Special Heroes for 9/6/19!

[Ottservia]

2 minutes ago, Stroud said:

Sometimes its exactly this point. Some part about Rinea and Berkut feels unfulfilled and there is desire to have them in a different light. 

I mean yeah I get that much. Their relationship ended tragically so people wanna see them happy but like that really only works with two actual characters with actual depth, nuance, and personality. And not one fleshed out character with his literal cardboard of a trophy wife that has about as about as much depth, complexity, and intrigue as a plastic fork.

[Stroud]

5 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

I mean yeah I get that much. Their relationship ended tragically so people wanna see them happy but like that really only works with two actual characters with actual depth, nuance, and personality. And not one fleshed out character with his literal cardboard of a trophy wife that has about as about as much depth, complexity, and intrigue as a plastic fork.

Yeah, its really a shame with Rinea that she hasn't been made more of. Also even with his insanity how Berkut treated Rinea. Was not something I liked much..Welp, lets see how they implement them in FEH.  Do we get Forging Bonds with this one later? Maybe they can use this to give a little more about them...but so far I don't see any announcement about TT or FB.

I mean I also can't say that Tatiana is the deepest character. And I still like this pairing, for me it just spiced up with the circumstances. And I kind of liked that the ship was already there even with all the ..ah, Tatiana!. Only thing is that you can have at least an attachment to Tatiana. At least I find them more believable compared to Rinea/Berkut, but that is just my preference.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Hilda said:

why? there are plenty of dancers allready and none comes close to LAzura. Unless they make them special in a way it wont be worth pulling them.

XRay normally plays with pure gameplay performance in mind.

However, refreshers are their big subjective weakness. If a refresher had the statline of I dunno, Florina, Azama, or Niles, and IS give them Killing Edge-Armored Blow-Lunge-Threaten Res, and they'd still leap for it. It wouldn't matter if the only visual difference was say Donnel without the pot on his head.

Well, maybe they wouldn't go that far.

 

26 minutes ago, Stroud said:

Do we get Forging Bonds with this one later? Maybe they can use this to give a little more about them...but so far I don't see any announcement about TT or FB.

Aren't Seasonals always TTs? I thought it was NH-FB, SH-TT. Guy whose name is Polish and Sati are out of luck I'd guess for a significant amount of characterization.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Anacybele]

Oh man, if this is a ballroom theme, I can totally see the other two characters being from TH. There is a ballroom scene in that game. I doubt it'll happen, but I'm in trouble if one of the other two is Sylvain or Claude or both. Especially if it's both, I've gotten most attached to that handsome redhead as of late and Claude is just amazing. I have next to no orbs after putting a lot into the legendary banner. DX I'd be forced to spend money to get anyone on this!

Pretty certain we won't see three guys on a refresher banner though, since IS hates guys in this game and most refreshers are female anyway. 😕

Edited September 3, 2019 by Anacybele

[Stroud]

9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Aren't Seasonals always TTs? I thought it was NH-FB, SH-TT. Guy whose name is Polish and Sati are out of luck I'd guess for a significant amount of characterization.

True, why do I even ask. xD Welp. On one hand its better because I guess Special Heroes are less likely to have interesting conservations. At least I can hope that we get a nice TT dancer.

[GrandeRampel]

12 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

I'm fine with this happening to NPCs.

 

12 hours ago, Tybrosion said:

Same here, especially when said NPC barely qualifies as being a character like Rinea. She doesn't deserve being playable in the game at all anything more than that.

Well, if we want to be technical...

Rinea isn't an NPC, but a boss character like Ursula, Gharnef, Idunn, Garon and Berkut. I mean, bosses are NPCs since the term means someone who is not playable, but when we talk about FE people tend to consider bosses more valuable and when we talk NPCs we mean green units (like Greil) or characters who never appear on the battlefield (like Layla from Fates).

You may argue that you only fought her possessed form, but then I can say that Lyon doesn't count as a boss because you only fought his possessed by the demon king form. It's a stupid argument to make.

And I consider Mikoto a boss as well. Sure for two routes she was just an NPC, but the one fight against her in the third one elevates her. Because if we consider enemy units to be better than NPCs, then she is an enemy that deserves an higher status, especially if fricking Brigand Boss has it. I don't know you, but I found the battle against Mikoto and Sumeragi, as well as the one against Berkut and Rinea to be a bit more memorable than the one against Brigand Boss. If he is a boss, than the others I mentioned are better bosses.

 

For the time being the only pure NPCs in Heroes are Greil, Yune and Naga. You never play as them or fight them in their games. If anything this game could use some more NPCs and bosses, since it's the only chance we have to ever play as them. I understand the disappointment if they steal the spot of a character you really like, but at least you can play that character in their own game.

Edited September 3, 2019 by GrandeRampel

[Tybrosion]

@GrandeRampel NPC, last I checked, stands for non-player character. Boss characters, assuming they don’t defect and join your party later, very much qualify as NPCs as far as I’m concerned.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Is not Naga recruitable if Tiki dies? 

[Tybrosion]

2 minutes ago, Lysithea said:

Is not Naga recruitable if Tiki dies? 

No, that would be Nagi but eh she’s close enough to Naga.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Oh, I thought they are the one and same character. 

[Tybrosion]

4 minutes ago, Lysithea said:

Oh, I thought they are the one and same character. 

Honestly, they probably are but I don’t care enough to get that clarified.

[XRay]

8 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Contain yourself, good sir! You only ever need like 14 at most on a good day!

 

1 hour ago, Hilda said:

why? there are plenty of dancers allready and none comes close to LAzura. Unless they make them special in a way it wont be worth pulling them.

But i can see them either including Armor Dancers or Horse Dancers. If they are Infantry Dancers i could see them give Dance+ for inheritance that allows Infantry users and Armor users (not Stackable with boots) to move 1 additional space, while LAzura provides this for Flyer and Infantry. Dunno there is no apeal in getting more Dancers, considering all the special ones we allready have.

There are 6 Dancers in the regular pool (2blue and 4red) 1 legendary Dancer and 9 Special ones from Special banners. (to not forget Bride Ninian)

and of course Tempest Azura.

Thats 17 Dancers. Thats more then enough.

I have all 20 Dancers/Singers so far, but I still want more. Having a larger variety of Dancers/Singers gives me more options for Arena Assault.

[SockPuppet]

I like Rinea because her design is very cute and I feel bad for her. She definitely should have been fleshed out more / deserved better than she got plot-wise and characterization-wise, and I tend to have a soft spot for the “characters that deserve better.” I know many of her fans wish she was playable in Echoes, hence her popularity on CYL3, and so now we can get the next best thing. 

 

Also, I say this about every seasonal lol, but I’m in a way kinda happy that we don’t get more than 1 male unit? I almost always just want the male seasonal alone (NY!Hrid, HS!Ryoma, W!Ephraim, Wedding Pent, Picnic Lukas, S!Wolt/Helbindi), and so not having to share my orb resources across two units helps me tremendously. I had such a pain trying to get *all* of the Y1 male seasonals because there would often be two of them, and they would often be color sharing at that (Spring Chrom & Winter Chrom, Summer Xander/Leo & Frederick/Gaius, Halloween Jakob/Henry, etc). 

[SuperNova125]

If it is this year's dancer /singer banner with a ballroom theme then berkut as a lance dancer would be nice and Rinea as a red tome mage dancer. Also I think  that refreshers have a -10 bst bane so they would be pretty good offensive units. Other units I would like to see is Nils or a ninian alt as dragons since our only dragon dancer is ninian and now she will be free. Also I would like the "bait" unit of the banner to have a special dance skill just so L!Azura is not the only unique dancer. 

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Tybrosion said:

@GrandeRampel NPC, last I checked, stands for non-player character. Boss characters, assuming they don’t defect and join your party later, very much qualify as NPCs as far as I’m concerned.

He already addressed that:

2 hours ago, GrandeRampel said:

I mean, bosses are NPCs since the term means someone who is not playable, but when we talk about FE people tend to consider bosses more valuable and when we talk NPCs we mean green units (like Greil) or characters who never appear on the battlefield (like Layla from Fates).

 

While "NPC" does stand for "non-player character", in most modern video game contexts, "enemy NPCs" that are fought against and "pure NPCs" that cannot be fought against are typically considered two separate categories where "NPC" is usually shorthand for the latter category (because "enemy" is shorthand for the former).

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Lysithea said:

Oh, I thought they are the one and same character. 

Nagi's Character Ending title in SD is "Holy Avatar", and in the New Mystery fan translation, it's "Dragon King's Avatar", although the word "king" is likely gender-ambiguous and could be translated as the neutral "ruler", "king" a translator's stylistic default to the masculine.

And, Medeus says this in SD if you have Nagi attack him:

Medeus:
“Hmm? So… I am not the only dragon revived. I had heard you perished the last time. No matter; you’ve recovered even less of your power than me. This time, you have no chance!”

 

So, adding in Chapter 24x SD, it's readily assumed that after Naga sacrificed herself in the year -500 on the Archanean Calendar, that her body and soul spent their "death" in the Alterspire in another dimension. Then 1108 years later, Gotoh fetched Naga to help Marth at the end of his journey to defeat Medeus once and for all.

However, Naga had yet to fully recover, her body looked perfectly fine, but her power was only a fraction of its true might, and her memories were much forgotten, if not the central mission in her life which she had died for- keeping the Earth Dragons from destroying humanity.

 

Nagi IMO is worthy of being considered, if not as a separate character altogether, a canonical, entirely justifiable alt. One that if I still played this game, I'd spring to obtain.

And, their attires are not entirely identical, heck in Awakening itself, Naga doesn't even look corporeal, FEH changed that though:

Spoiler

and Awakening Naga:

Make Nagi not a Flier, not a Mythic, and probably no granting Dragon-effectiveness to allies. Infantry is boring, and technically, higher BST would betray the fact that Nagi is an incomplete Naga, but being on foot without those trapping of Mythic and a cool exclusive skill would do enough to portray being weaker.

As for BST distribution, they could take the lazy alt way and shuffle Naga's current BST a little.

 

-So speaketh a Nagi/lore-in-general fan.

 

1 hour ago, SockPuppet said:

Also, I say this about every seasonal lol, but I’m in a way kinda happy that we don’t get more than 1 male unit? I almost always just want the male seasonal alone (NY!Hrid, HS!Ryoma, W!Ephraim, Wedding Pent, Picnic Lukas, S!Wolt/Helbindi), and so not having to share my orb resources across two units helps me tremendously. I had such a pain trying to get *all* of the Y1 male seasonals because there would often be two of them, and they would often be color sharing at that (Spring Chrom & Winter Chrom, Summer Xander/Leo & Frederick/Gaius, Halloween Jakob/Henry, etc). 

Men in gatchas getting in the short end of the quantity stick, and likely the 5* quality stick (but not always), is bad. But you are right it does come with the flipside of making it easier to pass on banners and get what you want if you want something.

I recently experienced this with the Dragalia Lost summer banners myself, didn't have to spend anything for my Randal, and only a few dozen single-summon vouchers for my Luca (they're 4* Seasonals- yes FEH, those ARE possible).

[silverserpent]

Considering that both Dancer banners have had a 50/50 split in both gender and game representation, I'm betting this will follow that trend. Since we have Berkut and Rinea, that is 1) One game represented and 2) one Male and one female character. It'd be nice if the other pair wasn't a romantic couple, but instead Nils and Ninian trying out different forms of human dancing. 

Possible pairs:

Zeke/Tatiana: Unlikely, imo, since Berkut/Rinea are from their game as well. 

Nils/Ninian: A good possibility, one is a character not in the game yet that is in high demand and the other's last alt was last year. They're also from a different game the confirmed couple.

Gerik/Tethys: Possible as they are a pair and one is a dancer already. Gerik would fit for IS' uncomfortable character as I don't picture him doing well in a formal setting. Tethys would likely taunt and tease him about it.

Dimitri/Edelgard: I'd hate to see this for my wallet's sake, but it seems like the most likely move. We all know about the ballroom cutscene. I did find it odd that while the students talked about getting made up and fancy, the scene itself shows them in their uniforms. This could represent what the ball was actually supposed to look like.

Merric/Elice: I kinda got lost in Shadow Dragon, but I have seen mention that they get married. As Elice is a Princess, it would stand to reason that she'd know dancing, as would Merric to woo her. If IS chooses to throw some Altean love out there, I imagine this will be duo they gift it to.

[Vince777]

I'd be one to be a little pissed if Gerik's first appearance was a dancer. 

What about Elphin/Lalum?

[GrandeRampel]

4 hours ago, Tybrosion said:

@GrandeRampel NPC, last I checked, stands for non-player character. Boss characters, assuming they don’t defect and join your party later, very much qualify as NPCs as far as I’m concerned.

Okay, but in that case your statement about how NPCs deserve to get the alt only treatment, or even better to never get in the game at all means that there are currently 27 characters (Gharnef, Clarisse, Legion, Berkut, Duma, Eldigan, Ishtar, Julius, Arvis, Reinhardt, Zephiel, Narcian, Idunn, Lloyd, Linus, Ursula, Lyon, Valter, Greil, Zelgius, Yune, Grima, Naga, Mikoto, Garon, Kronya, Death Knight) plus the almost confirned Rinea, that you think should have never been in this game.

It must be rough for you having to deal with so many wasted slots. And I don't even now how you feel about characters that are playable but are in Heroes as their NPCs selves, such as Hardin, Mareeta and Camus (an egregious example, since he has not one, but two playable versions and yet they decided to give us the NPC version instead).

Nevermind the characters that have the role of NPCs in Heroes itself and yet received a summonable version, like Surtr, Loki, Helbindi and Hrid.

[Tybrosion]

49 minutes ago, GrandeRampel said:

Okay, but in that case your statement about how NPCs deserve to get the alt only treatment, or even better to never get in the game at all means that there are currently 27 characters (Gharnef, Clarisse, Legion, Berkut, Duma, Eldigan, Ishtar, Julius, Arvis, Reinhardt, Zephiel, Narcian, Idunn, Lloyd, Linus, Ursula, Lyon, Valter, Greil, Zelgius, Yune, Grima, Naga, Mikoto, Garon, Kronya, Death Knight) plus the almost confirned Rinea, that you think should have never been in this game.

It must be rough for you having to deal with so many wasted slots. And I don't even now how you feel about characters that are playable but are in Heroes as their NPCs selves, such as Hardin, Mareeta and Camus (an egregious example, since he has not one, but two playable versions and yet they decided to give us the NPC version instead).

Nevermind the characters that have the role of NPCs in Heroes itself and yet received a summonable version, like Surtr, Loki, Helbindi and Hrid.

Huh, funny. I never recall saying that I actively want every NPC to get the alt-only treatment, and that’s probably because I both never said that and don’t want that. I only agreed that I wouldn’t be torn up about an NPC getting that treatment. Next time, don’t put words in my mouth please.

[Mercakete]

It's weird seeing people think that Berkut and Rinea don't have any depth. Berkut's one of the deepest characters in the whole series, I think. I always thought people just didn't like them from a personal morality standpoint. And they certainly didn't fall in love just from a dance.

Shadows of Valentia spoilers to follow:

Spoiler

Rinea was from an impoverished noble house, and found herself at an imperial ball. She was being a wallflower, for the most part, feeling rather out of place...but she had always admired Berkut. Besides the "prince charming fantasy" that some girls are prone to, It's no secret that he worked tirelessly in Rigel's military affairs, racking up victories and proving his strength and skill over and over again. Doubtless, he'd built up quite the reputation: the indomitable prince who fights for Rigel, and exemplifies strength (which is the country's dominant virtue, partially because of the harsh living conditions, and partially because, well, Duma.) And then, as she was standing there, amazed that she was there at all, she sees him. The one she admires so much, and probably fantasized about. And then, he looks right at her...and, over all the other ladies, asks her to dance. It's not unlike a version of Cinderella where she's treated better at home and lives in a country with a more violent social climate. This is their first interaction, and why ballroom dancing is so personal for them: it's how they met.

Berkut, meanwhile, lived his whole life trying to earn the approval of his uncle. Besides the natural urge to feel approved of by people we look up to (especially as children, approval from our parental figures), he was to succeed him, as far as he knew, and likely wanted to meet the expectations that came with the position of Emperor of Rigel. That meant pursuing military might, tactical acumen, and courtly etiquette. Above all, combat ability and the ability to lead in a military campaign were critical. I can imagine how hard things must have been for him. Every time he thought he did well, hoping to see a look of approval from his uncle's face, he was met with indifference. Every attempt to be recognized was thwarted. He didn't know that it was probably because Rudolf felt bad about how hard Berkut was working, knowing that he wasn't the true successor: a secret he couldn't afford to share. Meeting someone who believed in him and admired him with such purity must have come as a relief to Berkut, not to mention that I don't doubt he thought she was beautiful. She was someone who recognized his efforts and successes. She maybe made him feel like everything he was doing wasn't as futile as he'd imagined. Everyone needs someone to support them in life, and he likely felt that from Rinea.

That is the foundation of their relationship, not that pedistalling is a healthy thing, but it wasn't as though they were being dishonest, either. Rinea sincerely admired Berkut, and Berkut sincerely appreciated the support. Berkut is the sort to give his all in accomplishing his aims, though.

So, when he found out that Alm -- the one person who marred his battle record and reputation, the one person who pushed him back and thwarted his conquest -- was actually the one to inherit what he'd been led to believe would be his and what he had spent his entire life striving to be worthy of...he snapped. The one he'd been trying to gain the approval of had been lying to him about what would be his, and never once gave him approval. His efforts were never enough because all his life, what he'd strived to achieve had always been out of reach. It had been promised to another, and not just anyone, but to the one who thwarted him time and again. In an instant, Berkut realized that his life had been one big lie filled with futility. He strove to be strong, but Alm defeated him. He strove to be worthy of the throne that had been promised to Alm. He tried to conquer Zofia, but was stopped by Alm. Because everything was cast into uncertainty at best and predominant futility, he could no longer trust anything that he had been sure of in the past. This is why, even though he'd argued against Jedah before, he was now at a point where all he wanted to do was kill the one he saw as the source of his misery: Alm.

He turned on achieving his own power (a value he'd upheld for the most part, but had been slipping from throughout the story to a reliance on Duma's unnatural power) and threw the entirety of his past away, (Rinea included) in order to achieve as much power as he could so that he could accomplish this last aim. He didn't see a future for himself anymore, and because he'd been so lied to, he wasn't sure he trusted Rinea anymore either. Given his broken mental state, it was a natural and easy choice to make: one made in the heat of the moment by a broken man, filled with rage and a desire for vengeance, having been raised to idealize power. Rinea, who was trusting to the end, tried to reason with Berkut, but he was too far gone. Fernand had the good sense to run away, but couldn't escape with his life. Rinea: the one hope Berkut had of returning to a normal life, had to be sacrificed in order for this other fate to be realized: the one in which he had Duma's power so that he could oppose Alm once more.

It was the sacrifice demanded, not only of Berkut, but of everyone who made a deal with crazy!Duma. Jedah sacrificed his daughters, all witches sacrificed their souls, and even Celica's soul was sacrificed to make witch!Celica. I guess there's something about lady souls...but maybe it's because, even crazy, Duma misses his sister, and in some way, is trying to establish some sort of brother-sister feeling again...by hoarding lady souls.

But anyway, that's all the why's about it. It's actually really well-developed throughout the story, it's just not spelled out for the player.

Anyway, after Berkut's power is spent, Rinea escapes and returns to embrace him. Out of energy, and dying himself, Berkut is pulled back into his right mind and out of his grief by her gentle forgiveness. Forgiveness begets humility, which begets forgiveness, which is why Berkut is able to let go of his hatred for Alm, and make peace with him just before he dies. And so, both are able to rest in peace.

Berkut's side-story is my absolute favorite in Shadows of Valentia, and I believe the game is as much about him as it is about Alm. (Not including Celica here because she's a bit of a third wheel when talking about these two's dichotomy.) I do love a good tragedy. ❤️ 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Mercakete

[Espurrhoodie]

6 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

It's weird seeing people think that Berkut and Rinea don't have any depth. Berkut's one of the deepest characters in the whole series, I think. I always thought people just didn't like them from a personal morality standpoint. And they certainly didn't fall in love just from a dance.

Shadows of Valentia spoilers to follow:

  Hide contents

Rinea was a commoner, as I recall (either that or she was from a poor noble family, but I'm pretty sure she was actually a commoner) and though I don't remember exactly how she got there, Rinea found herself at a ball. She was being a wallflower, for the most part, feeling rather out of place...but she had always admired Berkut. Besides the "prince charming fantasy" that some girls are prone to, It's no secret that he worked tirelessly in Rigel's military affairs, racking up victories and proving his strength and skill over and over again. Doubtless, he'd built up quite the reputation: the indomitable prince who fights for Rigel, and exemplifies strength (which is the country's dominant virtue, partially because of the harsh living conditions, and partially because, well, Duma.) And then, as she was standing there, amazed that she was there at all, she sees him. The one she admires so much, and probably fantasized about. And then, he looks right at her...and, over all the other ladies, asks her to dance. It's not unlike a version of Cinderella where she's treated better at home and lives in a country with a more violent social climate. This is their first interaction, and why ballroom dancing is so personal for them: it's how they met.

Berkut, meanwhile, lived his whole life trying to earn the approval of his uncle. Besides the natural urge to feel approved of by people we look up to (especially as children, approval from our parental figures), he was to succeed him, as far as he knew, and likely wanted to meet the expectations that came with the position of Emperor of Rigel. That meant pursuing military might, tactical acumen, and courtly etiquette. Above all, combat ability and the ability to lead in a military campaign were critical. I can imagine how hard things must have been for him. Every time he thought he did well, hoping to see a look of approval from his uncle's face, he was met with indifference. Every attempt to be recognized was thwarted. He didn't know that it was probably because Rudolf felt bad about how hard Berkut was working, knowing that he wasn't the true successor: a secret he couldn't afford to share. Meeting someone who believed in him and admired him with such purity must have come as a relief to Berkut, not to mention that I don't doubt he thought she was beautiful. She was someone who recognized his efforts and successes. She maybe made him feel like everything he was doing wasn't as futile as he'd imagined. Everyone needs someone to support them in life, and he likely felt that from Rinea.

That is the foundation of their relationship, not that pedistalling is a healthy thing, but it wasn't as though they were being dishonest, either. Rinea sincerely admired Berkut, and Berkut sincerely appreciated the support. Berkut is the sort to give his all in accomplishing his aims, though.

So, when he found out that Alm -- the one person who marred his battle record and reputation, the one person who pushed him back and thwarted his conquest -- was actually the one to inherit what he'd been led to believe would be his and what he had spent his entire life striving to be worthy of...he snapped. The one he'd been trying to gain the approval of had been lying to him about what would be his, and never once gave him approval. His efforts were never enough because all his life, what he'd strived to achieve had always been out of reach. It had been promised to another, and not just anyone, but to the one who thwarted him time and again. In an instant, Berkut realized that his life had been one big lie filled with futility. He strove to be strong, but Alm defeated him. He strove to be worthy of the throne that had been promised to Alm. He tried to conquer Zofia, but was stopped by Alm. Because everything was cast into uncertainty at best and predominant futility, he could no longer trust anything that he had been sure of in the past. This is why, even though he'd argued against Jedah before, he was now at a point where all he wanted to do was kill the one he saw as the source of his misery: Alm.

He turned on achieving his own power (a value he'd upheld for the most part, but had been slipping from throughout the story to a reliance on Duma's unnatural power) and threw the entirety of his past away, (Rinea included) in order to achieve as much power as he could so that he could accomplish this last aim. He didn't see a future for himself anymore, and because he'd been so lied to, he wasn't sure he trusted Rinea anymore either. Given his broken mental state, it was a natural and easy choice to make: one made in the heat of the moment by a broken man, filled with rage and a desire for vengeance, having been raised to idealize power. Rinea, who was trusting to the end, tried to reason with Berkut, but he was too far gone. Fernand had the good sense to run away, but couldn't escape with his life. Rinea: the one hope Berkut had of returning to a normal life, had to be sacrificed in order for this other fate to be realized: the one in which he had Duma's power so that he could oppose Alm once more.

It was the sacrifice demanded, not only of Berkut, but of everyone who made a deal with crazy!Duma. Jedah sacrificed his daughters, all witches sacrificed their souls, and even Celica's soul was sacrificed to make witch!Celica. I guess there's something about lady souls...but maybe it's because, even crazy, Duma misses his sister, and in some way, is trying to establish some sort of brother-sister feeling again...by hoarding lady souls.

But anyway, that's all the why's about it. It's actually really well-developed throughout the story, it's just not spelled out for the player.

Anyway, after Berkut's power is spent, Rinea escapes and returns to embrace him. Out of energy, and dying himself, Berkut is pulled back into his right mind and out of his grief by her gentle forgiveness. Forgiveness begets humility, which begets forgiveness, which is why Berkut is able to let go of his hatred for Alm, and make peace with him just before he dies. And so, both are able to rest in peace.

Berkut's side-story is my absolute favorite in Shadows of Valentia, and I believe the game is as much about him as it is about Alm. (Not including Celica here because she's a bit of a third wheel when talking about these two's dichotomy.) I do love a good tragedy. ❤️ 

Rinea was from an impoverished noble house.

[Mercakete]

1 hour ago, Espurrhoodie said:

Rinea was from an impoverished noble house.

Thanks for the clarification! I'll edit to make sure that's accurate.

[Espurrhoodie]

2 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

Thanks for the clarification! I'll edit to make sure that's accurate.

It was either an impoverished house or a lesser house. Can't remember which one atm.

[Humanoid]

I never thought Berkut was particularly well-integrated into the Gaiden story. For one, it raises some serious doubts about Rudolf's sincerity when you see how he treats (and presumably raised) Berkut. Without Berkut existing, Rudolf becomes a significantly more believable character. So yeah, not only do I not believe he added any value whatsoever to the story, I feel that by his mere existence he actively damaged it.

As for dancers, eh, I find myself using an average of maybe three dancers per AA run these days (not trying too hard to be fair because I end up safely in the 10-20k bracket regardless of performance). They'd need to be something truly special for me to go out of my way to summon for them, i.e. Lazura.