randomizer Let's Play FE7 Randomized!

[The Magus]

There's been a huge spate of people doing randomized FE8 LPs on Serenes' Forest after Klok started one, But I'm noticing a painful dearth of other games... So, I'm going to try one myself! I actually started this LP on imgur because I couldn't figure out how to insert the screenshots, so the first three updates are going to be transposed from there. I think I get it now, though - so without further ado, let me introduce:

FIRE EMBLEM SEVEN : RANDOMIZED!

I'm using the Universal GBA FE Randomizer by OtakuReborn; you can find it here:

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=55809&page=1

These are my settings. Seeing how characters would fare if they had been placed in different classes is one of the things I like most about randomizers, so I'm not randomizing anything except for classes, affinities, and recruitment. I'm actually not the biggest fan of random recruitment either, but I'm figuring it'll make for an interesting run. Anyways, the odds are in my favour that this'll mean getting Nino early! (I never really caught up with the tier-making fanbase's switch from growths-favouring to bases-favouring, so expect to see me babying weak units and neglecting prepromotes a lot .) I didn't randomize Thieves because I hate leaving resources un-plundered, and I didn't buff enemies because I'm not good enough at this game yet to need extra challenge.

Let's jump right in!

[spoiler=Prologue and Chapter One]

I'm going from Lyn hard mode to either Eliwood hard or Hector normal. I've never played through Hector mode, so I kind of want to try it, but Eliwood mode is more proof against getting screwed by the randomizer in the first few chapters.

Don't expect me to cover the story cutscenes. The point of a randomizer playthrough is extra gameplay for people who already know the game, and anyways, I find it jarring to have characters talking in cutscenes that don't exist in my party.

Is... is that...? It is! Hector Lord Lyn! This is gonna be great, I can just feel it!

Lyn's new palette seems pretty nice.

Batta never stood a chance.

Speed and defense... Could be better, but I'll take it. I'll also have to screenshot levels a bit later than I did here, it looks like...

From what I've heard, Lyn mode characters don't get randomized recruitment, because they're actually different versions of themselves from the ones you get in Eliwood/Hector mode, so that's why nobody's been replaced by a different character so far.

Annnd here are my new Kent and Sain! Funnily enough, I've had both of these versions of them before - in my first randomized run, which used Ephraim and Klok's randomizer and is currently stalled at BBD, had Troubadour Kent, and more recently I tried starting a run that got Female Archer Sain. At least this time Sain didn't spawn with a Ballista... I'm rather liking the utility of Kent's inventory here, it's a pity it'll get wiped at the end of Lyn mode.

I had Lyn weaken the bandit so that Sain could finish it, and this is the thanks I get?

Kent doesn't look too bad as a troubadour.

That's better. It's good to know that first miss was just a fluke, and now Sain's gonna be his (her?) usual awesome self... right?

...Of course not.

Operation Feed Sain Kills is not going as planned, thanks to her (his?) stupid poison bow and its terrible accuracy...

At least I have an earlygame healer to make up for it.

That's right, Lyn, keep luring them in...

-sigh-

S/he can't even kill this one if s/he hits! Sain, why would you do this to me?

Annnd EXP is lost to Sain's poison bow... blast.

Alright, Sain, you get one more chance...

Screw it, I'm giving Lyn the kill instead.

Here are our stats against the Nino-boss. Guess I'll give Sain one more shot at redemption...

Huh, Zugu's palette isn't half bad.

Sain, you're not supposed to be this disappointing! ...At least this might do something about that hit-rate...

[spoiler=Premonition: A Glimpse of Friends to Come]

I decided to make a little mini-update to show off our other two Lords so that you can select which route I'll be taking! Let's take a sneak peek at our first option, Eliwood Hard Mode.

So we have a thief, a mage, an assassin, and a soldier. You're only going to learn about the thief for now, though, as everyone on this screen will join in chapter two of Hector's route, making all but our new Lord unimportant to the big decision. Besides, I have to keep up /some/ suspense, don't I?

It's Jaffar! And he's looking awfully tough, too. I mean, just look at that! Only level 1, and four out of six stats are already in the double digits! While having a thief lord could be interesting, and chapter one on this route is less likely to potentially screw me over, it obviously means less chapters.

Now for the other possibility, Hector Normal Mode. Sorry, HHM fans, but I like my sanity.

...Somehow I have a feeling that I won't be worrying for a lack of thieves this playthrough.

It's none other than the legendary Sword Demon, here to bathe his blade in the blood of our... uh... our... banes? Nah, I can't think of a way to keep that alliteration going. Anyways, if you thought Jaffar was strong, well... it appears Karel isn't one to be outclassed. Maybe I should have buffed the enemies a little, after all... Ah, well. Karel will definitely be able to promote earlier than Jaffar could, and he's got a nifty 60-use weapon for us! He also has 10s or better across the board. He might have a bit of trouble with those pesky lance-users, though...

Which route will I be going? you decide! Should I go Jaffar Hard at the expense of a few chapters and two characters, or should I go Karel Normal and hope like heck that I can get my hands on some dough? (...get it? Since one of the Hector mode exclusive characters is Fari-never mind, it was dumb.) Just vote at the poll here: http://strawpoll.me/5105764

I /would/ make it a poll on this thread, but I already have upwards of 20 votes on this one, and I'm afraid things would just get mixed up if I tried to use both. Don't get too worried about taking a while to decide, though - I won't be counting up the results until the end of Lyn Mode.

Of course, constructive criticism and feedback are appreciated! There's just one more update to transpose from imgur, but it's the longest one yet, so it may take a little while.

[Fateborn]

I'll just say this now, but because you didn't randomize base, their original base are added up to the class they were randomized into, in which case because they were in bit later of the actual game had higher base to make up rather than class base, so if you wanted an actual fair run through, you need to randomize bases to make it challenging.

[The Magus]

I'll just say this now, but because you didn't randomize base, their original base are added up to the class they were randomized into, in which case because they were in bit later of the actual game had higher base to make up rather than class base, so if you wanted an actual fair run through, you need to randomize bases to make it challenging.

Oh... seriously? That's a pity :/

Well, I'll keep that in mind for future runs. For now, though, I'm happy to just stick with the current ROM. After all, I'm more in this for seeing what everyone gets randomized into than for the mind-numbing challenge. Not that FE7 could really be considered mind-numbing, but you know what I mean...

...Dang, should I go Hector Hard instead of Hector Normal if that route's selected? I'm mostly just scared of all of the fog of war and such... ;_; Or is there some way for me to manually go in there with Nightmare and fix it?

Definitely explains why Karel and Jaffar turned out so crazy, though!

Without further ado, here's the last update that I already have written!

[spoiler=Chapters 2-3: Nananana, Bat-Will!]

Here we are - chapter two! There aren't any new characters this chapter, unfortunately, but at least we get to marvel at Glass, whose Pega-Pony Princessitude cannot be matched even by the gods themselves!

I'm just continuing my previous strategy of having Lyn lure and weaken bandits so that Sain can snipe them off. Also, those hit rates are starting to look just a bit more tolerable...

Now THAT's how you level up! Everything except HP and Defense... Sain, you'd better be taking notes!

It's a start, Sain. Now just start working on that Strength and Speed, okay?

Yeah, no way in Badon am I wasting Wolf Beil uses on this thing. I guess I could just go around, but that's leave Kent stranded.

What? I need to level Kent somehow...

Kent, I know speed is the most important stat, but untilyou promote all that matters is magic. Please work on it.

TWO TURNS LATER:

The wall's been broken down, and Lyn gets the first crit of the playthrough!

I think you can tell where this is headed.

Here're Glass' stats. That steel lance of his weighs the poor guy down to zero AS.

And here's what we can do to him! You almost feel sorry for the guy...

It'll be okay, Glass... Your dream will not go unfulfilled! Seven games from now, men will finally ride pegasi, just as you did here!

...Aww, I just noticed that I didn't catch his palette while he was unpoisoned... Oh, well.

Well... Speed is good, at least!

Well, I guess she'll get swords when she promotes, does that count?

Obligatory chapter title screen is obligatory.

Ooh, I love the fade-in here! I wonder what causes it to sometimes fade to black behind the chapter title and sometimes fade to the map...

My, this run is just a blast from my past, isn't it? I've had Nomad!Florina in the same run as Troubadour!Kent.

Here are her stats! She doesn't look too bad. A longbow should be useful, and she beats Sain in every stat except for skill - despite being three levels below him!

Will is... okay. His bases are nothing special, but hey! He's a GBA shaman, how can I not love that? He's only gonna have two attack speed until he starts pumping that stat up, though...

And now we have something of a problem. See, normally on this chapter I just send Florina up to snag that village and then avail myself of the choke point. This time, we don't have a flier yet, so I can't do that. I guess I'll just have to charge all-out if I want to stop those bandits!

Dang, Florina can't quite move far enough to snipe the closest bandit.

Will weakened the mercenary right against the top wall, so that Florina could... crit him and make that first attack pointless. There's the Florina I remember! Will looks pretty sharp as a shaman; Florina looks... less so.

Beautiful.

Sorry, Sain, but you're history until I find a shop with bows. Heck, even then you'll only be around until I get a preparations screen, short of really turning yourself around in that narrow time frame.

Alright, so it looks like I've got two turns to rush up there. C'mon....

Another one bites the dust~

Crap. This isn't working.

Hmm. Didn't Klok say something about being able to drop units anywhere in his FE8 playthrough? I guess it can't hurt to try...

Aw, yeah! Okay, yes, this is sort of cheating, and I don't plan to use it unless I'm in another hopeless situation like this... But it's still pretty dang cool to imagine Kent's horse just bucking Will up so that he lands on top of the wall, don't you think?

Meanwhile, Lyn just keeps on being awesome and Sain just keeps on being useless. C'mon, bandit AI, please please PLEASE prioritize targeting Will...

YESSS!

Still worth it.

Sorry. I just love the no damage effect so much <3

While Will saves the village from atop his wall, Florina starts on the second bandit and Lyn defies the weapon triangle. With that little snag worked through, the rest of this chapter should be a cakewalk!

...Okay, okay, I'll stop.

Will swoops down in order to defend his prize. He is the night! Meanwhile, Florina finishes Bandit-chelor Number Two for a lacklustre first level and Lyn struggles with the Weapon Triangle. Man, next chapter is NOT gonna be fun with only one front-liner...

Lyn levels up by continuing to miss that dang mercenary. It goes about as well as you would expect, considering the RNG for her these last couple of turns.

Also, the archer decided to take a potshot at Kent.

Florina misses the mercenary a couple of times, and Lyn finally gets sick of his garbage.

As Lyn ends the zero-damage streak and Florina stops another mercenary menace before it can even begin, Will sets off to rejoin the group.

Hey, look! Sain's actually useful for something!

...Or not. S/he buys a sword and a lance anyways, just in case.

While Sain's off on their shopping trip, let's take a look at the boss' stats! ...Yeah, evidently I should have buffed bosses after all.

He goes down without a fight.

Well, at least Will got magic. Please work on that speed, though, okay?

I still love that. I wish I could come up with names that cool...

The thing I love so much about Lyn's mode is that since permadeath is basically turned into Casual Mode with a longer-term recovery period for it, it means different characters get a chance to shine. The group feels less like an army and more like a close-knit RPG party, which is a bit of a nice change from the usual. It's just a pity that Florina and Will don't get to talk more, considering that they stay with Lyn even if they have to retreat.

I'll hopefully see y'all tomorrow, with Chapters Four and Five!

Edited August 4, 2015 by The Magus

[Klokinator]

I'm voting EHM because watching lyn mode is like watching grass grow.

Or should I say... like watching glass glow.

[The Magus]

I really don't understand the hate for Lyn mode. Sure, it's not nearly as epic as the main game, but it serves the vital job of being a tutorial for new players (read: almost everyone who played the game outside of Japan when it was released), as well as giving you a chance to train up units that would otherwise need to be babied and generally having a more character-driven narrative.

[Klokinator]

The characters in Lyn mode are just fine when they reappear if you skip Lyn mode. Lyn Mode is boring. There's nothing to do. The only interesting thing that can come out of LHM is an early promotion for Kent or Sain, and the only way that will benefit them is via lots and lots of boss abuse (Ie: Tedious and boring again). You can also put a couple stat boosters on someone, like Florina, and they'll be slightly better in the other lord modes. Either way, it's still 10 chapters of linear BORING. Literally just like watching grass grow.

The most fun I ever had with it was soloing everything with Lyn and leveling her to level 16 before it all ended, then she utterly destroyed the game's balance when she reappeared. But this came at the cost of making everyone else pretty much useless.

[The Magus]

I dunno, maybe I'm just blinded by the fact that it was my first exposure to FE. A playthrough of FE7 just doesn't feel complete to me if I don't play through Lyn Mode first. :/

Anyways, I've never been to 19xx and I'd rather like to finally get there - Lyn Mode's a requirement for that, too. Assuming I get Hector Mode, of course.

Well, let's get going!

[spoiler=Chapters 4-5: I <3 Rescue]

Alright, it looks like Dorcas is going to be a soldier!

...That's not Dorcas.
Allllrighty then, I guess this thing starts randomizing characters at this chapter instead of after Lyn Mode is finished? Does that mean I can toss Farina the Knight Crest and have her pop up in Jaffar or Karel Mode with it still tucked away?
Well, the upshot of this is that I get one of this game's Ests appearing in chapter 4. This is gonna be all sorts of great. Unfortunately, that Javelin's gonna weigh her down to 0 AS... I guess I might still want to keep her off of the front lines for a bit. At least that Javelin means she's not gonna suicide on Lyn...

As much as I'd love to rush the boss, that's simply not gonna happen with only one tanky unit avaliable. Heck, I can't even turtle in the larger area! I'm just gonna have to cluster around Natalie and hope like heck.

Also, we've only got 10 uses of the Wolf Beil left before Lyn becomes a fancy moving wall.

Will clears the way for Lyn and our new recruit to have a nice chat.

Yeah, no thanks.

Farina elects to hide behind Lyn and do some ranged attacking instead. Oh, if only I had a defensive position that let more than one person plus Florina attack...
...dangit, Natalie.

At least the Longbow lets Florina be of use.

Speed and Skill are good.

Farina picks off a mercenary and Will and Kent decide that desperate times call for desperate measures.

Hey, remember this? Yup, I'm definitely glad I bought it.

Kent had barely enough HP to survive being in that bandit's way; he's definitely not staying out there.

So he grabs a level healing Florina instead.
Hey; he gets magic, so I'm not complaining. He won't need anything else until he promotes, after all.

Annnd we're back where we were. With only three Wolf Beil uses left. Whee.

Lyn decides to make the most of them!

RIP Wolf Beil... it was a good axe.

This bandit drops an axe. It's kind of important, considering the circumstances. Hopefully I can snag it before the chapter ends...

Uh-oh...

Farina keeps picking off mercenaries.

Okay, okay, I can do this. Last turn, and the bandit with the droppable axe is still at full health. I just have to trust my feelings... trust in the rescue mechanic...

Sorry, Farina, you don't have what it takes for this.

...Speed! Most important stat, eh? Just... not the the exclusion of everything else.

Hang on, I could have rescued Natalie? Wow, that would have made positioning easier. I thought she was immobile for some reason.

It worked - and Will got a nice level in the process! Now Lyn won't be useless until the shop near the end of the next chapter!

Lyn'll be taking that, thank you very much.

She'll also be popping a vulnerary, just for good measure - her HP was getting dangerously low.

I'll take it. Lyn can double bandits now!


Ooh, it faded into the map again! ...Yeah, I'm easily impressed. ;>_>

Here're our two new recruits!

First off, Guy the Cavalier! For some reason he started out with an A in both swords and lances? Farina started with A lances too, come to think... That doesn't seem right.
Doesn't seem too bad for a level 1 unit, though.

Serra decided to stick around, only she kicked Erk out in order to do it.
She's a tad weak for a fighter, but on the speedy side.

Guy and Serra in action. Neither has a particularly appealing palette. Serra could have doubled this guy, but decided to show off inste-woah, woah, hold the phone. She spawned with a flipping SWORDSLAYER? Yikes.

Farina just HAD to spawn at the furthest point from that mercenary...

Will likes to live dangerously.

And it's time to put that iron sword to use, too!

Guy's first level up. Yeah, if this is at all indicative of the norm for him, he won't be on my team for long.


With some help from Lyn, Farina gets her first level up! I can tell this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Oh, Sain~

Well. Unfortunately it doesn't have an iron axe for Serra, but I guess a hand axe or two couldn't hurt... Plus, an iron bow for Florina, of course.

Yoink!

Bug doesn't look too bad as a mage. Also, Magic triangle! :D

Will really couldn't care less about your little fire-pillars.

Here are the boss' stats... Yeah, I clearly need to do something about this power discrepancy.

Farina deals the finishing blow.

Yup, I definitely like the cut of her jib.

See you tomorrow for chapters 6 and 7! As always, feedback'd be great.

Edited August 4, 2015 by The Magus

[The Magus]

Does anyone know of a way for me to buff the bosses and debuff Karel, Jaffar, and co to bases that are a bit more reasonable for their level? I mean, I guess I could just go into Nightmare and guess as to what each character/boss should have statwise, but I don't think I know the game well enough to make informed decisions there. Also, it sounds tedious as all get-out.

[spoiler=Chapters 6-7: Day of the Living Dead]

Chapter 6!

Rath's a mage. Interestingly, he doesn't seem to have gotten his recruitment randomized like our last three recruits. Could it be that characters who are recruited through events - like villages or the chapter story - aren't randomized in Lyn mode, and only those who actually appear on the map and have to be talked to are?
Also, he has a C-rank instead of A. I guess that weird glitch with weapon levels starting at A only applies to characters with their recruitments randomized?
Sorry that I don't have a screen of his palette - I thought I took one during his scripted crit, but I timed it wrong and got a white screen.

Meet Eliwood the thief, our Matthew replacement! And... huh, so he starts with a C in swords despite having his recruitment randomized... Does it have to be both the character and the character slot's class randomized for it to happen? I'd guess that he didn't start with A swords because he already had swords in his vanilla class, but Guy also used swords and he got auto-A-ranked... How strange.
Sorry that I don't talk about the bases much on recruitment - I don't really pay enough attention most of the time to have an idea as to what the norm for a class would be, so I don't have anything to compare it to and I'm too lazy to look them all up on the wiki.


Uhhhhh... Something seems wrong here. I guess the scripted battle scene at the beginning of this chapter doesn't like the randomizer...

So, I decided to play around with this bizarre zombie-soldier. First, I tried to have Serra attack him with her shiny new Hand Axe. It missed, but at the end of the combat the soldier realized it was dead and vanished. However, Serra only got miss exp, not kill exp.
When I had her use the Swordslayer instead, she hit the soldier for no damage, but got 33 exp. When I tested her against a nearby level one soldier she got 30 exp, so I'm assuming this was kill exp and not just damage exp. Wow, that's way too many instances of the letters exp in a single block of text.
Anyways, since I didn't want to waste a Swordslayer use, I let Guy have the kill.

Also, this house gave me a door key.


I have Will weaken a Mercenary so that Serra can pick him off without wasting swordslayer uses. It doesn't pan out, so I give the kill to Florina instead.

One switch down.

I have Will weaken a mercenary, and he responds by getting speed!

Guy takes the kill. Meanwhile, Serra attempts to bait out the soldier guarding the door. It doesn't work.

Never stood a chance.

One to go.

...Figures. We finally get a boss with actual stats, and he spawns with a weapon he can't even use.

...Man, I wish thieves could steal weapons just about now...

Eliwood decides to start working on the archer. His palette isn't anything outstanding, but at least it doesn't look like garbage - and the red hair actually looks pretty cool on the Thief sprite. Only real bug is the red outline clashing with the blue cloak.

Eliwood finishes off that archer, and Kent carries Serra up to deal with the remaining soldier. I could finish this chapter a lot faster, but I'm trying to fight enemies with characters of the same or lower level whenever possible, and that soldier's only level one.

...At least speed is good?
Also, that guy was carrying a door key.


...That was just sad.

Yay!

Our first preparations screen! It's... It's beautiful...

This is what our deployments look like. Eliwood and Will take Guy and Sain's vulneraries, respectively. Also, Eliwood offloads the Armourslayer and Angelic Robe on Sain for safekeeping.

We have one droppable this chapter.

First off, here's Louise, replacing Nils. I guess there are worse characters to lose forever at the end of Lyn Mode. I have to wonder, though - how's the Ninian-Nils stat transfer going to work when they're not in effectively the same class?

Our other recruit this chapter is Dart, replacing Lucius. He's better than or equal to Kent in every way except for Speed and Resistance.

Will continues his role of weakening enemies so that weaker units can finish them off. Louise looks like... Ugh.

Same thing goes for Dart. I'm sorry, but these palettes actually hurt to look at. @_@

Kent buys a heal staff.


Nice level, Eliwood!
You know, I really don't understand why everyone seems to think he's bad...

Some stuff happens that I don't really feel compelled to narrate play-by-play.

I got an item I'll probably never use!

Whoops! Make that "an item I'll definitely never use."

Florina and Louise work on taking out a Mercenary while the rest of the team head around the other way.

The darn mercenary ran away. And he's poisoned. Guess I'll have to give Serra the kill... Also, Eliwood and the mage exchange misses.

Will gets a good level.

Florina carries Louise closer to the party.

It's at this point that I remember that I still have to grind Louise up to level 7 over the remaining 4 chapters, and that I can't just have someone stand still and get the Play command spammed on them.

Rescue/Take shenanigans ensue.


Boss stats. Pathetically weak again...

Nice palette. Farina and her sister work together to kill him.

This girl is the best :3

Nah, without you we couldn't have looted those chests last chapter! Also, when did you slip away to rescue Ninian...?

This goes without saying.

Join me next time for chapter 7x! And also maybe for chapter 8, depending on how many screens each one takes - this one just about rammed up against the limit...

Edited August 6, 2015 by The Magus

[Crusticus]

I don't think there's any reliable method of rebalancing bases without going into Nightmare for your units, but for bosses&generics you might be able to just rerandomize the same rom with increased enemy growths&buff bosses checked. I don't know of any side effects from using an already randomized rom, but I don't think it'd break anything if you only try to modify something that wasn't modified before (I'd still make a backup if you wanna try that, but it's just a suggestion)

[The Magus]

I don't think there's any reliable method of rebalancing bases without going into Nightmare for your units, but for bosses&generics you might be able to just rerandomize the same rom with increased enemy growths&buff bosses checked. I don't know of any side effects from using an already randomized rom, but I don't think it'd break anything if you only try to modify something that wasn't modified before (I'd still make a backup if you wanna try that, but it's just a suggestion)

Yeah, I was actually thinking of doing that - I'll definitely back up my rom and save first, though!

[The Magus]

Alright, so I decided to try rerandomizing the ROM with only the buff enemy growths option selected, as theguru suggested, in the hope that it would work since the only thing being randomized wasn't already changed. I went with 75% buffed growths, since I don't think I could survive 100% buffed.

Sorry that it's been a few days, stuff came up. Anyways...

[spoiler=Chapters 7x-8: Eye of the Louise]

Here's our unit deployment for today. Lyn also handed the Mani Katti off to Sain for safekeeping.

One droppable this map. However...
[http://i.imgur.com/LF16KYD.png[/img]
There're also a few stealables hanging around.

Crap, I didn't think about the fact that that mage would attack Florina... RIP door key.

On the other hand, Florina's bow rank went up!

Some killing happens, and Guy gets... a... Guy. You're walking on thin ice, capiche?
Also, there's Rath's palette. It looks pretty good!

Farina and Eliwood work together to take down the wall leading into the treasure room while Florina takes care of the archer on the other side.

Eliwood loots the chest and Lyn misses a hand-axe hit...

...so that Louise can get a kill!

Will continues to excel at feeding kills. Eliwood doesn't seem too grateful, though...

Farina fails to follow in Will's footsteps - but on the other hand, at least she took no damage! I will never get tired of that "tink!" effect...

Let's try this again...

Aw yeah, now that's a level!

The next couple of turns are just going to be me luring out these two mercenaries and feeding them to Louise. Of all the classes the Nils replacement could have been, she had to be an armour knight...

While that's going on, here are the boss' stats. Starting to look bossier already!

Some more leveling occurs.

Bossy he may be, but it seems our friend Beyard forgot to pack a ranged weapon. Honestly, that's probably good for me... If Farina tried to fight him with her Iron Lance, he could have ORKOed her!


Well, that shouldn't be too hard.

Here's our deployment. Only three levels to go before I can bench Louise...

No droppables or stealables this time, so have the boss stats instead! Alas, poor, rangelocked Yogi doesn't really stand a chance.

Farina reluctantly donates her javelin to the greater good. She'll want extra for that!

Rath goes shopping. It would have been Guy the Useless, but his inventory's full...
Anyways, we get an iron axe for Serra, and an iron lance for Louise.

Once the mage and shaman to the east are dead, the rest of the team flee thataway so that Louise can take on the approaching cavaliers.

Meanwhile, Rath and Farina tag-team a brigand so that Dart can heal Florina.
Man, you know a character's good when I run out of ways to compliment her level-ups... Levels up? ...Levels. You know what I mean.

Tanking like a pro.

Louise takes care of the archer while Serra heads up to eliminate a soldier that thought he could sneak up on us.

Serra laughs at mere Axereavers.

Serra also laughs at good levels, apparently.

Louise lures out the Swordreaver brigand.

...Come to think, why isn't Yogi on a fort? Huh.

Louise decides to chip Yogi a bit so that I can start using everyone equally again.

...Wow. Well, that doesn't matter. What matters is that now that one of the 19xx requirements is filled, I can stop feeding Louise all of the kills!

Lyn takes the- (that picture's from the end of the battle. I missed the "miss" effect...)

Will takes the kill. Also, wow... Yogi looks like he came from the Bizarro world or something.

Will, I had higher hopes for you than this!

Well, on that thoroughly underwhelming note, join me next time for Chapters 9 and 10! That's right, we're finally finishing Lyn mode!

...Is what I'd say, except I'm going to be off on a trip next week. Soooo, there might not be any updates for a while if I can't get a version of VBA to work on the Linux laptop I've been using on trips since my main computer's hinges gave out.

[The Magus]

And I'm back! Sorry it's been a while, I didn't have a chance to really get anything done on the trip, and then I had my wisdom teeth out yesterday.

[spoiler=Chapter 9: Taking Flight]

Oh, so is that the business Eliwood was off on that kept me from deploying him last chapter? You have to admit, that's a pretty funny coincidence.

Eliwood, you liar.

Deployment.

And our Wallace replacement is Dorcas, the pegasus knight! Unfortunately, I'm gonna try not to use him that much, since there's a good chance that I'll never see him again after Lyn mode...

Farina and Will decide to choke the bottom bridge while the rest of the team, sans Louise and Dart, head up northward. Eliwood grabs a torch so that he can see through the fog that's rolling in - and if that lets our team see further as well, then that's not exactly his fault, is it?

Dorcas crushes a soldier underneath his pegasus' hooves.


Trying to get Eliwood some exp.

Annnnd fog of war-ness! Honestly, I kind of hate Fog of War in IS games. I'm sorry, but the fact is that the AI cheats like crap! Maybe I wouldn't mind it if they wasted moves in ambushes and such, too...

Rath weakens a bandit for Serra, who completely whiffs her chance.

As does Lyn.

Eliwood's kind of low on health, so Louise defends him until Dart can get in range.

Serra finally takes care of her bandit on the enemy phase, then works with Guy to save Dorcas from a sneaky archer.

Ooookay, maybe I'm being a bit too reckless. Retreat!

That's better.

Farina will be gladly taking that axereaver!

Even if she doesn't need it just yet...

He's a healer; so long as he gets magic, I'm happy.

Well, uh... At least there's speed?
Yeah, Guy is /so/ benched.

And Rath cleans up after him.

Most of the team is advancing towards Eagler; Eliwood hangs back to deal with the last bandit.

Here's Eagler! He's, uh... not too bad, considering our team's general stats, I guess? It still feels weird seeing stats that low on a promoted unit, though.
...Man, I wish Eliwood could steal one of those Lunas for Will...


That sure is an ex-pegasus knight level.

Serra gets a flashy crit and a... Well, then.

Farina is currently my highest level unit that won't be disappearing for the rest of the game, so she gets the bosskill. I want to waste as little exp as possible!

Wow, this chapter's RNG must hate me, level-wise...

I had Guy carry Lyn over to the Gate so that she wouldn't take forever getting through the forests.

[spoiler=Chapter 10: The Lungdren Haul]

Here we are... the end of Lyn mode, at last!

Here's our formation! The game is nice enough to let us use all of our units on the final chapter, a neat little thing I've never noticed before.

And here's Lundgren! He's... Yikes. Now that's more what I think of when I think "promoted boss". It's honestly kind of worrying! Of course, if worst comes to worst, at least he's melee-locked. I'll try not to resort to cheezing him with ranged, but it may be my only choice...

Farina's also hanging on the the Knight Crest, just in case...

Charge!

...Whoop de fluxing doo. Does anyone actually like weather in FE7?


Will is still the best at giving people kills and oh sweet Elimine why is Farina so good?

If it wasn't for the stupid rain, I could have moved someone up to chip this guy so Eliwood wouldn't have to waste Lancereaver uses... Then again, this /is/ the last chapter with it.

I sent Dorcas down south to snag the village early, figuring that there was no danger of him grabbing unnecessary exp since the only enemy down here was a shaman. It kind of backfired.

...At least he can go shopping?

Hey, Kent actually got magic! Still, too little, too late.

Dorcas buys Florina a steel bow.

A bandit tries to get to the village, but he has to get through Will first. You know, it's a pity that this guy's probably gonna be a different character when I leave Lyn mode, I would have loved to see his palette as a druid...

Farina crits a mercenary. Unfortunately, I was a bit too slow on the draw to capture the actual crit animation.

Will moves aside so that Eliwood can take care of the bandit, snagging a pretty good level in the process!

Dorcas picks up a spare Heal from the vendor, just in case.

Farina grabs another level choking the bridge.

And Lyn lays down one last crit, for the road!


Serra grabs a crit, too. I still need to get way better at screencapping these...

Lyn hammers the crap out of Lundgren's last knight, because it'd be kind of a pity to go all this way without using it once.

Farina heads down to start battle with Lundgroh goodness no. This is not going to work.

All righty then, looks like we're doing this the hard way.

Lundgren's got a pretty cool palette as a Hero, I must say.

Serra tosses Lyn her Swordslayer, just in case.

And Will misses Lundgren.

Kent ferries the Javelin back to Farina, so that she can...

Also miss the darn guy.

Farina gets the first hit on Lundgren, and the rest of the chapter's gonna basically just look like this. I'll see you when something interesting happens.


So, a few turns later, we finally have Lundgren down to a theoretically killable hp total. Now there's just on thing to do...

Aw yeah.
So, I savestated here in order to check and see if I could carry over items with the characters who had their recruitments randomized. I couldn't. As such, I'll be using the angelic robe and energy ring here, and the knight's crest will, alas, go unused.

Eliwood grabs both power-ups.



And here are the team's final stats!

And there you have it, Lyn mode is finally over! I'll check the poll at around noon (MTN) tomorrow, so if there's anyone who still wants to vote on my route, you only have until then to do so! See you next time!

[Ansem]

magic classes in gba fe have shit bases which is why all the magi you've seen p much suck

[The Magus]

The votes are in, and it's time to start Karel Mode!

[spoiler=Chapters 11-12: Down to the Wire]

Karel mode it is!

Eliwood's unchanged from the end of Lyn Mode, apart from having a new inventory.

So here's our new protagonist, Karel! Of course, we've seen him a while ago when I started the poll, but I don't see any harm in refreshing memories. And man, that Emblem Blade and its 60 uses... <3

And here's the boss, Wire. The randomizer successfully transformed one of the few non-generic bandit earlygame bosses in FE into a generic bandit earlygame boss. Well... well done, randomizer. Yay.

Oh dear Yune, no. Nope, nope, nope.

noooope. How can you get such a terrible palette by changing one unmounted sword-user to another? ._.

Not exactly the best first level I could hope for... Then again, with those bases I guess I'm not really allowed to complain.

It looks like the enemy growth buffs worked out, though! Even with an Armourslayer, Karel can't kill this knight without running a chance of death himself!

Buuut, what if I just...

Perfect! Eli even got a crit and a level for my trouble!

...And a weapon level and a vulnerary! Wow, this guy doesn't mess around!

Thank you very much...
[
Even with his higher stats, Karel's still technically a lower level than Eliwood. He'll get more EXP for killing things.


A less disappointing level and a vulnerary, huzzah! I'm going to need as many of both as I can get to survive this!


...I can't decide if that palette is just plain terrible, or kinda cool.

Wheee.

Oh, crap - I did NOT think this through. Wire does 11 damage to Karel. If he hits this enemy phase, then I'm -

...Or he could just waste more time finishing his vulnerary?

Two can play at that game!

Okay, wow. This one definitely got pretty close. Good thing the last hit's on the player phase!

I have a feeling I may come to regret buffing the enemies' growths...

But for now, it's time for NEW UNITS!
First of all, Guy and Farina tagged along, since they replaced Serra and Dorcas. Apart from them, though, we've got:

Replacing Oswin, Lowen the Wyvern Rider! I love earlygame fliers!

Replacing Eliwood, Jaffar the Thief! Yeah, we've seen him before.

Replacing Marcus, Raven the Assassin! Wow, Raven, you're... really taking your vow of revenge on Hector seriously there! Also, that's some CRAZY overspecialization in stats...

Replacing... Lowen or Rebecca I think, Geitz the Soldier! Sorry, but Farina's already way outstripped you.

Replacing... Rebecca or Lowen I think, Marcus the Mage! And neat, he even comes preequipped with an early Elfire tome! I have a feeling you and I are gonna get along juuuust fine.

And last but not least, replacing Bartre, Sain 2.0 the Myrmidon! You'd better not fail me like your Lyn mode clone did!

Eliwood trades the red gem to Lowen, who flies down to rendezvous with Jaffar and Co, as well as the shops.

Sorry, Geitz. Maybe next time.

Anyways, down south, we have most of the team huddled behind the non-Geitz level one units, so that they can get some exp.

Up north, Karel starts wrecking things, letting Guy chip in with, well, chip damage where he can.

...Skill and speed are good! Yay?

I've missed you, No Damage effect... :'3

Sain's palette is pretty weird.


Hey! For a mounted unit randomized into a foot unit, Marcus doesn't look half bad!


...Whooooops! I feel like an idiot - I forgot that Sain took some heavy damage from the archer that assaulted him last turn. I'll, uh, I'll be right back.

Alright, so while you wait, have some boss stats! This guy could actually be tough if he wasn't rangelocked.

...Wow. That is a MUCH better level this time around.

Anyways, with that done with I decided to take a chance to see a couple of the other palettes for units I'm not planning to use and... huh. Geitz decided to pull off a crit. A 2% crit. You know what, maybe the guy deserves a chance after all...

Raven finishes the crippled archer for the sake of exhibiting his own palette. Not too bad.

Yup, I think I'm glad he's not the main lord.

Lowen grabs a couple of vulneraries for the road.

Karel sits atop his mountain, ready to slay any and all who challenge him...

Simply beautiful.

Guy takes the time to buy an iron everything-but-bow. Just in case. Farina also stops by to grab a spare iron lance.

Raven lures the boss into the open...

...So that I can do this!

Not the greatest palette, but what can you do?
Anyways, you can see where this is going.

Also, this happens.

Yyyyup. You know, those long bosses really take it out of you...

See you next time, for chapters 13 and 14!