screenshot Let's Play FE4 Binary: Where Hacking Goes To Get Hacked

[epilepsyduck]

Ah, that makes more sense. Curious to see what this tome is.

Trust me, it's worth the wait.

We may have already seen it.

All those new weapon rank possibilities are great but there are just not enough weapons to really take advantage of it. Especially not basic weapons since the hack replaced them with all kinds of special weapons instead. I suppose that for all the amazing thing this hack does, they still weren't able to add more items to it.

Yeah, it's a bit of a letdown how many potential promotions are rendered useless by the limit number of items we get, though I'd say it gets better in Gen 2. From what I've played of other FE4 hacks (mainly the Shin Patch and Tordo Revolution), that's a recurring problem, though I've found at least one that seems to have gotten around it somehow.

This update's mostly just promotions and inventory shuffling, I'm afraid, as well as a little more discussion on my Hetero Baby Making plans. Sorry for the wait for something so uninteresting, I promise the next update will contain actual gameplay.

Chapter 3 Part 1: A clash of the art styles

Since we've slaughtered pretty much everyone in the southern half of the country, Sigurd sets his sights northward, prepared to decimate all that remains of Agustria.

Shagaal hired an extremely unfashionable beard to deal with the problem, though, so hopefully this rampage will be stopped!

Also, Blue Dimaggio and Bow Adean argue over whether they're playing Robin Hood of the Sea or if they're actual pirates instead. I'm sure this can only lead to good things.

We had a lot of fun with your sudden aptitude, Diadora, but now we must wave farewell as you leave us for your amorous family reunion. See you at Belhalla!

Most of this update will be taking place right here. The war can wait, we have pitfighting and shopping to do!

Cuan will help me show off the kinds of fearsome foes available in the Arena, with Jamke handling the ranged variants. The first opponents are still a measly Social Knight and Arch Knight, easily dispatched as long as your name isn't Dew.

The next level brings up an Axe Knight, who's not a whole lot tougher.

The third levels presents no change in the melee arena, but a new class assignment in the ranged one, trading in a Bow Armor for a Bow Fighter.

That's nothing compared to the next opponent, though, who's gone from a mere Armor to a promoted class, Iron Mage. It's all the fun of the General class, combined with the unrelenting arcane might of a Mage Fighter! He prevented a lot of people from getting any further.

We can eventually get our own Iron Mages, but I'll save that for later.

Level 5 still brings us a Dark Mage. I always found that a bit weird, since dark magic is largely the magic of evil cultists in Jugdral, but I guess it's not the weirdest class to turn up in the arena, so I'll let it slide.

We've got another class swap here, where a male Duke Knight was fired and replaced with a female Paladin, one who seems to be cheating on her weapon ranks if that Hero Lance is any indication. She gets a Light Sword at range instead of a measly Javelin.

The final enemies are still a Great Knight and Bow Knight, but they've chucked their Hero weapons in favor of Killer ones.

There's a weird glitch that happens if Sylvia manages to reach this fight, where one of her strikes will randomly deal far more damage than it should, often killing her opponent outright. I can only assume this is some sort of overflow error or something.

Anyway, since my army's been really raking in the cash recently, I had them buy and sell the Elite Ring to each other, until everyone had used it and gotten as far as I could reasonably expect them to go. Below are the results of my tedious grinding adventure.

Arena Rankings and Level Ups:

ARENA COMPLETION- Cuan *, Jamke *, Beowulf *, Dew 4, Sigurd *, Lachesis *, Sylvia *, Fury *, Ira *, Levin *, Holyn *, Adean 6, Azel *, Arden 4, Noish 4, Fin *, Alec 4, Ethlin *, Diadora *, Midayle *

ARENA LEVELS-

Cuan: 4 levels- +4 MHP, +3 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Def

Bit of a shame he didn't nab a +2 MHP in there, but damn is he strong.

Jamke: 5 levels- +3 MHP, +4 Str, +2 Spd, +2 Luk, +1 Def, +1 Mdf

You may be trying to woo Adean with your good levels, but I've already put too much effort into getting her and Midayle paired to back out now. Besides, the bow he gets in Chapter 4 is better than the one you get.

Beowulf: 5 levels- +5 MHP, +1 Skl, +4 Str, +1 Spd, +3 Luk, +1 Def

I'm glad Beowulf keeps the strength rolling in. Wrath + Vantage is only useful if your crits can 1HKO things, after all.

Dew: 2 levels- +2 Skl, +1 Spd, +1 Mdf

I don't know why Midayle's 30% Strength growth has given me more than your 40%, Dew, but it needs to end.

Sigurd: 4 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +3 Str, +2 Spd, +2 Luk, +1 Def

Sigurd is Sigurd. Not much to say here.

Lachesis: 6 levels- +4 MHP, +2 Skl, +4 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Mgc, +1 Luk

One of these was an empty level, by the way. You're not always an easy unit to love, Lachesis.

Sylvia: 5 levels- +2 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Str, +1 Mgc, +1 Luk, +2 Mdf

Sylvia keeps lifting weights and getting stronger. Not enough to actually help, mind you, but it's something!

Fury: 6 levels- +1 MHP, +4 Skl, +1 Spd, +1 Luk +3 Def

Where did the sudden sturdiness come from? Not that I'm complaining.

Ira: 5 levels- +3 MHP, +2 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Luk, +2 Def, +1 Mdf

She'd already capped Skill by the time we started this, and she capped Speed too. You'll always be my favorite, Ira.

Levin: 5 levels- +4 MHP, +2 Spd, +2 Mgc, +2 Luk

In a playthrough where everyone's going against their averages, for good or for ill, Levin decides to play it safe.

Holyn: 5 levels- +4 MHP, +3 Skl, +2 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Luk, +1 Def

It's hard to think of anything interesting to say about all these levels, so I don't know why I force myself to.

Adean: 3 levels- +1 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Luk, +1 Def, +2 Mdf

That's okay I guess, but I'd appreciate some Magic eventually.

Azel: 6 levels- +4 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Spd, +2 Mgc, +1 Luk, +2 Def, +2 Mdf

This is certainly a varied platter of stats you've brought me, Azel. I believe he capped Speed here.

Arden: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +2 Str

Moving on.

Noish: 2 levels- +2 MHP, +1 Skl, +2 Str

I've always hated Noish, and he seems determined to keep it that way.

Fin: 5 levels- +3 MHP, +2 Skl, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +2 Luk, +2 Def

Not that you're doing much better, Fin.

Alec: 3 levels- +2 MHP, +3 Skl, +2 Spd, +1 Luk

*yawn*

Ethlin: 3 levels- +1 MHP, +2 Str, +1 Def, +1 Mdf

Ethlin knows I've picked the more physical promotion for her, and adjusts her stats accordingly.

Diadora: 5 levels- +2 MHP, +2 Skl, +1 Spd, +3 Mgc, +1 Mdf

She got 2 empty levels here. Way to end your tenure in my army on a whimper.

Midayle: 5 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +5 Str, +2 Spd, +1 Luk, +3 Def, +1 Mdf

I have no idea why you're doing so amazing recently, but please never stop.

Midayle was too broke to afford the Elite Ring, so I had Dew give him money, which also earned Dew +1 Str, +1 Skl, +1 Spd. Finally, maybe you can damage things one day at this rate.

We have no less than five promotions to take care of, so let's get the ball rolling. Azel will start us off, as he's got three options to pick from.

Azel's default pick is still Mage Knight. The boosts give +1 Skl, +4 Str, +1 Spd, +3 Mgc, +4 Def, +2 Mdf, +4 Mov, and he gains not only B Swords and B Anima (with Fire boosted to A), but also C Staves, which he could never wield before.

His second choice is Mage Fighter, granting +4 Skl, +4 Str, +4 Spd, +5 Mgc, +4 Def, +2 Mdf, +1 Mov. He gains C Light in addition to all the same weapon ranks as Mage Knight, and additionally gains Continue.

His third promotion is the newly-discovered Iron Mage. The stat changes are +4 Str, -1 Spd, +3 Mgc, +9 Def, +3 Mdf, being the first promotion we've seen that brings a stat down instead of up. He doesn't get swords, but does get all the same magic ranks as Mage Fighter, as well as a higher Staff rank. More notably, though, he gets the Great Shield skill, which is a fun thing to have on a magic user.

Iron Mage is a decent class for some of the characters it's available to, but it's honestly not a great fit for Azel, though the higher Staff rank makes it tempting given who I plan on pairing him with. Mage Knight's fine, but I decided on Mage Fighter as his promotion. It's just a better class in combat overall, and Azel looks a lot spiffier in those Mage Fighter threads than he does in generic cavalier armor.

Next up is Ira, who also has three options to pick from.

First up is the obvious choice, Swordmaster. She gains +5 Skl, +1 Str, +5 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov, a bit of a nerf from the ridiculous boosts from vanilla FE4 but still very good. She also nets both Pursuit and Continue, and a +10 bonus to crit on top of that!

Her second class is Mercenary, like the Thracia class that Fighters and Myrmidons could promote into. The boosts are a bit different, with +2 Skl, +3 Str, +2 Spd, +3 Mgc, +3 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov, as well as A Axes and Pursuit. This class also has a crit bonus, but for +5 instead of +10.

The last class is sort of an odd one, the Hero class. Its boosts are somewhat in-between the other two, with +3 Skl, +2 Str, +3 Spd, +3 Mgc, +3 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov, and it provides Pursuit and +5 crit like Mercenary does, but it gives her B Bows instead of A Axes. I suppose it's a nod to Alm from Gaiden, since his promoted class was also called Hero and wielded bows and swords.

Hero is obviously not much use to her (there simply aren't enough bows for that extra rank to matter), but Mercenary can be interesting if you like axe-wielding ladies (which, if anyone knows me, I most certainly do). Swordmaster is simply better for her, though, especially since she can't pass anything but swords to her daughter, anyway, so that's what we're going with here.

Beowulf is up next. He's only got two options, though one of them is... a little unusual.

The default class is still Forrest Knight, with boosts of +8 Skl, +2 Str, +5 Spd, +2 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov. His Sword rank goes up to A, and he learns the Continue skill. Standard stuff so far.

The other option is for him to become a Mercenary, abandoning his horse altogether like Awakening Troubadours promoting to War Cleric. With +4 Skl, +5 Str, +4 Spd, +3 Mgc, +1 Def, +3 Mdf, -1 Mov, it's a beefier class, but sacrifices movement and Continue for A Axes and +5 crit.

Forrest Knight is my personal pick for Beowulf. He doesn't really need A Axes when there's so many other axe wielders running around, and while the higher Strength and crit bonus is nice, I prefer more movement and Continue. Still, Mercenary is a perfectly fine option, and the better stats can help him in the long run.

Fin is also ready for promotion, and given how mediocre he's turned out, he needs it. His options aren't all that exciting, though.

Duke Knight is his first pick, of course, with gains of +1 Skl, +4 Str, +1 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov and a boost to both Swords and Lances.

Paladin is his alternate choice, providing +3 Skl, +2 Str, +3 Spd, +5 Mgc, +3 Def, +5 Mdf, +1 Mov, along with a higher Sword rank and B Axes in exchange for a lower Lance rank.

I do quite like his palette as a Paladin, and the extra ranks and more defensive boosts are quite useful. However, Duke Knight means we get someone with A lances right off the bat, as opposed to having to wait for someone to promote or for Altenna to show up, so I'll take that instead.

You may be surprised to see this face here, but yes, Cuan can promote now! His options are very interesting, though sadly one of them totally outclasses the other.

His first pick is the incredible Master Knight class! The boosts are a bit lower than before, with +5 Skl, +1 Str, +5 Spd, +7 Mgc, +3 Def, +4 Mdf, but they're still amazing. He gets Pursuit, as well, in addition to A ranks in almost everything and C light. It's such a good class, he may as well not have a second promotion option.

He does have another promotion, though, and it's the formerly enemy-only Baron class. While it's interesting on paper, in practice it simply doesn't compete. The stat boosts, +1 Str, +7 Mgc, +4 Def, +4 Mdf, -4 Mov, simply don't compete with those of the Master Knight on any level, and while Great Shield is nice and all, the low movement really cripples any chance this class had to be good. He does look very badass as a Baron, though.

Obviously, we're going with Master Knight.

There's plenty of wonderful things for sale at the Armory today, with a suite of Silver weapons (though with a Silver Blade instead of a Silver Sword) and Elfire.

Cuan gets the Lance, Ira gets the Blade, Lex gets the Axe, and Azel gets Elfire. Neither Jamke nor Midayle can use the Bow yet, though, so it's staying put.

After this, a lot of item shuffling got done, and resulted in almost everyone having a reconfigured inventory. I'll put the results under a spoiler, in case you don't care to read about it.

Current inventories (and Diadora's final stats):

Sigurd chucked his Steel Sword for an Iron Blade, and is still carting around the Killer Lance and rings.

The Chalphy cavaliers are both toting Steel Swords and Iron Lances, since I didn't feel like giving them anything good.

Arden has been picking up other people's castoffs, mostly, and now has a weapon from each of the four physical weapon types.

Azel dumped the Fire tome for Elfire, which went to Levin. He also picked up Diadora's Magic Ring.

Lex dropped his Steel Axe for a Silver one, and Beowulf got it so he could save up uses on his special sword.

Midayle got Alec's Iron Sword, though I'll admit I can't think of a lot of situations where he'd need it. He's actually had the Speed Ring for a while now, just in case I never told you.

Lachesis is our current Elite Ring holder, and swapped her Live staff with Adean's Relive one, who also bought Sleep and Physic. And yes, Live and Relive have the exact same icon for some reason, though the stronger staff has fewer uses to tell them apart.

Since Ira got the Silver Blade, she gave her Steel one to Holyn, who in turn gave his Iron one to Sigurd, who then gave his Steel Sword to Alec. It's like donating your old clothes to charity after you got something more fashionable!

Sylvia has the Knight Ring now, one half of the pair of rings she'll need to become the ultimate Dancer. It's admittedly not much help when she only has 6 move.

The Lady Sword now belongs to Fury, who'll be making short work of the pirates in this chapter.

Despite all his fancy new ranks, I couldn't think of anything Cuan really needed other than his Silver Lance and Knight Killer, so that's all he gets.

Jamke and Ethlin's inventories haven't changed.

Neither has Dew's, for that matter, though it was tempting to give him the Elite Ring instead of Lachesis.

Diadora sold all her items, and gave all her money to her husband. I guess there wasn't much point in having her sell Aura, since no one else can use it, but there's also not much point in letting her keep Aura, either. I wish she could sell the Circlet a la the Shin Patch, but that would be pretty overpowered if just anyone could use it given how Prayer works now.

Diadora can promote now, by the way, to Sage much like her daughter. It always struck me as odd that she couldn't before. I didn't manage to get her to level 20, though, so we won't be seeing that.

We're finally ready to set out for Madino and burn it to the ground. Let's take a look at what we're up against.

Checking out the enemy squads scattered around, there's been a few changes. The Duke Knight is now an Iron Knight, the commander of the mages in the forest is now a female Mage Fighter instead of a measly Fire Mage, and two of her subordinates are also female now. The commanders with physical weapons are all wielding Silver weapons, the Generals and Iron Knight all have a ranged option on top of that, while the Mage Fighter has both Elfire and a Fire Sword. They also all have 2 leadership stars and Continue in addition to whatever skills their class gives them. The physical fighters have a mix of Steel and Killer weapons, while the mages mix Wind and Fire tomes. Ultimately, they're a lot more difficult to deal with than before, though they're still not anything too threatening.

Madino is also a bit different, clearing out all the Armors for a more varied squad. While the Armors, Free Fighters and Archers aren't much to look at, the mages now have Meteor tomes, and the bishop in the middle has Fortify and Elfire. There's a Killer ballista sitting behind the castle, too, with two Iron ones blocking the way to it.

And yes, male Archers/Bow Fighters do have a new map sprite, based on Mystery of the Emblem. It does look a touch out of place, doesn't it?

Jacoban's received some minor buffs himself, though even with the Magic Ring he's more dangerous up close than at range. He does have Luna, though, which is something to watch out for, and he can get some unlucky crits in too.

We won't be dealing with them for a while, though, so let's watch Lex give Ira a treasured sword while I babble about my pairings like a madwoman.

Instead of the Hero Sword, Lex gives her the King Sword, yet another weapon from Thracia 776. It's a strong weapon, with good might and decent critical rate, and it provides the Charisma skill on top of that, but it doesn't have the brave effect like it did in its home game. It's a great sword despite that, but if you'd rather have the Hero Sword, Holyn still gives it in his conversation with Ira, though it's been nerfed a bit like the other Hero weapons. You eventually get both anyway, so don't worry about it too much.

Ira's options are extremely broad in FEBinary. Lex is my pick for Ira this time around, since Skasaher can inherit axes now, which lets him get out of his sister's shadow a bit and find his own niche, and the new Vantage mechanics really improve their enemy phase. Holyn's probably a better choice, admittedly, with Luna now able to activate with Astra, but he's already promised to Lachesis. Jamke can also be a good fit, since Continue means both kids can go the Mercenary route without giving up anything, and one of Jamke's promotions allows him to pass something down to Skasaher. Dew and Beowulf are pretty good, though I feel both have better options. Noish and Arden are also fine, especially the latter now that he passes down Great Shield and now that Vantage has been buffed.

Sylvia dances for a few units, getting +1 Spd, +1 Mgc, +1 Mdf. I see a magic sword in her future if this keeps up.

Our forces are ready to disperse and deal with all these enemies scattered everywhere.

This includes these Pirates, who aren't really all that different from before, and are still little trouble in a fight.

One of them seems... different, though...

Oh, hey! It seems like we've caught our Hero Axe thief! Still so very Mystery of the Emblem, I see.

We'll have to wait until next time to actually get to the fun stuff, sadly. I promise it will contain less rambling!

Edited March 21, 2016 by whenbananasattack

[Moblin Major General]

"The Might of the Grannvale Army? Ye look a bit short o' mighty to me."

Also, Shame Diedre didn't promote. The skills could've helped Seliph or Julia.

[Alastor15243]

"The Might of the Grannvale Army? Ye look a bit short o' mighty to me."

Also, Shame Diedre didn't promote. The skills could've helped Seliph or Julia.

...Does this hack remove the distinction between soldier and citizen skills?

[BrightBow]

I wonder if Ulir's holy blood still only raises Luck. I mean, unless I miscalculated, this hack doesn't use luck for hitrates, just like in the unmodified game. Luck might be a bit more useful now since it protects against critical hits but it still doesn't have a lot of use for an archer.

Edit: Come to think of it, Ulir and his descendants really got screwed over among those with holy blood. Not just because of luck being of little use for them but the Ichival also gives the lowest state boost among the divine weapons on top of being pretty inaccurate. Sure it gives a skill but so does the Mistoltin. And that sword not only gives higher stats but is also lighter and more accurate. But most importantly, the privileges of the Hezul line compliment each other while the benefits of the Ulir line are pretty random. The critical ability is pretty useful on a sword that raises skill by 20. But what good is the Life skill for a Bow user?

Edited March 21, 2016 by BrightBow

[Alastor15243]

I wonder if Ulir's holy blood still only raises Luck. I mean, unless I miscalculated, this hack doesn't use luck for hitrates, just like in the unmodified game. Luck might be a bit more useful now since it protects against critical hits but it still doesn't have a lot of use for an archer.

Wait, seriously? So Luck only boosts avoid slightly and nothing else? It's seriously objectively the worst stat in the original game? Damn!

[epilepsyduck]

"The Might of the Grannvale Army? Ye look a bit short o' mighty to me."

I could've made that joke, and I didn't, shaming me for life. Even if that's Gazzack's boss quote, and this guy's supposed to be Gomes.

...Does this hack remove the distinction between soldier and citizen skills?

No it does not. Boy, wouldn't that result in some broken pairings if it did, though. Everyone would have Continue!

I wonder if Ulir's holy blood still only raises Luck. I mean, unless I miscalculated, this hack doesn't use luck for hitrates, just like in the unmodified game. Luck might be a bit more useful now since it protects against critical hits but it still doesn't have a lot of use for an archer.

Edit: Come to think of it, Ulir and his descendants really got screwed over among those with holy blood. Not just because of luck being of little use for them but the Ichival also gives the lowest state boost among the divine weapons on top of being pretty inaccurate. Sure it gives a skill but so does the Mistoltin. And that sword not only gives higher stats but is also lighter and more accurate. But most importantly, the privileges of the Hezul line compliment each other while the benefits of the Ulir line are pretty random. The critical ability is pretty useful on a sword that raises skill by 20. But what good is the Life skill for a Bow user?

Given how much FE games seem to utterly despise bow users, I guess it's not surprising the single archer of the Crusaders is the one with the shittiest bonuses.

Alright, this time we're actually playing the chapter instead of reading my uninteresting babble. That'll come back in the next update.

Chapter 3 Part 2: Book of the rising sun

Now that we've got all those promotions and shit out of the way, we can start steamrolling the rest of this backwater kingdom. Here's Dew trying to keep up with everyone else on his tiny little legs.

Enemy phase is completely 100% uneventful.

Wait, shit.

I suppose it could've gone worse. She's the only healer on that side of the map, though.

The pirates have already set out to utterly wreck these villages.

Luckily, I've got Fury on the case. The Lady Sword makes her an excellent pick to kill village-destroying jerks like them.

The group's been split up a bit, with Jugdral's hottest couple going to take care of the lancers and Levin and Fin dealing with the mages. I still don't understand why there are mages just sitting around in the woods and all these squads scattered across the countryside, but who am I to question the perfect military mind of Shagaal?

Midayle, Adean and Beowulf will take care of what's left of these armors here. Midayle and Adean haven't married yet, so I want them to stay together until it finally happens.

Everyone else is heading straight for Madino to deal with the unattractive neckbeard there. Here's Noish actually killing an enemy who was at full health in one round without taking damage, something that the land's top scientists believed to be impossible.

Lachesis not only gets a flashy crit, but also a level to the tune of +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Luk. Whatever gets her to Master Knight quicker.

I'm trying to let Arden participate, too, but when all he's giving me is +1 Str, it's a little difficult to justify using him.

He does somehow manage to dodge something, amazingly enough, displaying the rarely-seen Armor Knight dodge animation.

The bow knights move into range, which works out perfectly, since it stops them from using their annoying Killer Bows on me.

Speaking of Killer Bows, Midayle didn't do an amazing job of dodging this turn. With him and Adean both at low health, I'm a little nervous about having them deal with the rest of the armors.

The lance knights, on the other hand, get utterly eviscerated. It brings a tear of joy to my eye to see Ethlin dealing good physical damage.

And again, showing that love truly can bloom on the battlefield.

I kind of wish Lex's Iron Knight palette had that cool grey/black horse instead of the standard brown.

I know I should be more careful about abusing the Beo Sword, but a Steel Axe just doesn't have the same flair.

+1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Def. I'm still blown away by how poorly Jamke is doing compared to Midayle. Usually, it's the other way around.

I love Mage Fighter animations. It looks so much better on Azel than that crappy brown armor.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Luk. Why do I let you participate anymore?

Oh right, that's why.

I'd kinda hoped for better, really, but at least it brought him pretty close to death.

None of the Chalphy knights are in good enough shape for me to feel comfortable leaving them in range of the pony archers, so Sylvia dances them to safety.

Let's try out Ira's new trinket, shall we?

Expect to see this a lot in FEBinary.

+1 Luk. If you hadn't already done amazingly in your levels before now, I'd be upset.

Dew also manages a crit. I hope we get to promote this kid, he becomes quite a jumpy little fella once he gets to level 20.

Once enemy phase comes around, the mages with Meteor show off their newfound ability to move despite having a siege tome equipped. That's something to keep in mind for later in the update.

I don't understand how taking a tiny step back allows you to dodge a giant explosion like that, but whatever.

This also makes all the guys surrounding the castle immediately abandon their post to go kill something miles away. FE4 AI is funny like that.

Ugh, I hate enemy healers with Fortify. Stop rubbing it in that you can spam that shit all day!

The Arch Knights proceed to make life difficult for Sylvia. They just knock her into Prayer range, though.

Levin's finally reached those mages hiding in the forest, with a very predictable +1 MHP, +1 Spd.

Since all those archers moved into range, everyone immediately starts dogpiling them. Maybe the guy who made this hack should've given them some swords.

At the very least, the miniboss should've gotten one. All the melee minibosses have ranged weapons, after all, so it's not like he doesn't deserve one!

The foolish "defenders" of Madino castle have bumbled into range, so we teach the fools a lesson about staying in formation.

Also, I don't want to deal with this fuck for seven turns.

The other one's still alive, but what harm could he possibly cause?

I don't know why I thought having Levin attack the Mage Fighter was a good idea. She proceeds to roast him.

Fury finally reaches these pirates, but this one dodges before she can kill him. The RNG is a cruel mistress.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Spd. One who enjoys teasing me, as well.

That's the end of these guys. I guess Adean and Midayle can begin the incredibly slow trudge towards the rest of the army.

Holyn proves to be quite the Hand Axe magnet. I should've equipped him with his own Hand Axe so he could fire back.

I don't understand why the enemy archers seem to always go for Jamke and Midayle, but if it gives them an enemy phase I won't question it.

Jamke makes up for previous errors with +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Luk, +1 Def. He's also ready for promotion, but that'll have to wait.

This very well could've cost me everything, but luckily Sylvia dodges.

Yes, I know you like to spam your fucking Fortify staff every time someone gets a scratch, but watching this animation every turn gets old super fast. Please stop.

Fin and Levin really don't give it their all this turn. I need better from you than this, guys.

Let's not give her a chance to oven roast the bard.

No more of that nonsense, lady.

Since Levin could reach this village, I let him deal with the rampant piracy in the area.

Sigurd opens the way to the area behind Madino. Ballista don't make the best tanks, it turns out.

Adean was just barely in range to use Physic on Sylvia, and gains the typical +1 MHP, +1 Luk. Your performance has been highly mediocre, Adean, and after I hyped you up in the early chapters and everything!

Fury has a second go at the pirate, and doesn't flub it this time.

+1 Str. Has Fury been studying under Arden recently, because this is what I'd come to expect of him, not her.

There aren't many enemies left, but some of the remaining ones make yet more attempts on Sylvia's life. Why does everyone have it out for this poor girl?

Since Cuan and Ethlin were in the neighborhood, I figured it wouldn't hurt if they dealt with this naughty little scamp. It ends predictably for him.

Fin and Levin are at terrifyingly low health, so I sent in some backup to set things right.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Def, +1 Mdf. And with that, Holyn is ready to promote!

The Free Fighters are all that's left of the little suicide squad that came after us, and I send some of my less capable units to handle the job.

+1 Mgc, +1 Luk. My joy that you actually managed to get Magic is hampered by the fact the only other thing you got was Luck.

I don't think Ira's had a single fight where she didn't do this in the entire chapter. What a show off!

I hate Killer Ballista, so Sigurd handles that guy next. Now there's just a crappy Iron one.

Another pirate down. The only ones left are all behind the castle.

Let's take a look at the one who stole our Hero Axe, who has the portrait of Gomes from Mystery of the Emblem, but doesn't have a name.

He's a tough customer compared to the others, that's for sure. He's got the Hero Axe at melee, but a weapon straight from Thracia called the Pugi at range, which is basically a ranged Killer Axe. Combined with that Critical skill of his, it makes attacking him at range enormously risky. He also has the Steal skill, annoyingly enough, so if he so much as scratches you he takes all your cash. He doesn't add it to his own, either, so you can't even steal it back!

Such a fearsome foe requires an equally fearsome opponent.

You'll always be my favorite, Ira.

+1 MHP. Even when you do things like that.

Another unit ready for promo- oh, it's just Sigurd. Nevermind. (+1 MHP, +1 Luk, +1 Def)

I left Lachesis in range of Jacoban, which was totally on purpose, honest.

She's fine, though.

Since the boss is all that's left, I suppose we have to deal with him. First, let's set up the Charisma Zone, with Ira holding the King Sword.

This is an excellent plan, and I will hear nothing to the contrary.

The RNG is often cruel, but occasionally smiles on me.

It's a smile of mockery and derision, though, as shown by this +1 MHP, +1 Def level.

He didn't come out of enemy phase in great shape, so my dreams of having him kill the boss are turned to dust.

More Physic heals, which generates a level of +1 MHP, +1 Luk, +1 Def. Why must you hurt me so?

Next turn, though, she's in range to put the boss down for naptime.

+1 Spd, +1 Mgc, +1 Luk. Another unit ready for promotion, which we'll cover next update.

In other news, Dew gets the +3 Str boost from this village. I couldn't think of anyone who really needed it as badly as him.

With Jacoban sleeping the day away, I let everyone take shots at him, some more successfully than others.

Amazingly, it's Noish of all people who kills him. He also gets the Thunder Sword.

This update's more or less over, so let's cover the villages. Most still gain money, but there's a few nice items hiding out. For example, this one gives...

A Meteor tome! Siege tomes are no longer enemy-only, which is why they lost their whole "root you to the spot when equipped" functionality. It's not a fantastic tome, but it can come in handy, and the fact it's repairable and doesn't lose uses when you miss makes it a lot more practical than these things usually are.

This neighboring village has its own surprises.

It contains a Sol manual! This basically works how things like the Silver Card and Life Ring do, providing the skill merely by being in your inventory. It's pretty handy, especially if you don't pair Dew with anyone.

The last village still has a Restore Staff in it, though the staff lost 4 uses for some reason. Still very useful, of course.

I suppose there's not much left to do but grind love points and switch items around. See if you can spot the hidden pairing I haven't mentioned anything about yet.

The next update'll be a short one, but the one after that will be full of painful fun surprises, so look forward to it!

[Alastor15243]

...Is... Is...

...Is Sylvia DUAL-WIELDING A SWORD AND AXE!?

[epilepsyduck]

...Is... Is...

...Is Sylvia DUAL-WIELDING A SWORD AND AXE!?

Haha, I didn't realize it, but that is what it looks like, isn't it? The axe is actually just a hand axe some jerk threw at her, though. I don't think even this hacker could figure out how to make people dual-wield. :P

[Konnor97]

I could've made that joke, and I didn't, shaming me for life. Even if that's Gazzack's boss quote, and this guy's supposed to be Gomes.

No it does not. Boy, wouldn't that result in some broken pairings if it did, though. Everyone would have Continue!

Given how much FE games seem to utterly despise bow users, I guess it's not surprising the single archer of the Crusaders is the one with the shittiest bonuses.

Alright, this time we're actually playing the chapter instead of reading my uninteresting babble. That'll come back in the next update.

Chapter 3 Part 2: Book of the rising sun

Now that we've got all those promotions and shit out of the way, we can start steamrolling the rest of this backwater kingdom. Here's Dew trying to keep up with everyone else on his tiny little legs.

Enemy phase is completely 100% uneventful.

Wait, shit.

I suppose it could've gone worse. She's the only healer on that side of the map, though.

The pirates have already set out to utterly wreck these villages.

Luckily, I've got Fury on the case. The Lady Sword makes her an excellent pick to kill village-destroying jerks like them.

The group's been split up a bit, with Jugdral's hottest couple going to take care of the lancers and Levin and Fin dealing with the mages. I still don't understand why there are mages just sitting around in the woods and all these squads scattered across the countryside, but who am I to question the perfect military mind of Shagaal?

Midayle, Adean and Beowulf will take care of what's left of these armors here. Midayle and Adean haven't married yet, so I want them to stay together until it finally happens.

Everyone else is heading straight for Madino to deal with the unattractive neckbeard there. Here's Noish actually killing an enemy who was at full health in one round without taking damage, something that the land's top scientists believed to be impossible.

Lachesis not only gets a flashy crit, but also a level to the tune of +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Luk. Whatever gets her to Master Knight quicker.

I'm trying to let Arden participate, too, but when all he's giving me is +1 Str, it's a little difficult to justify using him.

He does somehow manage to dodge something, amazingly enough, displaying the rarely-seen Armor Knight dodge animation.

The bow knights move into range, which works out perfectly, since it stops them from using their annoying Killer Bows on me.

Speaking of Killer Bows, Midayle didn't do an amazing job of dodging this turn. With him and Adean both at low health, I'm a little nervous about having them deal with the rest of the armors.

The lance knights, on the other hand, get utterly eviscerated. It brings a tear of joy to my eye to see Ethlin dealing good physical damage.

And again, showing that love truly can bloom on the battlefield.

I kind of wish Lex's Iron Knight palette had that cool grey/black horse instead of the standard brown.

I know I should be more careful about abusing the Beo Sword, but a Steel Axe just doesn't have the same flair.

+1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Def. I'm still blown away by how poorly Jamke is doing compared to Midayle. Usually, it's the other way around.

I love Mage Fighter animations. It looks so much better on Azel than that crappy brown armor.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Luk. Why do I let you participate anymore?

Oh right, that's why.

I'd kinda hoped for better, really, but at least it brought him pretty close to death.

None of the Chalphy knights are in good enough shape for me to feel comfortable leaving them in range of the pony archers, so Sylvia dances them to safety.

Let's try out Ira's new trinket, shall we?

Expect to see this a lot in FEBinary.

+1 Luk. If you hadn't already done amazingly in your levels before now, I'd be upset.

Dew also manages a crit. I hope we get to promote this kid, he becomes quite a jumpy little fella once he gets to level 20.

Once enemy phase comes around, the mages with Meteor show off their newfound ability to move despite having a siege tome equipped. That's something to keep in mind for later in the update.

I don't understand how taking a tiny step back allows you to dodge a giant explosion like that, but whatever.

This also makes all the guys surrounding the castle immediately abandon their post to go kill something miles away. FE4 AI is funny like that.

Ugh, I hate enemy healers with Fortify. Stop rubbing it in that you can spam that shit all day!

The Arch Knights proceed to make life difficult for Sylvia. They just knock her into Prayer range, though.

Levin's finally reached those mages hiding in the forest, with a very predictable +1 MHP, +1 Spd.

Since all those archers moved into range, everyone immediately starts dogpiling them. Maybe the guy who made this hack should've given them some swords.

At the very least, the miniboss should've gotten one. All the melee minibosses have ranged weapons, after all, so it's not like he doesn't deserve one!

The foolish "defenders" of Madino castle have bumbled into range, so we teach the fools a lesson about staying in formation.

Also, I don't want to deal with this fuck for seven turns.

The other one's still alive, but what harm could he possibly cause?

I don't know why I thought having Levin attack the Mage Fighter was a good idea. She proceeds to roast him.

Fury finally reaches these pirates, but this one dodges before she can kill him. The RNG is a cruel mistress.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Spd. One who enjoys teasing me, as well.

That's the end of these guys. I guess Adean and Midayle can begin the incredibly slow trudge towards the rest of the army.

Holyn proves to be quite the Hand Axe magnet. I should've equipped him with his own Hand Axe so he could fire back.

I don't understand why the enemy archers seem to always go for Jamke and Midayle, but if it gives them an enemy phase I won't question it.

Jamke makes up for previous errors with +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Luk, +1 Def. He's also ready for promotion, but that'll have to wait.

This very well could've cost me everything, but luckily Sylvia dodges.

Yes, I know you like to spam your fucking Fortify staff every time someone gets a scratch, but watching this animation every turn gets old super fast. Please stop.

Fin and Levin really don't give it their all this turn. I need better from you than this, guys.

Let's not give her a chance to oven roast the bard.

No more of that nonsense, lady.

Since Levin could reach this village, I let him deal with the rampant piracy in the area.

Sigurd opens the way to the area behind Madino. Ballista don't make the best tanks, it turns out.

Adean was just barely in range to use Physic on Sylvia, and gains the typical +1 MHP, +1 Luk. Your performance has been highly mediocre, Adean, and after I hyped you up in the early chapters and everything!

Fury has a second go at the pirate, and doesn't flub it this time.

+1 Str. Has Fury been studying under Arden recently, because this is what I'd come to expect of him, not her.

There aren't many enemies left, but some of the remaining ones make yet more attempts on Sylvia's life. Why does everyone have it out for this poor girl?

Since Cuan and Ethlin were in the neighborhood, I figured it wouldn't hurt if they dealt with this naughty little scamp. It ends predictably for him.

Fin and Levin are at terrifyingly low health, so I sent in some backup to set things right.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Def, +1 Mdf. And with that, Holyn is ready to promote!

The Free Fighters are all that's left of the little suicide squad that came after us, and I send some of my less capable units to handle the job.

+1 Mgc, +1 Luk. My joy that you actually managed to get Magic is hampered by the fact the only other thing you got was Luck.

I don't think Ira's had a single fight where she didn't do this in the entire chapter. What a show off!

I hate Killer Ballista, so Sigurd handles that guy next. Now there's just a crappy Iron one.

Another pirate down. The only ones left are all behind the castle.

Let's take a look at the one who stole our Hero Axe, who has the portrait of Gomes from Mystery of the Emblem, but doesn't have a name.

He's a tough customer compared to the others, that's for sure. He's got the Hero Axe at melee, but a weapon straight from Thracia called the Pugi at range, which is basically a ranged Killer Axe. Combined with that Critical skill of his, it makes attacking him at range enormously risky. He also has the Steal skill, annoyingly enough, so if he so much as scratches you he takes all your cash. He doesn't add it to his own, either, so you can't even steal it back!

Such a fearsome foe requires an equally fearsome opponent.

You'll always be my favorite, Ira.

+1 MHP. Even when you do things like that.

Another unit ready for promo- oh, it's just Sigurd. Nevermind. (+1 MHP, +1 Luk, +1 Def)

I left Lachesis in range of Jacoban, which was totally on purpose, honest.

She's fine, though.

Since the boss is all that's left, I suppose we have to deal with him. First, let's set up the Charisma Zone, with Ira holding the King Sword.

This is an excellent plan, and I will hear nothing to the contrary.

The RNG is often cruel, but occasionally smiles on me.

It's a smile of mockery and derision, though, as shown by this +1 MHP, +1 Def level.

He didn't come out of enemy phase in great shape, so my dreams of having him kill the boss are turned to dust.

More Physic heals, which generates a level of +1 MHP, +1 Luk, +1 Def. Why must you hurt me so?

Next turn, though, she's in range to put the boss down for naptime.

+1 Spd, +1 Mgc, +1 Luk. Another unit ready for promotion, which we'll cover next update.

In other news, Dew gets the +3 Str boost from this village. I couldn't think of anyone who really needed it as badly as him.

With Jacoban sleeping the day away, I let everyone take shots at him, some more successfully than others.

Amazingly, it's Noish of all people who kills him. He also gets the Thunder Sword.

This update's more or less over, so let's cover the villages. Most still gain money, but there's a few nice items hiding out. For example, this one gives...

A Meteor tome! Siege tomes are no longer enemy-only, which is why they lost their whole "root you to the spot when equipped" functionality. It's not a fantastic tome, but it can come in handy, and the fact it's repairable and doesn't lose uses when you miss makes it a lot more practical than these things usually are.

This neighboring village has its own surprises.

It contains a Sol manual! This basically works how things like the Silver Card and Life Ring do, providing the skill merely by being in your inventory. It's pretty handy, especially if you don't pair Dew with anyone.

The last village still has a Restore Staff in it, though the staff lost 4 uses for some reason. Still very useful, of course.

I suppose there's not much left to do but grind love points and switch items around. See if you can spot the hidden pairing I haven't mentioned anything about yet.

The next update'll be a short one, but the one after that will be full of painful fun surprises, so look forward to it!

Azel/Fury? So Lewyn/Tiltyu? And presumably Claude/Sylvia?

[Alastor15243]

Given how much FE games seem to utterly despise bow users, I guess it's not surprising the single archer of the Crusaders is the one with the shittiest bonuses.

Oh how times have changed.

[Vahne]

Fates honestly makes me hate archers even more. Takumi's bow is insanely overpowered, but enemy archers have become an extremely major pain in the ass.

....I want RD Shinon back :(

[epilepsyduck]

Oh how times have changed.

I am playing Conquest and this pineapple has brought me so much suffering.

Mind you, I picked Conquest specifically to suffer, so I don't mean it like it's a bad thing.

Fates honestly makes me hate archers even more. Takumi's bow is insanely overpowered, but enemy archers have become an extremely major pain in the ass.

....I want RD Shinon back :(

If Fates was gonna have Babyrealm clones of previous characters, they should've made Shinon one of them.

This is another promotions and pairings related update, so don't get too excited. I promise we'll see the Mystletainn twice as many times as we normally would to make up for it!

Chapter 3 Part 3: There was a clever title here. It's gone now.

Instead of all this dreary warfare that's been going on lately, let's talk about some lighthearted romance and various characters charting out new career paths.

Adean and Midayle have finally tied the knot. I'll admit, I'll miss having Continue on the kids, given that Jamke's usually my choice, but I think the benefits of this pairing will help a lot once we reach Gen 2.

Ira and Lex are also an item. I hope Skasaher likes axes, he's probably not gonna be wielding much else for a while.

Finally, Lachesis has claimed Holyn for her own. Nanna not having Pursuit is probably gonna hurt a bit when it's just her, Leaf and Fin, but having mounted units with Luna is just too good to pass up.

One pairing that hasn't quite formed up yet is Fury and Azel. Levin is still undeniably Fury's best pairing, but Azel brings something at least somewhat comparable to the table, and I've done Levin x Fury almost every time I played this, so I thought it would be fun to change it up. Azel pretty much needs to pair with someone with a magic-user as a child, which leaves him with Fury and Tiltyu, mainly, though Adean is also surprisingly workable. You could go with Lachesis or Sylvia, too, I guess, but I wouldn't do that unless the first three I mentioned are already spoken for. Still better than not pairing him at all, of course.

Fury herself is a fairly flexible mother, though like the base game it's recommended you pair her with a magic user. Levin is the obvious choice, and I've already detailed why I'm going with Azel, but Claude is still a good option if you want a more support-based Sety and Fee, and Claude now has skills he can pass down that make it an ever better pairing. If you want a more physical father for Fee, though, there's quite a few good options, such as Dew for Sol and Bargain, or Holyn for Odo Blood and Luna. The whole Alec x Fury thing doesn't even provide the meager benefits it used to, though, so don't bother with it.

Lachesis heals everyone and eventually just barely reaches level 20. She ultimately gains 4 levels, totaling to +2 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Str, +1 Luk, +1 Def. Two of those levels were empty levels, because of course they were.

+1 Skl, +1 Luk, +1 Mdf. Those certainly are some stats, Sylvia.

We've got four promotions to handle this update, so I guess now's the time to start. Adean will go first, as her classes are very interesting.

Her first class is a new one, the Valkyrie class! She'll receive +3 Skl, +2 Spd, +4 Mgc, +5 Def, +5 Mdf, +3 Mov from the deal, as well as a boost to both her Light and Staves ranks. She also gets access to the basic Anima tomes, not that those are especially helpful for her.

The next promotion is... unusual, granting her the Shaman class. The stat boosts are markedly inferior, with +2 Skl, +2 Spd, +3 Mgc, +3 Def, +4 Mdf, and while it provides the same Staff and Light ranks, it doesn't give her Anima magic. It does give her a rank in Dark tomes, but there aren't any of those available in Gen 1, so the only possible niche this class could have is irrelevant to Adean. I guess she looks kind of cool as a Shaman, at least.

Valkyrie is the class I'll go with, unsurprisingly. I'm not sure why Shaman is even an option, it's not even a promoted class!

Holyn is our next lucky winner, but sadly we've already seen his options before, as they're the same as Beowulf's, just reversing which is the primary class and which is the secondary.

As I said, Mercenary is his first choice. At +3 Skl, +4 Str, +2 Spd, +3 Mgc, +2 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov, it's a pretty good class, and it instantly bumps him to A axes. He also gets Pursuit and a +5 crit bonus.

The next class available is Forrest Knight. The boosts are +7 Skl, +1 Str, +3 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Mdf, +3 Mov, and it provides Continue instead of Pursuit. The weapon ranks don't change, though, and he doesn't get a crit bonus.

While Forrest Knight isn't a bad class, I feel Mercenary is more Holyn's style, and the boosts it gives are more beneficial to him than those provided by Forrest Knight. His palette as a Forrest Knight is also sort of unappealing, so that's another strike against it.

Since Jamke's base class has changed, it stands to reason his promotions are different too. You're half-right if you think so.

First up, he can go the Warrior route. +3 Skl, +7 Str, +5 Spd, +5 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov makes him a good deal stronger than before, and gives him A Axes right off the bat in exchange for leaving him with a B in Bows. It also provides no new skills, unlike...

The good old Sniper class. +8 Skl, +3 Str, +5 Spd, +2 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov make it less beefy than Warrior, and he doesn't get any melee weapons, but he does get A Bows, Pursuit, and a +5 crit bonus, which do sort of make up for it.

I think these classes are roughly equal in usefulness, so I'll just go with Warrior for variety's sake. Besides, it gives him some melee ability.

Lachesis only has one class to promote to, and you already know what it is.

Lachesis is now a Master Knight, just like always. The boosts have been nerfed a hair, with +6 Skl, +5 Str, +4 Spd, +1 Mgc, +6 Def, +1 Mdf, +3 Mov, instead of 7s in all her physical stats, but they're still pretty hefty. She still gets Pursuit and instant A everything except Light, which gets a C, and Dark, which gets nothing at all.

I guess there's not much use in saying I went with Master Knight, given that she doesn't have any classes except that.

I sent all the people who failed to make it through the Arena last time back in for another round, including Lex, who I didn't even use at all. Whoops.

Arena Rankings and Level Ups:

ARENA COMPLETION- Dew *, Arden *, Adean *, Lex *, Noish 4, Alec 4 (because of course)

ARENA LEVELS-

Dew: 3 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +2 Str, +1 Mgc, +1 Def

How did he manage to beat the Arena? Your guess is as good as mine. It worked out quite well for him, though.

Arden: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Luk, +1 Def

Ever the underachiever, aren't we, Arden?

Adean: 1 level- +1 Def

I don't know what I expected.

Lex: 2 levels- +2 MHP, +1 Str

Yep, moving on.

Arden largely pushed his way past the Iron Mage thanks to Midayle selling a Speed Ring to him. I think I'll let him keep it, actually, he could use the boost.

Also, Adean bought Diadora's Silence staff and sold her Heal staff to Azel. I could always use more healers.

Holyn picked up the Hero Axe, while Jamke got his Halberd. It you're wondering why I didn't give the Hero Axe to Lex, let's just say he gets something a lot better later this chapter.

Lachesis bought that Silver Bow I left behind in the armory, mostly because I want as many bow users as I can get to deal with the wyverns.

I let Sylvia have the Thunder Sword, not because I expect her to accomplish great feats with it, but because a Thief Sword barely even counts as a weapon and I want her to have something.

Dew is our current Elite Ring holder, because he's almost as much of a liability as Alec and Noish, but unlike those losers has potential to be decent.

Enough blabbering on about nonsense, we've got a castle to conquer.

Claude and Tiltyu magically fly across the ocean to reach a tower that's basically at the end of the world. Both of them have new tools in hand to make them less likely to die horribly against the pirate invasion that follows, but we won't be seeing those for quite a bit.

Also, Diadora decides fuck it, she's sick of playing nanny all day long, and walks directly on top of my units to go tell Sigurd off for saddling her with the kids. Someone didn't learn any manners growing up in that forest, it seems.

In retaliation for being stepped on, my units don't lift a finger to help her during the inevitable kidnapping. That, and because they've already moved this turn, and are now greyed out.

I figure the sight of this enormous hairdo is a good place to leave off for now. We'll get to see all manner of life-eating swords when we get back, as well as the offspring of a Javelin and a Hero Lance, and a king wielding someone else's ancestral weapon.

Edited March 27, 2016 by whenbananasattack

[Alastor15243]

I am playing Conquest and this pineapple has brought me so much suffering.

Pineapple! Mind if I use that one for my LP/RP? That insult's gonna be quite useful.

Also, it would've been totally hilarious to have Takumi father Shinon instead of that weird, more-obnoxious male Morgan clone Kiragi. For the love of god Shinon is already a japanese name!

Edited March 27, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Tamanoir]

So, banana, who's the best pineapple between Takumi and Arden?

[BrightBow]

Poor Dew still doesn't get a magic sword for himself.

[epilepsyduck]

It's not an April Fool's joke, I'm actually posting an update!

Pineapple! Mind if I use that one for my LP/RP? That insult's gonna be quite useful.

Also, it would've been totally hilarious to have Takumi father Shinon instead of that weird, more-obnoxious male Morgan clone Kiragi. For the love of god Shinon is already a japanese name!

I didn't even come up with it, so go ahead! The more people calling him a pineapple, the better.

Don't insult my mage son by comparing him to that loser.

So, banana, who's the best pineapple between Takumi and Arden?

Despite all the favoritism I undeservedly shower upon poor Arden, and despite the green hair that really sells his "tropical fruit" aesthetic, Tacomeme gets my vote. The boy is actually useful without insane amounts of babying, from what I've seen of Birthright, and if nothing else I enjoy him for being a complete little shit in Conquest.

Poor Dew still doesn't get a magic sword for himself.

Poor Dew is the most broke thief in the world and couldn't afford both a magic sword and the Elite Ring. I'm hoping he promotes before Chapter 4 so he doesn't need it anymore, at least.

Alright, this time we're actually taking down king Shagaal, as well as Zyne's morally-neutral twin, who received an art downgrade in exchange for a dragon.

Chapter 3 Part 4: The meteoric rise and fall of Shagaal

Sigurd, as usual, is fashionably late to the throwdown between his army and Eltshan's. Yes, he does still have the Return Ring on him, and no, I don't know why it didn't occur to me to use it at the time. I'm not very good at making things convenient for myself, that's for sure.

Eltshan is ever-punctual, of course. I think we should take a look at his troops before we charge into the melee.

His Cross Knights are all packing Silver Swords and Javelins, as well as both Pursuit and Continue! They also have Elite, just to give me flashbacks to Partia 2 I guess.

Some of his knights are little overachievers, packing slightly higher stats and the Critical skill.

Then we've got Elty himself, with high stats, Pursuit, Continue, and Charisma on top of a ludicrous eight Leadership stars! Getting him off the field is top priority, and not just because of all that.

You see, he's also got a nasty new weapon called a Master Lance, straight out of Thracia. It's basically a throwable Hero Lance, and has higher damage but lower accuracy and greater weight. Mind you, he rarely attacks with it, and greatly prefers just sticking with the Mystletainn, but it means attacking him at range is no walk in the park.

While the Mystletainn has received the same -5 Might nerf that all the Holy Weapons did, the fact it's now an HP-draining weapon instead of just having the Critical skill is a pretty significant buff. Seems like members of the Hezul bloodline really have a thing for vampiric swords.

Of course, none of that matters when a simple chat with his sister is all it takes to get him to turn tail and run back to his douchebag of a king.

Yes yes, this is all very tragic, but we've got a new sword to look at!

The Earth Sword's stats have been changed in the same way the other magic swords were, and that includes the number of uses, only this time by increasing them rather than decreasing. No more fighting like five enemies before it becomes a broken piece of shit, now you can really Nosferatank!

She might not be the only one with that trick up her sleeve, though. Remember how Shagaal has Holy Blood now?

Turns out, that wasn't just for show. Characters with Minor Holy Blood can now wield Holy Weapons, but for half the original stat boosts, and Shagaal snatched up Elty's sword and is ready to use it to make dealing with him a whole lot more difficult. The boosts don't show up until the following turn, but they're there, I just didn't get screenshots of them.

And yes, we can take advantage of this too, as Holy Weapons are sellable now. Your dreams of Balmung Fee, Mystletainn Delmud, Tyrfing Oifey or Forseti Rana are now a reality.

Shagaal is tough, even without the Mystletainn. The stat boosts and HP-stealing effect make things harder, of course, but even without that he'd have Vantage, high Strength and Defense, and Bolganone on his side. Before he snatches up the Holy Weapon, he has a Silver Blade instead, which you can leave him with if you're willing to fight Eltshan and leave behind the Earth Sword. Still, as we'll see shortly, he's far from unbeatable.

We're a ways off from having to deal with any of that, though. Let's just handle the forces Eltshan left behind when he went to have tea with the king.

+1 MHP, +1 Spd. It's honestly hard to say anything interesting about Levin's levels.

Without Eltshan's silly number of leadership stars + Charisma, the Cross Knights are a lot less formidable, but still not complete pushovers, either. Not that it matters when you go up against a god of death like Ira.

Jamke really loves his new axe, and proceeds to spit on the entire concept of the weapon triangle.

Azel gets a level from killing someone with Meteor, which results in an empty field levelling up. Oh, and +1 Spd, +1 Mgc, +1 Luk.

I... kinda left Alec in Javelin range, didn't I? Let's hope he can take it.

Shagaal, realizing his own knights are unreliable, sentimental idiots, sends in the dragons to sort out the mess he's created

Seems my fears about Alec were unfounded; they all want a piece of Beowulf instead. I do mean all of them.

He'll live.

These guys are a long ways off, so let's not think about them. I'll let you know when they become a problem.

We've got far more immediate threats on our hands, but Beowulf's little near-death experience whittled some of them down, so now everyone can get in on the Cross Knight killing action!

Cuan still looks absolutely fabulous as a Master Knight. I kind of wish all the male cavaliers looked like this, the helmets have always looked off somehow to me.

Holyn, seeing that Ira abandoned her heroic feats for something far more regal, took it upon himself to bring Hero weapons back to the Odo bloodline. It's a little nontraditional, but he's having fun with it.

Yes, this was a totally great use of Sylvia's turn, and I'm the greatest tactician you've ever seen.

+1 MHP. It's okay, Beowulf. You've capped like two or three stats by now, you don't have a lot of room to grow anymore anyway.

Noish, of all knights, is the one to finish off the last enemy here.

He proves what a fucking idiot I was for trusting him with +1 MHP, +1 Def.

We've got a trio of border guards blocking our way. I think you know what we must do.

The ones on either side of the central one are toting a Horseslayer/Javelin combo, and have unexceptional stats and no skills.

The middle one, however, has a Master Lance instead of a Javelin, and packs Great Shield, Charisma and Critical in one deadly package. His stats are fairly decent, too. I don't know who this nameless border guard is, but he's tougher than some of the actual bosses in the previous chapters!

And yes, he's cheating on his lance rank.

I've got a way to handle him though.

First, we damage him with the power of the void.

Then, with a little healing and dancing, which nets the supportbots +1 MHP, +1 Mgc, +1 Luk and +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Str, respectively...

We can completely fuck up what I was trying to do, Great Shield!

At least he doesn't pull the same trick twice.

I finally found a situation in which this Iron Sword would be useful: when everyone else is clustered around your target in such a way you can't hit him at 2-range anymore! See, I was totally planning ahead for this eventuality and everything!

And with another great level, he's ready for promotion! (+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Str, +1 Def)

These guys are fast approaching, and will be on us in a couple of turns. The smart thing to do would be to let them come after me, then deal with Shagaal's personal guard.

I'm immensely impatient, though, so instead what I'll do is draw out Shagaal's soldiers and ultimately have to fight both groups at once! Really, we can't expect anything less out of me at this point.

Also, this level happened sometime before the above screenshot, and much like the love I hold for my family, it's totally empty.

Literally all the armors and generals around the castle have bows, and not a single one uses anything except their bows on enemy phase.

They get a few hits in, but it's not the most effective plan of attack.

Thanks to my hubris, these guys will be on us next turn, meaning I'll have to fight on two fronts. They're not the fiercest foes you've ever seen, mind you, but they can still slip around the actually competent people and hurt punks like Alec and Noish.

Therefore, I'd really like to have these guys dealt with before that happens. What better way to start than with Lachesis and her lovely Rapier?

Always killing with such style, that one.

This looks like some sort of adorable action pose between friendly armor knights. Perhaps Cynthia and Owain in disguise?

I'll tell you what's not adorable, though; the utter bloodbath Ira leaves in her wake. I really love Swordmaster animations in Jugdral.

Fury continues to be the least Pegasus Knight-like Pegasus Knight I've ever seen, with a +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Luk, +1 Def. It's making me tempted to pick a different promotion path for you than the one I had in mind.

The last general is dealt with, fashionably of course.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl. Y'know what, Fin? I don't even care anymore. Have fun getting upstaged by Nanna in Gen 2.

The worst units are all safely tucked away behind people who can actually fight, aside from Dew, who needs to level up.

It's slow going, but I persevere!

The dragon riders, in their shitty enemy-only version of the class, aren't really all that impressive, and dealing with them isn't the main issue.

I do appreciate their inappropriately purple color scheme, though. I don't think that's the right look for their whole "bloodthirsty dragon-riding mercenaries" aesthetic.

Now, the real problem is the boss, Papilion, which I'm fairly certain is the name for a breed of dog, but can't be bothered to look it up.

With Awareness, Pursuit, a Killer Lance, and overall decent stats, he has a nasty habit of flying around your actually good people to crush whatever chaff you've got tailing along for the ride. Given that Awareness doesn't protect against effective damage anymore, though, he's not too difficult to handle. Maybe someone should've given him the memo.

He drops the Life Ring, which I'd really like to have on Fury, but which my shortsightedness ends up giving to someone else instead. She even had the Wind Sword for just this occasion and everything!

Looks like someone doesn't have enough defense to get around Dew's meager attack power!

+1 MHP, +1 Mgc, +1 Mdf. I guess he's mad I didn't give him the Thunder Sword.

The boss is down! Who did the deed, you ask?

Why, Midayle of course, just to prove that he can! (+1 Str, +1 Def)

Arden really enjoys all those weapon ranks Binary gives him.

+1 MHP. Not that he's, y'know, doing much with them.

Ira is such a show-off it's ridiculous. Never change.

There, that's the last of both armies taken care of. Shagaal is all that remains.

A little after-battle patching up gives Adean +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Luk. Strength is an... unusual choice, but I'll go with it. It makes Lightning a bit less heavy for her, at least.

Shagaal and Travant's little get-together is at an end. We'll see you at that cookout in the desert, buddy!

Alright, we're ready to deal with the boss and wrap up this part of the chapter. Since Shagaal and Lachesis are the only living Agustrians left in the entire country, I let them have a little get together.

Kick his ass, baby.

And so she does. She doesn't quite kill him, though. She also gains +1 Luk.

That honor goes to Azel and his Meteor tome, since I thought a second anti-climactic death would be a good way to send the guy off.

As well as another level where all we can see is empty terrain. (+1 Spd, +1 Luk).

Only one thing left to do, I suppose.

Midayle's options are fairly standard, though like Beowulf, one of them involves ditching the pony.

His default class is still Bow Knight, granting boosts to the tune of +2 Skl, +3 Str, +2 Spd, +2 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov, as well as B Swords and A Bows. Nothing too surprising, really.

Sniper is the alternate promotion, with +6 Skl, +3 Str, +6 Spd, +1 Def, +3 Mdf, -1 Mov. He completely loses his Sword rank, but still gets A Bows, as well as +5 Crit.

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that Bow Knight is my choice for him. The boosts from Sniper just aren't enough to make the sacrifice to Movement and the loss of swords worth it.

Yes, Dew gets the +1 Def boost from this village. I really didn't know who else to give it to.

Next time, we'll meet have a pirate who can steal things from very far away, a priest who's naturally talented at healing himself, and a mage who doesn't suck anymore. Hope you're still reading by then!

Edited April 1, 2016 by whenbananasattack

[BrightBow]

That is a neat formation. I'm sure this moment had Shagaal reflecting on his life choices. Of course the usurpers in Grandbell would have killed him eventually anyway, so his life was forfeit either way.

Edited April 1, 2016 by BrightBow

[Alastor15243]

I didn't even come up with it, so go ahead! The more people calling him a pineapple, the better.

Don't insult my mage son by comparing him to that loser.

I adore male Morgan, I suppose I should've called him a ripoff rather than a clone to be more plain.

[Ansem]

That is a neat formation. I'm sure this moment had Shagaal reflecting on his life choices. Of course the usurpers in Grandbell would have killed him eventually anyway, so his life was forfeit either way.

king sword gives charisma, sigurd's stars and charisma from lachesis. i gave this game a run and am currently up to the last chapter. i use the charisma kids, celice and finn who went paladin holding the king sword for the boosts.

[Alastor15243]

king sword gives charisma, sigurd's stars and charisma from lachesis. i gave this game a run and am currently up to the last chapter. i use the charisma kids, celice and finn who went paladin holding the king sword for the boosts.

http://s125.photobucket.com/user/Raustblackdragon/media/perfectsupportphalanx.png.html

I loved setting this up in the baseline game. Giving the king sword to Seliph would only make that even more powerful.

[epilepsyduck]

That is a neat formation. I'm sure this moment had Shagaal reflecting on his life choices. Of course the usurpers in Grandbell would have killed him eventually anyway, so his life was forfeit either way.

I'm glad someone has an appreciation for my obsessive need to keep everyone in formation whenever possible.

I adore male Morgan, I suppose I should've called him a ripoff rather than a clone to be more plain.

I suppose it's not the poor kid's fault the devs couldn't think of anything to do with like a third of the Fates kiddos other than "character people liked from Awakening". I'm going to blame him anyway, though, because I don't like his ugly portrait and general all-around mediocrity compared to his dad.

We've destroyed the entire country of Agustria and killed everyone in it, but we're not done with the chapter just yet. We've got a few new units with some unusual new skill assignments to recruit, some Holy Weapons to gather, and one weapon that's holy in a more literal sense than the others.

Chapter 3 Part 5: You wouldn't download 1000 gold

Let's skip past all the tedious marching it took to get everyone here and get straight to our inevitable invasion of Pirate Island.

Fury still has the Lady Sword, and will be doing her best to keep the pirates away from Claude and Tiltyu. Getting them to safety without her help is certainly possible, but it's far more difficult. Besides, she's at a lower level than I'd like, and this is a great way to get her up to par.

Inventory-wise, Midayle sold the Life Ring so Fury could pick it up, and bought the Silver Bow off Lachesis. The Life Ring makes me a lot less nervous about sending Fury out all on her lonesome.

Sigurd conquers the castle, which apparently gives the pirates permission to run Briggid out of town. Beaten by a mere recolor of the first boss? I expected more out of you, lady.

I mean, it's just a Warrior and a Brigand, you're easily good enough to take on those odds!

Ah... maybe not so much those odds, though.

Enemies continue the proud tradition of attacking archers from a distance on enemy phase.

She manages to steal money from the enemies she shoots. I'm not sure how that works, but it's handy.

While some of the enemies pursue Briggid, the rest take an interest in everyone's favorite Swordmaster.

It has a predictable ending for all of them.

As well as an... unusual +1 MHP, +1 Mdf level from Ira. Whatever makes you feel special.

The Hand Axe ones ignore all the targets that can't hit back in favor of Jamke, who can do just that.

+1 MHP, +1 Luk. I think he wants me to pair him with the remaining Jungby twin. Sorry, pal, I've already got plans on who'll be hers.

Oh, right, the boss has a Leg Ring, doesn't he?

Welp, I guess we won't be seeing his stats anytime soon.

+1 MHP. I hope you're proud of yourself, Ira. You've ruined a valuable learning experience for the readers and given me a crap level!

Pirates slowly shuffle around in the water, aimlessly wandering while they wait for their next meal to arrive.

And here's that meal right now! Let's see what surprises Binary brought our newest recruits.

Claude isn't super different, aside from some minor buffs to his defensive stats and a couple points of Strength. What's really nice is the skill he has now, Life, which let's him heal himself every turn. It also gives pairings with him a little more oomph, but ultimately he himself is still relegated to pure support, with maybe a little magic damage on the side.

Fortify lost half its uses, sadly, but is still quite useful. He'll just need to pick something else up, I guess.

Tiltyu gained a few levels, and received stat boosts to the tune of +3 Mgc, +2 Spd, +2 Luk, +1 Def, +1 Mdf, but lost -2 Skl in the process. She's a Mage instead of a Thunder Mage, but is cheating on her weapon ranks and has an A in Thunder magic anyway. Her daughter doesn't, though, so it's important that she ditch Thoron eventually so it can be passed down.

One nice thing is the second tome she's carrying, Bolting. It'll allow her to earn experience safely, especially here when she and Claude are nearly defenseless and surrounded by pirates. The fact she no longer has a Thunder tome does mean she has to use Thoron for the Arena, though, and that can cut into her funds absurdly fast, so it's a good idea to hand her another tome ASAP.

Our final recruit is Briggid, who received a fairly harsh -4 Str in exchange for +1 Skl and +1 Spd. She also gets a +5 Crit bonus for being a Sniper, though, so it evens out a bit. In addition to Pursuit, she's gained the Steal skill, which really helps her given the Holy Weapon she'll be toting around. Overall, she's pretty great despite the Strength loss.

I'd really rather not see Briggid get smashed to bits before we can get to her, so let's move her towards that village. She's gonna need to save it, anyway.

Thanks to the huge evasion debuff the ocean terrain gives, Tiltyu has an easy time dealing with the pirates from afar with her Bolting tome. She can kill them in two hits, or one if she crits.

Like so.

I'm not so confident in her ability to deal with the pirates once they hit land, though. Luckily, Fury is here to save the day.

Since a castle that's miles away by now has been conquered, Ethlin knows it's more important than ever than Cuan receive the Gáe Bolg, and forks it over immediately.

This makes him glow like the morning sun for a brief moment.

Aside from the -5 to might all the Holy Weapons got, the big change with this weapon is it's range; it's now a 1-2 range weapon, able to be thrown like a Javelin. This makes it a considerably more impressive weapon than before, where it was one of the less useful Holy Weapons. It's still quite heavy, technically heavier than before, but the fact Strength mitigates weapon weight means it's actually extremely light now, especially with the +10 Str bonus it has.

With the boss dead and the Charisma bots about, Dew is free to attack this guy for some much-needed levels.

He even gets a crit.

+1 MHP, +1 Def, +1 Mdf. I'm cool with you upping your defenses.

Levin finishes the job.

With a measly +1 MHP, he continues to only barely try at all.

I wanted Arden to get the next guy, but he fucked up. At least he didn't take any damage.

Luckily, siege tomes fix everything.

What do you think Crusader Noba would say to Cuan using the sacred Gáe Bolg to deal with a bunch of common pirates?

With the last of the guys blocking the bridge dealt with, we can handle the rest of the pirates, as well as hopefully draw a few of them away from pursuing Briggid.

I have no idea why the AI has it out for Ira, but she's basically invincible against these guys, so they're pretty much rushing to their graves.

Fin.

Yes yes, impale yourself on the Lady Sword and leave the poor weaklings at Blaggi Tower alone.

Tiltyu takes out another pirate who's just sitting around in the ocean, waiting to be smote.

Can Briggid liberate this village before a horde of seafaring thugs crash down around her?

She can, with the magic of critical hits no longer being tied to a skill!

The quest to get Dew to level 20 so he'll stop being terrible continues.

I don't really want to send everyone chasing after the pirates, so I'll leave most of the foot units near the castle.

Most of them still aren't taking the bait, though. I'd really rather not have her all alone and surrounded by melee units, but it looks like that's probably gonna happen regardless.

We do still get a few suicidal archers as always, though, so it's not all bad.

The Lady Sword continues to kick major ass in Fury's hands. Good thing, too, I'd really rather have her promoted before we deal with Chapter 4.

Let's keep the slaughter going.

She levels here, but I didn't get a screenshot of it because I'm an idiot. (+1 Luk, +1 Def)

I probably should've left this alone and had Briggid run further south, but she'll probably do okay with the terrain bonuses helping her.

Indeed, she doesn't get hit even once. I suppose my concerns were a little unfounded.

Some very foolish guys with hand axes try their best, and fall short of the mark.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Mgc, +1 Def. A decent level, and ready for promotion even! We'll cover that next time.

Tiltyu gets an unexpected critical and 1HKOs one of the pirates.

It was a wasted effort, though, because her level contains literally nothing at all.

I absolutely love the new range of the Gáe Bolg. Along with the promotion to Master Knight, it makes Cuan the badass he always should've been.

Patching people up has gotten Lachesis +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Def. Nice job.

Briggid's level is... less exciting, at +1 MHP, +1 Luk, +1 Def. I guess Defense is nice, at least.

Another turn without taking a single hit. I feel very silly for worrying.

Also, another critical with Bolting. Good on you, being all economical, Tiltyu.

Adean encounters her pirate-y doppelganger, and decides there's no time like now to hand over a bow she's been carrying around everywhere.

Accompanied by the same radiant glow as before. It's such an unnecessary effect, and I love it so much.

As far as Yewfelle goes, not a whole lot is different. It's had its weight increased, but thanks to the new weight mechanics weighs a measly 5 instead of the ridiculous 13 it used to, and will only get lighter as Briggid gains Strength. Otherwise, it's still pretty much the same bow.

The pirates on the other side of the island are dealt with, so now all we've got to deal with are these four right here. They don't actually move at all, but in my sheer tactical brilliance I forgot about that and left everyone out of what I assumed to be their range.

The generic Warriors aren't anything particularly special, but can lay out a lot of hurt with those Hero Axes of theirs.

The boss (who I will refer to as Blue Dimaggio because I don't remember his actual name and can't be bothered to look it up) is a whole different story. With high stats, Wrath and Pursuit, he's able to dish out quite a bit of damage extraordinarily quickly. That weapon he's got is a Master Axe, and much like the Master Lance we saw earlier, it's a ranged version of the Hero Axe with more damage but worse accuracy and weight. And unlike the Master Lance we saw earlier, he drops it upon death.

The generics go down fairly easily.

+1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Def. Nice.

Adean puts the boss to sleep, gaining +1 MHP, +1 Spd, +1 Luk in the process.

I let a few people take whacks at him, which gives Fury a level as empty as my heart, and Dew a more useful but less poetic +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Mgc, +1 Def.

+1 Mdf. Not your best, Sylvia, darling. Not your best at all.

Briggid gets a shot in on Blue Dimaggio, and softens him up. Who gets the kill?

Lex, of course! Told you he had something better to get than that Hero Axe.

+1 MHP, +1 Skl. That's not like you at all, Lex.

Not much left to do but to send the new kids home to go through the Arena, as well as set up Cuan, Ethlin and Fin's inventories. (+1 Spd, +1 Luk)

You know this song and dance by now. Tiltyu did surprisingly well getting through the Arena, and the results are below.

Arena Rankings and Level Ups:

ARENA COMPLETION- Tiltyu *, Claude 6, Briggid *

ARENA LEVELS-

Tiltyu: 4 levels- +2 MHP, +2 Skl, +1 Spd, +3 Luk, +1 Def, +2 Mdf

I guess it could be worse.

Claude: 1 level- +1 MHP, +1 Mdf

Moving on.

Briggid: 3 levels- +3 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Str, +3 Luk

That's so... sadly typical of you, Briggid.

Cuan and Ethlin dump most of their inventories, carrying only the Gáe Bolg and Light Sword, respectively. I guess this'll leave Leaf and Altenna a little underequipped, but both weapons are good enough that I don't think it's too much of an issue.

Fin will be carrying a Javelin, Hero Lance and Silver Lance into Gen 2. I was going to let him have the Killer Lance, too, but I decided to let Sigurd keep it for now. This should be enough to let him play crutch for Leaf and Nanna.

Dew pays a visit to the Blaggi Tower. Instead of a Wind Sword (since Fury already had one), he instead finds the Blaggi Sword, yet another weapon lifted from Thracia. It has high stats, is effective against both armored units and "dark" units like Dark Mages, and provides both Life and Prayer. It also negates the "halve enemy attack" effect of, say, Loptyr. If that sounds a bit redundant and unnecessary, given the existence of the Book of Naga... well, let's just say the final boss may not be the only guy who knows that trick.

The sword is available to anyone with Holy Blood and a sword rank, aka not Dew. There's quite a few candidates for this bad boy, actually, and I'll figure out who gets it later. Given how expensive it is, it'll give Dew plenty of money once he sells it, which he'll probably have to instantly give to whoever is to receive it.

Sadly, the plot has caught up with us, and we're forced to flee from a terrifying force of might Axe Knights, backed up by Mage Knights or something, I guess. Clearly, the unpromoted enemies are a lot more threatening.

That's okay, though, we get a change to go to Pegasus Land, which I'm sure has nothing eventful happening at all.

That was certainly a long one.

You probably have an idea of what we'll be seeing next time; more Holy Weapons, more nifty new items, more promotions, and more beefed up bosses. I promise that update won't come as late as this one did!

Edited August 2, 2016 by whenbananasattack

[Alastor15243]

Oh I am really holding out hope that Dew gets access to assassin.

[BrightBow]

It's nice that they increased the accuracy of the Ichival. It should be far more reliable now.

[epilepsyduck]

I've discovered that whenever I promise an update is coming sooner than the last one, I run into delays. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now.

Oh I am really holding out hope that Dew gets access to assassin.

No such luck, I'm afraid. Thieves are kind of bland in the promotion department.

It's nice that they increased the accuracy of the Ichival. It should be far more reliable now.

It's pretty nice, I just wish other bows got the same buff. Bows having similar accuracy to axes kind of makes them unappealing.

We've got another Home Castle focused update, which I realize is a fairly lame thing to drop on you guys after all this time. Sorry about that.

Chapter 4 Part 1: Pegasus ghosts of Silesia

We've made it all the way to Silesia, a land populated by various recolors of Agustrian nobles. We've come to help Levin drive these clones from his homeland and claim a tome with stat boosts that are, frankly, a little absurd.

Cuan and Ethlin are leaving us for good, and they will be sorely missed. Fin's leaving too, which I guess is a thing that also happened and probably has some effect on me, maybe, if I dig really deep.

The whole northern half of the map is swarming with foes at this point. Where are our brave heroes who've come to drive out this evil?

Sitting in this castle, of course! Hope you enjoy arena grinding and promotions, because that's pretty much all we're doing here!

With Dew and Briggid's help, I'll be showing off this Chapter's Arena foes. First up is Kemal, who went from Wind Mage to... Bard, for some reason? Odd choice, but I guess it doesn't make a lot of sense for Levin to be the only bard in the world, so pursue your new career path with earnest!

Our next opponents are a Paladin and Bow Knight who've traded in their Steel weapons for Silver ones. Still nothing you can't handle, probably. Alec and Noish certainly couldn't.

Senghor has abandoned his Forrest Knight ways and become an Iron Mage with Elwind. He's pretty fast for an Iron Mage, too, a remnant of his old class assignment.

Once we hit the fourth level, things get spooky; ghost Pegasus Knights haunt the arena! With their Hero Lances in hand, we have no hope of defeating them.

I took a screenshot at the exact wrong time, I'm sorry.

Ranged fighters just have to face a mediocre Bow Fighter with no special supernatural powers, just a Hero Bow. How underwhelming!

This Mage Knight is kind of a pain for some characters (Arden only barely beat him), but he's nothing super difficult.

This guy, on the other hand, has ditched his Hero Axe and Hero Bow for a Killer Axe and a Pugi (which, if you remember, is effectively a ranged Killer Axe). He's quite formidable, though not so much for Dew since he couldn't even hit him.

Finally, a Baron shows up with Bolganone to show that blue bloods like pitfighting just as much as the lower class.

With all that out of the way, the arena results;

Arena Rankings and Level Ups:

ARENA COMPLETION- Dew *, Briggid *, Arden 7, Fury *, Sigurd *, Tiltyu *, Holyn *, Ira *, Midayle *, Jamke *, Sylvia 4, Claude 4, Lachesis *, Adean *, Beowulf *, Levin *, Azel *, Lex *, Alec 2, Noish 2



ARENA LEVELS-

Dew: 5 levels- +2 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Mgc, +3 Luk, +2 Def

It seems like Dew's been getting more defense than he usually does for me. I approve.

Briggid: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Luk, +1 Def

Nothing too amazing, but at least there's a point of Strength in there

.

Arden: 4 levels- +3 MHP, +3 Str, +2 Def

He's just full of surprises, that Arden.

Fury: 3 levels- +2 Spd, +2 Luk, +1 Def

She continues on the path to being a weird pegasus-tank.

Sigurd: 4 levels- +4 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Str, +3 Spd, +1 Mgc, +2 Luk

Wow, he actually got Magic? I don't think a magic sword is in your future, but it's nice to see higher numbers.

Tiltyu: 7 levels- +5 MHP, +6 Skl, +2 Mgc, +3 Luk, +1 Mdf

Someone knows what she wants, and what she wants is one of the least useful things she could get.

Holyn: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Def

Yep, those are stats alright.

Ira: 1 level- +1 Spd, +1 Luk

Given the color of her Swordmaster robes, mixed with how absurdly high her Speed it, I think we should start calling Ira the Blue Blur.

Midayle: 2 levels- +2 MHP, +1 Skl, +2 Def

Goddamn, Midayle, if you weren't an archer I'd feel perfectly happy letting you tank.

Jamke: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +2 Luk

I guess it could be worse.

Sylvia: 1 level- +1 Mgc

It could be this, for example.

Claude: 1 level- +1 Skl

Okay then.

Lachesis: 1 level- Nothing

I don't know why you hate me when all I've done is love you.

Adean: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Str, +2 Luk, +2 Def

Magic would be better, but let's look at the positives; we've shaved a whole 2 weight off of Lightning with all this Strength!

Beowulf: 2 levels- +2 Str, +2 Spd

Beowulf is a simple man, but an efficient one.

Levin: 1 level- +1 MHP, +1 Skl

I guess it doesn't matter. Your promotion bonuses are good enough to make up for your slacking.

Azel: 2 levels- +1 MHP, +1 Skl, +1 Mgc, +2 Def

Getting ready for a more frontline assignment with all that Defense?

Lex: 4 levels- +3 MHP, +1 Skl, +2 Luk

You've gotten everything you need, so I guess you can go for weird secondary stats like that.

Alec: 1 level- +1 MHP, +1 Spd, +1 Luk
Do whatever you want, you green fuck, it doesn't even matter at this point.

All that fighting got Dew way over the level he needed to be to promote. He's only got one class to pick from, though.

Thief Fighter grants very nice boosts, +4 Skl, +4 Str, +5 Spd, +3 Mgc, +4 Def, +3 Mdf, +1 Mov, as well as a crit bonus and Pursuit. The biggest change is access to A swords, meaning he can leave Iron behind forever and get something good. It's taken a lot of effort to get him there, but he's finally an actual soldier!

Arden's our next candidate. Like Dew, he has only one class to promote into.

His only choice is to become an Iron Knight, like the class Lex promotes into. He gets +1 Skl, +2 Str, +3 Spd, +3 Def, +5 Mdf, +3 Mov, as well as a boost to his Sword and Lance ranks. He completely loses the Bow rank, but can get it back by dismounting, since the Iron Knight dismounts to the General class, much like how Valkyries dismount to High Priests. I wouldn't bother giving him bows just for that, though, he's really better of staying mounted permanently.

Fury's another unit ready for promotion. Unlike the previous two, she's got 2 classes to pick from.

Falcon Knight is still the default class. She gets +3 Skl, +3 Spd, +4 Mgc, +2 Def, +6 Mdf, Continue, A Lances, and access to Staves. Nothing too different from vanilla FE4.

Her other choice is a bit more old school, promoting into Dragon Master. She gets a few stat drops in addition to boosts (+3 Skl, +4 Str, -4 Spd, -3 Mgc, +8 Def, -5 Mdf, +1 Mov), gets no skills except for Pursuit which she has anyway, and gets A Swords an A Lances.

While the extra Movement and more offensively oriented boosts are interesting, I'll be sticking with Falcon Knight for this. She doesn't really need A Swords, and Continue is better than just Pursuit again. I'm also not at all fond of the Speed loss.

Levin is our final promotion candidate for now. His options probably won't come as a surprise.

Sage is the default class, of course. With +5 Skl, +2 Str, +3 Spd, +7 Mgc, +5 Mdf, the boosts have been hit with a bit of a nerf, but they're still very good. No new skills, but he still gets great weapon ranks, with B Staves, A Anima and B Light. He also gets access to Dark magic, but as there is no Dark magic in Gen 1, that's of no consequence.

His other class is Mage Fighter. The stat boosts are mostly inferior, with +3 Skl, +5 Str, +5 Mgc, +4 Def, though the higher defense is nice. The weapon ranks are also a bit poor comparatively, with only C Staves, B Anima and C Light. He does get B Swords, but since no one in their right mind gives swords to Mage Fighters/Knights, that's not really useful.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm picking Sage. Mage Fighter's not a bad class, but Sage just outclasses it utterly.

Now it's time for a little item management. Dew handed the Blaggi Sword to its rightful owner, Ira, and received a Killing Edge in return. Dew also got the Armory's Power Ring, since I didn't think anyone else really needed it as much.

Ira also gave up the Leg Ring to let Sylvia become the ultimate dancer. The fact she hasn't married yet is gonna hinder her utility for the time being, though.

The only thing in the Armory other than the Power Ring was a Recover Staff, which went to Levin.

Fin's discarded Horseslayer is now in Fury's hands. I figured she'd appreciate another weapon with some sort of effective damage.

Ethlin's staves found new homes, too; Lachesis got the Return Staff, and Claude picked up Heal. Claude also has Azel's old Fire tome, mostly for Arena grinding.

If you were wondering how the fuck Tiltyu got 7 levels in the Arena, the Elite Ring has something to do with that. She's gonna keep it for now, but I don't know who'll get it after she promotes. She' actually had the Sol manual since last chapter.

While we are setting out, we won't be seeing much action this update. Instead, I'd like to discuss pairings for Sylvia, Tiltyu and Briggid, as I haven't done so yet and I'd rather not squeeze them into an actual gameplay update.

Tiltyu's future lover is Levin. Believe it or not, Tiltyu x Levin is no longer absurdly overpowered like it used to be, but it's still a good pairing for both of them. Tiltyu's other main options are Claude and Azel, of course, though Lex and Arden can be surprisingly workable too thanks to Vantage and Elite/Great Shield. Overall, though, it's really best to stick to mages and not get too creative with her. You'll want the tomes come Gen 2, trust me.

Next up, I'm giving Beowulf to Briggid. The Beo Sword is really fantastic for Patty, to the point where I consider Beowulf to be Patty's best father, though he's not quite as great for Faval. Holyn and Dew are great fathers for both kids with their skills, especially since the former lets them wield the Balmung while the latter gives you Bargain/Steal for Patty. Noish, Jamke and Midayle are all decent if you'd like Charge on Faval, but it's kind of risky for Patty until she gets up to par. Lex can pass things down to Patty if you'd like Elite on her, instead, and Arden can be a weird but decent choice too. Definitely don't pair her with magic users, though, neither child has much to gain from such pairings.

Lasy of all, we've got Sylvia, who'll marry her maybe-brother-probably-cousin Claude. Sylvia's kids being what they are, there's not a whole world of other pairings available to her, and Claude's Life skill makes it a very appealing choice even disregarding those limitations. Life + Prayer is a very powerful combo, after all. If you've got Claude with someone else, though, go with Azel or Levin, as Corpul can inherit Light tomes and eventually gets promotions that don't suck as much as High Priest. You could potentially go unpaired, too, but I've never done that, though I imagine the extra Charisma could come in handy. Still, I'd prefer to have a dancer that's got the Leg and Knight rings right off the bat.

We're all lined up outside the castle.

This inspires the mages to make a fearsome charge in our direction, where they all slowly inch towards us through the forest at the speed of one space per turn.

The pirates, meanwhile, start razing the villages almost immediately. This includes attacking villages that are very far inland, which seems a bit unusual for pirates, but since I've never been one I suppose I can't question their methods.

The pegasus knights love to show off their ability to not sluggishly plod towards us like their earthbound allies. Dealing with that probably won't be fun.

Two recolors discuss asking the artists to please draw unique portraits for each of them. Though I suppose Pamela's not really a recolor of Deet'var, given that she's got a slightly different hairdo.

I guess this is a good place to leave off for now. Next time, we fall asleep during a blizzard, meet a boss who's abandoned his healer shtick, and see pegasus knights that like to cheat on their weapon ranks.

Edited August 2, 2016 by whenbananasattack

[Konnor97]

Man, I wish I could pair up Beowulf and Briggid in my Binary playthrough. The Binary patch I have seems to be mostly the same as this one, but almost all portraits are Thracia-like, and the Beo Sword for no good reason is B rank. Unless female thieves have B rank, Patty has a cheated B rank, or she could use the Beo Sword anyway, it becomes an instant pairing no-go.