Eltosian Kadath

Small piece of advice, keep a bow as a side weapon just to control the aggro some enemies, activating those guys one at a time with the bow, and switching to your melee weapon to deal with them individually instead of taking them on all at once.

And having less strength (or equal depending on how you are rounding and which level) at the same level on average... I find this utility massively overshadowed by the starting maid/butler thanks to their use of the same weapon type and early access to tomebreaker. The only utility advantage he has over them is the locktouch (whereas they start with the massive advantage of staff use), and the extra movement Niles class gets over Kaze makes him worse than Niles for locktouch utility as well (not to mention the power of capture utility), which is an awkward position to be in given his combat stats are what people dislike in Niles, but moreso. Sure you might use your fist heart seal on Jakob, but if you use that on Mozu, or have Felicia, its hard not to look at him as a bit overshadowed in the utility department by units you get earlier. I guess I banned the prepromoted royals from my runs on my first Lunatic run, so I haven't really seen what it is like on Lunatic. Hinata's group is entirely optional to face (as long as you have a flyer), and if you do want to fight him, their linked AI makes them very vulnerable to Shelter-Dance strats. He will literally sit there waiting for you to kill him as long as you shelter-dance whoever attacked him (and the support needed for the shelter dances) far enough back afterwards. Depends on where you are using your entrap uses, as the last time I beat that chapter the long way I only used one freeze use, but I could imagine needing a full one on that map if you can't afford to use an entrap staff to break the lunge blender in Saizo's half. Ugh... that sounds believable, but not rescue skipping as much of that mess as you can feels like a mistake in planning.

Yeah, utility is difficult to compare to combat, and I kinda agree that his utility can be a lot more useful (although it really depends on play style, and willingness to use the capture mechanics), but she will massively outclass him as a combat unit (...eventually). Did you have some specific uses in mind later on, or is this just that you find them more useful later in a general sense? A use or two to recruit Haitaka sounds like a good trade to me given the number of freeze uses you get. The Kaze comparison always baffles me, as he deals significantly less damage than Niles does, for utility that is worse than Nile's (although Kaze has more immediate short term payoffs as opposed to Nile's large long-term payoffs I suppose), while Shura has the problem of missing out on those early Shura skin boots if you use him ...

A big part of that is the game was given an impossible deadline (1 year as opposed to the 4ish years that Ocarina of Time took) to get this out as part of a famous bet/challenge, and the reused assets were one of the ways they made that possible. I know I have posted this video here before, but the creation of MM is an interesting story

I think I know part of the issue then, DS2 is a lot more into setting up traps, where you need to pay a LOT more attention to avoid, or carefully arranged aggros, where you can really draw in a lot more enemies than you can easily deal with if you aren't careful, which feels a lot more antagonistic of the game...I guess it was also specifically advertised as difficult, which leads to that perception as well. As for hitboxes, they have always been a little wonky, even in DS1. I don't remember the Lost Sinner being any trouble at all...Did you light the oil beacons that light up the Lost Sinner's arena before the fight, or did you face her in the dark? I am fairly certain they scale (with Soul Memory as opposed to level, which is something to be a bit careful about...), so whenever you feel like tackling it is as good a time as any, although there are three DLC levels, that are unlocked with items you find in the game. I will also note that each of the DLC levels has a section designed with co-op in mind, which can be annoying to deal with solo (although I have done all of them solo before...). Modded Fates in particular it seems Give her some time, her growths beat out all of Niles (barring Magic and Resistance) so she will pass him eventually, plus the archer line's skills lead towards things more directly related to her combat, whereas the skills of the outlaw line give utility that people massively underappreciated, which helps her image even more... Its comments like these that make me wonder if the Niles haters really use him...

Yeah, he is one of the toughest boss for the time that you fight him... Personally I went with the Bone Scythe Boss weapon. Do you think its a gameplay, or story/setting thing? Interesting...neither of these was quiet what I was expecting. I think I will end up rambling about the story, and its themes once you reach Vendrick...

Heroes is kinda built around the FE multiverse idea, and explores the idea of alternate versions of characters very explicitly with alts.

Seems my return was well timed

Is this your first run through Fates? What difficulty? Are you going to use best mage, and the amazing loot from her paralogue?...sorry to overload on questions, but Conquest runs are interesting. That is a bit of a shame, as she becomes a combat monster in her own right, but I think a common thing to do. Fun fact, on my very first Conquest run I paired Xander with Charlotte, but I liked attack stance too much to glue her to the back of Xander, and by the end, she was a dramatically better combat unit than Xander it wasn't funny. She could kill anything she looked at, even with attack stance hits, while Xander just got doubled...

Much as I like DS2, it is considered the black sheep of the series for a reason. Hopefully it manages to grow on you (and the moment you meet Vendrick is one of my favorite moments in the series). Oddly enough this was where I started the series, and ended up working backwards, so when I finally got to DS1 I found it kinda underwhelming compared to DS3 (DS2 was a very different and interesting beast...) Ah yes, the one where I discovered over 90% of the map, and hit capped level before following the story to that radio bloke, and not for lack of trying, there was just always something more interesting just off the path to check out "along the way". I feel that statement captured what was good and bad about Fallout 3 nicely...

It has been a busy month since I was last around, but hopefully things are quieting down a little. Nice! I hope you wind up enjoying them! Which Fallout game?

The double negative is a little confusing, but I do think those two events are similar.

It does if you ignore what Slayde actually says. Alm was the driving factor in the Deliverance taking Zofia Castle, and Slayde states his motives for his actions as the fall of Zofia Castle. I already conceded that the possibility of killing Slayde for a better outcome was me reading into things. Alm's resolve to take Zofia Castle leads to Slayde hurting Delthea. Sure it is indirect, and the game suggests no alternate outcome that magically invalidates all the meaning it could possibly have, but it still fits the paradigm. Wasn't the singular example I had, I was just pointing out that the specific hypothetical example you were using for how you would want things to be done in SoV, is something the games already does, although more indirectly than it sounds like you wanted, although... ...How else would Alm's actions result in a villain kidnapping Delthea? What did you want from this Delthea hypothetical?

...man the RNG really hates you. Hopefully you took advantage of this being a hack to use a save state to tell that no saving between maps to fu- Well parts of maps I guess. Also the unreachable sieges sound annoying, unless the game is very generous with good staves, or there are large holes in their coverage, like in FE7's final map.

You asked for positive, or well rounded characters, and most of these would fall under positive at least. If the example you used of Masena was meant to be a well rounded character, than most pass that low bar, which feels appropriate seeing as your premise about excluding player characters invalidated well over 90% of all characters one could seriously consider well rounded in the entire series, and well rounded is subjective enough that the argument that no well rounded characters exist in the franchise at all isn't out of the question. This wasn't what you were asking for before, but there are some. From the young fisherman complaining about how the war is keeping Rigel from dealing with real problems, to some of the people in the Sage's complaints about what the experiments of the Duma faithful have done to the environment, or the one that sacrifices himself to share the secret of Jedah's immortality. Although if you meant specifically suffering because of Alm's invasion, than not really, but as I said before, they could have done a better job here. You might have missed that I literally quoted the game. This isn't coming from headcanon, it is a part of the game that everyone experiences, which was the point of that statement. You can question my interpretation, or the importance of that quote, but you can't just headcanon away quotes from the game. It a small bit of bad that came with a large helping of good. Most acts have a smattering of both, and the important thing is to weigh their importance. Although leaving the kids alone to be kidnapped wasn't the best of looks... That is a fair point, although Slayde is rather explicit about the reason behind his actions... That is not entirely the case, as I learned the hard way in my ironman, although it is late into the fight before he starts moving. Map ambushes are rather worrying...yeah quite a few units died to those on my ironman...speaking of which I should get back to that. Extra witch reinforcements on the witch spawning map...yeah that doesn't sound fun. ...RIP, I guess you will have to hit up the revival waters in the Fear Mountain Shrine.

And that previous king was a bit of a monster that was more unfit to rule than Desiax is, and just as happy to have Slayde in his employ. Rigel had some valid grievances with how Lima IV treated them, and they didn't even annex the place outright, just install a Zofian ruler that was willing to work with them. If the Deliverance had anyone...AT ALL... to put on the throne, maybe it wouldn't seem so morally dubious, but they don't, and they were perfectly willing to work with knights that have proven just as rogue as Slayde in the form of Fernand. At this point the Deliverance is fighting for the legacy and "honor" of Lima IV, and even after they invade Rigel itself, they leave Zofia without a ruler at all... Slayde might, or might not have arranged the kidnapping at some other time, but Alm certainly created the situation that makes it convenient for Slayde to do so now, and he is culpable for his part in this event.

To put this all in a less Fire emblem comparison, Peter Parker didn't kill Uncle Ben, but he recognized how his own actions led to that event, and feels guilt for being an indirect cause of it. Alm's justifications for taking Zofia Castle are at best morally dubious, and some harm resulted from. Sure he didn't do the deed against Delthea himself, but he drove Slayde into that desperate corner. As for the Lyn comment, it is her fault for negotiating for Araphen's aid in the conflict between her and Lundgren, and making him and his lands a target. Lord Araphen makes that fairly clear in his dialogue as well. Note that Lundgren didn't burn down Kathleet when Lyn passed through it (twice...) and Lyn is overjoyed Eliwood ensured the other houses wouldn't get involved. She wasn't the primary cause, but an indirect one.

Other than the inhabitants of the Sage's Hamlet, plus the people of the Rigelian village, although one could argue they were in a similar position to Zeke and Tatiana. I suppose I could add the Rigellian sailors that were being held in Barth's pirate fortress to the list as well. Perhaps I am reading between the lines by hinting that Alm could have killed Slayde, but the game does treat it as partially Alm's fault through Slayde's lines Slayde is fairly explicit that the reason he had to defect and give away the secret of Delthea was because Alm's forces kicked them out of Zophia Castle. Indirect for sure, but still some clear fault on the side of Alm. If Alm hadn't taken Zophia castle, Delthea would not have been kidnapped. As for Alm not learning about it, not learning about critical information he should is one of his more notable features...

I seem to remember her getting the tome for the first one he captures.

Fair enough. Huh, I never thought there HP was much of a problem, although they don't give you much time to safely attack/heal. Although I will note that Kalameet is the most obnoxious creature in the world to try and get the tail cut on thanks to him only leaving it vulnerable after one attack he rarely does... Shrug, once you learn his pattern well enough its fun, but the process of learning it is down right obnoxious. Fun fact, after saving smol Sif you can find his summon sign in the middle of the Manus boss fight arena and can summon doggo to help out. Glad you found something you liked in the DLC, and congratulations! Yes, if you have the Darkmoon Seance ring you can wear it to gain access to his fight without attacking Gwynevere. Good Luck, although I get the funny feeling you will have similar complaints to the Artorias fight, as I thought the two were rather similar...

It could have done a better job of it, but it partially does this by trying to break down the barrier between Rigelian and enemy. The Dileverance and Rigel both have motivations for this war which aren't clearly good or evil, but lying in the moral grey. The villagers are all a clever look at why faceless mooks would fight in a war, even if it has questionable motives, like wanting to help support their family financially (like Tobin), taking advantage of the only opportunity they have to see the world outside their home town (like Kliff), buying into all the masculine rhetoric about war (like Gray), or simply devotion to a charismatic leader (like Faye). Plus Celica spells it out in their argument Alm may be othering the Rigelians, but the audience isn't necessarily supposed to. It partially is Alm's fault Delthea was enslaved, the Rigelians only learn about Delthea because Alm defeating Desaix at Zophia castle without finishing off Slayde, which convinced Slayde to defect to Rigel, and use the secret of her to secure his defection. If players weren't expected to experience it, it wouldn't have been made. The whole permadeath system is there because the devs don't expect people to play perfectly, and those imperfections will create a story unique to them, and that is by design, so why should this be so different? Plus the weight of its possibility has an impact on you, thanks to the ways you have to change your play to compensate for the trigger of these events. I think a big part of that is that Alm's flaws break a lot of expectations that have been ingrained in a lot of moralistic fiction. First he is a charismatic, handsome, and likeable guy, despite the longstanding tropes of beauty and charisma being tied to goodness. I rather appreciated that about Alm, him being charismatic, but flawed, as a lot of fiction primes us to equate the two to our detriment, or undermine the trope by making them full on evil, rather than the more nuanced approach here. Second is the "even once" sort of logic that undermines all of weight of the drug PSAs (although it is common in a lot of stories with morals). It feels far more true to life, as just like drug use, Alm's flaws don't lead to disaster every time, but it sure does make them more likely, and unless he corrects that flaw, disaster eventually becomes unavoidable. A part of his flaw is that it can be covered for by the player's capabilities, but that is why people, Alm included, often have to reach a rock bottom before they realize they need to fix things. Third is that it isn't an emotional flaw. There is that long standing cliche about good character's flaw being tied to a strong emotion, run rampant but that isn't what Alm has.

I think I know what you mean, as the two character's flaws are profoundly different, and I have that same sorta difficulty when I try to put Alm's flaw into words. I can put forth all this evidence for it, but its like I don't have the right word for it. Sometimes it gets shortened to recklessness, but its something quite different from that, and I can't quite put my finger on what the right word is. I may have made a judgement that these two characters and their flaws, but how well can I compare an apple to a fruit I don't know the name of? Celica's issues are a lot more emotional, personal, and easy to comprehend, while Alm's feel more detached and...negligent?

That is annoying, but you can just leave out the other exit and reenter to get access to all of your stuff. Plus Alm realized how cruel his comments were given who she actually was... Alm is wrong so many times that I have a hard time comprehending this feeling that he is always right. Take that first argument where Celica is criticize him for leading a war and Celica rightly calls him out for it, and its not like he doesn't know how much of a scumbucket Lima IV is. At the very least Celica does most of the stupid stuff she does trying to help people, and most of her stupid decision are made with the idea that most of the consequences will be for her personally, whereas Alm knows the consequences of his actions will mainly fall on others. The game regularly shows that Alm's ignorance, and "accidents" are the results of his own actions. Alm knew the questions he could have asked before he put his foot in it. Even if Alm didn't hear Desaix's final words due to dumb story reasons Alm knew Clive figured something out after Desaix's death about Alm, and he doesn't press Clive on this secret he "can't share". The game makes perfectly clear that Alm could have known if he wanted to in both of these cases. This was about as accidental as crashing a car while blindfolded. Or lets look at the time he decided to trust Clive's judgement about invading Rigel. This is shortly after that time he didn't trust Clives judgement because it would result in the unnecessary death of innocents. Not to mention Clive lead this army to disaster after disaster and is part of why Alm became the leader of this army. He has plenty of reason not to trust Clives judgement on military affairs like this, and yet he does.

Well done! Chester really is a jerk, glad he didn't catch you off guard. Uh-oh...hopefully you didn't lose too much progress...