Alastor plays and ranks the whole series! Mission Complete! ...For now.

[Alastor15243]

6 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

They weren't. FE3 had reinforcements come out only of the three forts behind the starting position. I made a fun challenge for myself of getting to the throne between before the reinforcements could engage me. For FE12, the Fire Dragon Graveyard, or Flame Barrel, whatever you want to call it, became my personal crematoria.

I hate this chapter. Plain and simple.

Same. Any chapter where the only lesson you can learn is "plug up every single fort like a maniac because you never know when the game might decide to be an asshole" is just amazingly damaging to the enjoyment of a blind playthrough. I got insanely lucky there, only losing Sirius.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Shadow Mir]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

.but Sirius was unfortunately doubled to death by the left southern wyvern from his unfortunate spot near the rear of our little huddled-up group, and now I've lost one of my fliers. Admittedly the worst one I had, but still.

Also this means I can't save Nyna, which... ouch.

Oof. The Aum staff can undo this, though. Just make sure not to lose anyone else important.

[Alastor15243]

4 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Oof. The Aum staff can undo this, though. Just make sure not to lose anyone else important.

You can use it before killing Medeus in FE12?

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

You can use it before killing Medeus in FE12?

I think, unless killing Medeus doesn't end the chapter immediately.

[Eltosian Kadath]

10 hours ago, Jotari said:

Can't speak as an expert, but I imagine 2 range wyverns are actually easier to deal with as you can bait them with a sniper at the edge of their range (which you're basically always going to be because they've such ridiculously high move) and kill them on enemy phase.

10 hours ago, Vicious Sal said:

 

I would rank them considerably harder actually. This is just me working from memory, but I recall comparing the range overlap between the wyverns and other units on the map and the extra range they get actually causes exact overlap in a lot of cases with the warriors and barbarians etc. Once again, this is if I recall this correctly. But it meant that EP you'd usually face the range of two wyverns + barbarian/warrior/swordmaster etc and the extra range also made certain Strats that work for PP that much harder since you'd be unable to use a sniper or so to kill a barbarian from afar, since he'd still be in range after that whereas with 1 range they'd be safe. 

I feel like these two comments are a snapshot of my opinions before, and after I faced that chapter on Lunatic...

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

I'm gonna have to manage moving forward without Dakota, because his job is going to be to guard the rear from those back-fort ambush spawns in case the enemies are too strong and player-phasing them becomes damned near impossible.

While I am not suprised, I am a bit saddened that you didn't get the chance to experience the best enemy pincer maneuver in the entire series. They timed it very well, that if you army is moving together, just as you are drawing in those dangerous enemies in front, those reinforcements pin you in, forcing you into a interesting tactical conundrum. Its also the point in my first playthrough where I really keyed into the way the save points locations are cluing you into reinforcement triggers. Ended up becoming one of my favorite chapters for how well that was setup, and for finally getting me to appreciate how important it is that save points are locations to the map design.

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...but Sirius was unfortunately doubled to death by the left southern wyvern from his unfortunate spot near the rear of our little huddled-up group, and now I've lost one of my fliers. Admittedly the worst one I had, but still.

Ouch. Kinda surprised he was the worst of your fliers...

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...How much stronger are these fire dragons in Lunatic and, more importantly, Lunatic Reverse?

Because I'm starting to wonder how the fuck you're supposed to player-phase these guys who nearly one-shot half my army on hard, have 1-2 range, and have permanent vantage.

If you are really curious:

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Also, I notice this translation explicitly uses “her” for Naga, so I'm assuming this translation patch came after Awakening.

The Nagi boss quote with Medius hints that she is a revived Naga, so they might simply be drawing from that.

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

And then...

...Belf... comes by?

This is completely out of nowhere. Who the fuck is this? Why is he here? This is... this has got to be the most completely pointless...

...Oh shit.

...These are sable knights.

Was Camus their superior, the one that they said told them to “protect the weak, regardless of their nationality”? Given Gaiden, the timeline doesn't really add up there, but...

They are playable characters from the fourth Settelaview map. You stopped playing the remakes of those maps as extra content before seeing that one.

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...Did I miss dialogue because Sirius just died?

Not at the moment, as he is in disguised and believed dead, but he does have supports with all three of them...

 

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

You can use it before killing Medeus in FE12?

Yes you can. You get it the chapter before, and can use it anytime, as long as you have a princess that can use it.

 

[Alastor15243]

6 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

If you are really curious:

 

Thanks! Okay, so it looks like they're just 5 attack points higher. Not ridiculous, but the benchmarks for being able to fight them are gonna probably be really, really tight.

7 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

They are playable characters from the fourth Settelaview map. You stopped playing the remakes of those maps as extra content before seeing that one.

Ah yes. I totally did indeed stop doing that. Sorry about that. I've been debating to myself when I should finish those up.

8 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Ouch. Kinda surprised he was the worst of your fliers...

13 speed. I didn't extensively use him until a few maps ago, and his low base speed compared to other fliers really started to hurt him. And it proved to be his undoing.

10 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

While I am not suprised, I am a bit saddened that you didn't get the chance to experience the best enemy pincer maneuver in the entire series. They timed it very well, that if you army is moving together, just as you are drawing in those dangerous enemies in front, those reinforcements pin you in, forcing you into a interesting tactical conundrum. Its also the point in my first playthrough where I really keyed into the way the save points locations are cluing you into reinforcement triggers. Ended up becoming one of my favorite chapters for how well that was setup, and for finally getting me to appreciate how important it is that save points are locations to the map design.

Hahahahaha. Sorry to disappoint you. I'm kinda just... not remotely in the state of mind to be giving this game the opportunity to show me how "good" its reinforcement design is. And the event later in the chapter has only reinforced that feeling.

[Jotari]

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Also, I notice this translation explicitly uses “her” for Naga, so I'm assuming this translation patch came after Awakening.

 

Then why aren't the assassins called by the names they were given in Awakening?

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

You can use it before killing Medeus in FE12?

It only has 1 use in New Mystery, so I bloody well hope so. The only way they could get away with giving it five uses in the original was because it was practically worthless. Hey, now you could actually do a revived drop strategy. Give the staff to Merric and after he recruits Elice she can Aum Sirius back alive in the position in which he needs to be to recruit Nyna. Save a rescue staff use getting everyone in position.

Edited November 25, 2020 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

8 minutes ago, Jotari said:

It only has 1 use in New Mystery, so I bloody well hope so. The only way they could get away with giving it five uses in the original was because it was practically worthless. Hey, now you could actually do a revived drop strategy. Give the staff to Merric and after he recruits Elice she can Aum Sirius back alive in the position in which he needs to be to recruit Nyna. Save a rescue staff use getting everyone in position.

Fair point. Interesting idea. Kinda sucks that I have to revive Sirius though. From a pure gameplay perspective I'd much rather revive Malicia so that I can use hammerne on some stuff for the final stretch of the game. Of course, I suppose it depends on when I get it.

[Jotari]

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Fair point. Interesting idea. Kinda sucks that I have to revive Sirius though. From a pure gameplay perspective I'd much rather revive Malicia so that I can use hammerne on some stuff for the final stretch of the game. Of course, I suppose it depends on when I get it.

Well you could just let Nyna get eaten by a dragon. Marth's going to steal her kingdom anyway.

[Alastor15243]

New Mystery Day 23: Chapter 13

We've got a gaiden chapter to secure today, and I have to remember to... what's the condition...?

...“Both of the enemy thieves did not escape the map”? Does that mean I get it as long as they don't both escape, or do I only get it if I stop both? The wording here is very ambiguous.

Whatever, I'll be trying to kill both regardless. Let's see then...

So the game's telling me this chapter is taking place up a mountain that is possibly even higher than 5/8 the height of Mount Everest.

...Which would imply that we are well beyond the altitude range that humans are capable of functioning, or even thinking coherently in, without supplemental oxygen. At this altitude, Marth would struggle to do basic math. Or remember where he's even supposed to go. Or notice anything wrong with the weapon stats of Genealogy and Radiant Dawn.

And they even mention the army suffering from these effects.

Which brings up another point: it kinda cheapens the epic feat of this journey when literally everyone in the army is accomplishing it.

...And now Jagen is remarking on my reluctance to use the drill grounds.

...Jagen.

For the love of god.

I had just managed to forget those things existed.

Why the hell would you choose now of all times, when we are on a pilgrimage the likes of which is the stuff of literal epics, to remind the player that those fucking drill grounds are inexplicably literally everywhere, even when it makes absolutely no sense!?

...Fuck it, let's check out How's Everyone and see what we got today.

Luke got a speed boost, which is hugely awesome, especially since I made him a myrmidon to help him double, and then I got something called a “pure sword” that Roger's hoping to give to Caeda, another razor tome from Darros, and then some stat boosts for Bord and Caesar. Wow, that was a really lucky set of bonuses today.

The pure sword is basically a 10-use pure water that also functions as a decent sword. Huh. Alright, let's check out the map.

...That is uncomfortably disarming, that these enemy ice dragons are completely blue and don't have a speck of red on them.

...Christ. I'm really gonna have to go all out if I want to get to those thieves before they get complicatedly deep into enemy territory. The enemies on the east side are close enough that I can probably manage a player-phase assault, but the other side...

...It's not just gonna need Dakota. It's gonna need Dakota making full use of his boots movement by finally reclassing to hero. A bit sooner than ideal, but fuck it, he's got 20 defense and 56 HP, he's gonna be fine. And to my extreme delight, due to his A rank in swords, he can do more than enough damage with a levin sword to one-round this thief with 100% accuracy, something I realized he couldn't reliably do with a hand axe even after I gave him the arms scroll to use them as a hero.

He will bait in Beck however, but as long as Dakota doesn't crit, Beck will survive, and then Dakota can retreat back and lure Beck over to be recruited, whether that be by Marth or Caeda this time.

Speaking of which... let's check out the talks before we do anything else.

Hahahaha! Merric and Dakota's second support is the first time I've ever seen “that song” used when there's no female character around, so that's amusing.

It's curious that they talk about tomes like Excalibur, due to their magic, having wills of their own, and the ability to reject and accept users of them. Especially since Excalibur isn't a personal tome of his like it was in the original games.

Wooooooow. Okay, Etzel and Dakota's support was really interesting, with Etzel talking about his late wife, and then... the support just abruptly ends. What is with it with this game and supports that do that?

Anyway... yeah, we get a kinda bland, kinda goofy support with Dakota fucking up at cooking. Apparently, while it smelled great... it still tasted like steel.

Okay, so Jagen keeps telling the story of Anri's way, but what I'm really curious about is how exactly Falchion became tied to the Altean royal bloodline, especially when it was really passed down through Anri's brother.

Now, we're not given any special instructions about Beck, so I have to assume that we can just recruit him with Marth. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to, so let's get cracking.

Oh yeah, also, those reinforcements I got. Two level 15 cavaliers and a level 3 horseman. Pretty great filler units, and honestly, I think their outfit design is super cool, so I'd like to use them.

...Fuck it, I'll use the master seals on them and promote them. Luke and Cecil have kind of become a lost cause, and they're the only units left I've been using that I haven't promoted. And apparently, unlike Luke and Cecil... Belf, Leiden and Robert all get supports with each other, which is pretty kickass if I use all three. And I think I will, dropping Etzel, since he doesn't have much hope in the long term, and my promoted Merric can help Yumina with healing now, and really oughta have as many chances as possible to heal so he can get better staves.

Speaking of him, I'm using a speedwing on him, since 17 just isn't nearly as juicy a speed stat as 19 is. And for similar reasons, I reclassed Belf to swordmaster so that he can hit that crucial 19 speed threshold and hopefully just keep going past it. Meanwhile Leiden's a dracoknight, replacing Sirius, and hopefully his great speed growth will pick up so he can start doubling. But at least now he's in the “won't get doubled” range like Palla.

Robert I'm gonna keep as a horseman simply because he's filling a niche nobody else in the army is currently filling, and given that wyverns are still a thing and I have to keep that in mind at all times... yeah, bows are gonna be nice.

Well this is weird. Marth's still calling Naga the “divine dragon king” after Xane explicitly referred to Naga as “her”.

Oh wow, this is amusing. Xane's talking about how he doesn't like humans, and that he's got “nothin' but contempt for those who treated the defenseless manaketes like insects”, and I'm like...

...He didn't mention that yet in this version. He only talked about how the dragons did that to humans.

...Okay, he goes into that now...

...Huh. This feels... different than the version I remember from FE3 Book 2. Like it's more explicitly vilifying humans and making Medeus more sympathetic.

...Anyway, let's do the actual fight. I've wasted way too much time today.

Ice dragons aren't weak to fire anymore either. Pity. But I can still handle them.

Dakota's hit and crit seem higher than they should be, by seemingly-arbitrary numbers. I wonder what's going on here. But anyway, guess I'll roll with it.

Alright, turn one was successful. Everyone but that barbarian with a tomahawk at the back of the eastern group is now dead, and he's got nobody he can kill. The thief is down, one-shot by Palla, and Dakota's in a position to take out the thief next turn. Let's see what happens with the enemies on his side...

...Seems like all that nonsense I went through to get that second thief was completely pointless, because the western thief doesn't even run away from you. he runs right through your starting position.

Also, thankfully, the wyverns started moving right away, so I don't have to worry about them suddenly doing that at a less convenient time. I'm gonna go around counterclockwise and get all the treasure with Marth. Thank goodness the Fire Emblem can open chests, because I totally forgot about assigning chest-opening duties.

Oh hey! Looks like New Mystery fixed FE1 and FE11's weird staff ordering glitch for staff users with a tome equipped! Hilarious it took this long, but good on you!

Oh yeah, now that Dakota doesn't need the speed star shard anymore, I gave it to Palla, so that she can hit that crucial 19 speed and start doubling again. Pity that speed stat of hers didn't last, because she was insanely good in the early game.

Man, Excalibur is such an awesome spell. Being able to one-shot these wyverns at range is so useful.

And Merric gained speed! He's at 20 now, so he's gonna stay ahead of the speed curve still... for now.

Hopefully that'll keep up.

Dakota's been consistently getting terrible level ups lately, but frankly at this point it doesn't matter. There is no way this guy isn't gonna be one of my best units in the endgame, it's just not possible. I've gotta stop stressing each and every level up. He's capped speed and skill, and all of his non-magical stats are in the 20s. The time I had him spend in general has gotten rid of basically his one weakness, and he's about to cap HP again.

Honestly, I will concede that this game is getting more fun than it was in the early game, now that I have a promoted army that's taken a shape of its own, and I've got more player-phase options. Also, the map design, with the notable exception of the ambush spawns, has been getting steadily better.

Merric got speed again! Sweet, that should put him in the clear for a while!

The first chest had a dragonpike, very much appreciated,

Belf gets speed for his first level up, also very much appreciated.

Alright, so, as you can probably guess, I am very paranoid about ambush spawns now, so I'm going to send Dakota forward to see if he can make any of them spawn early without killing anyone fragile.

...Jesus Christ these enemies around the castle are just refusing to move. Well, guess I have to go balls out and attack them, then. Here goes.

I FUCKING KNEW IT!

The game forces you to go really deep into these enemies' ranges, and then it aggros every enemy on the map simultaneously, and then spawns ambush reinforcements fucking everywhere. Ice dragons from every fort, and wyverns from the corners of the damned map. Thankfully none of them look to be in immediate range of the ice palace, but wyverns. Wyverns in the corners.

...Anyway...

Enemies apparently have absolutely no desire to attack you from favorable terrain. These ice dragons are just completely ignoring the forest next to me, and I noticed something similar happening with a fort last map.

...The ambush reinforcements came two turns in a row.

Thankfully they don't come more than that, but I am very concerned about Dakota's safety right now. I might have placed him a bit too far into danger even for him.

...Thankfully, he dodged enough that dying is not remotely a concern anymore, but just to be safe I had siphoned off some of the pressure by abusing the stupid AI's obsession with doing the most individual damage. What I have to wonder is whether or not that trick depends on unit move order. If the units who could only attack the strong unit have already moved, will the remaining enemy still prefer to go for the “weaker” unit that they can't one-hit kill, even when the “stronger” unit is now in one-shotting range?

...And now that the reinforcements appear to be exhausted, it's time to collect all the treasure, and also of course recruit Beck.

Ah yes, Beck, “somehow” you ended up here. One thing just led to another, and you wound up living in the single most inhospitable place on the planet.

And Marth's relieved at hearing Beck's explanation, saying he knew “there's no way you'd wind up on the side of barbarians”, and I'm like... bitch, he just attacked you! I baited him in so you could talk to him by crossing the river! The barbarians and dragons aren't attacking him! How the fuck dumb can this recruitment get!?

Oh man, it is so frustratingly difficult to tell with this map when everything's the same color, but I think, I think there are only three treasures, and I already got one of them. Let's see what the others are.

Second chest is a wyrmslayer, which I got just after killing the boss with Belf.

Third chest was spirit dust, which reminds me: I don't have any talismans. We just got a whole bunch of stat boosters in the desert, and none of them were talismans. Does this game not have as many of them to make resistance more precious or something?

Finally, we've seized, and I can be through with this fucking map.

So apparently Gotoh and Xane... don't know that the Fire Emblem is the shield. How? Marth has canonically talked to both of them repeatedly, in person, while holding the thing! How can they not see it, and if they can, how can they not recognize the Binding Shield, just because the orbs aren't in it!?

Anyway, we unlocked the sidequest, so tomorrow we'll be doing 13x.

This map was...

...Yeah, it wasn't great. The roundabout level design makes it a pain to go through once the enemies are gone, but the game is practically screaming at the top of its lungs that I shouldn't send Marth, or really any of my units but Dakota, through it until the enemies are gone, because of those fucking ambush spawns! What, was I supposed to just trust the game that it wouldn't put wyverns in those forts? I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with this game!

...Ugh. Alright, anyway, tomorrow we'll check out what psychotic nightmare the next gaiden has in store for me.

Stay safe, everyone.

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

So the game's telling me this chapter is taking place up a mountain that is possibly even higher than 5/8 the height of Mount Everest.

...Which would imply that we are well beyond the altitude range that humans are capable of functioning, or even thinking coherently in, without supplemental oxygen. At this altitude, Marth would struggle to do basic math. Or remember where he's even supposed to go. Or notice anything wrong with the weapon stats of Genealogy and Radiant Dawn.

 

Would you be surprised to learn there's a permanent human settlement at that height?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rinconada,_Peru

https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/MoniqueAnthony.shtml

[Alastor15243]

3 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Would you be surprised to learn there's a permanent human settlement at that height?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rinconada,_Peru

https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/MoniqueAnthony.shtml

I would indeed. So there's some way to acclimate to that height I guess?

[Jotari]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

I would indeed. So there's some way to acclimate to that height I guess?

That's pretty much the edge of what can be acclimatized too (5000-5500 meters). Higher than that will give long term damage to the brain (and possibly the heart and lungs too), but it's not until above 8000 meters do you get to what is considered the death zone. Marth and his allies still shouldn't be having an easy time of it though. It takes a while for the body to get used to lower oxygen levels. Maybe altitude sickness is why Beck's recruitment makes so little sense. At least the game goes so far as to acknowledge that various unspecified members of the army are having trouble. I'm a bit split as to whether they should have made a gameplay gimmick out of it. It might have been cool, but anything I can think of would probably just end up annoying.

[Interdimensional Observer]

11 hours ago, Jotari said:

I'm a bit split as to whether they should have made a gameplay gimmick out of it. It might have been cool, but anything I can think of would probably just end up annoying.

Maybe "if unit initiated combat or healed an ally on this turn, cannot counterattack on the enemy phase; if the unit counterattacked on the enemy phase this turn, cannot initiate combat or heal an ally on the next player phase". Not too annoying, but still a way to indicate exhaustion.

[Alastor15243]

New Mystery Day 24: Chapter 13x

Happy Thanksgiving, to all my fellow American viewers! I sure as hell know I'm thankful for all of you guys!

...So, how shall we be celebrating Thanksgiving...?

...Ah yes.

Pain.

…

…

...They're talking about not being able to see anything.

Please tell me this isn't fog of war.

Please tell me this isn't a fucking fog of war map.

…

…

…

…

IT'S A FOG OF WAR MAP.

WITH BALLISTAE.

They actually did it.

These pups from the same bitch's litter actually had the audacity to put a goddamned fog of war map in a continuity that was never remotely built to have fog of war.

I am about to do a fog of war map where:

*There are no torches

*There is no vision bonus for thieves

*The vision range is two

*The average unit movement range is at the highest it has ever been in the entire goddamned series.

Why is this fun?

How is this fun?

How could anyone think this could possibly be fun?

WHO THE FUCK thought it was a good idea to make the gimmick for this gaiden chapter “hey, how about we don't tell you the rules of the game until you lose?”

At any rate, I can only see one remotely realistic option for me.

I have serious doubts that I'm getting out of this without someone dying horribly. I've just gotta make sure that isn't anyone valuable.

So I'm gonna have Dakota just blaze on ahead, taking out as many of these guys as he can, while I get my usable but disposable prepromotes Beck, Jake and Darros to huddle in the corner guarding Marth, supported by Wrys and Yumina. I'm comfortable bringing Yumina because if she were ever in any danger, they'd try to kill Wrys first, and if even after that she still winds up dying, I've probably lost the ironman because Marth is undoubtedly next.

Let's hope that the talks give something resembling a clue. But first we've got some supports.

First I get the third support with Catria, where she's vague about how being friends with Dakota has lessened her heartache and we get a speed bond, awesome...

...And then Gordin's finally gotten enough of those “become closer to Dakota” things to get a support with Dakota despite me not fielding him in forever.

And now Gordin's venting about how he gets mistaken for a junior knight. He then asks me if I can tell him if I find any way to gain him some “presence” or “imposingness” I guess, and... yeah, the conversation immediately ends before Dakota can reply. Of course.

These supports are just so weird.

...Fuck, I forgot, the fact that this is a gaiden chapter means I'll have one or more new units to protect. Possibly starting in the middle of the damned map.

...Fuck it, if they need my protection, they're not worth endangering my main army to save. Sticking to the plan here. Let's do this.

...It's Athena. Unpromoted, level ten Athena. And Dakota's acting like he knows her despite me not getting her in the original prologue run. And now Clarisse is bragging about how she can see in the blizzard and we can't, rubbing in that infamous cheating AI. Christ, this might have actually been interesting if the enemy were just as blind. I know they have the technology to do that now. Days of Ruin doesn't just predate New Mystery, it predates Shadow Dragon.

...That said, I am really digging this remix of “searching the enemy” from Thracia though.

But yeah, there is just no fucking use for Athena at this point in the game. She's super good in the prologue, but 25 HP, 9 strength, 13 speed and 7 defense is just terrible for this point in the game, holy shit. If the enemy's ready to swarm my starting position, I'm just going to let her die. There's no room for her in my defensive line.

In fact, I didn't even attack with her. I moved her up a bit so that I could make sure a space I wanted to attack the ballistician from was clear.

Here's hoping there aren't like 5 more hiding in the dark.

...Well, so far I know there's one of them, and it instantly one-shot Wrys, so there goes my disposable healer bait on turn fucking one. Athena follows shortly after.

I'm quite scared now.

And there's a second one.

...AND A THIRD.

Alright, so there are ballistae hiding in the dark, but only one of them seems to be in range of where Yumina is currently standing, so as long as I keep still over there and have Dakota slowly sweep the area for ballisticians, we should be able to get out of here with no further casualties beyond Wrys and Athena.

My meatshields all have vulneraries, and Yumina can do some pretty nice chip damage if need be, so we're pretty set to hold out for a little while, especially now that the enemies near the start have been defeated.

But holy shit am I not remotely having fun with this.

Looks like this game does the Days of Ruin thing where the game temporarily highlights every space your unit could have seen from every space on their trip from A to B. That should make sweeping a lot easier.

Dakota got a total dud level up. I said I would stop being frustrated, but holy shit. How is this character so amazing when so many of his level ups have felt so terrible?

There's Clarisse... and down she goes.

Honestly, this sort of map was probably the best way to make a sniper boss intimidating especially if they had decided to give her a longbow or something, but still... I mean, she was up against Dakota, and put me in a situation where I didn't dare use anyone else. The fuck did she think was gonna happen?

Okay, there's nothing left but a single ballistician. Which means I can get Marth to get that chest I almost forgot about. Especially since I just found him and he's not even in Marth's way to get there. Not that he could one-shot Marth or anything, but still.

Man, Marth's getting really behind. I'm gonna have to fix that probably, even if it takes a ton of stat boosters.

Oh thank goodness I nabbed this thing before the gaiden ended. It's Iote's shield. Yeah, that's gonna be insanely useful.

And now we get a scene with Katarina and Clarisse. Clarisse is badly battered and covered in dirt, which is a nice touch.

…

...I am getting intense Nino and Jaffar vibes from this conversation, with Katarina refusing to abandon a fallen comrade and Clarisse just not understanding at all. I wonder how this is going to wind up. Is she actually going to survive and get redeemed, or is she about to stab herself out of spite or shadowy assassin honor or something and make Katarina even more isolated and miserable?

...Looks like she's going along with Katarina.

And apparently Eremiah is allied with Gharnef, and not just some “don't give a shit as long as there's a paycheck” group that got hired by Hardin and didn't ask too many questions. Yeah, I wasn't sure about which it was until now.

So Katarina brings Clarisse back, and Eremiah's just like “dispose of her”, because she's apparently of “no use” anymore, and I'm like... this game has healing, does it not? And not a single known instance of a battle injury staves can't heal besides literal death. How the fuck can she afford to throw away powerful warriors like that? How big was that orphanage? Haven't we exhausted all of the named assassins we've seen so far? Who the fuck is left that she can afford to lose Clarisse without a second thought?

And we have a potentially interesting scene where Clarisse finally swallows her pride in her dying moments and admits that she needs Katarina to be there for her as she dies. But sadly it's over way too fast, like so many other scenes in this game.

And with that... this terrible, terrible chapter is over.

And yeah, sorry, while I've got some extra free time today compared to the usual, I'm not in the mood to do another. I'm gonna go try out public lobby Among Us and see if it's still any good without friends and voice chat.

Stay safe, everyone.

Stay safer than Athena and Wrys.

[Alastor15243]

New Mystery Day 25: Chapter 14

Alright, back to chapters that were merely adapted by madmen, rather than created from whole cloth by them. Also, I've already qualified for the next one by just using my avatar apparently, since as long as they're promoted and level 5 and up, you unlock it. So I have to assume 16x is where we recruit Katarina or something, since they really don't want you to miss it.

Yeah, we get a quick recap about Tiki's situation, and...

...Yep, prep screen. Let's do this.

Robert got a strength and skill boost.

...Bantu gets a sleet tome... and wonders if it could double as a pickling stone. And I'm like... is there a single object on the findable items list that looks like it could be used as a “pickling stone”!?

...Wait... looking at this map...

...didn't I use the warp staff at the start of this map in FE3 Book 2? Did I somehow miss...

...no, thank goodness, I must've used it after getting it from the thief who has it just outside the temple.

...But honestly, now that the game's far more clear that those chambers can't actually be opened by thieves... like, where the hell can these thieves actually go, except past me? Doesn't look like there's any need to warp in there at all. And since the only thief inside the temple that has a treasure I can't do without is the one with the bullion... I think I'll just wait to see what those thieves do before I do anything dumb like warp in. Especially since warping in would mean wasting yet another huge mass of enemies on Dakota, who only has two more levels left to gain anyway. I really, really need to get the rest of my army some more experience, so I'm gonna take it slow with this one.

Turn one is obviously going to be spent getting that warp staff, and then positioning everyone else to bait in the ice dragons and start dealing with whatever the aggro settings are for the enemies inside. If all else fails, I can use Dakota as a panic button, but like I said, at this stage I'd really, really rather not.

So apparently I got some supports with the filler units I used last chapter. Let's check these out, even though I almost certainly won't see the ends of them.

Okay, so now the game's telling me that Jake and Beck lost their ballistae because they need the oil from a special fruit to make them move, and that fruit... went extinct during the last war. So, what, the only ballistae left are the ones that are useful seated right where they are? I mean...

...Honestly, it feels really dumb to even try to explain something so transparently gameplay-motivated. So is all wheel technology rendered extinct right now? Are carriages no longer a thing? What makes ballistae so special?

...Also, Beck named his horse Pony, which... it's certainly dumb, but I don't know if it's dumb enough to be amusing.

And of course the conversation ends abruptly, weirdly ending the music at the last two lines as if some massive bombshell of a world-changing reveal had just been dropped, when it was just more casual conversation.

All I learned from the Darros conversation is that Darros is apparently absurdly good at cleaning floors.

Also, apparently Darros's official voice is ProZD? I just listened to his Heroes lines, and first off... seriously? Is this support chain in FE12 why he's carrying a huge broom in Heroes? But also... I mean, I like ProZD a lot, but something feels... a little off about his performance voicing Darros. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like the voice doesn't quite fit, or it feels a little fake.

On to Jake, and coincidentally, both of the ex-ballisticians start their supports by telling Dakota to drop the formalities. But yeah, I remember this support from Ghast's video. It's just about the secret shop and what a stupid, unsustainable business model it is. It's over ridiculously fast. What is it with this game and none of these conversations feeling like they should end when they do?

Ah, but now Marth and Dakota have their final chat.

...Yeah, I didn't learn anything in this conversation that I didn't already know or couldn't have guessed. It's really a let-down how uninteresting this was.

But I got a strength bond from it. I really wish I got more of these for speed and defense, then I'd probably find a use for them.

Okay, so, they don't say anything about what Anri had to do in order to be able to wield Falchion. It's just something he was always able to do, and so... he coincidentally wound up going for it? Then why is it bound to the Altean royal bloodline?

...Or is it not actually bound to the Altean royal bloodline at all, and it's a bunch of royal nonsense that nobody else can use it? In which case that would be another thing Awakening made up, since in Awakening, the blade actually does reject anyone without the proper Altean royal bloodline.

...And now they mention “Artemis's curse”. In what sense was what happened Artemis's curse? That makes it sound like a curse she placed on the Fire Emblem for ruining her life and keeping her from being with the man she loved, but Jagen explicitly says that “Artemis's curse” was what killed her in childbirth. What, was it named after her because she “discovered” it? I'm still just as confused as I was last time. Possibly moreso.

...Shoot, I apparently missed a secret shop two chapters ago that could've bought me three more physics. I should have kept an eye out for stuff like this. Oh well. I guess I'll send someone for the shop here though.

Ah yes, and I give Iote's shield to Caeda before I forget. Okay, I think we're good now.

...Also, if this was the final destination of Anri's treacherous journey, and counted as one of the trials he had to go through... that means there were still ice dragons guarding it back then. Which means... that the ice dragon guards... replenished themselves. What, were more feral ice dragons instinctually called towards this place to replace the fallen ones after Anri left?

Also, why are thieves carrying treasure? Apparently they're part of the “ice clan”, and thus are native and aren't extremely intrepid “explorers” or anything, so... what, are they just now deciding to finally clean this place out of its treasure, after centuries of leaving it alone?

Anyway, Xane's with us now, and I'll check out how his mechanics work by cloning Dakota. That feels like a useful thing he can do. My other units ready their dragon-slaying weapons just outside of the three ice dragons' ranges, ready to pounce.

...They don't move. I've gotta bait them in first.

Alright, I'll use Dakota.

But I don't have to have him armed, now do I?

Anyway, just tested out Xane, and just like before, he copies max, but not current HP. Gotcha. That'll be nice for staff training, though annoying for actual use.

OH MY FUCKING GOD, THESE BASTARDS JUST WILL NOT MOVE.

I'm a square shy of being right in their fucking faces and they're still not budging an inch. I had to actually attack them to make them move. Now, I was initially tempted to abuse the shit out of this by getting right up in their faces with my entire army and then staging an insane player-phase slaughter, but... no, I just can't shake the instinct that putting my units in a position where an intelligent AI could easily oblierate them is a terrible idea. So I'll just attack one with Dakota and hope that he doesn't crit too many of them when they attack him.

And now the whole map is rushing the gate at once. Oh goodie.

...Alright, I think I can handle this though. After this one turn of enemy-phasing after luring the front enemies to the entrance, everyone left should be close enough that I can player-phase the whole lot.

Robert got an amazing level up from chip damage. Everything but magic and res.

Merric seems to be getting just as lucky with his speed growth this game as he was in my H3 ironman of Shadow Dragon, because he just got two for two, yet again, and the second time he also got magic and res.

Belf is doing pretty good, but I have my worries as to whether or not he's gonna cap speed, and what else is a swordmaster good for? Still, he's one of the fastest units in my army, only three behind Dakota's capped 26, so he's definitely good for doubling.

Anyway, nearly all the enemies are gone now, so it's time to check out that central building. I'll leave the remaining enemies undefeated for now just so I have something to do as I'm moving Marth around.

...Alright, I just got the Lightsphere and repaired the Starsphere.

Okay, so apparently Gotoh does know that the Fire Emblem is the Binding Shield. Then what was that business before...?

…Oh. Okay, so, the game says that the reason why Tiki in particular will degenerate even with her dragon form sealed is because she's still a child. For some reason. I mean, that makes absolutely no sense, but at least it means that that part of the titanic horseshit that Awakening did with the Fire Emblem isn't a problem. She's not a child anymore by the time Awakening happens, so... she shouldn't need the Fire Emblem to stay sane?

...No, fuck that, they still have Nowi and Nah, who are clearly supposed to be divine dragons, and they're not only fully sane without the shield despite clearly being “children” by dragon standards, but also fully fertile, with literally no explanation whatsoever.

And even setting that aside, that still doesn't excuse the nonsense of the game forgetting basically the entirety of what happened in FE3 and having Marth's descendants decide the shield needed to be split up to avoid it from being misused. Because there's still the other important stuff that keeping the shield intact is supposed to do.

Alright, now we see the other rooms exposed, and YES! WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE Tiki's DRAGONSTONE STAT BONUSES!

...Ah, yes, of course there's an ambush spawn and with linked AI to the other enemies the moment I open the door. Ah well, I didn't have anyone in harm's way, so I can easily handle this.

...Belf just missed a 97. It's been ages since I've seen something that crazy happen.

But hey, that just left an ice dragon open to be finished off by Marth, who was in serious need of some juicy dragon exp anyway.

He got a perfect level up, everything but magic and res.

Yeah, this talk with Tiki is a bit too on the nose to be moving. There's no buildup to any of this, she just vents about how shitty her life has been with sheer expo-speak. It's like if Nino just explained her fucked up home life for the first time right before we recruit her, and we never saw any of that stuff with her and Jaffar and the Black Fang.

Alright. So, the Starsphere apparently doesn't stop weapon durability from going down in this game? Which means if I even want the chance of using Tiki, I'm gonna have to buy some dragonstones from the warp-only secret shop.

Alright, fine. I've got the silver card, money isn't nearly as tight anymore.

I'm gonna wait until I'm about to leave before I hit up the secret shop, because I just flat-out don't trust this game not to spawn enemies there if I go there.

So apparently the swordslayer is a sword in this game.

I'm pretty sure this is a new weapon that wasn't in FE3, so why wouldn't they make it an axe?

...No, apparently I'm wrong, it was in the original game, and it was originally a sword! Crazy, I don't remember that shit at all.

Alright, I just got the “again” staff, and I've heard it's turned from an “every unit” thing to an “any unit” thing. Oh well. I'm gonna save this shit for when I really need it, but I'm glad I have some more panic buttons again, since I've been hoarding those last two rescue uses.

And we finally got a talisman! It's probably going on Dakota.

But while I did all of that tedious stuff moving Marth around, I had Merric heal up everyone wounded, to get up to C staves. I need to get some more high level staff users in my party, especially in case Yumina dies. Pity arms scrolls don't let you increase your staff rank.

Curiously, the Again staff is a B staff, when in FE3 it took a weapon level of 20, and was thus the most difficult-to-use piece of magic in the entire game.

I gave Tiki the silver card and VIP card, gave her a fun little ride through the spacetime continuum, and she slapped those cards on the counter with her adorable head barely peeking over the top of it, and went “Dragonstones, please!”

I wasn't sure how many of each to buy, but the game saved me the trouble of deciding: you can only buy one of each. Well, gotta make 'em last then.

And with that... we're done!

...Wait... is this news to Marth, that Gharnef's still alive? I could've sworn Marth's been witness to that information already and didn't react at all.

Also, haha, this game assumes you actually got the Falchion in Shadow Dragon. What a chump.

So wait, Gharnef's soul is still alive inside the Darksphere? It hasn't been destroyed, and it was used to resurrect him? What?

…

...Please tell me this isn't a conversation where Xane's trying to get Dakota to wear a funny accessory again.

This game seems to love putting decisions like that in moments that are supposed to be dramatic. We're about to warp back to reclaim our homeland, and Xane's trying to convince Dakota that wearing his hair like Tiki's with a tiara would make him stronger somehow.

...Please tell me Dakota doesn't actually believe this.

...He believes this.

...Okay, part of me wants to see him say no in the hopes of hearing him say “do you take me for an idiot?”, but also...

...Screw it, the original Dakota may not have been dumb enough to fall for that trap... but he'd have worn the Tiara anyway, even before he turned into a chick.

I've gotta see how stupid this looks.

But that'll have to wait until Monday.

Stay safe, everyone!

[Eltosian Kadath]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

I gave Tiki the silver card and VIP card, gave her a fun little ride through the spacetime continuum, and she slapped those cards on the counter with her adorable head barely peeking over the top of it, and went “Dragonstones, please!”

I wasn't sure how many of each to buy, but the game saved me the trouble of deciding: you can only buy one of each. Well, gotta make 'em last then.

This is probably my favorite secret shop in the whole series. The real standouts for me are the magedragon stone for making Tiki immune to magic damage, and the Wyvern stone for giving the highest speed (and also the only stone to have a stat boost higher than the divine dragon stone...).

Too bad you can't access it on Lunatic thanks to the Warp staff being removed.

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Eltosian Kadath said:

This is probably my favorite secret shop in the whole series. The real standouts for me are the magedragon stone for making Tiki immune to magic damage, and the Wyvern stone for giving the highest speed (and also the only stone to have a stat boost higher than the divine dragon stone...).

Too bad you can't access it on Lunatic thanks to the Warp staff being removed.

That feels like such a terrible oversight. I'm assuming they didn't feel the dragonstones themselves were broken too.

[Eltosian Kadath]

2 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I'm assuming they didn't feel the dragonstones themselves were broken too.

Well....I mean the magedragon stone's immunity to magic lets you really cheese the second half of Gharnef's map...

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Eltosian Kadath said:

Well....I mean the magedragon stone's immunity to magic lets you really cheese the second half of Gharnef's map...

Huh. I mean maybe. Would just having a high-res unit do that too, or are there physical enemies in the area too? Or are enemy magic attack powers just ridiculous?

 

 

Also, I decided to take down the poll. It wasn't getting any new votes, so I think I've learned all from it that I could. Maybe I'll do another one later.

[Eltosian Kadath]

4 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Huh. I mean maybe. Would just having a high-res unit do that too, or are there physical enemies in the area too? Or are enemy magic attack powers just ridiculous?

There is a point in that chapter where you can wipe out the last physical units that can reach you, and it is the second to last chapter in the game, including Gharnef himself. I think most are in the range of still doing damage of some sort to max m.def units...

[Interdimensional Observer]

10 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

There is a point in that chapter where you can wipe out the last physical units that can reach you, and it is the second to last chapter in the game, including Gharnef himself. I think most are in the range of still doing damage of some sort to max m.def units...

What about Glower? The "negates Res" tome that replaces the "reduce to 1 HP" Hel of Old Mystery?

Edited November 27, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Eltosian Kadath]

Just now, Interdimensional Observer said:

What about Glower? The negates Res tome that replaces "the reduce to 1 HP" Hel of Old Mystery?

Don't know how that slipped my mind. I always remember the layers of swarm magic as the defining feature of that map...

[Jotari]

4 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

This is probably my favorite secret shop in the whole series. The real standouts for me are the magedragon stone for making Tiki immune to magic damage, and the Wyvern stone for giving the highest speed (and also the only stone to have a stat boost higher than the divine dragon stone...).

Too bad you can't access it on Lunatic thanks to the Warp staff being removed.

Yeah it's really disappointing. I forgot to bring my member card to the chapter in my Book II playthrough and there was no way to access the convoy so I didn't get ot play around with them in that game too T.T Fortunately the old system of transforming a manakete for several turns meant there was small chance of running out of Divine Stone uses.

3 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Well....I mean the magedragon stone's immunity to magic lets you really cheese the second half of Gharnef's map...

Wait does Mage Dragon actually flat out nullify magic in this game? I know it does in the very first game in the series, and maybe does it in Old Mystery, but I thought for the DS remakes they just changed it to a high res stat.

[Interdimensional Observer]

7 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Wait does Mage Dragon actually flat out nullify magic in this game? I know it does in the very first game in the series, and maybe does it in Old Mystery, but I thought for the DS remakes they just changed it to a high res stat.

It says it does on SF for both DS remakes, though I don't have either game at the moment to check it out myself. The Magestone offers +10 Res atop of that, which is purely decorative.

Old Mystery, no, Mage Dragon has capped Res, which is good enough because Str on Mages is so low, but no outright magic immunity. This said, Tiki doesn't brokenly benefit from Mage Dragon in FE3, because enemy mages will simply refuse to attack her unless they've got Hel. That, and mages at the game's end will have more HP than she will Atk, and as she can't double because Breaths have 20 Wt, she needs at least two turns to kill them, possibly more if another dark bishop casts Fortify.