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

[Eltosian Kadath]

13 minutes ago, Jotari said:

If anything I'd say Engage's aptitude has questionable existence on par with Three Houses. As, if you can't remove it from the character, it has no tangible use. Doubling growths from 20% or 30% to 40% or 60% has no real value when the character could just have 40% and 60% growths to begin with. All aptitude does is, essentially, inform the player that the character has good growths. Which the game shouldn't be hiding from us to begin with in 2023 😠

The big difference here is that the bonus to growth-rates changes if you change his class, making class change have a larger impact on his growth rates than for other characters. The variability in the growth rate bonus, that you have some control over, is different from a static bonus that it had in older games, as it can't literally be replaced by a higher growth rate for identical results. This game's version is telling you that he will grow more like the class he is in, rather than simply that his growths are higher.

[Jotari]

31 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The big difference here is that the bonus to growth-rates changes if you change his class, making class change have a larger impact on his growth rates than for other characters. The variability in the growth rate bonus, that you have some control over, is different from a static bonus that it had in older games, as it can't literally be replaced by a higher growth rate for identical results. This game's version is telling you that he will grow more like the class he is in, rather than simply that his growths are higher.

If that's the way it works then that's certainly a tangible difference. Once again though, these things really shouldn't be hidden from the player.

[Alastor15243]

If I may add my two cents on this: making Aptitude a personal skill isn't entirely redundant. It does make it such that their improved growth rates are, in fact, their personal skill, thereby making it a tradeoff. And the benefit of making it a skill in general is that it informs a blind player, or one who simply doesn't have access to the growth data that every proper game in the series has kept hidden, that there will in fact be greater-than-average statistical payoffs for training this character.

[Alastor15243]

Engage Day 6: Chapter 6

Well would you look at that! The chapter and day numbers line up now! Alright, I’m an hour too early to use the amiibo gazebo, so let’s get going with Chapter 6.

…Uh-huh. Skirmishes. Well, I’ve gotta try at least one of them eventually. Gotta see if they have a unique soundtrack or if they just use the area music.

But at the moment I’m just gonna do Chapter 6. For now it’s enough to know they’re optional and you can pass by them without consequence. And also they don’t even block up the shops like they did in Awakening, because the shops aren’t on the world map! Nice!

Speaking of shops, I just confirmed that the tonic supplies don’t replenish between battles. I wonder when I’ll get more of them? I have to assume at some point they’ll become infinite. Making them single-buys at the very start is… a curious choice.

…Y’know… if I may go on a tangent… it’s nice to not be chronically, bitterly mad about the latest game in a series I love dearly. Have I mentioned that? Have I actually stopped to take a second to actually express that? What a massive, wonderful load it is off of my shoulders that Three Houses is no longer this sickly, eldritch shadow looming over the whole franchise, at dangerous risk of swallowing up everything I love about it to the sound of thunderous applause? It’s just… a game now. A game that I just so happen to decidedly not like. And I’m okay with that. It’s not at risk of being the future anymore. It’s not even the present. It’s the past. Just a little experimental bump on that road that I personally think turned out terribly. And now we’re moving forward!

…Yeah, it’s nice. It’s really, really nice.

So let’s keep playing.

So they’re talking about the landscape starting to shift into Brodia territory, but I looked at the map, and I noticed that Firene-style terrain extends a good bit past this point. There’s a whole green grassy peninsula before it gets into the truly rocky stuff. Huh.

Oh hey, it’s a redhead with star stickers in her hair. I wonder what her deal is?

…Apparently the voice actress read, or was instructed to read, “Ugh… ugh…” as whiny crying.

…As it was apparently supposed to be in universe, judging by their reactions.

…

Yunaka is… um… well she certainly is… a character. Is this our thief? She sounds like she’s running a con job.

…Okay, so either she’s trying to con us into helping her retrieve “her” Emblem ring… or she’s genuinely lost it and is obliviously asking for our help getting it back. Not realizing we’d know full well it doesn’t belong to her.

Okay, the “wait for it” at the start of the conversation still makes me think she’s up to something, but she’s casually admitting to a lot of stuff I don’t see why she’d admit to if she were trying to trick us.

…She… she just said, literally verbatim vocalized, “sniffle sniffle”.

…I think I love her. Ironically, but still.

Okay, I’m pretty sure she’s the one who took it. Her outfit screams either mage or thief (well, more like trickster, but whatever) to me, and I’m guessing thief because we have two mages already.

Anyway, this is another “save town from bandits” map apparently.

…Nope, looks like this village is well and truly lost already.

Alright, so Yunaka is with me, teaming up with Pepsiman while split up from the rest of the party. Let’s check her out…

…Oh shit. +15 crit when she’s on an avoid-boosting tile? That’s kickass! Especially since she already gains so much from them!

And she also has an antitoxin… which has a built-in vulnerary effect! That’s kickass!

…I wonder why she starts green, though. I hope we get her soon, having an npc ally for the whole map seems… scary.

…Also it’s fog of war shiiiiit!

Okay, I’m breaking out some heavy measures for this. First off, Pepsiman gets my torch. And the seraph robe. And one of my defense tonics. And the HP tonic. He’s alone with a fragile speedster, I am not taking chances if he has to tank.

Thieves don’t seem to get a fog of war bonus. Yeah, they seem to be getting rid of a lot of those advantages thieves typically have. Now, this is an odd choice, but I kinda like it. Getting rid of those situational abilities of theirs allows them to balance thieves more as actual combat units you take into battle for the sake of it, rather than the weak allies you have to protect if you want extra goodies, or to support you in fog of war situations. As long as this means they’re just as good as other units in ordinary map situations, I’m happy.

Now let’s see, do I have another torch?

Well I have the torch staff, but I’ll get another torch just in case, to put with the main party.

I gave Louis the torch and also a resistance tonic, because he’s the one I most trust to step out into danger, and I do not want random mages to fuck him. Hopefully his attack power is still enough to one-shot them, because if not, he could be toast fairly quickly if this game is an asshole about fog of war placement.

I can take all of my units but one. I’m leaving Chloé behind because she’s my only flier, and I have no idea how many archers are on the map. And also no idea how to calculate effective damage, which terrifies me.

Oh that’s right, I need to have a ring on Jean. Alright, he gets Tiki.

…It’s yellow spots that represent places where other players have killed, and purple that represents spots where other players’ characters have died, right?

…I hope so, because there is a five long solid line of yellow tiles towards the final stretch of darkness on this map.

…I also notice characters aren’t able to move into darkness. It’s shown as impassable on every character’s movement range. Interesting design choice, I see the reasoning behind it, but I could see it potentially being annoying too. Let’s see what they do with it.

…I don’t think there’s much more I can do on the prep screen but scare myself.

Let’s do this.

…No, one last thing, Louis is getting a pure water. That seems important. Very important.

…Oh! So Yunaka does have superior FOW vision! It’s just that we couldn’t see her vision range on the prep screen until she joined properly as a blue unit just now!

…Wait, does that mean green units don’t share vision with the player’s army in this game? Will there be green units we have to hunt down in the fog to protect?

Or is this just a way to surprise the player with this?

Also I can’t help but notice that stationary torches, like in Radiant Dawn, are back. Cool, those were interesting.

…Okay, the “animation” for lighting a brazier was… depressingly basic, I have to say. In that it didn’t exist. The squares were just instantly exposed and the brazier was instantly lit.

…Odd design choice, to introduce dagger poison on an enemy it is very decidedly not wise to poison. He’s got a hand axe, meaning that Pepsiman can attack him without consequence, while Yunaka runs the risk of taking damage.

Also this enemy has a 3% hit rate on Pepsiman. That’s… insane.

…Oh, wow! I misunderstood and thought the boss had the ring! This guy having it explains a lot. Now we have Micaiah’s ring!

So we give it to Yunaka, and she seems surprised by this. I suspect she was planning to run off with it and she might be persuaded to join us through our idiotic but moving trust in her.

…Oh, and thieves can also use staves in this game. Apparently. Well, that explains the trickster inspiration in her outfit, I suppose? But why was her mend staff grayed out on the menu when she was green…?

…Oh, no, it’s just that Micaiah lets anyone wield staves. Thaaaaaat’s interesting.

Micaiah appears to be a healer Emblem. Well, that makes sense, I suppose. If anyone was gonna be a healer Emblem, I suppose it would have to be her.

…WHAT.

FUCKING WHAT.

Her special move… is fucking global fortify. Y’know, that thing that S-rank staves do when they don’t resurrect the fucking dead? The only downside is whoever uses it has their HP go straight to 1. But that’s hardly a downside if you have another healer.

Okay, so, I think I’m gonna put this on Chloé once this map is over. Having a flying healer will probably be super handy, and I’ve got other ideas for Yunaka. I’m gonna try to give her Marth’s ring so she can learn those precious avoid skills. At least once Pepsiman is done with him.

Also I can’t help but notice that Yunaka has S-rank daggers. This, I think, confirms a suspicion I’ve had for a while: weapon ranks are fixed again, like in Genealogy. They’re class-dependent, and boosted by Emblems. My first clue was how I’ve gotten this far and I can’t recall a single “weapon rank up” message.

Ooh, Micaiah’s personal tome is a simultaneous attack and torch? Awesome!

Also, that range boost to staves, I wonder if that applies to melee range staves too, like heal?

Oh, thank goodness I had Framme use illume before Louis moved. There’s a mage lying in wait with thunder, which in this game is a 1-3 tome that in exchange can’t double. So Louis wouldn’t have been fucked, per se, but it’s good to know where to place him to minimize damage until I can get that pure water on him safely.

Also, I like the enemy mage design in this game. It looks cool. It actually strangely fits the “bandit” theme of the enemy group. I dunno, I like the aesthetic concept of lower-class, criminal mages, since magic nearly always screams “upper class higher education” in fantasy worlds. I’ve got a feeling this is how all enemy mages look, save for different outfit colors, but I like how it at least mostly blends in.

…So uh, Alfred missed a 94.

…That is frustrating.

This unfortunately means I have to put Louis in range of the thunder mage after all if I’m gonna kill this sword girl this turn.

Thankfully, that at least worked with no more freak misses.

…Okay, so judging by Jean, everyone starts with some fixed SP. I suppose that makes sense. Makes it easier to get later-joining units up to par with your party. That explains the disparities I’ve been noticing.

Okay, that’s cool, enemies can snuff braziers! Not only is that interesting on its own, but it also provides the opportunity for what they did here: giving you a peek of what’s up ahead, to mitigate the anti-ironman nature of fog of war, while still making vision range management important for moving forward.

And we’ve got an enemy with a longbow we can take from them. Oh, that’s cool! An infinite use 2-3 range longbow! It’s heavy, but that’s still quite handy.

At the moment I’d say Louis is my best unit, which is hilarious because not only is he the infamously serially-shafted knight class, but he doesn’t even have an emblem. The second I find an ability that helps him counter mages, I’ve slapping that one on him pronto.

…Apparently poison doesn’t work on anyone you can’t deal damage to. Funny, I’d have thought that knights would be one of the enemies thieves were specifically designed to counter. But I guess that’s another thing that makes knights good, and knights are a class that, as I said, have historically sorely needed them. I actually really like their take on knights so far.

…Also, Pepsiman got poisoned, and I can’t see anywhere to check Pepsiman’s status condition. I heard poison could be made worse with stacking, so I wonder if the icon will visually indicate it. I have to say, I’m annoyed that the game doesn’t explicitly say what the damage bonus is. The game does that with a couple of things, which is frustrating, because honestly ZR would probably warrant an entire new tier of its own if those issues didn’t exist. As it stands, it’s probably going to just tie with the 3DS games.

I’m pretty much done with the map. Things were fairly straightforward. Aside from the longbow and thunder, there weren’t many nasty surprises waiting in the dark.

I knew the boss had a mage hiding behind him! It seemed like such an obvious choice. Thankfully I was careful and didn’t quite get close enough to be in range, and refreshed Louis’s pure water regardless.

Oh shit. The boss is tough enough to one-shot Clanne, at least without Pepsiman’s aura.

…Or the defense and HP he just got amidst a pretty great level.

From killing him.

…Shit. Right. MULTIPLE HP BARS. I NEED TO CHECK FOR THOSE!

Time to go nuclear on this motherfucker. Thank goodness I still have Warp Ragnarok available.

Also, something to note: Resurrection stones don’t clear poison. Good to know!

Alright, now let’s see if we get confirmation of what Yunaka’s deal is.

Yeah, as I figured, she’s the one who took it from the shrine in the first place.

So yeah, Alfred points out what I noticed, that she could have easily run off with the ring when Pepsiman trusted her with it.

…Oh wow. They actually kept Micaiah’s sort of raspy quality to her voice. I expected that to be something they’d chalk up to shitty early-installment voice acting and change. That’s… actually kind of charming.

So, Yunaka’s joining our forces as “punishment” for lying to royalty. Figures.

PFFFFF

Okay, I chuckled like an idiot when Pepsiman brought back “hiya papaya”.

Holy shit that was one hell of a pregnant pause from Pepsiman between “Good” and “The kingdom of might”

…It seems kind of silly that the village is suddenly fully and plainly visible in bright moonlight now.

I like Chloé saying they need to report this to the local governor, and hoping that he doesn’t already know. Cuz if he did, that wouldn’t reflect well on him, obviously. It’s a tiny bit of worldbuilding, but I like it. Also, given that I didn’t even pick her for the fight… I’m starting to get a better sense of these big open exploration things. Doubtless by the end of the game they’ll be crawling with my units and won’t feel nearly as empty.

Assuming they don’t all die in the ironman, of course.

Most other people don’t have anything specific to say about the situation, though. It’s just generic bond fragment progress quotes, even after I talk to them again. I sure hope bond fragment gains don’t override what they were ordinarily going to say or anything. That would suck.

Oh hey, it’s that little girl I suspect is the evil hooded sorceress!

…Ohhhhhhhhhkay.

So she’s looking for her “sibling”, is she?

Okay, so, nobody uses the word “sibling” to describe their “sibling” in human conversation. Unless they’re non-binary I suppose. Which characterizes this as… a painfully blatant attempt to leave the “sibling’s” gender ambiguous. Either to keep it a deeper secret…

…or to mask the fact that depending on player choices, said “sibling” could be a brother or a sister. Which, tying this into my suspicion that this is the evil hooded girl…

…I think this “sibling” of hers… is Pepsiman himself.

Of course, this would be undermined if I see anyone refer to Pepsiman with pronouns in the main story. I’ll have to pay attention.

I like Veyle’s theme, by the way. It’s cute. And it’s starting to make me think it’s not that Veyle is an act put on by the evil hooded girl… but that the evil hooded girl is some alternate personality of Veyle’s.

But that’s about all the time I have for today. Tomorrow, by the sounds of it, we head into Brodia for the first time.

Alastor, signing off!

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

7 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Most other people don’t have anything specific to say about the situation, though. It’s just generic bond fragment progress quotes, even after I talk to them again. I sure hope bond fragment gains don’t override what they were ordinarily going to say or anything. That would suck.

Yep, that seems to be what's happening. I fielded Chloe for this map, and I didn't get any dialogue about a "local governor". Ironically, it seems you get more interesting dialogue from the units you don't care enough about to field.

9 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I think this “sibling” of hers… is Pepsiman himself.

That's what I am suspecting as well. I chose female Alear, so I will be curious if you encounter any text or dialogue that is different from what I get.

11 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

It’s yellow spots that represent places where other players have killed, and purple that represents spots where other players’ characters have died, right?

 

…I hope so, because there is a five long solid line of yellow tiles towards the final stretch of darkness on this map.

I think it's vice-versa. The golden tiles seem more "danger zone" than the purple tiles, from what I have experienced. 

14 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alright, so Yunaka is with me, teaming up with Pepsiman while split up from the rest of the party. Let’s check her out…

It's too much of me to ask this game to punish Alear at some point for being overly trusting of someone they just met, isn't it. Not like that's just an Engage thing, though.

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh wow. They actually kept Micaiah’s sort of raspy quality to her voice. I expected that to be something they’d chalk up to shitty early-installment voice acting and change. That’s… actually kind of charming.

Veronica Taylor is back! She was the original voice of Ash and May in Pokemon, and you may remember her as Professor Manuela from the last go-round.

17 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Oh, no, it’s just that Micaiah lets anyone wield staves. Thaaaaaat’s interesting.

That's really cool. So far I have used her to make Clanne a mini-Sage, and in an especially goofy choice, on Louis because Armored units get a secondary effect with Great Sacrifice. But I like the idea of giving her to a mounted unit like Chloe, too.

[Alastor15243]

4 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Yep, that seems to be what's happening. I fielded Chloe for this map, and I didn't get any dialogue about a "local governor". Ironically, it seems you get more interesting dialogue from the units you don't care enough about to field

Oh christ, that is so sad.

 

5 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

That's really cool. So far I have used her to make Clanne a mini-Sage, and in an especially goofy choice, on Louis because Armored units get a secondary effect with Great Sacrifice. But I like the idea of giving her to a mounted unit like Chloe, too.

Oh shit! I'll have to check that out! Armored healers would be fun as hell too. I've wanted that for a while, so why not?

[Eltosian Kadath]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

…Uh-huh. Skirmishes. Well, I’ve gotta try at least one of them eventually. Gotta see if they have a unique soundtrack or if they just use the area music.

Do be warned, those things are too dangerous to just bring all your under-leveled units to. At least in my experience you need to bring most of your main troops to take them down.

 

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

…Oh shit. +15 crit when she’s on an avoid-boosting tile? That’s kickass! Especially since she already gains so much from them!

I love the synergy of her class-type ability, and personal skill, plop her on some terrain and she becomes a monster.

 

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

And she also has an antitoxin… which has a built-in vulnerary effect! That’s kickass!

Its the buff Antitoxins have always needed, no longer will using one be laughed at.

 

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…WHAT.

 

FUCKING WHAT.

 

Her special move… is fucking global fortify. Y’know, that thing that S-rank staves do when they don’t resurrect the fucking dead? The only downside is whoever uses it has their HP go straight to 1. But that’s hardly a downside if you have another healer.

Plus using the thing gives out a stupid amount of exp....

 

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Also, that range boost to staves, I wonder if that applies to melee range staves too, like heal?

It lets her use that Mend she starts with at 6 range...

 

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

At the moment I’d say Louis is my best unit, which is hilarious because not only is he the infamously serially-shafted knight class, but he doesn’t even have an emblem. The second I find an ability that helps him counter mages, I’ve slapping that one on him pronto.

I am a bit of a fan of giving him the Sigurd Ring, in part because I like him leading the pack, and he is defensive enough that I feel a lot safer using run-through with him than with most other units.

 

9 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Oh that’s right, I need to have a ring on Jean. Alright, he gets Tiki.

Oh, is that one of the DLC emblem? How is that integrated into the game?

 

8 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

It's too much of me to ask this game to punish Alear at some point for being overly trusting of someone they just met, isn't it. Not like that's just an Engage thing, though.

Careful there, you are about to monkey's paw Alear into pulling a Eirika...

 

[Alastor15243]

27 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Oh, is that one of the DLC emblem? How is that integrated into the game?

Nah it's one of the minor rings. I haven't used the DLC yet.

[Acacia Sgt]

You know, was gonna ask why you seemingly skipped posting the Divine Paralogue if you were already using Tiki. Guess I forgot Tiki is also a regular Bond Ring too. lol

Edited January 27, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Jotari]

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

…I wonder why she starts green, though. I hope we get her soon, having an npc ally for the whole map seems… scary.

This seems to be a thing they do for all newly joined allied units. I think it's to stop you unequipping their emblem rings and giving it to someone else from the prep screen when the story determines someone is the "canon" Emblem wielder. So they just make them an NPC until the start of turn 1. Not actually necessary in this case since you don't actually have the Emblem ring from the start and only get it after you kill the first enemy.

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

…I also notice characters aren’t able to move into darkness. It’s shown as impassable on every character’s movement range. Interesting design choice, I see the reasoning behind it, but I could see it potentially being annoying too. Let’s see what they do with it.

I personally find this mechanic very annoying. Though it does make using torches significantly more important.

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Her special move… is fucking global fortify. Y’know, that thing that S-rank staves do when they don’t resurrect the fucking dead? The only downside is whoever uses it has their HP go straight to 1. But that’s hardly a downside if you have another healer.

The true downside is that you, like Loedstar Rush, you can only use it once per Engagement and can't "unengage", meaning you need to wait three turns for the character to lose the Engage, then you need to find a blue spot or put them through enough combat to use it again. Still, a super fantastic ability though, but you need to plan when to use it.

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Ooh, Micaiah’s personal tome is a simultaneous attack and torch? Awesome!

Remember the opening of Radiant Dawn 🙂

 

This is top level fan service! Kind of wish Yunaka was male though. I mean, they are going for a Sothe reference by pairing Micaiah with a thief, right?

10 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

This unfortunately means I have to put Louis in range of the thunder mage after all if I’m gonna kill this sword girl this turn.

Hey look, female generic enemies. That's nice. And actually related to gameplay since characters do have gender determined skills.

16 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

You know, was gonna ask why you seemingly skipped posting the Divine Paralogue if you were already using Tiki. Guess I forgot Tiki is also a regular Bond Ring too. lol

Uh? What's this now? Playable Tiki? Is that part of the DLC?

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jotari

[Acacia Sgt]

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Uh? What's this now? Playable Tiki? Is that part of the DLC?

Emblem Tiki

[Jotari]

1 minute ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Emblem Tiki

Ah shit. I didn't want to cave and buy day 1 dlc for my first palythrough, but having an Emblem Tiki sounds sweet. I think I'll resist though. As I'm finding the gameplay balance very appealing to me so far.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jotari

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

This is top level fan service! Kind of wish Yunaka was male though. I mean, they are going for a Sothe reference by pairing Micaiah with a thief, right?

I noticed that an enemy Thief shows up with a Kard in the same map. I thought that was the Sothe reference, personally. 

Also, Micaiah should definitely get access to a knife at some point. I can't be the only one who remembers RD Part III...

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

This seems to be a thing they do for all newly joined allied units. I think it's to stop you unequipping their emblem rings and giving it to someone else from the prep screen when the story determines someone is the "canon" Emblem wielder. So they just make them an NPC until the start of turn 1. Not actually necessary in this case since you don't actually have the Emblem ring from the start and only get it after you kill the first enemy.

Also stops you from going "why does Yunaka come with a Mend staff she can't even use? I'm giving that to Framme now."

3 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Careful there, you are about to monkey's paw Alear into pulling a Eirika...

I'm curious about which moment you're referring to.

3 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I am a bit of a fan of giving him the Sigurd Ring, in part because I like him leading the pack, and he is defensive enough that I feel a lot safer using run-through with him than with most other units.

I have tried this on Louis too, and it's great. Although I'm starting to think that the Sigurd ring is "great on everyone, actually". Even if all it did was grant +1 Move and a 2-space Canto, it would already be incredibly useful.

12 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh shit! I'll have to check that out! Armored healers would be fun as hell too. I've wanted that for a while, so why not?

A big part of the joy I'm finding in this game so far is just experimenting with Unit and Emblem combinations. Not only getting to see how they play, but what their "glow-up" looks like as well.

[Jotari]

5 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I noticed that an enemy Thief shows up with a Kard in the same map. I thought that was the Sothe reference, personally. 

Also, Micaiah should definitely get access to a knife at some point. I can't be the only one who remembers RD Part III...

She dies give knife proficieny for promoting in Engage, at least, I think. By virtue of the same scene I would like to see Knife Tauroneo! Micaiah's showing in Heroes has been to come in every different tome colour and nothing else. That we haven't even got a staff Micaiah in Heroes yet is dissapointing.

5 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I have tried this on Louis too, and it's great. Although I'm starting to think that the Sigurd ring is "great on everyone, actually". Even if all it did was grant +1 Move and a 2-space Canto, it would already be incredibly useful.

I've gotten every Emblem on the wheel, but I'm hesitating to involve myself in any Emblem tier lists just yet. Sigurd I definitely rate highly though. Being able to move like a pegasus on coke is a massive benefit to anyone. 2 space canto sounds underwhelming on paper compared to previous games, but in practice, with movement being so low universally and postioning mattering so much for dual attacks and other sich mechanics, it's actually a huge benefit.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

38 minutes ago, Jotari said:

2 space canto sounds underwhelming on paper compared to previous games, but in practice, with movement being so low universally and postioning mattering so much for dual attacks and other sich mechanics, it's actually a huge benefit.

Plus, it's not a CAP of two spaces. It's two free spaces, even if you used all your movement.

[Alastor15243]

Engage Day 7: Chapter 7

Alright! Let’s head into Brodia apparently!

But first, Somniel stuff.

They seem to unlock new shit in the Somniel without telling you, so let’s see if there’s anything crucial I missed. For all I know I could’ve unlocked class changing ages ago.

So apparently cooking is a thing now, as I knew it inevitably must be, because of all the food I’ve been getting. It seems to be a fusion of Fates cooking and 3H cooking, combined with some sort of minigame I sure hope I don’t fail at horribly, and leftovers being made as a healing item.

Well that’s nice! I picked Yunaka and Etie, and they both love a dish that Alfred is an expert at! Potato soup. Alright, that’s what we’ll be doing.

…No wait, res+2? That’s hardly a valuable stat boost for them.

Okay, let’s go for steamed dango. They both like that, and Alfred’s still at least capable with that. And more importantly, it gives them both a buff to speed and defense.

Oh, it doesn’t seem like there’s a minigame, it’s all up to the chef on duty.

I got a rank D on it. Not fantastic, but they did get the stat boost. And while the support growth was just for the two I picked at the table, apparently all units got the speed and defense, which is fantastic.

Okay, the fuck is the tower of trials?

Oh shit, this is the challenge map thing, where you can make your own maps! That sounds fun as hell! Though I wonder what the limits are…

I’m checking out the map editor now. Sorry, but I have to look at this.

…The custom map size is 22x22. At least by default. Can you change it…?

…Doesn’t seem you can, but that’s a good size. Oh man, this could be fun. But I’ve got stuff to do today, so unfortunately I’m gonna have to put a pin on that and maybe look at it on an off day.

OH MY GOD LILITH IS FOLLOWING ME AROUND! I DO NOT FUCKING HAVE TIME FOR THIS BUT I CAN’T STOP, IT’S SO ADORABLE!

Also, I found Framme and Clanne playing in the pool, which was pretty endearing. Though Clanne was frowning when he talked to me. While the dialogue made this make sense, it also resulted in him flailing and playfully splashing around with a frown on his face like some kind of puppeteered ragdoll from Goat Simulator.

So I think I’m getting the picture of what the stables are all about. Depending on the animals you have out in the yard, you get eggs from the birds, milk from the ungulates, and metal (presumably dug up as treasure) from the dogs. I wonder what cats do…

Well, only time will tell now that one’s in the yard.

Also, Lilith showed up in back of the party on the loading screen when I warped to the ring chamber. She’s not in here now, I wonder if she’ll be there when I leave.

…So apparently the rewards from trials can boost weapons via the ring chamber. I, uh, well I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’ll have to try the trials sometime to be sure.

Alright, I’m definitely giving Louis Micaiah for now. Because he can rather cheaply get 5 bonus points of resistance via two of her skills. And apparently as a bonus, he gives +1 defense for one round of combat to all allies with Great Sacrifice.

I also gave Marth to Yunaka like I said I would.

I also made ten more bond rings with Micaiah and I’m disappointed that it didn’t really speed up the process as I figured an entire separate option probably should.

Also, fairly shitty luck with the draws. Vast majority were Cs, only one or two Bs and no As or Ss.

Shame.

Awwwww, Lilith’s still following me around!

Alright, let’s actually get down to business and take on this next map.

…Another paralogue?

Alright, let’s at least check it out.

…The description described a thief.

And the title is “mysterious merchant”.

…I think this is where we get Axe Anna!

Alright, that settles it.

 

Day 7 Change of Plans: Paralogue 2

…I think it’s Paralogue 2? The paralogues aren’t labeled with numbers in this game from what I’ve seen. It just said “paralogue”.

…Also, interestingly, both the boss and the minion of the bandits in this scene are female. Is this a coincidence or is this an all-female band of bandits?

…Sounds like a coincidence. In thunders a male armor knight among the thieves.

…Anna giggles like fucking Ironmouse.

I love it.

…ANNA JUST HID IN A FUCKING TREASURE CHEST. OH MY GOD.

Okay, so, I’m dropping Vander for now so I can bring Yunaka. I’ll be dropping him permanently once I get an axe user I like more than Boucheron.

Hmmmmm. I wonder where I’ll be finding one of those? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

…Oooooh, hey! The boss has skills! Granted, they seem like fairly basic ones that are probably going to become standard fare for any boss, but still!

…Oh, that’s interesting. So magic doesn’t actually inherently ignore terrain bonuses, that’s just a bonus of mystical units! That seems like a pretty good bonus. I hope that means we’ll be getting some real capacity to have flying, mounted and maybe even armored mages! Besides what Micaiah allows when engaged, I mean.

The thieves seem to be making a beeline for the treasure. Shit. I actually avoided advancing too far forward out of concern with dealing with them. I tend to get overly cautious about collecting debuffs.

Oooh! Master seal! Gotta get that back from the thief. Not sure what direction they’re gonna run off in, but I can see some safe squares to steal at least the master seal back.

The other treasure is a strength tonic.

Gee, really? That’s two treasures that have been tonics so far. That’s giving me the feeling these are going to be a far more precious resource in this game than they were in Fates.

Okay, now that’s interesting. How is Yunaka doing 1 damage to this knight? It’s an attack of 14 against a defense of 17. It shouldn’t be doing any at all, and I know this game doesn’t have a minimum damage of 1. I’ve seen attacks do 0 damage plenty of times. How could I not when I have Louis? She’s not near anyone either. She’s got a terrain bonus, but that just boosts her evade and crit.

…Oh. Poison. That would explain it. Apparently it increases it up after all other calculations, so with one poison, no matter how much defense the enemy has, it’ll still do one damage.

OOOH! Second seals are a thing too! Interesting! Very interesting!

Oh shit. The thief I failed to kill, the one with the tonic, opened Anna’s box. On enemy phase. Hopefully she can survive the nearby enemies.

…Anna can’t double an armor knight.

…This is not a good sign.

I’m using override for the first time to deal with a healer protecting an armor knight, and tragically, it doesn’t let you see the exact numerical damage you do to the enemies in the way. Sloppy.

Yeah, holy shit, this is the slowest incarnation of Anna I have ever seen. What the hell.

Well that’s garbage. The game doesn’t tell you how many layers of poison you have on the icon. Is there any way to tell how many stacks of poison you have? Alfred just got hit twice, so unless it’s a cap on once per round of combat…

Okay, so while I found that initial giggle from Anna charming… yeah, with extended listening, it’s become painfully obvious that this is a voice I’ve heard Monica Rial do like eighty bazingazillion times before. Frankly I’m disappointed.

…PFFFFFFFFFF-

There’s an achievement for killing FORTY THIEVES!?

WAS THAT ON PURPOSE?

…Looking closer at the map, I have to question why the hell there are doors and breakable walls at the bottom when they lead to nowhere and no one.

Anyway, the final stretch was pretty straightforward. But the boss has a resurrection stone, so I’m gonna take this slowly.

Well that’s unfortunate. While revival doesn’t clear poison, it does clear breaking. Alright, noted. I guess that keeps bosses more interesting.

…Man, slapping a backup unit up against a boss is pretty damned handy. Especially since the damage increases with poison. Against most enemies it’s pitiful, but against bosses it really adds up.

Alright, now for the ending dialogue…

Jesus Christ how fucking tiny is Anna? The scene at the start of the ending dialogue where Anna remarks how strong my team is makes their height differences look only slightly removed from the fucking breakdancing cat meme.

And unfortunately that’s where I have to leave it. Cleanup will have to wait until next entry, because I’ve gotta get ready to go.

Alastor, signing off!

[Acacia Sgt]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

They seem to unlock new shit in the Somniel without telling you, so let’s see if there’s anything crucial I missed. For all I know I could’ve unlocked class changing ages ago.

You get notified at the top of the screen like any other. It's just easy to miss I guess.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Well that’s garbage. The game doesn’t tell you how many layers of poison you have on the icon. Is there any way to tell how many stacks of poison you have? Alfred just got hit twice, so unless it’s a cap on once per round of combat…

I'm pretty sure I've seen it duplicate the icon or the red X's... but might've been my eyes playing tricks on me.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

…Looking closer at the map, I have to question why the hell there are doors and breakable walls at the bottom when they lead to nowhere and no one.

Personally, I thought it's where the thieves would run off after getting the items.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Jesus Christ how fucking tiny is Anna? The scene at the start of the ending dialogue where Anna remarks how strong my team is makes their height differences look only slightly removed from the fucking breakdancing cat meme.

According to the internal data, she's 11. So... that tall.

[Eltosian Kadath]

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I'm curious about which moment you're referring to.

For Eirika, when she willing gave the only Sacred Stone she had to the Demon King controlled Lyon...

 

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I have tried this on Louis too, and it's great. Although I'm starting to think that the Sigurd ring is "great on everyone, actually". Even if all it did was grant +1 Move and a 2-space Canto, it would already be incredibly useful.

Yeah, the Sigurd Ring is amazing on everyone, I just find his "super" (for lack of a better term for the once per Engage move) to be one of the more situational ones on most other wearers, and it feels wasteful not to find a use for it (which Louis makes easier with his bulk). Admittedly it probably isn't worth the hoops I am jumping through for it...

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Okay, so, I’m dropping Vander for now so I can bring Yunaka. I’ll be dropping him permanently once I get an axe user I like more than Boucheron.

 

Hmmmmm. I wonder where I’ll be finding one of those? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Personally I haven't been impressed with Anna. She is like a Boucheron that put some of his physical stats into magical ones instead. I get the feeling she will be more fun to reclass, but it will probably be a few playthrough until I am to the point of experimenting with reclassing to such a degree (as I tend to be reluctant to mess around with reclassing in general).

 

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

Oooh! Master seal! Gotta get that back from the thief. Not sure what direction they’re gonna run off in, but I can see some safe squares to steal at least the master seal back.

So far this is seeming like a promote at level 10 kind of game. Exp gains are mostly tied to internal level, and being in a promoted class doesn't significantly impact exp gains (much to the chagrin of anyone hoping to de-Jeigan Vandad with an unpromoted reclass), and reclassing sets the shown level back to 1, so you don't need to worry too much about level capping too early either.

Now do take this with a grain of salt, I don't know everything, you might want/need to wait and get some proficincies from Emblem Rings for the promotion you want and I could see this leading to a resources issue if in the late game people are hitting that level cap too much to afford the Second Seals needed to reset levels...

[Alastor15243]

47 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

So far this is seeming like a promote at level 10 kind of game. Exp gains are mostly tied to internal level, and being in a promoted class doesn't significantly impact exp gains (much to the chagrin of anyone hoping to de-Jeigan Vandad with an unpromoted reclass), and reclassing sets the shown level back to 1, so you don't need to worry too much about level capping too early either.

Now do take this with a grain of salt, I don't know everything, you might want/need to wait and get some proficincies from Emblem Rings for the promotion you want and I could see this leading to a resources issue if in the late game people are hitting that level cap too much to afford the Second Seals needed to reset levels...

What does promotion do to your internal level in relation to second sealing? I remember in Awakening promoting early did horrible things to your exp gain once you started reclassing.

[Acacia Sgt]

That's certainly one thing I'd like to know as well.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

For Eirika, when she willing gave the only Sacred Stone she had to the Demon King controlled Lyon...

I'd rather not get into a big debate over half a series ago. All I'll say is that I think that was different, in that Lyon was her best friend rather than a stranger.

2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Yeah, the Sigurd Ring is amazing on everyone, I just find his "super" (for lack of a better term for the once per Engage move) to be one of the more situational ones on most other wearers, and it feels wasteful not to find a use for it (which Louis makes easier with his bulk). Admittedly it probably isn't worth the hoops I am jumping through for it...

There are very few things more satisfying than running through four or more enemies in a single Override. But as you said, it's situational with enemy AI. Still, I'm not one to turn down a chance to damage multiple foes in one swing. It feels very much like Assault Troop from Three Houses.

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

PFFFFFFFFFF-

 

There’s an achievement for killing FORTY THIEVES!?

 

WAS THAT ON PURPOSE?

I don't think so. I recall a similar achievement for defeating 50 Thieves (Thieves, in this context, not referring to class but to the enemy allegiance). In any case, can't wait to defeat 100 Thieves and gain access to the Cash App Gaming Compound.

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Anyway, the final stretch was pretty straightforward. But the boss has a resurrection stone, so I’m gonna take this slowly.

I'm a bit worried at seeing even random bandit bosses get a resurrection stone. Like, I think it's a cool design choice to make some bosses be more challenging and stand out more... emphasis on "some". If every boss gets it, then it doesn't feel special anymore. There are other ways to make your bosses tough and threatening than just "second HP bar".

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

ANNA JUST HID IN A FUCKING TREASURE CHEST. OH MY GOD.

I love this choice, too. Like the Manaketes hiding in chests in FE6, except this time, you want to open it.

8 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, interestingly, both the boss and the minion of the bandits in this scene are female. Is this a coincidence or is this an all-female band of bandits?

It is cool to see more female generics and one-off bosses this run around. Female bosses are nothing new, but usually they're somewhat important enemies (i.e. Ishtar, Brunya, Selena, Petrine, etc.). I'm hoping for more utterly irrelevant female bosses in future chapters.

9 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Alright, I’m definitely giving Louis Micaiah for now. Because he can rather cheaply get 5 bonus points of resistance via two of her skills. And apparently as a bonus, he gives +1 defense for one round of combat to all allies with Great Sacrifice.

I actually didn't get to Great Sacrifice when I paired them up, but I think these "type bonuses" are really cool. It feels like there's a ton to discover, without the game immediately telling you about it.

9 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Man, slapping a backup unit up against a boss is pretty damned handy. Especially since the damage increases with poison. Against most enemies it’s pitiful, but against bosses it really adds up.

Still not sure how to feel about Backup attacks. For sure, I think it's cool to have in, and it makes "boring" classes, like Fighter or Mercenary, have something interesting to do. But the fact that it appears to always do "10% of the enemy's max HP, rounded down, with 80 Hit" makes the units in the class, and their weapon choices, not stand out. What's the difference between Anna with an Iron Axe, and Boucheron with a Hammer? They'll do the exact same Backup attack, regardless of who they're targeting. I think it'd stand out more to make it akin to a Fates Attack Stance hit, hitying the foe once at half-damage (or maybe a lower proportion, like 30%, if that's overkill). But who knows? It might get more interesting. 

[Eltosian Kadath]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

What does promotion do to your internal level in relation to second sealing? I remember in Awakening promoting early did horrible things to your exp gain once you started reclassing.

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

That's certainly one thing I'd like to know as well.

A little bit of experimentation makes it look like promoting doesn't change a character's experience gain at all. If it is doing something to the internal level, than it isn't something that is immediately apparent.

 

 

 

[Alastor15243]

47 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Still not sure how to feel about Backup attacks. For sure, I think it's cool to have in, and it makes "boring" classes, like Fighter or Mercenary, have something interesting to do. But the fact that it appears to always do "10% of the enemy's max HP, rounded down, with 80 Hit" makes the units in the class, and their weapon choices, not stand out. What's the difference between Anna with an Iron Axe, and Boucheron with a Hammer? They'll do the exact same Backup attack, regardless of who they're targeting. I think it'd stand out more to make it akin to a Fates Attack Stance hit, hitying the foe once at half-damage (or maybe a lower proportion, like 30%, if that's overkill). But who knows? It might get more interesting. 

Oh is THAT the calculation? Then does poison not effect it after all? There's the mystery of why Boucheron did 2 that one time but Louis took 3 from one. Not a fan of FE adding in more opaque and math-heavy calculations to its mechanics.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

31 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh is THAT the calculation? Then does poison not effect it after all? There's the mystery of why Boucheron did 2 that one time but Louis took 3 from one. Not a fan of FE adding in more opaque and math-heavy calculations to its mechanics.

I... think so? I'm not much further in than you, and I haven't looked at any of the leaks or internal data. So this is all anecdotal. Was Boucheron chain attacking a foe with less than 30 max HP? And did Louis have at least 30 max HP when he was chain attacked? If so, that would explain this discrepancy. 

[Jotari]

I don't see any mention of the Arena use between chapters. Have ypu not realised it's there yet? You can get a bit if free exp per chapter with it and pay for higher bonds with your Emblems.