Integ's Axes Playthrough!

[Integrity]

Berzerk staffers. AGH. I had Mr. McSleepStaff land two hits in a row in my first failed run of C9. Oddly, a sleeping Ross and a sleeping Garcia cannot protect themselves, each other, or Ephraim.

[Anouleth]

Yeah, Berserk staff is annoying. I don't know if it would even be possible to recruit Rennac in Father and Son... I guess you could deploy some naked Cavs and let them take the Berserks for you. Getting to buy Killer Axes would be really helpful.

[Integrity]

hm. I'm...not sure how to recruit Rennac. I intend to recruit all recruitable characters but we'll see.

Obviously there's the option of savescum-until-ross-dodges-everything :P

[CT075]

Give Ephraim something useless and have him take Berserks. Or you could use Pure Waters. Because save scumming is for pansies.

I want to know how you're gonna beat Lyon. 40 damage a hit = HOREE SHEET.

[Integrity]

Gentlemen.

I want you all to know how I'm not looking forward to this.

C12 pre-game: I abuse the fact that I have so much money and stock up on weapons. I've almost run out of Iron Axes. I amend that, buy a couple of Hammers for shits and giggles, restock my Vulneraries, and buy some Chest Keys.

CHAPTER 12: THE FUCKING PHANTOM SHIP

[spoiler=the ship]Turn 1 : shit yes I have Duessel. I mostly just bask in this. Duessel rescues Ephraim and Ross and Garcia build 3 support points.

Turn 1x: iuno nothing happens.

Turn 2 : Same as above, except + Ross kills a Gargoyle.

Turn 2x: Two more Gargoyles die, and Duessel misses a Beholder.

Turn 3 : Ephraim speaks the most badass quip in Fire Emblem history.

They've pulled alongside us... Those creatures are trying to board! That's fine--it'll bring 'em within reach of my lance. Push them back! Board their ship and seize the blasted thing!

I love that guy.

Ross and Garcia immediately comply. Duessel kills the Beholder.

Turn 3x: The most fucking glorious fast-forwarded slaughter we'll have until Rausten Court appears.

Turn 4 : I find the southern zombie boss has 57 HP. Wow. Garcia fails to 1RKO him by 1 point with a Hand Axe. Ross gets behind him and also equips a Hand Axe so they'll finish all the shooters.

Turn 4x: Like 3x, except I take some damage and Ross levels.

Turn 5 : Ross and Garcia each kill another enemy. Also, L'Arachel and therefore Dozla.

Turn 5x: More glorious slaughter and a 6-stat level for Ross. Also, a 4-stat for Garcy.

Turn 5xx: Dozla kills something and L'Arachel attempts to prevent her Critical Existence Failure.

Turn 6 : Duessel is tangled in with the boss Goyle now. Ross and Garcia charge towards L'Arachel.

Turn 6x: Duessel, mostly. Ross gets his licks in. Another 8 enemies die or so.

Turn 6xx: Repeat of 5xx.

Turn 7 : Ross and Garcia clear all of L'Arachel's assailants and Duessel runs towards them and drinks a Vulnerary.

Turn 7x: Shit tries to fight Duessel, dies.

Turn 7xx: Dozla kills something!

Turn 8 : Duessel kites towards the Renaisians.

Turn 8x: He only manages to counter-kill one Beholder. This does NOT feel like a ~65% displayed guys.

Turn 9 : Ross gets another kill, and items are jimmied about so everybody has a Hand Axe again. Duessel and Garcia heal.

Turn 9x: Duessel counters and kills more than usual.

Turn 10 : Duessel has 7 HP left heh. Ross, Garcia and Duessel each attack one enemy and the map ends?

Synopsis!

What the fuck? That was easy. Even with Duessel's pathetic roughly 45% hit chance with 65% displayed, that was easy. I even kept L'Arachel alive, despite her having a bit of a scuffle with a Goyle and a Beholder. Eheh. No matter! I have Ross, Garcia, Duessel, AND Dozla now! Only Gerik to go, and he's in one more chapter yet.

Stats!

Garcia  2.48  42|22|17|14|10|12|7  B Ross
Ross    6.27  42|23|18|16|18|16|6  B Garcia
Duessel 9.25  41|18|12|12| 8|17|9
Dozla   1.00  Base

EDIT: lol it was actually Chapter 11, but whatever.

Edited June 6, 2010 by Integrity

[Oblivion Knight]

You're going to have an easier time now thanks to more units. Of course that was expected.

Also I ALWAYS had problems with that chapter, good you didn't with like 1/4 of the unit amount I used. lol

Edited June 8, 2010 by Feury

[Integrity]

Well, frankly, I think the next few chapters bar the Berzerk Staff parts are going to be just romps. I don't think any real difficulty is going to pick up again until C17 and that's only because I'll have four slow units and one mediocre unit to try to rescue the villagers.

[Anouleth]

Why bother? Rescue staff is loluseless. And Ross can clamber over and kill Lyon pretty quickly with some help from Tethys and a Pure Water. Thwack the Swordmaster with a Swordslayer if he's in your way. Make sure to have Syrene buy some Swordreavers for Last Hope.

[BBM]

Can't you just visit the shop after the battle? Also, I'm pretty sure no Tethys. I would think Chapter 18 would still be harder, with a small amount of units and no flyers and stuff. The Eggs further away will hatch for sure.

[Integrity]

Why bother? Rescue staff is loluseless. And Ross can clamber over and kill Lyon pretty quickly with some help from Tethys and a Pure Water. Thwack the Swordmaster with a Swordslayer if he's in your way. Make sure to have Syrene buy some Swordreavers for Last Hope.

No Tethys, and I'm only doing it because I said I would and I haven't let a house get burned yet. :P

@BBM: C18 will be harder than 17, but I said the difficulty wouldn't pick back up 'til 17. 18's gonna be a bitch, and 19...actually, 19 probably won't be that bad.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Integrity

[Anouleth]

Can't you just visit the shop after the battle? Also, I'm pretty sure no Tethys. I would think Chapter 18 would still be harder, with a small amount of units and no flyers and stuff. The Eggs further away will hatch for sure.

The shop only stocks Reaver weapons in the actual battle, not in Map Mode.

[Integrity]

The shop only stocks Reaver weapons in the actual battle, not in Map Mode.

Confirmed. Reavers are purchasable from the overworld after Rausten Court (read: immediately before the endgame) but that's it.

-

Anyway, C12 time! No pre-game, really, since it kicks straight in from C11.

CHAPTER 12: RECRUITING MARISA

So, frankly, the play-by-plays are getting dull. I'll bring it back if there's an intense clamor for it, but I don't think there will be. Instead, highlights:

Dozla is shit, like usualalways. I'll have to pump some into him, but for now it seems he'll be a waller and that's about it.

Mages almost fucked me so many times and did manage to fuck me once. I need more Hand Axes.

Duracell, Garcia, and Dozla went up the right side of the map, and Ross went up the left alone. Ross got Ewan and aggroed Marisa, Marisa missed Ross twice (pathetic) in the forests to the north and Ewan got Marisa. Duracell slew the boss on Turn 16 and managed to get his Swordslayer (better than a reaver!)

Duracell had his usual "75% displayed is actually 40% true" hit luck for some God-awful reason. It's only with Hand Axes, I swear.

Nobody really gained any XP because monsters are worth next to nothing besides Bonewalkers (or whatever. promoted zombies) which are always worth 100 until you're like 20/15. And they're squishy as hell. Duracell got a four-stat level while fighting the boss which gave him the SPD to let him double on the last round even though I had Garcia ready to take the final hit.

SO!

Game time! I'm going to list the stats below, and you guys are going to tell me who I'm giving Ewan's Dragonshield to. Will it be Ross? Am I saving it for Gerik? Maybe it can pull Dozla out of the shitter (not likely.)?

Garcia   3.53  42|23|18|15|10|12|7  B Ross
Ross     6.95  42|23|18|16|18|16|6  B Garcia
Duessel 11.91  42|20|13|14| 8|18|9
Dozla    1.50  43|16|11| 9| 4|11|6

I really like my health levels.

[Scarlet]

Giving the dracoshield to Ross would seem like overkill to me. What he really needs is some Spd/Res.

I'd give it to Garcia, personally; it'll probably help him the most in the long run.

Also, I'm kind of wondering how you're going to deal with that crapton of Gorgons in C18. Elixirs and pure waters, maybe? With just 4 low-Mov units you'll never reach all the eggs in time, which obviously means that you'll probably have to eat quite a lot of shadowshots.

[Integrity]

Raymond, there isn't an emoticon to describe the pain the thought of C18 brings me.

However, I'll have 4 low-mov and 1 mediocre-move ;D

Edited June 9, 2010 by Integrity

[Anouleth]

Boots helps, you can probably clear out one corner before they hatch, but nothing more.

The eggs hatch fairly slowly, though. All 8 move units does is let you take them out before they even start wobbling.

[Integrity]

Maybe a hard split - Gerik down, Ross up, Garcia right then down, Duessel and Dozla straight right could get most/all of the eggs with Hand Axing?

Is it set which eggs hatch into Shadowshooters and which just have Demon's Eye or whatever the regular attack is called (Demon Surge?)? Actually, is that visible on the eggs themselves? I never looked. Demon Surgers can be countered with Hand Axes while I rush for Shadowshooters?

[Scarlet]

Raymond, there isn't an emoticon to describe the pain the thought of C18 brings me.

However, I'll have 4 low-mov and 1 mediocre-move ;D

Oh, right. I forgot that Gerik has yet to join. And I forgot about the boots, too.

But still, even with 4 6-Mov-units and 1 8-Mov-Unit, that simply won't work.

The eggs hatch fairly slowly, though. All 8 move units does is let you take them out before they even start wobbling.

Actually, even when I spam 8-Mov-units I usually still only manage to kill the farthest eggs only in the last turn before they hatch. And be it just because the boss is ridiculously dangerous with his Stone and a bunch of Baels next to him that are ready to roflstomp you if you get hit by it.

Maybe a hard split - Gerik down, Ross up, Garcia right then down, Duessel and Dozla straight right could get most/all of the eggs with Hand Axing?

I doubt that'll work; there's just too many. Like this, the south-eastern eggs will almost surely hatch, while Ross might get stomped by those enemies up there. Seriously, I mean it. Not even Seth managed to solo the north all by himself when I had him try to do so.

Is it set which eggs hatch into Shadowshooters and which just have Demon's Eye or whatever the regular attack is called (Demon Surge?)? Actually, is that visible on the eggs themselves? I never looked. Demon Surgers can be countered with Hand Axes while I rush for Shadowshooters?

I'm not sure if it's set, but since all the other story-chapters' enemies' inventories are set as well, I guess it would be the same here.

IIRC, you can see what weapon the Gorgons will initially have equipped when they hatch, but they can have more than one weapon. IIRC, most of them start with either Demon Surge or Shadow Shot equipped and then have the other of that or Stone in their second slot.

[Integrity]

Since exactly the only one vote went to Garcia, he got the Dragonshield. Congratulations man.

CHAPTER 13: DODGING BOLTING

Just so y'all know, Selena is pretty hot.

Turn 13 Duracell and Ross nail Selena and Dozla misses an Archer. Gerik kills it for the clear.

General strategy, Garcia plowed down the left side so Dozla could swim out to meet the Pirate Who Want To Raid the Southwestern Village. Duessel went right to give Gerik some axes, who promoted to Hero. Ross swam straight across the river and began dodging Selena's Bolting and working his way to the eastern village.

Dozla is as shitty as I remember him being last time I played. This makes me very happy. Dozla only doubles weighed down Pegasuses.

Firefox recognizes Pegasuses as a word. lol.

Duracell is utterly invincible. Fortunately, Dozla can afford to drink Vulneraries because Duracell doesn't take damage from anybody except Selena.

I still don't have a RossXGarcia A despite having had a B since God-knows-when.

-

Anyvay, stats:

Garcia    4.65  43|24|18|15|11|14| 7  B Ross
Ross      9.01  44|24|20|16|20|16| 6  B Garcia
Duessel  12.37  43|20|14|14| 8|18|10
Dozla     2.22  44|17|12|10| 4|12| 6
Gerik     1.91  36|15|15|15| 8|12| 6

Ross continues his scary patterns of stats.

Game time! I now have an Energy Ring, a Goddess Icon and a Talisman to burn. Who gets what?

[Psych]

I say toss it all on Gerik, it might help him some.

[Scarlet]

Nice work.

I now have an Energy Ring, a Goddess Icon and a Talisman to burn. Who gets what?

Energy Ring: Dunno. Maybe Duessel to drive him nearer to his cap, or Gerik to help him catch up.

Goddess Icon: If you care about Dozla, give it to him to eliminate those 2% crit rates he faces from some of the more "skilled" enemies. If you don't, I for one would give it to Garcia to help him dodge a bit more. Or to Duessel if you're paranoid about Shadowshot crits.

Talisman: Might want to toss that one on Duessel to prepare him for taking on those Gorgons in the lategame.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Raymond

[BBM]

Duessel's already got the best resistance. I'd say Ross for the Talisman.

[Scarlet]

Duessel's already got the best resistance. I'd say Ross for the Talisman.

That's right, but he'll need even more Res for those Gorgons. As I already said, they hit for like 35s; spreading your resistance equally between people isn't going to help there because their Atk is just way too high. You'll need a Res-tank to deal with them somewhat comfortably.

If Duessel gets somewhat lucky with his level ups and gets some more HP/Res, he might not even require pure water anymore to avoid being 2HKO'd by Gorgons.

[Anouleth]

Using Pure Water doesn't take long. I'd rather get Ross or Garcia to 'getting 3HKOed w/Pure Water' first.

[BBM]

Besides, they've all got 6 movement. It's not like one of them is going to be getting there first.

[Integrity]

Arright folks, Gerik got the Energy Ring. Garcia got the Goddess Icon and Ross got the Talisman. My reasonings:

Gerik needs the STR to catch up for damage, and he's already doubling as much as Garcia.

Duessel laughs at crits except evil magical crits. Garcia laughs at neither magical nor physical crits. Garcia can have the LCK.

Ross gets the Talisman because w/e extra RES on anybody is good and I like to favorite Ross.

I was going to give Dozla the Goddess Icon then I realized something. Dozla's luck is fucking TERRIBLE. Like, Knoll bad. SO, Dozla is going to bear the Hoplon Guard unless I specifically need it somewhere else, because +2 LCK isn't going to offset his epic shit luck.

Excelsior!

CHAPTER 14: FUCKING BERZERK AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

I sold all my promotion items for a quick 25k gold because I was running out of Vulneraries. Ack. Plus, I need 9.98k gold to recruit Rennac unless I want the nightmare of deploying Ephraim AND L'Arachel.

Ephraim is fucking LOADED with Chest Keys. I had to run away from a Spider Skirmish to clear them off Bethroen so I could visit the shop to make sure I had plenty. I also found you can buy Pure Water in Marisa's chapter.

Thunder just killed my power, but it's back promptly. Like, RL Thunder. Weird.

I had to load seven hundred or so savestates and burn an entire Pure Water to tank all the Berzerks with Duracell, and I still had to eat a Sleep on Dozla that actually took. That was enraging but I had caffeine, so it's okay? I'm a little twitchy now between little sleep and early caffeine. heh. heh.

I DRANK SO MANY VULNERARIES

Thanks to the Energy Ring, Gerik BARELY 1HKOs Shamans with a Steel Axe, making the Taking of the Central Treasure Room much, MUCH easier.

Turn 22 Ephraim Seized. I recruited Rennac, got all the chests, and killed Vigarde with an evil Ross and Garcia duo. I decided I'd weaken him with a Hand Axe on Garcy then finish with Ross's Hammer - then Garcy crit Vigarde. Elated by this, I send Ross in with his Iron Axe to have Vigarde proc Great Shield. Twice. On the EP, he missed Garcia and died anyway.

Dozla actually rolled a good level complete with RES.

The Frelian Messenger showed up. Lord she's good looking.

-

That was horrible, but I DID IT FUCKERS HA.

Garcia    6.78  44|25|19|16|13|14| 7  Ross B
Ross     10.68  44|25|20|16|21|17| 8  Garcia B
Duessel  12.99  43|20|14|14| 8|18|10
Dozla     3.21  45|17|13|11| 5|12| 7
Gerik     3.19  38|18|16|15| 9|14| 6

Stat boosters time, I looted an Angelic Robe. Call it!