninian, and Dorcas headed left. Everyone else went to the right to save Nino. Dart chugged a Pure Water and then went to slay Ursula. Chapter 28x (20 Free/121): Yep. Trained Nino because why not. Promoted at 15 with a dank 10 Magic stat. Chapter 29 (4/125): This was why not. Training Nino actually allowed me to 4-turn the map since she could take on the enemies closer to the Warp village while everyone else was busy. Heath flew left Turn 2 and dropped Nino off to do her thing, then got the Warp turn 2. Erk immediately put it to use to send Sain up north to deal with all the enemies up there. Everyone else just sorta killed the middle dudes. Heath went and Brave Lanced Linus down on the final turn and everything died on EP. Erk was super funny here and killed the Longbow Nomad with BOLTING it was great. Chapter 30 (3/128): Heath picked up Hector and went left. Turn 2, Erk Warped him over the wall and Heath dropped Hector. Erk also killed a Thief for a Chest Key so I could get the Body Ring in the next chapter. Chapter 31 (11/139): Deployed some undrafted mounts to rescue the NPC Knights out of the way so they wouldn’t interfere with all the TRAINING Hector does. Got the Body Ring. Before: After: Chapter 31x (5/144): Yep. Chapter 32 (3/147): 3 turns was possible thanks to a jank Double Spear Crit with Heath. Capped Str let him exactly KO. Rigging it was hell. Chapter 32x (1/148): Yep. Chapter Light (3/151): Athos took the top left room, Sain the middle left, and Nino opened the door to the bottom left for Heath to get Warped down to bop Jerme while Dart would kill Ursula. Heath and Dart also tag-teamed Uhai on Turn 1. Hector bopped Darin’s room with the WOLF BEIL and then got warped up to kill Lloyd and Linus with the Swordslayer. Athos got Warped up on Turn 3 to kill Nergal on EP with a Luna crit. Chapter Dragon (1/152): The payoff of two years of training. Unit review won't come later. Just know that Hector, Erk, Sain, and Heath did everything important. Dart was cool too. Everyone else SUCKED.

@Terrador is first.

There’s been drafts of pretty nearly every difficulty for Shadow Dragon in the past, but none from what I can see for H4. In fact, I’m pretty sure people only ever acknowledge H4’s existence in reference to there being 5 total Hard modes. It’s kind of tragic; only being acknowledged as reference that those above and below you exist, never to get your time in the limelight… So here’s a draft for the sad, neglected younger brother of Merciless, using some changes to the standard rules to eliminate the ability/need to meatshield and make Gaidens actually matter; it’s 4-Star Hard: Fiendish! Drafting: 1. This draft is for 4 players. 2. Marth, Jagen and Nagi/Gotoh are free for all to use. 3. Caeda is free until after Chapter 12x and then counts as undrafted for everybody. 4. The game will be played on Hard 4 (Fiendish), using the Gaiden Requirements patch found here: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2316/ Use this if you have issues patching: https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/704/ and remember to untick the checksum thing in the gear icon. 5. Gaiden chapters count for turns the same as any other chapter. Better get Starlight, or else! Rules: 1. You may only deploy free and drafted units. Units required to recruit a drafted unit in a given chapter may be deployed, trade, and be attacked, but may not do anything else. 2. Force-deployed units may be attacked without countering. 3. Forging is allowed with no restrictions. 4. You are free to reclass undrafted units to whatever you want. 5. Marth may not Seize the throne in Chapter 19 before Turn 5. 6. Usage of the Wi-Fi Shop, and of the Warp staff, is strictly prohibited. Extra: 1. You may not use loaner units. 2. One undrafted unit is free for Chapter 1. 3. Wrys is free until Chapter 4. 4. Ogma is allowed to attack the boss in Chapters 2 and 3. He may not attack any other units. Penalties: 1. Deploying undrafted units is a 4 turn penalty, per unit per chapter. Undrafted SCRUBS*: *Ymir is not draftable due to an issue with the patch removing his Move stat. Whoops. He costs turns anyways Participants: Terrador: Abel, Lena, Draug, Cord, Jake, Julian, Roshea, Dolph, Caesar, Etzel, Tomas, Bantu Gradivus.: Barst, Wendell, Wolf, Navarre, Xane, Roger, Matthis, Catria, Palla, Lorenz, Radd, Est Finalinsanity: Cain, Gordin, Sedgar, Merric, Beck, Vyland, Darros, Horace, Athena, Minerva, Maria, Linde Carmine Sword: Ogma, Hardin, Wrys, Bord, Boah, Castor, Midia, Astram, Rickard, Elice, Macellan, Arran

Chapter 22 (10/177): Roy and Marcus went zoom. Miledy went up the left and later got Rescued down to Brave Lance Zephiel down, but she missed too many shots so Lilina and Roy had to combine their efforts to finish the job. Don’t have enough boots or care to optimize this. Regret giving Igrene the Speedwings, should’ve gone to Yodel. Wade got Berserked at some point and killed Merlinus, RIP again. Chapter 23 (3/180): Turn 1, Lilina picked up Yodel and ran forward to drop him on a tree with a Dance. Cleared out the start and Miledy killed the Killer Ballista. Turn 2, Zealot handed Roy to Marcus, Yodel got danced and moved up and Rescued Marcus holding Roy, moving to a couple forest tiles and dropping him. Miledy moved into position and Lilina OHKO'd a manakete. Turn 3 Yodel used Saint Staff, Miledy Brave Lanced a Druid in front of Brunya, Lilina Bolting'd her at 58% for 19 damage (Roy B support ftw), and Marcus finished with x2 Malte at 67% hit. Roy Seized. Pretty clean. Chapter 24 (11/191): Ran through. Yodel Rescued and Hammerned Rescue a few times and that probably saved a fair number of turns. Had to take an extra turn in Jahn’s room since nobody in range could ORKO him. Zealot, Fae, and Igrene got kinda left behind at the start and just sort of not-died. Final (1/192): Roy walked up and bopped Idunn. Couldn’t double so he had to finish on EP. Final Turncount: 192 (+20 Free turns in Ilia 20x) Merlinus Death Count: 6 Got below 200, which is enough for me to call this a victory. Unit review will come later.

I'm alive. Maybe. Chapter 15 (3/113): Marcus took Roy and ran forward, Miledy followed behind, took Roy, and promoted. Treck killed the Merc at the start and got danced to rush forward into the cavalry swarm, chunking the Valkyrie on EP. Wade, Igrene, and Zealot did a small rescue-take chain with Lalum to get her forward a couple tiles. Zealot finished the Valkyrie next turn, and Marcus killed the Horseslayer!Cavalier. Miledy moved forward a bit and Lalum danced her from the Forest, she flew up and dropped Roy 2D 1L of the Throne, and parked in front of the boss with the Slim Lance; this positioning kept both her and Roy from being targeted and potentially killed by the Silver Bow!Sniper. She needs 1 Horseslayer and 1 Slim Lance to kill, or two Horseslayers, or whatever, this boss is pathetically easy. Treck visited the Hammerne village and on Turn 3, dudes cleared out the enemies in front of Lalum so she could dance Marcus to the vendor to buy 3 sets of Chest Keys, a few Door Keys, a Torch, and a bunch of Thunder tomes. Doesn’t really matter if any of this goes unused since the Silver Card is awesome. Chapter 16 (11/124): No matter the team or the playthrough, casual or otherwise, I am always super bad at optimizing this chapter. Anyways. Miledy started on the left, but grabbed Roy (he used the Dracoshield) turn 1 and flew to the east, got danced, and then dropped Roy in range of the first fighter. Marcus picked up Lalum and then Lilina dropped her, she has to dodge the Bolting dude on EP but otherwise she never faces CoD for the rest of the chapter. Ellen also tagged along the right to heal people and help loot chests, everyone else went up the middle. Merlinus took a Purge for the team on Turn 1 (Merlinus Death Count: 3). Got the Rescue and Knight Crest from the leftmost chests and everything on the right. Recruited Hugh at minimum price for his Member Card. Miledy dropped Roy in the throne room and over a few turns Marcus killed Narcian with the Silver Lance (forgot to give him the Wyrmslayer, whoops), which was fine since I had to wait awhile for Zealot to get the Rescue staff. Meanwhile, Roy tried his best to not die to Douglas. Bought a Guiding Ring incase I actually want to promote Ellen and some Angelic Robes to feed Lalum, Roy, and Lilina. Miledy used the Talisman at some point to help patch up her Res, it might matter next chapter. Chapter 16x (7/131): This was pretty awful to figure out, once I did though it wasn’t too bad until it came time to bosskill. Zealot, Igrene, and Ellen stayed near the start to absorb Berserks and trade away Ellen’s staves to avoid drawing the Silence asshole. Merlinus was also deployed for drawing a Bolting use (Merlinus Death Count: 4). Everyone else ran up the right, a dance+drop from Miledy allowing Lilina to kill most of the enemies on Turn 2. Had to get a bit tricky with the Silence sage, trading away Lilina’s Heal staff and parking Marcus to counterkill him through the wall on Turn 5. Turn 6 Marcus picked up Roy and got danced to give him to Miledy, she ran towards the boss and dropped him 4 tiles from the throne, thankfully Roy was light on his feet and dodged enough siege tomes (not horrible odds, and yet…), then Miledy hit 3 of 4 Brave Lance hits on the following turn at 39% displayed hit. It was pretty gross. Over the course of the chapter Lalum and Roy both ate a Robe and Lilina ate two. I don’t think I’ll regret these decisions. Chapter 17 (7/138): Ilia, here we come! More importantly, arena grinding! Yeah this could’ve theoretically been done in 4 turns if I got a billion dodges at around 50~60% on Miledy and somehow neither her nor Roy got Slept, but I didn’t feel like that was worth the time nor effort so I just took a slower slightly more relaxed route. Extra turns Arena grinding was nice anyways. Chapter 18 (4/142): Roy hit B with Marcus and then got picked up by Miledy. Lalum danced and she used her full movement and plopped Roy right by the Ballista to make both of their lives easier on EP. Everyone else focused on self improving mostly, Miledy had to dodge Berserk a couple times at around 20% which wasn’t so bad. Turn 3 she dropped Roy 2D 1L of the boss, on the river tile, and on Turn 4 she Brave Lance’d him down. Lalum ate another robe on the final turn. Merlinus died helping Wade distract Wyverns down at the start, totally unnecessary honestly but he’s used to it by now. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 16.47 35 15 11 14 16 10 6 B Swd Marcus 13.80 42 17 15 16 12 10 9 C Swd, S Lnc, B Axe Treck 04.89 41 18 11 18 13 14 4 B Swd, A Lnc, E Axe Miledy 07.85 45 22 20 23 9 15 7 S Lnc, E Swd Lilina 04.59 42 26 16 17 15 3 16 S Anim, E Stf Wade 02.63 49 20 14 15 11 13 2 S Axe, E Bow Zealot 06.80 38 10 13 14 6 12 7 B Swd, S Lnc, D Axe Ellen 10.96 22 7 7 9 15 0 9 C Stf Igrene 06.83 36 17 18 15 9 11 10 A Bow Lalum 06.73 31 dancer Chapter 19 (5/147): Probably could’ve 4-turned, but I forgot the Knights near the throne moved and I didn’t want to bother redoing this. Miledy dodging the Long Ballista once is already a pain enough to get going. Uh, yeah, she got a Lalum dance Turn 1 and did pretty nearly the same thing she did in Ch 18, only she Killer Lanced the boss instead of Brave Lance. Everyone else just sort of killed things. Chapter 20 (6/153): Charged the castle, Lilina used Bolting to kill the Purge Bishop and the Killer Ballista. Got the Speedwings and Axereaver, Marcus got Str and Spd again. He’s pretty much the best. Status staves are annoying. Wade went shopping for Pure Waters. Chapter 20x (Free/153): Spent 20 turns doing stuff. Supports, weapon ranks, the works. Chapter 21 (12 Boots/160): RIP my money and inventory. Miledy got danced to use a Pure Water, grab Yodel, and visit the Knight Crest village all in one turn. Lilina went on a solo mission east. Everybody else prepared to help Marcus get into position to be Rescued with Roy. Turn 2, Lilina fulfilled her mission by Bolting a Wyvern that was in Miledy’s way, and she moved to drop Yodel in a forest. Turn 3 Yodel went down and Rescued Marcus holding Roy (given to him by Treck), Marcus moving down and planting Roy on a Mountain. He drew in a Manakete, dodged, and next turn Marcus picked him back up and ran the hell down to the throne. Yodel Silenced the Sage inside, and Miledy went to buy a billion boots… or, well, as many as I could afford. A bunch of Wyverns spawn in and Marcus drops Roy 2 turns from the throne so he has extra chances to Armorslayer Murdock (TC would've been unaffected). Yodel Slept one of the Horseslayer Knights to improve survival odds. Chapter 21x (7/167): Took my time. Miledy flew Yodel into the center where he Rescued Marcus holding Roy. Hammerned Rescue. Used Boots, the works.

Wow, dunno how I missed that. Guess that's what i get for sleeping in Math class. Should be fixed now.

Nope, she just needs to stay alive.

Chapter 14 (4/107): Put Lilina at the bottom of the deployment list to draw the Sleep staff on Turn 2 and 3. Deployed Shanna to convoydrop the Speedwings and get the Silver Card, Cecilia got the Boots. Lilina moved just below Cecilia and traded the Boots away, then used the Body Ring. Zealot picked up Roy, and Miledy took him and used the Speedwings from Merlinus, then got danced by Lalum. She gave Roy to Lilina, then took and used the Boots and canto’d to the ledge 4L of the first Hero. Wade went off to the left (slowly…) and promoted Turn 1. Sophia got the Silence. EP Miledy wounded one Merc and killed another. She got put to sleep by the Bishop, so Turn 2 Ellen cured her and Lilina gave Roy to Miledy. Miledy then flies forward and drops Roy behind the corner to Arcadia (near the trees), she needs to crit a Hero on EP so the way is clear for her and Roy to get into position Turn 3. Roy moves, possibly heals, and equips the Lancereaver to dodge a Wyvern that attacks him. Miledy moves in front of the boss with the Killer Lance (she can’t see him though, makes me wish I’d bought a Torch at some point so Roy could reveal him). She needs a hit and hit+crit at 52% displayed hit, blegh. Oh well, it worked out in the end. Didn't get to go shopping, which might sting a bit since Pure Waters would've been nice. Chapter 14x (3/110): Miledy flew down onto the edge of the water Turn 1 with help of a dance and Marcus picked up Roy. People mostly just moved into position on Turn 1, nothing that exciting. Turn 2: Marcus gave Roy to Miledy and canto’d away so Lilina could heal her Bolting wounds, Merlinus got in range to bait Bolting from the boss (Merlinus Death Count: 2), and Miledy moved right and dropped Roy 1L 1D of the Sage. EP is a bit sketchy but nothing too crazy, and on Turn 3 Miledy kills the boss with one crit and caps her Speed. Time to promote next chapter, I’d say. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 13.62 26 13 10 13 14 8 6 B Swd Marcus 11.37 40 16 15 16 11 10 9 C Swd, A Lnc, C Axe Treck 02.59 39 17 11 18 13 14 4 C Swd, B Lnc, E Axe Miledy 17.19 36 17 13 20 8 13 3 C Lnc Lilina 02.05 27 24 16 17 13 3 15 S Anim, E Stf Wade 01.69 48 19 14 15 11 13 2 A Axe Zealot 05.52 37 10 13 14 6 12 7 B Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Ellen 08.78 20 7 7 9 14 0 8 C Stf Lalum 03.91 15 dancer

Chapter 12 (6/88): Put Ellen at the bottom of the deployment list so she'd draw the Sleep user. Wade and Ellen on the right for treasure, everyone else on the left. Merlinus grabbed the Aircalibur and Flux. Turn 1 danced Marcus after he grabbed Lilina (she killed one of the Fighters) and he dropped her to bait a Fighter and the Warrior. She gets OHKO’d by the Warrior but faces pretty poor chance of actually being hit so it works out. Turn 2 Treck grabbed Roy and moved up to let Marcus take him, and he ran through the hallway. Zealot grabbed Treck and got Danced to also proceed through the hall, dropping Treck in the middle to KO stuff with a Javelin. Lilina moved right and used a vulnerary to heal 1 HP (she has a chance of death otherwise), in range of an Archer and Shaman. Eventually Zealot took Roy and he got danced the next turn to open the door to the throne. Lalum got grabbed by Treck so she wouldn’t die horribly. Turn 5 Zealot dropped Roy into the room and he and Marcus walled off the enemies just outside. Marcus killed the boss with the Wyrmslayer. I wanted to recruit Raigh to sell his stuff, but I don't have enough resources to pull Chad along with the rest of the gang without getting attacked. Chapter 12x (6/94): Marcus picked up Roy, got danced, and ran right. Boss was annoying, though thinking about it, I could've promoted Treck and he'd be able to double the boss, not sure why I didn't just promote him here. Bosskill was 1 KE Marcus crit, 1 Light Brand Zealot hit, 1 Iron Sword Marcus hit. Managed to get Treck to the White Gem with some very sketchy Lalum dodges, WORTH IT. Chapter 13 (9/103): This sucked. Promoted Treck Turn 1, and Marcus picked him up and dance-dropped him so the two of them could fight the Mages and Sniper on EP. Had everbody basically charge right, except Wade, who went up to collect the Body ring and kill things, he hit Lv 18 by the end and will promote next chapter. Lalum had to dodge a ballista on Turn 2 or she would die a horrible death. Other than that, it wasn’t too complicated, Miledy used the Speedwing and tried to get some kills with the Horseslayer but didn’t get nearly as many as I would’ve liked unfortunately, she should be able to get some good EXP against the Mercs during Chapter 14 though. Pretty sure I won’t need to promote her until sometime afterwards. Treck killed the boss with the Wyrmslayer. Miledy bought 2 Killer Lances, a Killing Edge, a Killer Bow, and a couple extra Javelins. Lilina hit Lv 18 and promoted with a dance, she's really good at killing things but horrible at surviving them, might bite the bullet and buy an Angelic Robe for her in Chapter 16 (Lalum's definitely getting one or two). Ellen hit C staves just in time for Sleep dude next chapter. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 13.27 26 13 10 13 14 8 6 B Swd Marcus 11.22 40 16 15 16 11 10 9 C Swd, A Lnc, C Axe Treck 02.42 39 17 11 18 13 14 4 C Swd, B Lnc, E Axe Miledy 11.73 31 13 11 13 6 13 3 C Lnc Lilina 01.00 27 23 15 17 13 3 15 S Anim, E Stf Wade 18.04 40 16 11 13 11 10 2 A Axe Zealot 05.52 37 10 13 14 6 12 7 B Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Ellen 07.98 20 6 7 9 13 0 7 C Stf Lalum 01.60 dancer

Chapter 8x (9/62): Tried to rig a Marcus KE crit + Zealot Light Brand hit, it didn’t take on Turn 8, which sucked, but I’m not about to spend an hour or whatever looking for the RN string to make it work that specific turn. 9 turns it is, Henning is garbage. Lilina took on most of the enemies in the bottom left with help from Wade, Merlinus (Merlinus Death Count: 1), and Ellen. Treck tagged along with Marcus and Zealot, but they ended up outpacing him which was fine since he could grind up off the enemies they left in the dust, he’s looking pretty competent for the Western Isles. I MIGHT have been too liberal with Light Brand use on Roy here, it’s already down to 15 shots, but that shouldn’t be a huge issue. I don’t see it having too many uses now that Henning’s down besides baiting 2 range enemies into not attacking Roy. Chapter 9 (8/70): Horses rushed, Lilina snagged kills where she could, she got like 4 levels this map and they were all really good. Treck got only one, but it had Str/Spd so no complaints, he'll be ready for promotion eventually. The bosskill was awful since nobody can double him and Zealot was the first to reach him, and he has a horrible time not getting destroyed by a crit. Zealot KE crit, followed by a Marcus KE crit since he has way better chances to hit/survive thanks to Roy support. Ellen just spammed Torch, Healing whenever she could instead, hopefully she hits C staves by Chapter 12. Shanna and the Thieves were deployed to buy 4 Hand Axes and 1 Steel Sword on the last turn, and for FoW vision (they just hung around at the starting island). Marcus broke his amazing levels streak, not that it'll slow him down any for the coming chapters. Oh, and Roy activated C Lilina on Turn 2, it'll probably help a bit getting her to dodge axe dudes. 7 turns seems possible, but something always seemed to get in the way or ferrying Roy just didn’t seem to work out, maybe I missed something but I’ll take it. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 10.59 24 12 8 12 11 7 5 C Swd Marcus 07.31 37 13 15 15 11 10 9 C Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Ellen 05.87 19 4 7 9 11 0 6 D Stf Wade 13.62 35 15 8 11 8 7 2 A Axe Zealot 03.98 36 10 12 14 5 11 7 C Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Treck 11.96 29 13 7 12 9 9 0 E Swd, C Lnc Lilina 06.41 19 10 6 9 5 2 10 C Anim Man, I love the world map theme for the Western Isles arc. And the map music. Not the Chapter 9 music. Chapter 10 (6/76): It again feels as if a turn could’ve been saved, but again I don’t really know where. Marcus fights the boss on Turn 5 EP with the Light Brand, misses one shot so I have to rely on a Killing Edge crit on Turn 6 PP. Zealot tags along to bop the Shaman that would otherwise block the boss off from Roy and Marcus. Lilina and Treck got a lot of training in here. Treck went and got the Swordslayer on the last couple turns when there were basically no enemies, he’s looking like he’ll be pretty competent. Skill is kinda low which is a worry though. Chapter 11 (6/82): Deployed Shanna to buy some tomes and Clarine to recruit Klein. Marcus, Zealot, and Roy went right to break the wall, everybody else went down. Shanna bought stuff on Turn 2 that Merlinus then took and gave to Clarine, who gave them to Lilina. She was down to just a 4 use Fire tome left before this. The wall broke on Turn 4, between a combination of Marcus’ Silver Lance, Roy’s Light Brand, and Zealot’s Hand Axe. Marcus picked up Roy and ran towards the boss, dropping him on Turn 5, and canto’d in front of the boss with a Killing Edge. He didn't die on EP, unfortunately, so I wasn’t able to visit the Angelic Robe village due needing Marcus to finish with the Silver Lance on PP6, hopefully Lalum doesn’t mind too much. Marcus got Strength+Speed again, he really doesn't want to give up. Wade attacked Klein for EXP before Clarine recruited him. Got everything but the Angelic Robe, Axereaver, and Orion’s Bolt. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 11.08 25 13 8 13 12 7 6 C Swd Marcus 09.09 39 14 15 16 11 10 9 C Swd, A Lnc, C Axe Ellen 06.65 19 5 7 9 12 0 7 D Stf Wade 14.68 36 15 8 12 9 7 2 A Axe Zealot 04.50 36 10 13 14 5 11 7 C Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Treck 15.69 33 14 8 15 10 11 1 D Swd, C Lnc Lilina 11.67 21 14 8 13 8 2 11 B Anim Lalum 01.60 dancer

Chapter 1 (5/5): Took an extra turn to feed Roy enough EXP to gain a level, it’ll probably be worth it to have him able to hold his own early on. Chapter 2 (6/11): Roy chunks a Soldier turn 1 and Marcus finishes with the Javelin 1 tile above the fort. He crits a Hand Axe!Fighter on EP, which doesn’t matter too much since he just needs to connect with 2 of 3 Javelin hits between this EP and next. Roy kills a fighter next to the fort and Marcus picks him up and runs right. Wade sits around and kills some stuff, and Marcus dumps Roy off 1R to Wade (not on a fort). He gets targeted by a bunch of things and kills some of them. Turn 4, Roy kills a Soldier blocking the way and Marcus goes up with him. Wade follows and sorta hurts a couple things on EP with the Hand Axe. Turn 5, Wade heals, Marcus takes the Iron Axe from him and drops Roy 5 tiles from the throne, and moves in front of the boss with the Iron Axe equipped. Turn 6 Shanna trades him the Armorslayer and he finishes. Wade kills a Merc at 38% disp hit (lol) for EXP. Merlinus got healed a couple times by Ellen while he distracted a Fighter on the left. Chapter 3 (7/18): Marcus charges forward with our boy, Wade stays behind at the start and kills things so they don’t attack undrafted dudes. It really sucked because he missed a Soldier with a Hand Axe, twice, on EP, so I had to do a weird thing where Lance took a Javelin from Merlinus and Wade had to be in a position where he was a more enticing target than Lance (so, off the Forest tile, guess the Soldier preferred him because he had less Def?), either way it all worked out. Marcus killed the boss with 4 Iron Axe hits + 1 freak crit for exact damage after a Str+Spd level-up(!), not that it mattered too much here since Roy had to walk a little bit to Seize anyways. Marcus used the extra turns he would’ve normally spent attacking the boss to kill a Jav!Soldier that had been harrassing Roy and chunk a Knight for Axe WExp. Ellen only got two Heals in, after all the enemies near the start were gone, but I’m not super worried about it. Chapter 4 (5/23): Tried a couple things to get a 4 turn, but it would’ve involved rigging a ton of misses given the relative squishiness of Roy and Wade, and I really don’t feel like doing that. This was already kinda sketchy, though I could’ve alleviated some of it by using a Javelin instead of the Iron Axe on Turn 2, oh well. Marcus killed the boss with x2 Javelin and x2 Iron Axe. Shanna bought 4 Hand Axes, 1 Iron Axe, and 1 Fire tome. Wade mostly distracted a couple dudes and self-improved with Ellen helping a bit, his Speed is really good right now (by Wade standards) which will probably come in handy. Clarine recruited herself which will probably help getting Klein for $$$ and it gives Ellen another Heal, I guess. Chapter 5 (4/27): Turn 1 Marcus opened the gate and killed a bunch of stuff with a Hand Axe. Wade starts too far from the action to contribute in any way so he just went up to self-improve. Roy killed a Brigand that Marcus whiffed once, and Marcus ran up and attacked the boss with the Iron Blade. Roy’s survival on EP would never seem to quite work out, until I just had Merlinus sort of go up towards Wade to draw one of the 2-range Fighters off him and that made the RNG all work out. Despite the boss being dead on Turn 2 EP, Roy was 1 tile short of Seizing and I don’t think there’s any way I can fix that (nor do I care to try tbh) Chapter 6 (4/31): Marcus and Wade fullmoved up with Hand Axes, Marcus attacked a Mage with a 7 use Hand Axe and whiffed one shot. Roy followed close behind, but just out of Mage range. EP: stuff dies. Roy kills a Knight just to the right of Marcus, and Wade kills a Soldier a couple spaces above that, leaving a clear path for Marcus to grab Roy and run into the throne room. EP, he leveled up Speed, which actually let him double the boss, not necessary to kill but makes things infinitely more reliable. He’s actually gained Speed every level so far so he’s pretty stupid. (Marcus confirmed better than Seth?) Turn 3, Roy gets dropped and Marcus cantos in front of the boss with an Iron Sword. Bosskill is some combination of x4 Iron Sword hits at bad odds, or at least 1 Iron Sword hit and 1 Silver Lance hit at terrible odds. Such is life. Roy faced no chance of death since the two non-stationary mages ran off and healed. Ellen got her first level on the last turn! She’ll… get there eventually. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 07.02 22 9 8 11 11 7 3 C Swd Marcus 04.36 34 11 14 14 10 9 8 D Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Ellen 03.00 17 2 6 9 9 0 6 D Stf Wade 10.39 33 13 6 10 7 5 1 B Axe Chapter 7 (6/37): Hoo boy. Let’s take it turn by turn. Turn 1: Marcus rescues Roy and heads up the right. Wade drops him. Ellen and Merlinus go for villages to the right. Roy kills a Knight and badly wounds a Merc, and is hit by a Jav!Soldier. Turn 2: Wade attacks the Mercenary at 49% displayed hit, killing him. Marcus trade-equips him to a Hand Axe and moves 2L 3U of Zealot’s spawn position with a Javelin equipped. Roy recruits Zealot, who trade-equips himself a Hand Axe from Roy’s inventory and recruits Treck, canto-ing onto the Forest 1L 1D of Marcus. Treck kills the Archer just right of him. Ellen gets the Killing Edge and Merlinus gets into range to visit the Physic house next turn. Stuff attacks Marcus and Zealot, Marcus getting a jank crit against a Cav that probably mattered but it happening fell into place naturally w/o any kind of rigging, so I don’t feel too bad about it. The Knight coming in from the left attacks and is killed by Wade. Roy gets attacked by a Merc and the same Jav!Soldier. Treck gets attacked by a lone Archer. Turn 3: Wade kills the Merc that attacked Roy with the Hand Axe at 35% displayed hit. Roy moves next to Marcus and chugs a Vulnerary. Treck equips Javelin, gets the Horseslayer house, and runs down. Zealot kills a Priest from the Forest tile 3U 1L of his position, so as to bait the Wyverns. Marcus picks up Roy and runs as far left as he can through the crowd. Ellen moves to bait the Knight near Wade. EP, Marcus finishes a half-dead Knight, Zealot counters Wyverns and baits all the remaining 2-range folk, Merlinus takes a lump, and NPC!Noah tries helping against the Knight Ellen baited. Turn 4: Zealot doesn’t move, just KOs a Cav with the Hand Axe. Marcus equips an Iron Axe to discourage Wyverns, and opens the gate, canto-ing one tile after opening it. Merlinus moves next to Ellen, and Wade Hand Axes the Knight from above Noah so he can bait and kill a Wyvern on EP. Treck grabs the Hero’s Crest. EP, stuff attacks and is killed/wounded by Zealot, the Archer misses Merlinus, and Treck. NPC!Noah finishes the Archer. Ellen moves towards the Torch staff village. Turn 5: Marcus drops Roy 1L 3D of the throne, and cantos next to the boss with Armorslayer. Wade moves up towards the Elixir house, equips Iron Axe and chugs a Vulnerary. Treck attacks the Archer with a Javelin and whiffs. Zealot attacks the Cavalier trailing Marcus with the Hand Axe, from a position such that he can visit the shop next turn to buy keys. Merlinus and Ellen get into position to visit the Red Gem and Torch staff houses respectively. The boss suicides on Marcus on EP, as well as a couple reinforcements, giving him an amazing HP/Str/Spd/Def/Res level. Roy has to dodge one of either a Mage (~50ish displayed hit) or the Cavalier (~40ish), he ends up dodging the Mage so thank goodness. Turn 6: Marcus annihilates the Mage that attacked Roy with the Silver Lance (the way to the throne was blocked otherwise), dudes visit their villages, at this point I’ve visited every one but the Longbow village, and Zealot buys 6 Door Keys and 2 sets of Chest Keys, leaving me with 40 Gold in my pocket. Roy Seizes the throne. What a chapter. Chapter 8 (16/53): Aaaand bye bye turns. Guess this is where my low unit count starts to hurt a little more. Probably could’ve improved it by a turn or two, and definitely could’ve cut a couple turns out to skip treasure, but I hate trying to speed through this map and I think I’ll need the cash so I’ll just take it. Roy activated C Marcus on the first turn. Horses rushed, Ellen, Merlinus, and Wade stayed behind. Merlinus got hit a bunch by some asshole Mage and Ellen kept healing him. Used Astohl to get the Knight’s Crest and then ferried him to the Guiding Ring to save a Chest Key use, used 3 Chest Keys to get the Light Brand, Elysian Whip, and Secret Book. Marcus killed the boss and got Strength again, I don’t even know anymore at this point. Just give him the Binding Blade and let him seal Idunn. Unit Lv HP POW SKL SPD LUK DEF RES WPNLVL Roy 09.47 23 11 8 12 11 7 4 C Swd Marcus 06.20 36 13 14 15 11 10 9 D Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Ellen 04.05 18 3 6 9 10 0 6 D Stf Wade 12.65 34 14 8 11 7 6 2 B Axe Zealot 02.32 35 10 12 14 5 11 7 C Swd, A Lnc, D Axe Treck 07.19 27 9 7 9 7 8 0 E Swd, D Lnc Lilina 01.00 16 5 5 4 4 2 7 C Anim Treck's not the most competent man in the world right now, but 8x and the Western Isles are axe-rich so he'll probably do fine there. Dunno about Lilina, I suppose I'll try to find opportunities for her to kill things and see what happens.

Some real top quality picks left now, huh. Actually, Sue's pretty decent, but I'd rather go to hell before I go to Sacae, so I'll take Karel.

Igrene.

Lilina MIGHT be good, though getting a second Guiding Ring is gonna either suck or cost Boots money.