ping Posted April 10 Author Share Posted April 10 FE4 Chapter 8: The Dracoknights of Thracia Alster/Leonster --> Connaught Spoiler I spent some time constructing a better first turn - a bit more time than necessary because I kept making small mistakes in recreating it - like Nanna using an Iron Sword to defeat the second Arena opponent (which works, but as it turns out, she'll have bad RNG against the Myrm afterwards), or click "Dance" instead of "Leave Castle" for Leylia. If you enjoy typos and bad Denglish, here's my notes: Spoiler Patty Bolt Sword! Ares: Thief Sowrd Oifey: Sell Javvy to Finn Leaf: Iron Sw bis (6), Brave Sw. für Xenon repair, buy Flame Sw, sell Brave Sw, sell Paragon band. Ulster: (1-4) Iron sw. - (5-7) iron blade Nanna: Sell heal, buy brave sw (1) Iron - (2) Steel - (3-6) Brave, notfalls brute force keep Brave Sw? Seliph: Buy Paragon; Slim (1-6), Silver (7) Patty: Nur rank 1 (slim) (+Mag) Julia: No Paragon; brute-force läuft. Buy Silence. Larcei: Iron Bl. (1-6), Silver (7) Johalvier: Steel (1-3), Brave (4-6), kein Xenon Arthur: 1-2 ohne Paragon - 1-7 reicht Wind. Fee: (1-5) Silm L., (6-7) Brave TALKS: Finn->Leaf Arthur->Fee Julia->Seliph The main differences are as follows: Seliph gets the necessary RNG luck to defeat Xenon, the final opponent, which also means that he sells the Paragon Band afterwards. Fee is carrying it to the map instead. Nobody leaves castle with 1 HP. Nanna gets through six fights, instead of three. Julia manages to get through the entire thing. I don't forget about the Thief Sword. Ares grabs it, hoping to get to 40k during the fight. Leaf buys the Flame Sword from the Armoury - mostly because he'd hit the money cap otherwise, although he does have a non-zero Mag stat. I also remember the conversation between Finn and Leif, in addition to Julia/Seliph and Fee/Arthur that I showed last update: : "Lord Leif, the protection of the peninsula realm is our duty as House Leonster's remnants. We aren't in for an easy battle, but no matter what happens, we must persevere." : "I know, Finn. I've always dreamed that this day, the day of Leonster's freedom, would come... I'll do all I can do to bring peace to the peninsula and save the people from King Blume's tyranny. To fulfill Father's final wishes at last... And if I need to lay down my life to make our dream a reality, then so be it..." : "Please, my lord! It ill befits a future king to do something so rash! You mustn't say such things!" : "Er, you're right... Sorry, Finn. I know how ard you had to work to protect me from the Empire's pursuit in my youth. I recall how often you'd let yourself starve, just so I wouldn't have to go without food... All my life you've made sacrifice after sacrifice for my sake, and only now do I understand this... I'll alwas be grateful for all you've done, Finn." : "My lord, the Thracian region has been plagued by strife for generations, but your father dared to dream of uniting it under a lasting peace. He may be gone, but you still live, and so too does the hope of fulfilling his dream. Only you stand a chance of uniting Thracia." [+3 Str --> Leif] "Well, you or Travant, but he's kind of a dick." ____ Now then, to the actual fight. Notchagall's group is less mobile, but because Notchagall is quite the threat with his double Brave weapon set-up, you still have to be careful how to position. Still, I get by with Ares tickling enemies with the Thief Sword instead of eviscerating them with Mystletainn - he does indeed hit 40k gold by the end of the update. ____ The terrain works in our advantage, allowing us to split the enemy up. I'm keeping with the main group before showing what Team Leonster is up to, but two things need mentioning. First: Two Brigands start moving immediately and reach a village quite soon. For this village in the far north, this is certainly an issue - and it *has* to be saved, too, since it yields a second Power Ring. And second: on Turn 3, this recruitable-looking fellow appears: : "What do you want, Blume?" : "Ah, Faval. So you came after all. I've been waiting for you." : "Look, Blume. I'm a busy man. Tell me what you want, or I'm leaving." : "Tch... Listen carefully. I've an employment opportunity for you." : "...An employment opportunity?" : "Yes, Faval. I require your services in putting down the rebel army." : "Pass. I might be a mercenary, but I'm certainly not about to do your dirty work." : "Oh, really? Then what will become of all the orphans in your care? Rumor has it your dear sister has taken to stealing the money you need to take care of them. Are you content with such a life?" : "I guess you're right... I dunno if I can take Patty risking her life like this much longer. And we do sorely need the gold..." : "Bring me Seliph's head, Faval, and you'll have all the gold your orphans will ever need and more. Your dear sister would approve." : "...Deal. I know this'll come back to bite me, but if it means saving the kids... You have my bow... just this once." __ [HP 135% | Str 25% | Mag 50% | Skl 35% | Spd 60% | Lck 85% | Def 30% | Res 12%] Skills: Pursuit Weapon Level: Bows (*) Major Ullur blood It's a bit of a shame that Patty and Faval have inverted inheritance only for items, not for their stats. Not that Faval would've gained a massive Str growth from that (Bridget only has 30% Str herself), but still - that's a lot of Mag on a character who can never ever use that stat. Of course, Yewfelle boosts Faval's Atk immensely anyhow, although it has to be added that he isn't terribly accurate with it. I can definitely see that even without looking at his bad Str, Holyn, or really any dude with a better Skl stat than Azel, would make a better father for Faval specifically. Of course, he can swap to the Killer Bow for accuracy... but if he has to do that, this Azel!Faval really becomes just a shitty version of Lester, who hasn't exactly been the star of the show to begin with. With my incredibly limited experience with this game, I still dare to question the First Mate's authority on eugenics a little. He lists Jamke as Bridget's most desirable hubby, but with Yewfelle being as inaccurate as it is, Holyn really makes a strong impression on me - especially because his Holy Blood also helps Patty quite a bit by giving her Brave Sword access before promotion. I wonder if Lex/Ayra + Holyn/Bridget might be overall a stronger pair of pairs than Holyn/Ayra and Jamke/Bridget...? And back to the fight, with Lester shrewdly luring an enemy away from his pack. It's interesting that Muhammad's squad is bunching together despite their loose formation at the start of the fight. It seems like the AI doesn't really work all that well with these loose formations - Muhammad and his group move forward very slowly unless there's somebody in range to attack. I'll count this as a mistake by the AI! : "Keh... You rebel scum..." : "We... We've been defeated so easily...? King Blume... I beg your forgiveness..." ____ Aaand that's basically a rout. I guess Notchagall charging ahead by a few tiles didn't really matter all that much anyway. So, to Team Leonster (and Patty) we go...: __ Here is why Patty did the first arena fight on turn 1: With the +Mag proc she got, she barely one-rounds the Jav Cavs from Ovo's group. And, even better: Because she gained +2 HP, she also survives three Javelins to the face. ____ ...unless a certain idiot forgets to have Nanna heal her, after redoing the turn to experiment a bit with Seliph's group. Luckily, Patty dodged one attack, or this would've been a mark on her permanent death record. __ And luckily, Patty barely survives an attack from Ovo (he has 28 Atk, she has 3 Res), which makes this enemy phase... probably safe? __ It's definitely safe with all the Troubadours going for Dermott (who hurried north alongside Oifey and Shanan) and dying in the counterattack. But because they really don't hit very hard, I do think this was fine. : "I'm impressed you've come so far... But this is the end for you!" And this was just in time to avoid Ovo's group teaming up with the Mage triplets... : "I-impossible..." Dermott quickly disposes of Ovo, and Patty gets in position to gain some very impactful 1000 gold from Banba. Overall, Patty gained 9000 gold in this update - unfortunately, all the Cavs here only carried 1000 gold, as well. Ares had a lot more success down south. __ But before we can get to the Mage triplets, Blume receives another visitor: : "You summoned me, Father? How might I be of assistance?" : "Ishtar! What kept you so long? The rebels are preparing to launch another attack on me any moment now! I-I need you to protect me!" : "What's happened, Father? How could a pack of simple rebels get to you of all people? This is so very unlike you..." : "These are no mere rebels! They've already slaughtered Ishtore, and Tinni is lost to us as well because of them... They've already defeated Banba and her sisters... I can't leave this task to them again. You're all I have left to depend upon!" : "Understood, but I have one condition. I need the Book of Mjölnir. If I'm wielding Mjölnir, I won't need an army with me. I alone will be more than enough." : "W-what?! You... want me to hand it over... Fine. Very well... You can take Mjölnir... But don't you dare fail me now!" : "You can trust me, Father. By your leave." What a nice young lady. And by "nice", I mean "awfully nonchalant about the death of her brother", of course. And here are her stats - quite threatening, especially because she comes with both the Adept and Vantage skills. Not even Fee with the Res band can survive two Mjölnir hits. However, if you're not too bothered by save-scumming a bit (and by a permanent death count) - Ishtar isn't particularly bulky. Seliph, with his very crit-happy Silver Sword, could fish for a clean one-shot against her. Plus, while Ishtar has more bulk on the magic side, her Res still leaves some options... Before facing her, we first have to beat the triplets, of course. ...note how I forgot that Patty is still injured, even though I just checked her HP/Res against the previous boss. Really not my proudest day of Fire Embleming. ____ But after that silly risk of death, cleaning up isn't that difficult anymore. ____ I think the combat quotes are just the same from the previous map...? ____ At this point, and after Ares robbing the robber, the two groups converge again, just outside of Faval's range. Unfortunately, Ishtar doesn't want him to be easily recruited... ____ ...but Nanna gives us a nice way around that. : "Hang on... Faval?! What d'you think you're doing? Ugh... Don't tell me you actually let Blume buy out your bow arm!" : "Patty? Wait... Why are you with the rebels?" : "To protect people, of course! We've come this far working together, and I know we're gonna stop Blume for good! I don't get it. Did you just go and forget everything? That if it wasn't for the Empire's cruelty, none of the kids would be orphans? But no, here you are, kissing up to the very same man who ruined all our friends' lives! What the heck were you thinking, Faval?!" There is no ethical conscription under Feudalism. Or something like that. : "You're absolutely right... I'm so sorry, Patty. I guess I just wasn't thinking at all." : "Any scumbag can apologize till they're blue in the face! If you're really sorry, then get over here! Come help us fight for peace!" : "Alright, Patty. I'm with you. You've certainly come a long way lately..." : "Hee hee... I guess I have!" I'll add Faval to the list of "blond, allegedly moral men working for the enemy that are smarter than Camüh". Meanwhile, the rear guard... : "I've heard tell that over in Manster, people're planning a revolt against the Imperial rule. Apparently the ringleader there's some Silessian mage calld Ced... The people there are so sure that he's the man for the job. Of course, the real problem for Manster is that Thracia's got their grubby eyes on the city... I hope they'll be alright." [2500 gold --> Tinni] ... ... (worth a try) ...hey, wait, I thought you were mute?! __ : "Come, Ishtar. I need you." : "Y-yes, milord! Anything you wish!" How heartwarming to see this young fella care so much about his girl. After that, we can approach the bridge leading to Connaught. Well, after Fee rescues the Power R-- I mean people in this village. ____ The Knights and General guarding the bridge seem to entirely refuse to move, which does make this a bit more tricky, arguably, since a triple Bolting group is always going to be a threat. __ So, here's the plan: Start with the POWER OF LOVE... ...see if we can get away with stealing another 3000 gold... ...*sigh*. ____ In the end, with a bit of experimentation, I land one surviving Bolting Mage and nobody in her kill range. Unfortunately, Finn isn't quite fast enough to double with a Javelin, although that would be quite a tall ask when the Mages swap to Elthunder. __ : "What in the blazes is happening out there?! You rebel scum... You'll have no mercy from me!" Blume also gets involved at this point, but... ... Since his guardsmen don't move, the rest of the fight for Connaught is pretty trivial. One more talk: : "Prince Seliph? Please, sir, forgive my foolishness!" : "Faval, yes? Patty has already told me your story. Relax! I understand why you did what you did. You've nothing to worry about." : "I don't think so, sir. Letting myself work for the very same Empire I've supposedly been opposing? That was shamefully half-witted of me... Sir, I swear I'll make up for my bad choices. I'll do everything I can to aid you!" : "Thank you, Faval. I'm glad to have you." __ Okay, more than only one talk: : "Faval! What in the blazes do you think you're doing?! You traitorous slime!" : "Yeah, sorry about that, but I realized that I'd much rather die than help you. Too bad it's you who'll die instead." : "Gah... I'm surrounded by buffoons..." Crazy how talkative all these mutes are. And very nice of Faval to hit one of his attacks. ____ No convo with Leif, though. But Seliph has one: : "Y-you! You're Sigurd's whelp... You won't leave here alive!" : "I believe that's my line, King Blume. You've nowhere to run this time!" : "Curses... I'll drag you down to the grave with me, whelp!" : "Nngh... How... regrettable..." "I might even consider this inconvenient right now..." One portion of wasted XP - although Ares at least took that last General's money. : "Looks like we just dealt a critical blow to the Empire's control of the area, Seliph. Their survivors are fleeing in droves!" : "Excellent! I suspect liberating Manster has become far simpler than we'd hoped." : "Don't get too excited just yet. The real problem here is still Thracia." : "What makes you think so? What would cause Thracia to break neutrality now, of all times?" : "You've never had to deal with King Travant before, have you? Just ask Prince Leaf. If not for Travant, he would still have his parents. Travant's murder of them was a cruel ambush, an insult to the honor of a knight like Quan. Who knows what dirty game he's planning now..." To be honest, I don't have all that much to say. Gen 2's story continues to be very straightforward - Seliph runs across the continent and liberates countries, yay Seliph. Travant seems like he was a great villain... off-screen. But in the actual story, he's... well, still more interesting than the villains we've seen thus far, thanks to his opportunism, but in the grand scheme of things, he's still just the next big badman that we'll be up against. __ After seizing, Nanna sends Fee back to Alster for a second. She's the first unpromoted character to hit Lv.20... ...so she can promote and be sent back by Lana next turn (or the turn after; Patty also needs to be brought back to the front). (note that this screen shows stats including Fee's collection of rings. In truth, she's at 27 Spd, 18 Def, and 21 Res.) Dermott grabs the nearby village: : "Long ago, Thracia and the states of the Manster District were a single nation. 'Course, you'd never know that from how they've hated each other so for as long as anyone can recall! I wish they could just try to make peace..." [5000 gold --> Dermott] I'm sure we'll ensure a peaceful future by stabbing all the violent characters. At the end of the turn, as usual, the next part of the chapter is established: : "Now's our chance to help ourselves to the north, starting with Manster! Altena! I leave the capture of Manster to you. I'll send General Coulter with you. If anyone stands in your way, suppress them without a second thought. I don't care if it's a little kid with a wooden stick. Cut them down." : "Hold on a moment, father! I'm as eager to challenge the Empire as you are, but killing innocents makes no sense at all! We'd be much better served forging an alliance with the liberators. We're already surrounted by enemies. Why make more?" : "Altena! I have no interest in one of your little lectures. Keep your mouth shut and do as you're told!" : "But, Father-" : "Best of luck holding our border, Altena." : "Arion... Very well, I'll do it..." : "Then don't waste your time dawdling! Go!" Altena is acting so recruitable here, I was almost tempted to give her a green frame. : "She's finally gone? Good... Stubborn little thing, isn't she? I haven't seen a woman so brash since her mother... Quite the family resemblance there!" : "Father, surely you must realize that Altena means you no ill will. You needn't be so harsh on her." : "Yes, that much is obvious, thank you! ...Let's head back to the capital, Arion. We need to ready the army to claim this peninsula of ours, once and for all! __ Oh hey, it's Philip again (with a differently-coloured outfit). I do wonder what kind of story Travant tells his children about their mother (or "mother", in Altena's case). Altena's ability to wield Gáe Bolg is, in-universe, irrefutable proof that she has major Nova blood, so if Travant is holding up the story that she and Arion are both his biological children, that should mean that he had to make up a girlfriend in Canada wife from Leonster. : "I suppose it was only a matter of time before Travant showed his true colors..." Actually, I can help with that: http://www.trabant-original.de/otdbx/ColorDB_view.php - although I'm very disappointed that there is no photografic evidence of the 1959-60 Trabant P50/0 in Venetia-red. : "The liberation army's sure to want to aid us, but they still haven't crossed the river! What do we do?" : "Everyone! Get out of here and run for Connaught! I'll stay here and fend off the dracoknights for as long as I can." : "B-but that's impossible, Sir Ced! Not even you could survive a dracoknight assault by yourself!" : "I know, but I won't risk any lives but my own. Don't worry. I won't go down without bringing a few Thracians with me! Go on, please! We've no time to waste!" : "Sir Ced..." And with that, 600 XP are released upon the map, moving upwards towards us between player and enemy phase. Capturing Connaught also wakes up the two Brigands to the east, one of which immediately starts burning down the village with the Thief Band - not something I would want to miss, obviously. The Wingslayer Rogue does not move, though - I assume that he'll just go after anybody approaching him. __ And this is who we'll have to face. A whole lot of Wyverns - although the generics aren't terribly strong. Altenna, however, is terribly strong. Since she gets more stat inheritance from Ethlyn than from Quan, she is less impacted by his low level (17, iirc) than Leif is. But because I know that she'll only join next map (apparently she is entirely impossible to interact with on this map), I'll talk more about her once she appears there. [HP 95% | Str 20% | Mag 45% | Skl 30% | Spd 45% | Lck 60% | Def 35% | Res 55%] Skills: Pursuit, Adept Weapon Level: Fire (B), Thunder (B), Wind (B), Light (B), Staves (*) Major Bragi blood Who will join this map is Ced, in what I assume is his second-strongest form after Lewyn!Ced. I've generally heard people say that Ced is good no matter his dad, but I'll say that the +7-ish Mag he gets from Claud as his father seems like a pretty big deal. In addition to the Fortify and Valkyria staff already in his possession, his increased staff rank also allows him to wield Rescue, although that one seems very much like Leif is the correct pick for it once he promotes. But yeah. A little frail (only physically, of course), but otherwise really good is my impression. ____ Finally, these are the Thracian commanders other than Altena. Not them most scary stats in general (although Brave weapons are always dangerous), but their mobility makes them, and their entire squads, look threatening nevertheless. The Team: Lv. HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Funds XP Arn Seliph 19.89 55 18 4 20 16 24 17 9 39744 +629 [*] Leif 16.85 46 23 4 16 15 12 16 6 45560 +588 [*] Shanan 16.72* 45 20 0 24 24 10 15 4 25500 +92 [1] Ulster 17.04 51 18 3 20 16 10 18 1 48940 +472 [*] Larcei 19.24 56 21 1 25 25 15 17 2 16220 +436 [*] Patty 12.73 42 12 7 7 15 17 6 3 14278 +285 [2] Johalvier 19.11 49 18 0 11 16 7 17 3 34520 +304 [7] Oifey 20.44 45 19 9 19 18 9 19 8 26100 +64 [1] Finn 24.88 49 22 0 16 21 18 18 4 38315 +28 [1] Fee 21.79 48 16 14 18 27 13 18 21 10037 +879 [*] Dermott 15.96 47 22 0 18 14 15 14 1 33752 +316 [1] Nanna 13.59 41 15 3 12 11 15 9 4 5132 +448 [7] Ares 13.34 50 19 4 15 15 8 16 6 40660 +190 [1] Lester 12.32 40 15 2 11 13 15 13 0 19863 +172 [1] Faval 9.26 39 10 7 14 18 13 9 1 7388 +26 [1] Arthur 19.00 54 0 19 21 21 22 4 8 34113 +482 [*] Tinni 8.21 38 0 12 15 15 12 2 6 30393 +128 [1] Julia 19.87 40 1 23 10 19 9 5 24 4800 +642 [*] Lana 15.10 43 8 14 16 18 18 7 8 4603 +235 -- Leylia 5.60 26 6 1 1 14 4 2 4 12000 +130 [1] Answers! Spoiler On 4/6/2024 at 8:50 PM, CelestialContrail said: If an enemy thief steals your cash in this game, you can't steal it back - it's just gone. I think the enemies don't have a memory location to store how much gold they have and the game just looks up how much money the class they're in has by default and uses that when you steal from them. ...and that after thieves in FE3 drop all the treasure they grabbed from chests, including gold? I can't believe you would do that to me, Kaga!! Very good to know, thank you I'll be sure to get around it by one-rounding, or chipping from 2-range. On 4/7/2024 at 2:58 AM, Interdimensional Observer said: Going back even further, during the Heian period, the Fujiwara noble clan dominated the imperial court (this is pre-rise of the bushi/samurai), a position of power derived from continually wedding their daughters to Emperors, resulting in a strong familial tie between imperial family and the Fujiwara clan. Good to know that the Habsburgs weren't the only dynasty to incest their way to power. On 4/7/2024 at 2:58 AM, Interdimensional Observer said: Don't worry, Manster District's famed fertility applies to the farmers too. A few border raids each year won't dent the North's population. I'd be worried that the wyverns are environmentally concious and insist on locally-grown organic farmers. On 4/8/2024 at 5:54 AM, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: "I'm not owned! I'm not owned!" I insist as I gradually shrink down into a corncob. Farmers: 3000 Merchants: 600 Knights: 300 Wyvern Chow: 45000 Craftsmen: 1200 Someone who is good at the economy help me. My people are dying. issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the child hunters LOPTYR. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to them" On 4/9/2024 at 11:31 AM, Revier said: Just chiming in to say that I've been really enjoying this retrospective and all the discussion around it. Fire Emblem as a franchise has never particularly enticed me, but I do love how ambitious Genealogy of the Holy War is, and think it could've been a truly great story with some fine editing and tuning. Ah well, perhaps one day we will get the much eluded remake that will sharpen all of its rough edges. Though it must be admitted that some of them, like simulating entire countries with ingame maps, contribute to its innate charm. Appreciated! I'll say that Genealogy is less in need of a remake than Akaneia and (especially) Gaiden were, although there's some elements from modern FE (like a speed-up or skip enemy phase button) that it would appreciate. But it's a fair bit more convenient to play than even FE3 was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 10 minutes ago, ping said: "Well, you or Travant, but he's kind of a dick." He doesn't have that protagonist hair. 10 minutes ago, ping said: Rumor has it I like how you have a song for every random expression. 13 minutes ago, ping said: __ [HP 135% | Str 25% | Mag 50% | Skl 35% | Spd 60% | Lck 85% | Def 30% | Res 12%] Skills: Pursuit Weapon Level: Bows (*) Major Ullur blood It's a bit of a shame that Patty and Faval have inverted inheritance only for items, not for their stats. Not that Faval would've gained a massive Str growth from that (Bridget only has 30% Str herself), but still - that's a lot of Mag on a character who can never ever use that stat. Of course, Yewfelle boosts Faval's Atk immensely anyhow, although it has to be added that he isn't terribly accurate with it. I can definitely see that even without looking at his bad Str, Holyn, or really any dude with a better Skl stat than Azel, would make a better father for Faval specifically. Of course, he can swap to the Killer Bow for accuracy... but if he has to do that, this Azel!Faval really becomes just a shitty version of Lester, who hasn't exactly been the star of the show to begin with. With my incredibly limited experience with this game, I still dare to question the First Mate's authority on eugenics a little. He lists Jamke as Bridget's most desirable hubby, but with Yewfelle being as inaccurate as it is, Holyn really makes a strong impression on me - especially because his Holy Blood also helps Patty quite a bit by giving her Brave Sword access before promotion. I wonder if Lex/Ayra + Holyn/Bridget might be overall a stronger pair of pairs than Holyn/Ayra and Jamke/Bridget...? Meanwhile, Asaello has accost at base. ...I don't think it does much to keep him from been godawful. 13 minutes ago, ping said: : "Keh... You rebel scum..." : "We... We've been defeated so easily...? King Blume... I beg your forgiveness..." They should've had him reveal he's Chagall's bastard child in his death quote, and never allude to it in any capacity again because, after all, it does not matter. 14 minutes ago, ping said: What a nice young lady. And by "nice", I mean "awfully nonchalant about the death of her brother", of course. Before it was "those Friege kids are such fine youths." Now it's "that Ishtar is such a fine youth." Nobody to share the title of Nice Villain with anymore. Nobody to hog HER spotlight. Good for her! 16 minutes ago, ping said: : "Come, Ishtar. I need you." : "Y-yes, milord! Anything you wish!" You know, she could've at least suggested warping back to Connaught and giving Mjollnir back to her dad so he stands a fighting chance against the army that beat her. Would've given Julius a chance to be a jerk and Ishtar the opportunity to once again show how nice she is and how much she cares about her family. ...But at this point I'm just nitpicking. There's really no need to go for such stretches when Ishtar's nicest moment is still yet to come. 18 minutes ago, ping said: No convo with Leif, though. But Seliph has one: : "Y-you! You're Sigurd's whelp... You won't leave here alive!" : "I believe that's my line, King Blume. You've nowhere to run this time!" : "Curses... I'll drag you down to the grave with me, whelp!" I think he has a convo with Leif but it's only in the previous chapter, for some reason. Did you get it? I wanna say no but I might be misremembering. 20 minutes ago, ping said: : "Now's our chance to help ourselves to the north, starting with Manster! Altena! I leave the capture of Manster to you. I'll send General Coulter with you. If anyone stands in your way, suppress them without a second thought. I don't care if it's a little kid with a wooden stick. Cut them down." : "Hold on a moment, father! I'm as eager to challenge the Empire as you are, but killing innocents makes no sense at all! We'd be much better served forging an alliance with the liberators. We're already surrounted by enemies. Why make more?" : "Altena! I have no interest in one of your little lectures. Keep your mouth shut and do as you're told!" : "But, Father-" "I'm going to be the one to liberate Thracia and unite it into one glorious nation! All right, Altena, go and murder civilians for no reason." 22 minutes ago, ping said: __ Look at these two. They make such a duo. The only way it could've been funnier is if they were both the constipated guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted April 10 Author Share Posted April 10 44 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: I like how you have a song for every random expression. To be transparent, I used that one before. "Rumor has it" is just very noticable for me because the refrain of that song is quite catchy. (And Everlong was a song for the entire fucking "badass rescues swooning damsel all badass-like" trope, because its music video is a really funny version of that) 47 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: Meanwhile, Asaello has accost at base. ...I don't think it does much to keep him from been godawful. Don't be so hard on him. Asaello also has higher Str than Feval (12+40% vs. 10+25%). The boy is trying his best to overcome the nepo advantage that Feval has. 49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: I think he has a convo with Leif but it's only in the previous chapter, for some reason. Did you get it? I wanna say no but I might be misremembering. Ah. Quote Fighting Bloom Bloom: Ha! So long as I wield the Book of Mjölnir, what reason would I ever have to fear the likes of you? With Arthur Bloom: And what are you? Wait... could it be...? Arthur: Bloom! I've waited years for this moment! You took my mother and sister from me, and today you'll finally pay! Bloom: Gah... Impudent whelp! Just try me! With Leif Bloom: Oho! Quan's son, I presume? You somehow still live on... I'm almost impressed. Leif: King Bloom! You've tortured my people for long enough! Prepare to die at last! Bloom: Hmph! A likely retort, but only one of us will die this day, and it will never be me! With Tine Bloom: W-wait... Tine?! How dare you betray my many kindnesses... Tine: I-I'm sorry, Uncle... Yeah, I didn't get any of these. Arthur because I warped him home to sell his Paragon band, and the other two probably would've been one-shot by Mjölnir if I had tried. (Leif should not acknowledge Blume as "king", imo) 52 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: "I'm going to be the one to liberate Thracia and unite it into one glorious nation! All right, Altena, go and murder civilians for no reason." "The villain is almost sounding like he might have a point! Quick, have him stab a baby to keep the black/white contrast nice and sharp!" - writers everywhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revier Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 I don't know what's funnier, the general of the random offensive army being called Muhammad, the assassin brother being easily talked into betrayal by his thieving sister, or the big twist being telegraphed from kilometers away. You can tell they kinda phoned in this map(and most of the Thracia sidetrek tbh). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, ping said: : "Don't get too excited just yet. The real problem here is still Thracia." : "What makes you think so? The chapter title. 2 hours ago, ping said: : "She's finally gone? Good... Stubborn little thing, isn't she? I haven't seen a woman so brash since her mother... Quite the family resemblance there!" Did you even really know her? Did Cuan invite you to their wedding or something? 58 minutes ago, ping said: Don't be so hard on him. Asaello also has higher Str than Feval (12+40% vs. 10+25%). The boy is trying his best to overcome the nepo advantage that Feval has. Admittedly said advantage mostly amounts to a useless luck stat and an even more useless magic stat. No magic bows in this game sadly. This is not Vestaria Saga. Technically Berwick Saga already had magical bows (and magical arrows). But magical weapons in Berwick Saga ignore the user's magic stat. So it would still be useless. Edited April 10 by BrightBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revier Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 5 minutes ago, BrightBow said: Did you even really know her? Did Cuan invited you to their wedding or something? In fairness, he's not too far off from where they live, I could imagine him having interacted with her during some casual meetings and such. But the game is hellbent on painting the Leonster family and the Thracians as sworn enemies, so this just looks weird as fuck lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted April 10 Author Share Posted April 10 51 minutes ago, BrightBow said: Did you even really know her? Did Cuan invite you to their wedding or something? 41 minutes ago, Revier said: In fairness, he's not too far off from where they live, I could imagine him having interacted with her during some casual meetings and such. But the game is hellbent on painting the Leonster family and the Thracians as sworn enemies, so this just looks weird as fuck lol. I wonder if Arion even knows that Altena isn't his biological sister. My initial interpretation of Trabant's line was that he is misdirecting Arion in that scene, because Arion, as he is presented thus far, would be likely to tell Altena if he knew the truth. No need to spoil that, though - I'm sure it'll come up when the two interact after Altena's recruitement. I do remember that she can talk to Arion, and I think I remember that she can paint him green, but not blue. 58 minutes ago, BrightBow said: Admittedly said advantage mostly amounts to a useless luck stat and an even more useless magic stat. Well, that and a certain 30 Mt (effectively 40) weapon. I know that Yewfelle vs. Brave Bow vs. Killer Bow is more situational than just "legendary weapon go brr", but Yewfelle's Big Numbers is the only nice thing that Faval has over Lester, or even Deimne. You even get the Brave Bow and Killer Bow in (or at least at the end) of this chapter if gen 2 didn't inherit them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 1 hour ago, ping said: Don't be so hard on him. Asaello also has higher Str than Feval (12+40% vs. 10+25%). The boy is trying his best to overcome the nepo advantage that Feval has. I do prefer his face. Instead of generic-ass anime teen, he's a squinty boy, which is slightly less generic-ass. 1 hour ago, ping said: Ah. Quote Fighting Bloom Bloom: Ha! So long as I wield the Book of Mjölnir, what reason would I ever have to fear the likes of you? With Arthur Bloom: And what are you? Wait... could it be...? Arthur: Bloom! I've waited years for this moment! You took my mother and sister from me, and today you'll finally pay! Bloom: Gah... Impudent whelp! Just try me! With Leif Bloom: Oho! Quan's son, I presume? You somehow still live on... I'm almost impressed. Leif: King Bloom! You've tortured my people for long enough! Prepare to die at last! Bloom: Hmph! A likely retort, but only one of us will die this day, and it will never be me! With Tine Bloom: W-wait... Tine?! How dare you betray my many kindnesses... Tine: I-I'm sorry, Uncle... Yeah, I didn't get any of these. Arthur because I warped him home to sell his Paragon band, and the other two probably would've been one-shot by Mjölnir if I had tried. (Leif should not acknowledge Blume as "king", imo) I find it funnier that these people have quotes with Blume in the chapter where Blume can't die. So much for revenge. 1 hour ago, ping said: "The villain is almost sounding like he might have a point! Quick, have him stab a baby to keep the black/white contrast nice and sharp!" - writers everywhere People still love Travant. Which, I mean, can't really blame 'em for it. Travant's miles ahead of basically every other gen 2 villain by having a semblance of a personality and a few grey undertones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted April 10 Author Share Posted April 10 8 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: I do prefer his face. Instead of generic-ass anime teen, he's a squinty boy, which is slightly less generic-ass. He's probably the son of one of the constipated bossmen. I realise that Asaello's eyes aren't quite Brock-levels of squint, but maybe that's what you get when you mix those genes with those of your average big-ol'-eyeballs anime girl. 10 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: People still love Travant. Which, I mean, can't really blame 'em for it. Travant's miles ahead of basically every other gen 2 villain by having a semblance of a personality and a few grey undertones. People will also either ignore or rationalise any degree of puppy-kicking and baby-stabbing as long as the villain is cool enough. Some people will say that the Joker has a point (truly, we live in a society). Name any fascist organisation in a post-apocalyptic setting and you'll find somebody writing an essay why they're actually most moral faction (you see, in a world with extremely limited resources, slavery is prefe--). I'll say that I do like Travant because of the reasons you said. It's nice to have a villain with somewhat grounded ambitions in a story where the villain is literally satan. And despite what he says in this chapter, he didn't even stab baby Altena when he was given the chance. But he really feels like his most interesting conflict was that with the Empire, which hardly comes into play in the actual plot. Sure, he's being opportunistic, but we're just going from fighting the Empire to fighting Trabant. There's no exciting fight between three factions, trying to play one enemy against the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 1 minute ago, ping said: He's probably the son of one of the constipated bossmen. I realise that Asaello's eyes aren't quite Brock-levels of squint, but maybe that's what you get when you mix those genes with those of your average big-ol'-eyeballs anime girl. Interestingly enough, he's squinty in both his official artwork and his unused FE5 portrait, but in FE4 he's not squinty. He's doing more of a side-eye. 1 minute ago, ping said: People will also either ignore or rationalise any degree of puppy-kicking and baby-stabbing as long as the villain is cool enough. Some people will say that the Joker has a point (truly, we live in a society). Name any fascist organisation in a post-apocalyptic setting and you'll find somebody writing an essay why they're actually most moral faction (you see, in a world with extremely limited resources, slavery is prefe--). Reminds me of a friend telling me all about how the Legion of Fallout New Vegas were his favorite faction, interesting and effective for one reason or another. Then I met them and five minutes later I had enough of their shit and performed sequence-breaking so I wouldn't have to help them whatsoever. 3 minutes ago, ping said: I'll say that I do like Travant because of the reasons you said. It's nice to have a villain with somewhat grounded ambitions in a story where the villain is literally satan. And despite what he says in this chapter, he didn't even stab baby Altena when he was given the chance. But he really feels like his most interesting conflict was that with the Empire, which hardly comes into play in the actual plot. Sure, he's being opportunistic, but we're just going from fighting the Empire to fighting Trabant. There's no exciting fight between three factions, trying to play one enemy against the other. Yeah, I agree, it'd been way cooler if Travant sent his recolored cronies and Altena after Connaught when Blume was still kicking and you had to beat them to the punch or they take Connaught from you and you lose. Interestingly enough, there's a moment in Thracia 776 where they... sort of do this? Except it's not as cool as it'd been if they did it here. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 23 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: I find it funnier that these people have quotes with Blume in the chapter where Blume can't die. So much for revenge. Tinny has ones for both chapters. Also with Ishtar here, not that Tinny is likely to survive that. Although maybe Linda can one-shot Ishtar with a Thoron Wrath crit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 There. Now Genealogy is perfect. At least that's what I wanted to say, but Ruben's bearded Hawk image is now broken so I had to do this myself and I'm not good at it. 5 hours ago, BrightBow said: Did you even really know her? Did Cuan invite you to their wedding or something? Well he did meet her when she died. And she was kind of stubborn there, bringing a baby to the battlefield and then stubbornly not dying right away like dames aught to. 6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: Meanwhile, Asaello has accost at base. And to just keep sharing my ideas that no one asked to be shared, my suggestion for Asaello getting a more original backstory was to just include him here as an enemy bossman here even if Faval still exists. And to pay him to join you Beowulf style if Faval doesn't exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interdimensional Observer Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 (edited) 9 hours ago, ping said: With my incredibly limited experience with this game, I still dare to question the First Mate's authority on eugenics a little. He lists Jamke as Bridget's most desirable hubby, but with Yewfelle being as inaccurate as it is, Holyn really makes a strong impression on me - especially because his Holy Blood also helps Patty quite a bit by giving her Brave Sword access before promotion. I wonder if Lex/Ayra + Holyn/Bridget might be overall a stronger pair of pairs than Holyn/Ayra and Jamke/Bridget...? I'd say so. I don't get the appeal of JamkexAnyoneExceptAyra. Unless no other child needs the ring, Lester would rather have a Pursuit father to always quad, somewhat better Str isn't enough of a gain over Midir. And I don't get JamkexBrigid at all. 9 hours ago, ping said: There is no ethical conscription under Feudalism. Or something like that. ...I think peasants had limitations on their wartime use? Can't take them too far from the farms, can't take too many during the planting and harvest times, plus they're unskilled. -Alas, aristocrats/knights, though they have all the time to train thanks to those fiefdoms they own, number only so many, and there is only so much land to dole out as titles. And mercenaries, though the finest warriors there are, they're sooooo expensive and the feudal world was cash-poor (but land-rich, hence landed aristocracy). 9 hours ago, ping said: I do wonder what kind of story Travant tells his children about their mother (or "mother", in Altena's case). Altena's ability to wield Gáe Bolg is, in-universe, irrefutable proof that she has major Nova blood, so if Travant is holding up the story that she and Arion are both his biological children, that should mean that he had to make up a girlfriend in Canada wife from Leonster. It's not like the Internet exists, how can 90% of people be certain what a one-of-a-kind uber spear looks like? Just lie about what it is, Altena's entire life in South Thracia is a deception already. 9 hours ago, ping said: Good to know that the Habsburgs weren't the only dynasty to incest their way to power. The pinnacle of the Fujiwara clan's political power came under Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1028AD). Four of Michinaga's daughters married Emperors of Japan, and he gave the fifth to an imperial prince who threatened his control of the court.😛 What followed the fall of the Fujiwara clan was something more unusual: insei- "cloistered rule". The Emperor would abdicate, get tonsured, retire to a Buddhist monastery, and then proceed to puppet-rule over his successor while he lived and held his own separate court as a "retired" emperor. -After this, the samurai/bushi warrior class finally reached political maturity and established the Kamakura Bakufu/Shogunate (began in 1185), leaving the emperors and aristocrats powerless until the Meiji Restoration. 5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: People still love Travant. Which, I mean, can't really blame 'em for it. Travant's miles ahead of basically every other gen 2 villain by having a semblance of a personality and a few grey undertones. I've more liking for Trav' than Arv', that is certain. I don't love Travant's portrayal, it has a few issues, one of the better villains in Genealogy overall. 5 hours ago, ping said: I'll say that I do like Travant because of the reasons you said. It's nice to have a villain with somewhat grounded ambitions in a story where the villain is literally satan. Agreed. Travant has one goal, just one goal. Conquest yes, but it isn't world conquest, it's just the other half of a peninsula, is that too much to ask for? 5 hours ago, ping said: People will also either ignore or rationalise any degree of puppy-kicking and baby-stabbing as long as the villain is cool enough. Some people will say that the Joker has a point (truly, we live in a society). Name any fascist organisation in a post-apocalyptic setting and you'll find somebody writing an essay why they're actually most moral faction (you see, in a world with extremely limited resources, slavery is prefe--). Reminds me that I sorta liked the Ashura Kai in Shin Megami Tensei IV. Yakuza who, as fragile as their order seems, comes off to me as being largely responsible for keeping humanity in Tokyo alive after the apocalypse. The goody-good Hunter's Association seemed kinda weak, and the downright chaotic Ring of Gaea... well they do run one part of the city well it seems, but they don't look to have any control beyond that. -And I offer this "praise" to the Ashura Kai, despite the Reverse Hills Building -essential to their peacekeeping efforts- morally draining me in a way few others things have, on all four playthroughs of SMTIV. Edited April 11 by Interdimensional Observer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGuy96 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 6 hours ago, ping said: It's a bit of a shame that Patty and Faval have inverted inheritance only for items, not for their stats. Not that Faval would've gained a massive Str growth from that (Bridget only has 30% Str herself), but still - that's a lot of Mag on a character who can never ever use that stat. Magic archer seems to be a weird Kaga thing. There's Ronan in Thracia, who only uses the stat for res, and Sheela in Vestaria Saga, who finally gets access to magic bows. 6 hours ago, ping said: With my incredibly limited experience with this game, I still dare to question the First Mate's authority on eugenics a little. He lists Jamke as Bridget's most desirable hubby, but with Yewfelle being as inaccurate as it is, Holyn really makes a strong impression on me - especially because his Holy Blood also helps Patty quite a bit by giving her Brave Sword access before promotion. I wonder if Lex/Ayra + Holyn/Bridget might be overall a stronger pair of pairs than Holyn/Ayra and Jamke/Bridget...? I really enjoyed Holyn x Bridget when I did it. I imagine the argument against it is that Patty doesn't really deserve such a useful weapon as the Brave Sword, but in games like Genealogy where you get to deploy everyone I like to try to make everyone competent. It's clearly less efficient than funneling the best weapons towards the cavalry, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said: It's not like the Internet exists, how can 90% of people be certain what a one-of-a-kind uber spear looks like? Just lie about what it is, Altena's entire life in South Thracia is a deception already. What's really weird is that she doesn't use it in Thracia 776, she has Deen's prf instead. Which makes sense in her early mid game first appearance and would be perfect if it came with a scene where Travant goes "this is your first real battle, here take this lance" "Huh? What is this dad? It looks like Gungnir and feels really powerful" "Never you mind, just go conquer places". But instead that scene doesn't exist and she uses Deen's prf again in her second appearance, even though her having Gae Bolg in that appearance is a pretty significant plot point in Genealogy as its what let's Finn recognize her, a scene that absolutely could have been in Thracia. Instead there's absolutely no indication the two are related until you get to the character endings and it's just treated as something you're expected to know (granted I'm not sure there is anyone alive who has played Thracia without playing Genealogy first). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revier Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Travant, amusingly enough, is one of the few rulers in the game to actually care about economic and administrative issues, and attempt to do something about them. FE4 tends to paint its antagonists in an overtly unflattering light, and that does rather impinge on a lot of would-be-potentially-good characterization, but Travant's cause is still at least sympathetic and reasonable enough to go along with, even if his methods are crude and the narrative conspires to paint him as mostly evil. Also, I don't get how they make him the ruler of mini dragon land, and then have his people suffer from famine. Maybe that's why wyverns are so weak in this game, unlike in most FEs. 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interdimensional Observer Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 3 hours ago, Revier said: Also, I don't get how they make him the ruler of mini dragon land, and then have his people suffer from famine. Maybe that's why wyverns are so weak in this game, unlike in most FEs. 😆 It's not "famine all the time", but IRL, I'm thinking of Central Eurasia. There are fertile river valleys where agriculture can thrive, yet the vast geographic region is known for animal husbandry. Comparing horses to wyverns isn't exactly a perfect analogy, and southern Thracia isn't as expansive as the steppes, but you can be relatively thinly-populated in human numbers over less-than-ideal dirt, yet have significant herds of other animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said: It's not "famine all the time", but IRL, I'm thinking of Central Eurasia. There are fertile river valleys where agriculture can thrive, yet the vast geographic region is known for animal husbandry. Comparing horses to wyverns isn't exactly a perfect analogy, and southern Thracia isn't as expansive as the steppes, but you can be relatively thinly-populated in human numbers over less-than-ideal dirt, yet have significant herds of other animals. I think the issue there is that the steppe is pretty famous for grazing animals. Wyverns are, presumably, carnivores and require that actual livestock to be fed. That livestock which itself could be put to feeding humans. It's like a competitive resource situation, humans aren't in competition with horses and cows to eat grass (though we are in competition for space somewhat, depending on what you can grow in a given field), but we are in competition with dragons for eating horses and cows. Unless they wyverns do subsist on grass, or exclusively eat something humans have no taste for, like idk...uh...huh...we eat freaking everything except grass and wood, don't we? Rocks. The wyverns eat rocks. Just fuelled by pure digested coal. Edited April 11 by Jotari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 9 hours ago, Jotari said: There. Now Genealogy is perfect. At least that's what I wanted to say, but Ruben's bearded Hawk image is now broken so I had to do this myself and I'm not good at it. ...Wait, is it? I didn't delete it at all! Look, there it is! Musta been Serenes/Discord (where I uploaded it) acting up. Well, for curiosity's sake, here's my version. Honestly, don't sell yourself short, I like yours too. The full-ass Hannibal beard is funny but yours suits him better. Like, I could actually believe that being his actual design if I didn't know better. 9 hours ago, Jotari said: And to just keep sharing my ideas that no one asked to be shared, my suggestion for Asaello getting a more original backstory was to just include him here as an enemy bossman here even if Faval still exists. And to pay him to join you Beowulf style if Faval doesn't exist. That'd been a fun idea. Separating the subs from the actual characters without feeling like it "overrides" anything, so to speak. Only problem is that I'd be sad about having to kill Asaello and get the generic anime teen archer instead. But then, I wouldn't have that problem, because I'd have had meteorites murder Bridget. 9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said: I've more liking for Trav' than Arv', that is certain. I don't love Travant's portrayal, it has a few issues, one of the better villains in Genealogy overall. I agree with this, pretty much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 (edited) 48 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: ...Wait, is it? I didn't delete it at all! Look, there it is! Musta been Serenes/Discord (where I uploaded it) acting up. Well, for curiosity's sake, here's my version. Honestly, don't sell yourself short, I like yours too. The full-ass Hannibal beard is funny but yours suits him better. Like, I could actually believe that being his actual design if I didn't know better. I went to Hannibal first, but his beard is actually a different style to what seems there. Looks like you fluffed it up a bit. So Javarro was the compromise. 48 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: That'd been a fun idea. Separating the subs from the actual characters without feeling like it "overrides" anything, so to speak. Only problem is that I'd be sad about having to kill Asaello and get the generic anime teen archer instead. But then, I wouldn't have that problem, because I'd have had meteorites murder Bridget. I agree with this, pretty much. You could always have four people stand on either side of him to incapacitate him and then conquer Connaught and have him vanish into the gameplay abyss instead of dying. Edited April 11 by Jotari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 15 minutes ago, Jotari said: I went to Hannibal first, but his beard is actually a different style to what seems there. Looks like you fluffed it up a bit. Actually, I took his FE5 beard lol 16 minutes ago, Jotari said: You could always have four people stand on either side of him to incapacitate him and then conquer Connaught and have him vanish into the gameplay abyss instead of dying. True enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revier Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said: Look, there it is! Musta been Serenes/Discord (where I uploaded it) acting up. Yeah, I don't rely on Discord for any long term uploads, I've had files vanish on me there for no good reason. That Hawke looks amazing lol, beats most of FE4's portraits(not that that's particularly hard to do lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 19 hours ago, ping said: It's a bit of a shame that Patty and Faval have inverted inheritance only for items, not for their stats. Not that Faval would've gained a massive Str growth from that (Bridget only has 30% Str herself), but still - that's a lot of Mag on a character who can never ever use that stat. Although if the growths were inverted, Faval would have even more useless magic while Patty would have less. Since Azel only has a 10% magic growth while Briggid has 20%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interdimensional Observer Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 6 hours ago, Jotari said: I think the issue there is that the steppe is pretty famous for grazing animals. Wyverns are, presumably, carnivores and require that actual livestock to be fed. That livestock which itself could be put to feeding humans. It's like a competitive resource situation, humans aren't in competition with horses and cows to eat grass (though we are in competition for space somewhat, depending on what you can grow in a given field), but we are in competition with dragons for eating horses and cows. Good point, I knew the comparison would fail at some level. Moving the wyverns through the mountains in pursuit of elusive game hiding amid the peaks, in craggy locations where humans rarely visit, isn't the most feasible of ideas. -But I tried.😅 7 hours ago, Jotari said: Unless they wyverns do subsist on grass, or exclusively eat something humans have no taste for, like idk...uh...huh...we eat freaking everything except grass and wood, don't we? ...Sawdust becomes mighty tasty when you've been under siege long enough. 7 hours ago, Jotari said: Rocks. The wyverns eat rocks. Just fuelled by pure digested coal. Gorons then? Or are we talking biological automobiles who, once they've been massively bred across the entire continent, will produce enough carbon-rich flatulence that southern Silesse will have snow-free winters by Jugdral Count 900? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 FE4 Chapter 8: The Dracoknights of Thracia Connaught --> Manster --> Meath Spoiler During this update, some arenaing is taking place. I won't go over it in detail - but I'm happy to report that everybody manages to get through. Well, except for Leylia. That would be a bit too much hassle for a run that can't be a ranked one anyway - she'll just have to rely on Patty to be her sugar mama so that she can afford the Knight Ring (and maybe Leg Ring, not sure if it's better on her or Seliph). To save the villages, Oifey goes down the eastern path to help out Fee - unnecessarily, as it turns out, but I suppose he provided moral support. [100 XP --> Ares] Everybody else just goes south, picking up villagers on the way. Very easy rescue mission, honestly. : "Thracia's dracoknights are still on the prowl 'round these parts. Be careful, won't you..." [100 XP --> Johalvier] : "You're with Lord Seliph's liberators? Gods be praised! You've come at last." [100 XP --> Shanan] : "Three cheers for Lord Seliph!" [100 XP --> Tinni] : "Please, we beg of you... Do all you can to help Sir Ced!" [100 XP --> Faval] : "Thank you so much, noble warrior!" [100 XP --> Leaf] And also on the way, Nanna resolves any lingering Ares issues. : "Hey! You're Ares, right?" : "I am. What do you want?" : "I've been hearing how you're the son of Lord Eldigan. Is there any truth to that?" : "There is. Of what concern is it yours?" : "Oh, I knew it was true! I'm Nanna. I'm the daughter of Raquesis, Lord Eldigan's sister!" : "C-can this be?! Are you truly my aunt's child?" : "Of course I am! You know, my mother was really worried about what happened to you. It must've been her search for you that brought us to Leonster all those years ago." : "My father knew well that the stormclouds of a brutal civil war lurked across Agustria. I was a mere infant and my mother was in poor health, so he bade her to seek refuge with her parents in Leonster." Considering the skills she passed on to Ares, I believe we have to replace the old meme "Everybody from Sacae is broken" with "Everybody from Leonster is OP". Half of the playable Sacaen population is overrated, anyway. : "Alas, Leonster too fell afoul of a war of its own, and my mother lost her life to the Empire's invasion." : "That's where Jabarro comes in, right?" : "Indeed. Jabarro found me and took me in as his own, and with his mercenary corps, I travelled the world and learned the art of war." : "So that's why I've never found you before... Listen, Ares. My mother left me something to give to you if we ever met." : "Oh? ...What is this? Is this... Is this Father's?!" : "It is! It's a letter from Lord Eldigan, and it's addressed to you, Ares." : "I can't believe it..." : "This should sort everything out! It says your father and Lord Sigurd were the closest of friends and held each other's deepest trust. This never changed, no matter what..." : "So it says... Wow, I... I've been so, so wrong for all this time..." : "I hope you'll look after Lord Seliph, Ares. He really is depending on you!" : "I will, I promise you... Say, Nanna. How would you like a quick lesson in swordsplay? Here, pay close attention..." [+2 Str, +2 Def --> Nanna] And with that, everything is cleared up and everybody lived happily ever after. I hates it. Ew, happiness. But seriously, even after subtracting my Fates-induced distaste for letters from dead parents... this sucks. Ares learning about Sigurd and Eldigan's friendship and eventual enmity could've been very compelling - he could ask why Nanna and Dermott are fighting for Seliph; why Raquesis was fighting for Sigurd even after Eldigan's death, he could learn about King Chagall's character and how Eldigan kept giving him the benefit of the doubt, which eventually lead to his death (be it on the chopping block or in battle against Sigurd). But noooo, we just get a letter that doesn't so much answer these questions as it makes them obsolete. Dad says Sigurd good. End of storyline. I know that what I'm laying out would be quite a lot of screentime for a single, non-Seliph character. But with how important the relationship between Sigurd and Eldigan was for the first generation, I really think that the second generation should've given Ares that time. Cool fact: Ced will use Fortify when possible. Very nice of him. And the turn after, Seliph hands him the blue paint. : "Ced the Brave, I presume? I couldn't possibly thank you enough for all you've done for the people of Manster." : "Lord Seliph... I'm glad you're here at last. Sire, I implore you! Save this world! Too many of us have already given into despair... The city of Manster has been robbed by the Empire of countless young children. All were sent to dark shrines in Miletos... I... I couldn't save even a single child. Me, brave? Hah! I hardly deserve such a lofty label. I'm just another coward..." : "That isn't true, Ced! If I were to fight alone, I know that there'd be precious little that I could do. It was uniting the strength of my friends, a team effort, which brought us this far! And I believe that your strength could be a valuable part of our cause. Please, Ced the Brave. Grant us your power!" : "Thank you sire... You'll have my loyalty, no matter what!" Ahhh, I figured out why Hawke cannot be present in Manster if Ced exists. If they were both there, they'd just crush Thracia with the power of friendship, making Seliph's entire excursion into this area of Jugdral pointless. __ Here's the position after recruiting Ced - with Seliph and Finn somewhat taking the front... : "The rebels have made it to Manster? What in the blazes is Princess Altena doing? Men! Bolster our defensive line! Until His Majesty the King returns, we must protect the border at all costs!" -- : "Is everything ready, my liege? We'll be closing in on Manster shortly. Let's waste no time in besieging them!" : "Hold, Coulter! Those are nothing more than common citizens standing in our way. Killing them would be the foulest of crimes. Wait here with the squad. I'll see if I can negotiate a surrender." : "You know I can't do that. My orders come from over your head. You may spout all the lovey nonsense you wish, but the king forbids me to stay my hand." : "Are you questioning a direct order from your commander and your princess, General?!" : "These are my men, princess! If you don't wish to partake yourself, then stand aside, make yourself useful and watch our backs! Now then... Is everyone ready? All hands, prepare to strike Manster! Leave no survivors!" : "C-Coulter! Get back here at once!" To be honest, I would've preferred if Altena had co-operated with Travant at first before finding a line she will not cross. Let her have a little edge. As is, basically every scene she's in she screams from the rooftops that she's recruitable. ____ ...and because the AI is very intelligent, Seliph and Finn manage to get a few enemy phase kills (although Seliph needs a crit, so he leaves a few Wyverns injured) against two groups of enemies that carry a 1-2-ranged weapon that, thanks to the weapon triangle, even has the same accuracy as their Iron Swords. I won't even make an attempt understanding that. Good on Coulter himself for not following that example, I guess... ...although it obviously doesn't do him much good. : "Gaaah! May Thracia... rise in glory..." Not a perfect clean-up, partially because some Wyverns cantered into the mountains... ...but this comes with the advantage that they capture the fortress so that we can paint it blue and turn it into a warp point. The following turn, Fee makes a disturbing discovery: __ Enemy Rogues will steal your money if they hit you even if you kill them in the same round of combat. Luckily, I made that discovery with my first action on my turn, and Fee happens to have good Adept RNG with the Light Brand, anyway. ____ Once Manster is secured, it's time to approach the last remaining castle. Which is annoying, thanks to a total of six ballistae (although only one of them is of the more dangerous variety) that even outrange the Wyvern squad. ____ But while it's a bit annoying, there isn't really anything pressuring you to go fast at this point, so Nanna spends some time returning allies back to Alster for promotion, occasionally arenaing (Johalvier and Nanna with the full arena clear!), and for Lana to gain some XP, as well. Most impactful is definitely Seliph's promotion. Forseti on a horse will unfortunately have to wait until next chapter. To make the capture of Meath even more annoying, it seems that Fee can't even approach the Wyverns from the east, to maybe lure a few of them in that direction. The yellow zone is mostly there to make sure you can't interact with Altena, but this is a secondary effect that's kinda frustrating. It's interesting to note that you can actually fly through a yellow zone, if you're quick enough. Not relevant here, because I don't want Fee to fly into Ballista range, but still interesting. Also interesting is that Seliph can dismount. I suppose he can use it to avoid effective damage? ...Except that he has Nihil, so I'm out of ideas why this would ever be a good button to press. ____ Shots are fired and, in Finn's case, returned... ...and the number of enemies is reduced, but not to zero. This entire sequence feels bad to play, because it's such a high number of flying enemies in a fairly narrow path that you can't help but worry that there's some squishy that you moved too far forward that is about to be focussed down by the enemy. The solution is probably juggernauting with something like Arthur on a mountain with Seliph/Dermott/Nanna providing bonus avoid, but that's generally a boring way to play, I find. During this second enemy phase after engaging the remaining enemies, even more Wyverns come out of Meath Castle. Nothing really comes from it, though. And while his friends fight for their lives, Dermott takes his day off and visits the two undamaged villages. Honestly unnecessary to have him leave early - I'm going to spend a fair number of turns after killing the boss just moving about, so Dermott could've just helped and *then* grabbed the money necessary to buy the Paragon band. : " For as long as anyone can recall, Thracia's wanted to claim this region as their own. And for just as long, House Leonster always stood in their way, wielding their holy land Gáe Bolg to defend our lands. At least, until Gáe Bolg was lost a decade ago in the Yied Desert... The Thracians ambushed and murdered Prince Quan, his wife Ethlyn, and their daughter Altena as they crossed Yied, and the lance vanished..." [5000 gold --> Dermott] : "This land is the rightful land of the Kingdom of Thracia! You will never take it from us!" To keep things short - Ares takes Maykov's money... ...and Arthur takes his life. Slightly risky, of course, because Maykov has Pavise, a Killer Bow, and a non-zero hit rate, but eh. I'm trying to avoid deaths on the record sheet, but it's not *that* important. : "Guhh... Glory... to Thracia..." And instead of seizing, Ares parks on top of the castle entrance, hoping that this prevents additional reinforcements. Maybe it worked, maybe they were a one-time thing, or maybe they don't spawn after killing the boss anyway. The reason for the delay: Patty needs to collect the Power Ring (because she can really use the stats to make the arena more consistent, in particular without Sleep Sword abuse)... __ ...and even further away, Tinni grabs the Thief Band. The reasoning here being that she has 1-2 range and can need the help, although I'm almost certain that Arthur would've been a better option - delete enemies with Forseti and take their money to repair it. Genius. During all this, two more convos: : "Pardon me, Tinni. I don't suppose you're acquainted with Princess Ishtar?" : "I am... When I was growing up, Ishtar was like a sister to me. She was one of the few who treated me well..." : "Would you have any idea who the man who came to collect her was, then?" : "That... was most likely Prince Julius." : "The crown prince himself?! Are you certain?" : "I think so, yes. The two are a couple. That would be why he..." : "Have you met Prince Julius before, then?" : "Once or twice, when I visited Belhalla. He... How can I put this... He has this odd charm which draws people to him... only for them to find that he's colder than ice. He's terrifying! If I didn't know better, I would swear he isn't even human..." [+3 HP --> Tinni; +100 love points] Foreshadowing...! I do like that this conversation is there. It's nice that people don't just shrug and ignore the guy teleporting in, grabbing Ishtar, and teleporting the both of them out again. Good on Seliph for following the thread. : "I've been looking for you, of course! I mean, you've been gone from Silesse for so long, and we had no idea where you were!" : "I know, Fee, and I'm sorry... See, what happened was I was passing through Manster in my search for Father. I would've moved on, but the people's plight was nothing short of heartbreaking. I couldn't just leave Manster to waste away..." : "I should've known. That is so like you, Cedsy! And here I was, almost starting to forget why you're so incredible." : "You're with the liberation army, then?" : "Yep! I just knew I had to help Lord Seliph." : "Is that so... You're even more like Mother than I thought! Not once in her life did she ever turn her back on someone in need." : "You're just like her, too, Cedsy. Poor Mom, though. Just thinking about how Dad left her... it makes me so mad!" : "Mm... I still can't make sense of his actions. What could he have possibly been thinking..." [Lck +1 --> Fee] That convo is so clearly assuming that Lewyn is their asshole dad... It would seem out of character for most other potential fathers, but it's especially jarring for Claude, honestly. : "Ohh, thank you so much! I've heard all the stories about your army, and I've been praying that you'd come someday. Lord Seliph is our beacon of hope! Here, take this power ring. It's not much, but it's all we have to show our gratitude." [Power Ring; 1000 gold --> Patty] : "It was the legendary dracoknight Dain who founded Thracia all those years ago... With his heavenly lance, Gungnir, in hand, he dared to challenge the king of demons himself! Rumor has it that Nova of the Crusaders, ancestor of the lords of House Leonster, was in fact a sister to Lord Dain..." [4500 gold --> Dermott] I don't expect that this rumor will have any follow-up in the story, to be honest. And, finally, the last village: : "Hoo hoo! What brings you all the way out here? You must be quite the curious one! Either way, I want to thank you for coming all this way for such a small and remote town. This here trinket's a thief's band. She's an odd little thing: slip her on and you'll soon find yourself stealing like you've done it all your life. Hoo hoo hoo! Take care of yourself, dearie." [Thief's Band; 2000 gold --> Tinni] __ And with these pictures of Lana's ascension, the chapter is over. I didn't pay attention when exactly I beat Maykov, but I'd guess that I spend roughly 12 turns just doing all these side objectives. In the end, a 41-turn clear - rather long, considering that this was one of the more simple maps. I will say that its beginning is pretty cool and a bit more challenging. Ovo's group charging at an underdefended Leonster can become dangerous quick, while Muhammed's group of (mostly) Armour Knights is easier to manoeuvre around, but not that easy to overwhelm. And the three Mage Sisters, even without any support, make sure that you're on a bit of a timer for defeating Ovo, too. After that, it become much more formulaic, though. Move east to Connaught, then south to Meath via Manster. Rescuing Ced on the way really didn't feel like much of an accomplishment - maybe an unpromoted Seliph without the Leg Ring would be delayed by a turn, making the whole affair a bit more tricky, but as is, he can just arrive before the Wyverns do. : "It almost feels as if each blow is fueled by pure desperation..." : "See, Thracia's always had a bad lot in life. Much of its land is consumed by mountains. Farming its own food is a near impossible task, so they struggle to keep themselves fed. Thracia's men seek mercenary work to find the money to stay alive, while its women are stuck in whatever dreary jobs they can dig up. Don't get me wrong, Seliph. King Travant is still an awful man, but there's far more than his own petty gain at stake in his schemes. The Thracian army is as loyal to Travant as they come. They ardently believe it's Travant who'll guide Thracia out of its endless famine." : "I see... That does make sense..." : "The thing is, no amount of poverty will ever justify Thracia's aggression. Travant's brand of nobility and justice would never be accepted anywhere else in the world. All the peninsula's north can see are rowdy aggressors, who threaten their peaceful lives. As harsh as it may seem, Seliph, I trust you know you can't afford to stay your hand here. The Thracian royal family is the enemy, and a grave threat to the north's peace. Stripping them of power is the only choice. That task falls to us, and we can't fail now." I'm sure Travant will be kind and understanding about all this. I do like Lewyn's speech there - although I'll say that the game didn't do the greatest job of showing a "brand of nobility and justice" of Travant. He just comes across as ruthlessly opportunistic - not that there's anything wrong with that kind of character/antagonist, I just think that Lewyn is pointing something out that (thus far) doesn't really exist. The Team: Lv. HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Funds XP Arn W/L Seliph 21.20 59 24 4 22 18 26 21 12 42744 +750 [*] 34/0 Leif 18.57 49 23 4 17 16 12 17 6 48560 +760 [*] 19/0 Oifey 21.71 46 19 9 19 19 9 19 8 44080 +191 [*] 19/2 Finn 27.20 48 23 1 17 22 21 20 4 18815 +260 [*] 16/0 Dermott 19.68 52 22 0 19 16 17 15 2 42932 +688 [*] 30/1 Nanna 18.95 46 18 4 13 13 18 14 5 13812 +984 [*] 2/0 Ares 19.29 59 22 4 17 15 12 19 8 35840 +785 [*] 7/0 Fee 22.51 49 16 14 18 27 14 18 21 38157 +948 [*] 24/0 Lester 15.48 43 16 2 12 14 17 14 0 40363 +488 [*] 16/0 Shanan 19.32* 49 22 0 26 24 10 15 5 45000 +352 [*] 12/0 Ulster 17.04 51 18 3 20 16 10 18 1 50000 +472 [*] 6/0 Larcei 20.76 58 26 1 30 30 16 20 6 20600 +588 [*] 14/0 Patty 18.02 48 13 8 10 19 19 7 3 3000 +814 [*] 13/0 Johalvier 21.06 51 23 0 14 19 7 20 8 38470 +499 [*] 12/0 Faval 14.18 46 11 11 17 22 18 9 1 27688 +518 [*] 4/0 Ced 18.35* 43 4 23 20 25 24 10 24 27702 +435 [*] 2/0 Arthur 19.94 54 0 19 21 21 22 4 8 37113 +576 [*] 13/0 Tinni 12.17 45 0 14 17 19 15 3 8 48673 +523 [*] 4/0 Julia 21.87 42 2 30 15 28 9 5 27 7800 +842 [*] 11/0 Lana 21.39 49 9 22 22 22 22 10 10 21036 +864 [*] 0/0 Leylia 7.66 28 6 2 1 14 4 2 4 13215 +336 [2] 0/0 mawwied: Larcei/Johalvier, Nanna/Leif Truly in love: Shanan<->Patty, Fee<->Arthur Fancy of late: Seliph<->Lana, Ulster->Patty, Tinni->Seliph, Leylia<->Ares Dwelling on mind: Oifey->Lana, Lester->Fee, Dermott->Lana none: Julia, Ced, Faval, Finn -- Patty's low money is a bit misleading - she bought the Renewal Band (for half price, of course) so that she could give Lana enough money to repair the Warp staff and buy Wind from Ced, while having enough money available to get the Paragon Ring immediately next map. Big fan of Lana's quadruple 22s. Also of her big strength - accounting for High Priest's class bases, it's only a single point below her Mag. By contrast, Julia has her Mag capped at promotion level already. Same for Larcei and her Skl/Spd. It's a bit worrying that Shanan and Patty are already "truly in love", while Ulster's affection for her is still a tier below that. I don't think Shanan and Patty spent much time adjacent (I tried to avoid that when they joined last chapter), but it's true that Ulster wasn't able to keep next to her all the time, either. Happy to see Fee and Arthur hit it off, though. For no particular gameplay reason, I just like their dynamic in the dialogue. Answers! Spoiler 21 hours ago, Jotari said: I believe this thread contains more beard than any anime chess-related thread has any right to have. Glorious. Now all that's missing is a dye-job 20 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said: ...I think peasants had limitations on their wartime use? Can't take them too far from the farms, can't take too many during the planting and harvest times, plus they're unskilled. -Alas, aristocrats/knights, though they have all the time to train thanks to those fiefdoms they own, number only so many, and there is only so much land to dole out as titles. And mercenaries, though the finest warriors there are, they're sooooo expensive and the feudal world was cash-poor (but land-rich, hence landed aristocracy). You could just not pay your mercenaries. I believe that has never gone wrong in the entire history of the world. 20 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said: It's not like the Internet exists, how can 90% of people be certain what a one-of-a-kind uber spear looks like? Just lie about what it is, Altena's entire life in South Thracia is a deception already. You'd have to be very careful about not even let Altena know about the general concept of Holy Weapons. The game has consistently shown their wielders to sense their overwhelming power, and Patty even had a "woah" reaction when she saw Shanan pick up Balmung. So Altena can't even learn that Arion is wielding Gungnir and can do so because he's the heir to Dain's bloodline, or she might wonder why she (and only she) can use a lance of similar power. 20 hours ago, RPGuy96 said: I really enjoyed Holyn x Bridget when I did it. I imagine the argument against it is that Patty doesn't really deserve such a useful weapon as the Brave Sword, but in games like Genealogy where you get to deploy everyone I like to try to make everyone competent. It's clearly less efficient than funneling the best weapons towards the cavalry, though. I think you could come from a different angle and ask if Holyn is in particular high demand anyway. For Ayra, Lex seems like an excellent option, too (and I doubt that the Sword Twins, horseless as they are, are given much priority for anybody playing "efficiently"), and who else really wants him as a dad? If you care about rankings, maybe Lene for the Brave Sword rank, but he generally seems like OK, Holy Blood is always good, but most ladies have alternatives that are at least as good. 9 hours ago, BrightBow said: Although if the growths were inverted, Faval would have even more useless magic while Patty would have less. Since Azel only has a 10% magic growth while Briggid has 20%. ...of course, you're right. I forgot how awful some gen 1 characters' growths would be without Holy Blood. Patty should still have more base Mag in that hypothetical, since Azel's procs don't care if they come from his Fala blood or not, but this isn't important enough for me to figure out how her and Faval's Lv.30 averages would change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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