Jotari Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 By the way, I'm undercutting you and doing my own Thracia playthrough before you! This one with a theme of not using staves and obsessing over the reuse of minor boss portraits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 7 hours ago, Jotari said: I'm undercutting you How dare It sounds interesting (and challenging!), although I'll have to wait before checking it out. Ruben recommended a blind-ish Thracia run. I think he might hate me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 11 hours ago, ping said: And already this is a better romance than Deirdre and Sigurd. (Honestly, as far as RomCom misunderstandings go, this isn't half bad, with Ayra expecting a "You're pretty!" and getting a "You're badass!" instead.) It does be rather nice, by this game series's romance standards. 11 hours ago, ping said: : "Hey, Ayra! this is for you. Here." : "Isn't this a brave sword? Why me, though? Shouldn't you be wielding this yourself?" : "This thing's only gonna get harder from here, yeah? You burn through blades so fast, you could do with a spare or two. Look after yourself, okay? One day I might not be here to watch your back." : "Holyn... Thank you. I promise I'll put it to good use." Eh. More generic than Lex's one. Holyn mentioning Ayra "burning through blades so fast" is a fun little detail, though, her being the only Astra user in the first generation. Jesus, it's like the idea of being even slightly remarkable makes Holyn retch with disgust. 11 hours ago, ping said: Turns out that Sigurd isn't immortal, especially if you tank his Avoid by equipping his Javelin. You're welcome, Ruben Vindication. 11 hours ago, ping said: I didn't really remember Taillte's character, so imagine my joy to find that she's another silly childish airhead girl. Yay. We can't all be as blessed as Inconsistently Moral Pirate Waifu. 11 hours ago, ping said: __ I do like how she takes like two steps off the castle and Manfroy just immediately appears. What do you mean, "I've found you at last"? Please, elaborate, man. How exactly did you find her, then? 11 hours ago, ping said: Chagall clearly has been working out these past 6 months. He gained 15 levels, improving his Str/Skl/Spd/Def by +4 each and his HP by +15 I like how all his growths are bad except HP, which is a clean 100%. Good unit. 12 hours ago, ping said: That guy has a face. Not the proper gatekeeping experience. Hah, fair enough. That's Derrick instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 29 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said: I like how all his growths are bad except HP, which is a clean 100%. Good unit. Cut the poor guy some slack. He does have generic stats. But it is funny how he got such a big boost between maps. He is even higher leveled than Eldigan now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 15 hours ago, ping said: If I recall, Genealogy is the first FE game that allows a female antagonist to be a proper villainess, so maybe a playable proper villainess is still a step too far for Kaga When did we first see a playable female character that could be described as a villainess? Would it be as late as Peri and Camilla in Fates? Micaiah, at a stretch? Ah, no, probably Katarina. Yeah, that fits, unless I'm forgetting someone from the GBA era. Edited March 10 by Jotari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanty Pete's 1st Mate Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 16 hours ago, Jotari said: Definitely the most moral thing for Sigurd to do here would be to just abandon this war with Agustria entirely and return to Belhalla to investigate his father's death. But, unfrotunately, if he did do that Langbolt and Reptor probably would have had him arrested on the spot and accused of treason with abandoning his post being evidence of his disloyalty. He really was screwed six months from Sunday as soon as he stepped out to rescue Adean. I really should finish that Sigurd choose your own adventure story I started writing. Reader, be wary - you choose the treachery! Thinking on it, Sigurd had to cross a river to get to Evans Castle. It was the Prologue, and he was already crosding his Tiber. 16 hours ago, Jotari said: Sniff... I can't believe it. My boyfriend died in this blasted war. Damn the Grannvale army... No, no... Damn King Chagall! This is all his fault! Shoot. Until now, I was thinking that she could be the mother of Tristan and Nanna. Actually, maybe she is? What happened to Eve? Did he die with the Cross Knights? Or was he somewhere else when everything went down? Heck, when were Tristan and Jeanne conceived in all of this? 16 hours ago, BrightBow said: Might also be worth pointing out that the staff has 10 range in this game. Yeah, Restore is weirdly high-range here. But with the way status staves work, there aren't many cases where I "need" it. If I do, it's only because I was foolish enough to leave my 16-Res unit in range of a 17-Mag Bishop. Still very useful when that sort of thing happens. 16 hours ago, ping said: Two full paragon arena runs, plus not playing at dondon speed, plus Azelle getting a fair bit of monetary babying in ch.1-2 Damn, can't wait for the inevitable Azelle solo. 16 hours ago, ping said: Eh. More generic than Lex's one. Holyn mentioning Ayra "burning through blades so fast" is a fun little detail, though, her being the only Astra user in the first generation. Yeah, while I still think Chulainn is the better partner mechanically, Lex makes a strong case for his compatability with Ayra. It's a fun meeting of personalities. 17 hours ago, ping said: During all this, Beowulf is collecting a fair amount of money - when Sigurd seizes Madino, he's sitting at almost 40k gold, which with a little donation from Dew will be enough to get both the Paragon Band and the Brave Sword for an arena run. This is the kind of micromanagement I live for. Never change, FE4. 17 hours ago, ping said: Finn doesn't have that kind of time pressure, although he probably doesn't want to be too close to Silvail when Sigurd seizes Madino. Honestly, 14 Cross Knights (led by Eldigan) showing up at once is a great jumpscare for anyone left on the west side of the map. 17 hours ago, ping said: "I am on my way to the Tower of Bragi, on the island to the north-west of here. As an heir to the great Saint Bragi, if I pray at our sacred tower, then the truth shall be revealed to me alone. With this knowledge, I can convince His Majesty of Byron's innocence. You needn't worry, Lord Sigurd." Love that Claud's master plan is "imma get some divine revelation that nobody else will be able to corroborate." No jury in Jugdral is gonna convict Reptor and Lombard on secondhand testimony from God. But hey, maybe Azmur could be more easily swayed? 17 hours ago, ping said: (And I can't help but note that Deirdre did know her biological mother's name. Our heroes' ignorance really seems wilful at this point) Now, hold on a moment. This doesn't necessarily mean that Dierdre knew Sigyn was her mother's name. If Manfroy had called her "Alice's daughter", she might've had the exact same reaction. If she takes for granted that Manfroy is correct in identifying her parentage, then of course she'd be curious in hearing how he knew her mother - even if she never knew her mother, herself. 17 hours ago, ping said: This is it, men. It's time for us to enter the fray... Perhaps for the last time. I count myself the luckiest commander there is for your years of loyalty to me. The fatherland's fate hinges on this final battle. Do not let Agustria down. Cross Knights! MOVE OUT!" Honestly a great antagonist speech. Like a more honorable version of Jarod's, in I-E of Radiant Dawn. 17 hours ago, ping said: And you can't ignore that Eldigan has a +40 hit/avo aura, either. Huh - I just learned something new. I had assumed it was "+5 Hit/Avo for every star". Based on Sigurd's two stars granting +10 Hit/Avo. But at least per the wiki, it's actually "+10 Hit/Avo for every star, not counting the first star". So I assumed Eldigan gave +25, not +40. That's... cripes, that is overtuned for Eldigan and the other 5-star generals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 47 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Shoot. Until now, I was thinking that she could be the mother of Tristan and Nanna. Actually, maybe she is? What happened to Eve? Did he die with the Cross Knights? Or was he somewhere else when everything went down? Heck, when were Tristan and Jeanne conceived in all of this? As far as I can see, the only info we got on Eve being Jeanne and Tristan's father is if Jeanne is unmarried and Tristan is dead, which is such an obtuse scenario (because it obviously involves getting the substitute units in the first place) that few to anyone is getting this info from an authentic playthrough. It's all wiki trivia. Anyway, here's the line. Jeanne: I'm going to Agustria as well, Lord Seliph. Seliph: Jeanne? Ah, that's right. You and your brother were born in Agustria, yes? Jeanne: We were. Our father was a Nordion knight who died in the service of Lady Lachesis. His name was Eve... Seliph: I see. Your parents died in battle long ago. And now Tristan has joined them... I couldn't save him. I'm so, so sorry... Jeanne: Thank you, Lord Seliph, but I think I'll be fine. After all, I still have hope. Hope for a new world free of war... And I know you'll make it a reality. So the weird thing here is that he died in the service of Lachesis specifically. Though he isn't named, there's also this convo when Jeanne and Tristan first meet Tristan: Excuse me. You wouldn't happen to be Jeanne, would you? Jeanne: I am. And you are? Tristan: Perfect! I've finally found you! I'm your brother, Tristan! Jeanne: Huh?! What... You can't be serious! Tristan: I'm being completely serious! See, our father was a knight of House Nordion. When we were both still little, he was killed in the Agustrian civil war, and we were adopted by Lord Sigurd's army. We later fled to Isaach with Sir Oifey, but we somehow lost you along the way... Jeanne: Huh... That actually fits. I was adopted by a traveling merchant, who once said he found me in Isaach. Tristan: Yeah... Sir Oifey's always said he wondered if something like that happened. Jeanne: But then, when I was just seven years old, some Imperial thug murdered him... That's when Finn found and adopted me. Tristan: Wow... that sounds just awful. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Jeanne. Jeanne: No, it's okay. I mean, now I have you! I'm so happy I finally have a brother... Thank you, Tristan! Let's never be parted again... So, yeah, Eve died in Chapter 3 or 4, but was specifically fighting with Sigurd. So no, unfortunately, he's not boyfriend of village girl. It seems Eve, Alva and Ava just continued to fight for Lachesis offscreen which included fighting against, and being killed by, their own countrymen. Wherein Sigurd then made sure the children were well looked after. Of course, this is all entirely consistent if you just let Eve die in Chapter 2, but you can still get Jeanne and Tristian if you do let him live. And the fact that you can still get them if you let him die also means they must have been conceived before Chapter 2. I bet these are questions no one working at IS, not even Kaga, has ever mulled over. The real question, of course, is if "Traveling Merchant man who adopted and raised Jeanne and then killed by some Imperial thug" is enough of a character to warrant a place on my list of every Fire Emblem character. Feels like we get more specific info on traveling merchant man than Tristan himself >.> 47 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: This is the kind of micromanagement I live for. Never change, FE4. One thing I don't like about the Genealogy Micromanagement is the 50,000 gold cap (or is it 500,000, well the order of magnitude is irrelevant, it's something with a 5). When things go as high as 40,000 and the maximum amount of money you can have is only slightly above that at 50,000, it just feels too tight for actually saving for anything. I always have that mild panic over money being lost by selling above the cap just because I have nothing worth 40,000 to buy at that exact moment of time. I'd out right double it to 100,000 or at least 60,000 or 75,000. Or, alternatively, remove the Give function for married couples and just have married couples straight up share their assets. So it's a 50,000 cap for bachelors but when you hook up it's 100,000 shared between two people. You get the same monetary cap but with more freedom to distribute. Though that would get a bit funky with married thieves giving money to other characters (though, maybe it would make them better as they could give a lot more in a single action). Edited March 10 by Jotari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 FE4 Chapter 3: Eldigan the Lionheart Madino --> Silvail Spoiler __ There's a bit of staff spamming at the start of this segment - Aideen (getting danced and) sending Beowulf and Raquesis back to Agusty and just warping people around for no good reason other than reaching level 20, and Raquesis getting a few Returns in, as well. I'll see if I will make use of Aideen reaching promotion level later. She has a lot of ground to cover (and I have to admit that I didn't think she'd have her convo with Bridget this map already, so I didn't move her very efficiently at all), since she also needs to pick up the Restore staff before the end of the map. __ Villages: Saved, which makes Eldigan and the Cross Knights the only moving piece on the map for now. __ And I do try to kite them a bit - specifically with Azel, who can survive three hits and isn't too likely to be hit to begin with. And who one-rounds, obviously. However, returning Raquesis and Beowulf to Madino turned out to be a mistake, since they approach the area from an awkward angle and can't stay out of the Cross Knights' range. At least I don't have to check if Eldigan suffers from Matthis syndrome. __ As a result, Raquesis had to dodge one out of three incoming Javelins - and managed to dodge all three, which is unlikely enough that I wondered for a while if the game is cheating in her favour to make it easier to talk Eldie to death, but not so unlikely (.38³ is about 5%) that I actually believe that to be the case. At the start of the next turn - presumably because Eldigan is in Sigurd's attack range - a conversation triggers: : Eldigan, please! Lay down your sword! I don't want to fight you! I still have every intention of returning Agusty to Chagall! All I need is a little more time, I swear!" : "...Sigurd. I'm sorry, but I grow weary of these excuses. We stand now as two knights on the battlefield, sworn to an honorable duel. Draw, Sigurd! So long as I wield the demon blade, Mystletainn, I won't be the one to fall this day!" __ Raquesis surviving the enemy phase was very nice, of course, but there's still a bit of a problem with all these Cross Knights on top of my units, with the added little shock of Raquesis being just short of reaching her brother. __ An extra road tile to walk on does the trick, though. : "Brother, stop! It's me, Raquesis! This pointlessness has gone on long enough! Your actions are utterly baffling! Would you really betray Sigurd, your friend? Is this what you call a knight's pride? Please, brother! Believe in Sigurd. Give him even the tiniest amount more time to finish the job. We don't need to fight." : "Raquesis... Look, don't cry. Fighting is my only choice. Please don't make this harder than it already is. His Majesty's death will spell the death of Agustria, too, and I cannot allow that." : "That isn't true! Everything hinges on Chagall laying down his arms. Sigurd never had any interest in fighting, and has even less interest in continuing if you stop. Brother... Please. You lead the Cross Knights! Chagall simply cannot ignore your counsel!" : "...You're right, Raquesis. I'll try and persuade His Majesty, one more time. If I must risk my life, I'd rather risk it to stop this blasted war than to fight my friend. Any knight would do the same. Raquesis... Here. This sword is for you." : "Isn't this an earth sword?! ...Brother, you can't be-" : "This is a last memento, in case I... I'm sorry, Raquesis. You must survive!" : "W-wait! Stop! Don't go, Eldie!" I'm honestly not entirely sure how to read this dialogue. The last line makes it sound like Raquesis did not mean to advise Eldigan to go to Chagall right now, let alone... well, alone, and more that she wanted him to team up (or at least call a truce) with Sigurd and force Chagall to surrender by refusing to have the Cross Knights fight Sigurd again. But because she talks about Eldie's "counsel" that Chagall cannot ignore, it might also just be that she did want Eldigan to do what he's about to try, and only realised that he thinks that he's getting himself killed when he gifts her with the Earth Sword. So, basically - Raquesis: maybe an idiot. Eldie: definitely an idiot. : "Your Majesty, please order a retreat! There's no use in continuing this fight. Agusty shall be returned to Your Majesty someday, but it must happen peacefully." : "Eldigan! How dare you abandon the battle to spout such nonsense! You couldn't hide your true colors forever, traitor! Men! Seize this... this worm! Off with his head! Humiliate him! Parade his shame before the world!" : "I... this was all in vain... This spells Agustria's doom-" : "Tch, enough! Accept your death quietly, traitor! Finish him! Do it, right here, right NOW!" : "Raquesis..." Hurray! This dialogue is very much a reprise of Chagall throwing Eldigan in the dungeon, with the Wiseau-style abrupt shortness of the dialogue turning this very dramatic event into a bit of a comedy skit. Off with his head! *canned laughter* Eldigan's last memento is a strong, very expensive weapon. Its 10k price tag is in the same ballpark as other special swords - but because the Earth Sword only has 10 uses as opposed to literally every other sword's 50, it costs 1000 gold to stab an enemy with it, which is exactly as expensive as using one of the legendary swords. The eventual result on the battlefield: Three Cross Knights remaining, which seems rather dangerous... ...but maybe you spotted the insurance at the top of the previous screenshot. Dew is taking one for the team, and nobody has to die. But before Dew dodges that Javelin, more cutscenes happen: : "Hmph. I suppose even these common sellswords ought to do a better job for me than all of my worthless servants... Don't you dare let me down!" : "Pick up the pace! Agustria's right ahead! Our targets are the knights of Grannvale. Take your fill of battle! Sear the name of Thracia into the memories of this land!" I'm sure they will serve as a very scary first impression of the mighty Wyvern Rider class. I'm shivering already. Let us send in Erin to get an idea of their battle prowess. ____ : "Heh... Allow me to teach you the terror of the Thracian dracoknights!" Hm. Okay, admittedly, Erin is still carrying the +5 Def ring and without it, she would've had to tread more carefully, but still. Hm. : "Ugh... Papillon failed, did he? That does it. It's time to withdraw. I refuse to fall with this flaming wreck of a country. Heh, farewell, King Chagall... You fool." And so does King Kilvas. __ For the record, this is Papillon and his gang. Vewy scawwy. (and now, Erin has all the items of surviability - +5 Def, +5 Res, and Renewal. I didn't plan this, but I really underestimated how much cash the Bargain Band would allow her to have) __ Meanwhile, about half of the active force breaks through the line of three Knights. I avoid aggroing Chagall's guard for now although this turned out to be overly careful with Erin just murdering the flock of wyverns. In other news, our first marriage. Sword twins confirmed to be bulky and fast-growing. And Lewyn grabs some money to get to 40k. Or, more accurately, to get 37500 gold and the Wingslayer, which sells for 2500. A bit inefficient, but I suspect that this will end up on Erin or Ayra, who both don't have much trouble with gold. : "No matter how much I think about it, I just don't get why the Orgahil pirates have so suddenly turned on us like this. We could've sworn that boss of theirs was a good lass... Bridget or something, was it?" (5000 gold -> Lewyn) : "Oho! Glad to see ya've come. I got this 'ere sword for ya in 'preciation. They call it the wingslayer. It's enchanted to be lethal to sky-riders. If it flies, this sword'll bring it down. 'Course, if ya can't use it, sell it!" (5000 gold, Wingslayer -> Lewyn) Missed opportunity to use "If it flies, it dies". What were the translators thinking?! ____ There's not too much to be said about Chagall's guardsmen. Played a bit defensively because apart from Finn, nobody's nearby who can one-round Knights... ...then murdered all of them and have Finn face Chagall. : "H-how dare you! I am the King of Agustria! You dare show me such disrespect?! Damn it all... I'll show you the penalty for such offense: death!" __ Finn chips down Chagall a bit... : "Sigurd! Feel the full force of your months of humiliation of me!" : "King Chagall, you've done naught but murder countless innocents. ...And Eldigan... You're as foul as they come!" : "Silence, you fool! You understand nothing of me! You die, Sigurd, here and now!" Well, Chagal doesn't manage to follow up on his words, but he does at least manage to dodge Sigurd's follow-up attack. And then Beowulf's attempt gets Pavised. Bummer. Ethlyn it is, then. I'm sure Leif will appreciate the Silver Blade. (well, honestly, I'm not really certain he will, no idea how his accurady looks, but it *is* a strong weapon, and Leaf comes with an A-rank, so he can inherit it) : "My... My Agustria..." Honestly, I enjoyed Chagall as a... let's say medium-sized villain. Minor is selling him a bit short, but you definitely wouldn't think at any point that he'd be the big bad evil guy, either. His scenes with Eldigan were rather unintentionally funny (at least I assume they weren't intended to come across like The Room), but in general, it was good fun to have a weak, petty, cruel man in a position of authority that is wayy too big for his britches. He's a bit similar to BinBla's Narcian in that regard, although he doesn't overstay his welcome as Narcian arguably does. __ : "By the way, Shanan has just arrived from Agusty. He'd like a word with you, sire." : "Shanan?" : "Sigurd! I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry!" : "What's happening, Shanan? Why are you crying?" : "Deirdre's gone! She left the castle and was looking to talk to you, but she never returned. I'm sorry! I failed to protect her..." : "What?! This can't be happening! And Seliph... Shanan, what about my son?" : "I've got Seliph with me. See? Here he is. But Deirdre..." : "I see... Shanan, this isn't your fault. Don't worry about it. We'll find her. No matter what it takes, I'll find her." : "B-but, I... I should've tried harder to stop her! I'm so sorry, Sigurd!" Good on Sigurd for telling Shanan that he isn't to blame. Honestly, I can't really blame Sigurd for this, either - Deirdre should've known better. Probably. Like, you can't expect her to account for crazy cultists warping into abduct her, but she should've known better than to foist the responsibility for a baby on a 10-years-old while she is walking from one castle to another. The time it takes from A to B is incredibly vague in Genealogy, but one has to assume that it's a bigger trip than to the neighbor to ask if they can help her out with a cup of flour. Seizing Sylvail opens up a talk between Ethlyn and Sigurd: : "Pardon me, dear... But I think I owe you an apology." : "Eh? What's happened, Ethlyn? By the look of it, it must be grave indeed..." : "Here. Take this." : "A spear? ...What?! I-isn't this Gáe Bolg?! Why do you-" : "Your lord father entrusted it to me, Quan. He thought it prudent for you to have it at hand, in case our battles grew too fierce." : "Even just holding it, I've seldom felt so strong! Why did you wait till now, though?" : "With the spear, your lord father also passed onto me its tale... I'm so sorry..." : "...Aye. Gáe Bold bears the baggage of a truly sad legend. But that is all it is: a legend." : "But-" : "Ethlyn, trust me. Triumph is within our grasp this day. I'll not fall victim to an old myth. I'll not let it stop me from returning home. Our dear little Altena still awaits us, and I'll not allow some fairy tale to disappoint her." : "Yes... Quan, no matter what happens... We'll never lose each other... Right?" : "Ah, you're concerned about Deirdre, aren't you... There's nothing to worry about. It won't be long until we find her." : "Yes... I want to believe she'll be okay, too. I wish I could believe it. But..." : "Ethlyn? Come now! Dry your tears. Do you truly feel so bad about this?" : "I... Yes... Knowing th-that Sigurd and Deirdre may never meet again... Th-they love each other so... so much... Why, Quan... Why did this happen to them?!" : "Ethlyn..." The "vaguely cursed weapon" trope is one that I honestly don't like very much. Can't really point my finger to why that is; maybe I just don't like this very obvious "HE GONNA DIE!!!" flag (or, in BlaBla's case, "HEY REMEMBER HOW HECTOR FUCKING DIES IN BINBLA") that these weapons set. The Gáe Bolg is, obviously, incredibly powerful, increasing Str, Skl, and Def by +10 each. It's a bit too late for Quan, at least to do much more than clear the rest of the arena with it, but it's a nice little apératif for the holy weapons yet to come. Finally, the set-up for the last segment of the chapter... : "S'only a matter of time b'fore them Grannvale guys're bangin' down our doors too, eh? What d'ya say?" : "Damn it, Duvall! The only reason they're coming is because you lot all went pillaging, against my orders! You've got nobody but yourself to blame!" : "Keh, enough! I can't take yer arrogance anymore! Shut it an' open yer ears! Ya actually ain't the daughter o' the late cap'n, y'know. Yer just some li'l girl what the boss found, cryin' alone in this ship we raided. Th'boss jus' picked ya up an' raised ya 'imself. 'Fore we knew it, ya'd all grown up an' were bossin' us all 'round, all nonsense-like!" : "W-what?! I... that's..." : "But yer li'l act's worn its welcome out. No point keepin' ya 'live, eh?" : "Damn it all... You really think you clowns can take me that easy?!" I mean, I already made fun of the inheritable divine right of pirate captains... It doesn't seem particularly necessary to explain why Bridget managed to remain the captain for a good while. If she's a strong fighter, that could've been enough to keep her authority... until now, where most, if not all of her crew is fed up with her Robin Hood act. : "Pizare, yer in charge o' the boys. Go raise a li'l hell over 'n Agustria! I'll be waitin' back at th' castle." : "Aye, boss!" This whole episode feels poorly timed, too. It feels like Eldigan's death, and Sigurd finding out about it, should be the climax of the chapter, not its midpoint. I think it would've worked better if the pirate invasion would've been moved to after the capture of Madino - maybe even without having their own big castle, and just as a big scary force threatening to retake Madino just as (or slightly before or after) Eldigan listens to Chagall's orders. : "Righ', raise the bridge! Agustria's all ours!" __ There's a bit of immediate enemy contact here - Bridget (who spawns as a blue unit and thus earns some XP immediately) counter-kills two Pirates, and Ayra is way too dodgy for the pirates to the south to even consider attacking her. And finally, before the start of the next round, we meet Claude and Taillte again: : "Claaaaude! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Aren't you done praying already? Just look around! There'll be pirates all over us if we don't get moving!" : "Be at peace, Taillte. This was quite the fruitful journey! Lord Bragi has answered my prayers and revealed to me the truth. It is precisely as I had thought. Not to mention, I even found House Edda's long-lost sacred heirloom within the tower: the staff of Valkyria. See? This is it." : "What, that grubby little cane?" : "...Taillte, please. Do try to mind your manners. This is a legendary magical staff with the power to restore life to the deceased. It is usable only by the direct descendants of Saint Bragi. That is to say, me alone." : "Huh. So what you're saying is, with this rod you could bring back my sweet old grandma back to life?" : "Alas, most likely not. Valkyria is limited in many particular ways, and so cannot be used on just any lost soul. You see, all of mankind is born bearing a life force called quintessence, which-" : "Yaaawn... Er, what's that? You lost me. Why're you still talking about this, anyway? We've still gotta get outta here?" : "Ah, of course. Let us go." There is plenty of reason to dislike anime, and the "aggressively childish girl" trope is certainly on the list. So instead of discussing that dialogue, I'll just look at some numbers instead: [HP 90% | Str 30% | Mag 20% | Skl 30% | Spd 20% | Lck 70% | Def 20% | Res 5%] Skills: Pursuit Weapon Level: Bows (*) Major Ullur blood Bridget's base stats are still respectable considering her joining time. Her combat is basically better than Midir's in every way (except that he currently holds the Killer Bow and she does not), although the other promoted characters still outdo Bridget. But considering that she joins at a pretty low level, that's still not too bad. Of course, "no horse" plus "no 1-range" doesn't sound like a winning combination. It shouldn't be a death sentence for her viability - Ayra and pre-promotion Azelle managed to do stuff, after all - but it'll likely make her more of a filler unit, even after she'll get the Yewfelle. The plan, as has been talked about already, is for Bridget to marry Azelle, in the hope that her Sniper son won't mind his weaker stats too much, and that Magic Pursuit Patty is going to be good. I think this might be the "least optimal" pairing that I'm going for, but Magic Pursuit Patty sounds like fun. [HP 70% | Str 10% | Mag 40% | Skl 20% | Spd 30% | Lck 50% | Def 20% | Res 50%] Skills: - Weapon Level: Staves (*), Fire (C), Thunder (C), Wind (C) Major Bragi blood Staffbot/10, I guess? Claude has the advantage over Aideen that he joins at Lv.20 promoted, so he can try to at least beat the earlier arena enemies for money and a bit of XP. His stats seem OK, although with only 34 HP, he's really frail on the physical side. Claude is going to marry Erin, which I expect to be to her son's advantage and to her daughter's... mixed blessing? Fee having lower Str than usual doesn't seem great, but she might be able to do stuff with magic swords, and the improved staff rank could be worth something once she promotes. It's a shame that the Rescue staff is still going to be out of reach for her. Skills: Wrath Weapon Level: Thunder (A) Minor Tordo blood Holy Esteroni, Batman. Except that Taillte's growths aren't that amazing..? Tordo blood increases HP and Skl, an Taillte ends up with pretty disappointing Mag growth as a result. I do have to credit her for a good Spd growth, though, and her promotion gives her pretty good combat bonuses - but unfortunately not a horse as Azelle's did. Her big feature is the Wrath skill, of course, guaranteeing a crit if she's below half health and (unlike Miracle) possible to bring into the arena if you start the fight at 1 HP. 60 Atk targeting Res one-shots a lot of stuff, although in this chapter's arena, Taillte probably still struggles against the Dark Mage Doma with his 61 HP, 16 Res, and weapon triangle advantage. Taillte is going to hook up with Lewyn, for the simple reason of Early Forseti. The downside is that she'll have two children with very high Spd but no Pursuit skill, and I'm currently leaning towards sending the Pursuit Ring to Leif. But Arthur at least should have very good chances of proccing one of Lewyn's +damage skills with Forseti, with start-of-turn RNG abuse if necessary. The Team: Lv. HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Funds XP Arn Sigurd 22.95* 53 23 0 22 22 13 16 4 34080 +77 [1] Quan 16.63* 46 21 0 16 16 7 13 4 13920 +173 [5] Finn 23.80* 46 22 0 16 20 17 17 4 34030 +462 [*] Midir 21.70* 44 17 1 16 20 8 13 4 38280 +592 [*] Lex 24.80* 52 27 2 16 14 12 25 3 42140 +376 [*] Beowulf 13.02 41 15 0 13 11 4 13 0 50000 +241 [1] Noish 7.68 35 12 0 10 10 4 9 0 9360 -- [1] Alec 8.81 37 12 0 11 11 5 11 0 17920 +118 [4] Erin 19.15 42 14 2 15 23 9 16 5 50000 +735 [*] Arden 8.41 39 16 0 6 5 3 15 0 26170 +72 [3] Ayra 21.32* 48 23 2 28 29 6 12 4 33360 +514 [*] Holyn 15.00 43 15 0 20 17 3 11 1 34500 +118 [5] Bridget 12.52* 40 20 0 22 21 7 14 9 10000 +52 [1] Jamke 16.45 46 15 0 16 17 10 11 1 32050 +488 [7] Dew 7.39 31 8 0 9 17 14 3 1 0 +64 [1] Azel 23.14 42 7 23 13 22 6 10 13 4120 +596 [*] Lewyn 11.39 38 2 15 12 21 7 5 10 37500 +102 [1] Taillte 3.00 28 0 10 15 10 9 1 9 5000 -- [1] Ethlyn 26.96* 42 15 12 19 24 13 17 8 17000 +848 [5] Raquesis 13.54 32 13 8 13 14 6 10 9 17825 +582 [4] Aideen 20.15 43 6 17 12 13 22 5 10 3800 +555 -- Claude 20.00 34 0 21 14 15 9 5 20 10000 -- [1] Sylvia 5.80 30 4 2 4 12 8 1 7 9000 +190 [1] Out: Deirdre (Lv. 7.82) 9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: I like how all his growths are bad except HP, which is a clean 100%. Good unit. 4/15 = 26.7%, so that's still kinda passable by Genealogy's standards. But yeah, he's still not exactly inspiring terror in the hearts of man. 4 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: This is the kind of micromanagement I live for. Never change, FE4. Fun fact, relevant to Jotari's answer, too: Because arenaing didn't fit into Beowulf's tight schedule of stalking Raquesis because of Eldigan's appearance, Beo hit 50k when there still were a few generic enemies available to steal from. Meanwhile, Dew is sitting at zero gold, with a broken Iron Sword, right when there's a bunch of pirates he would've been able to steal from. That kind of micromanagement - which seems great at first, but then falls flat on its face once you zoom out a notch - is what my typical gameplay looks like. 4 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Love that Claud's master plan is "imma get some divine revelation that nobody else will be able to corroborate." No jury in Jugdral is gonna convict Reptor and Lombard on secondhand testimony from God. But hey, maybe Azmur could be more easily swayed? Yeah, the idea must be that Azmur trusts Claude, or that Claude assumes that his reputation will make sure that he can't just be dismissed. But there could definitely be a story about a corrupt descendant of Bragi abusing the fact that nobody can ever fact-check his insights. 4 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Now, hold on a moment. This doesn't necessarily mean that Dierdre knew Sigyn was her mother's name. If Manfroy had called her "Alice's daughter", she might've had the exact same reaction. If she takes for granted that Manfroy is correct in identifying her parentage, then of course she'd be curious in hearing how he knew her mother - even if she never knew her mother, herself. I think I would expect a different answer from Deirdre in that case - more along the lines of "Who is Sigyn?" or "You know who my mother was?" The way Deirdre does react reads to me like she isn't surprised to be called "Sigyn's daughter" until she realises that there doesn't seem to be a reason why this complete stranger would know that. 4 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Honestly a great antagonist speech. Like a more honorable version of Jarod's, in I-E of Radiant Dawn. It's a bit of a knock on Eldigan that he's knowingly leading them to death. By contrast, Jarod knows that the senate would disappear all witnesses, so he tells his men that while they're going to die anyway, they might as well have their revenge first - the Cross Knights aren't in the same position, despite Chagall's pettiness, and Eldigan doesn't even stop to consider if he can somehow keep them out of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, ping said: : "...Sigurd. I'm sorry, but I grow weary of these excuses. We stand now as two knights on the battlefield, sworn to an honorable duel. Draw, Sigurd! So long as I wield the demon blade, Mystletainn, I won't be the one to fall this day!" Calling it an "honorary duel" and then in the very next line announcing that you got a divine weapon of legend. Come on, man. Anyway, shame that Cuan never gets to interact with him in any way. 2 hours ago, ping said: Eldigan's last memento is a strong, very expensive weapon. Its 10k price tag is in the same ballpark as other special swords - but because the Earth Sword only has 10 uses as opposed to literally every other sword's 50, it costs 1000 gold to stab an enemy with it, which is exactly as expensive as using one of the legendary swords. Not to mention once a weapon's durability runs out, it will turn into a broken weapon that will absolutely tank the user's avoid. Especially considering that negative avoid is a thing here. So not really a weapon you can go on a big Nosferatu-tanking rampage with. I suppose if one were to go for it anyway, it might actually work better on someone who doesn't have Pursuit. 2 hours ago, ping said: : "H-how dare you! I am the King of Agustria! You dare show me such disrespect?! Damn it all... I'll show you the penalty for such offense: death!" Come on, man. Not like this is the first time this year that you get the shit kicked out of you. 2 hours ago, ping said: Ethlyn it is, then. I'm sure Leif will appreciate the Silver Blade. (well, honestly, I'm not really certain he will, no idea how his accurady looks, but it *is* a strong weapon, and Leaf comes with an A-rank, so he can inherit it) Yeah, but it's probably not the best on someone with only a mediocre skill stat. 2 hours ago, ping said: __ "Wait 10 seconds until you hear the really bad news." 2 hours ago, ping said: : "Your lord father entrusted it to me, Quan. He thought it prudent for you to have it at hand, in case our battles grew too fierce." And he didn't give it to his son himself, because... 2 hours ago, ping said: : "Ethlyn, trust me. Triumph is within our grasp this day. I'll not fall victim to an old myth. Also if anyone were to fall victim to that myth, it would be Ethlyn. So no worries there. 2 hours ago, ping said: The "vaguely cursed weapon" trope is one that I honestly don't like very much. Can't really point my finger to why that is; maybe I just don't like this very obvious "HE GONNA DIE!!!" flag (or, in BlaBla's case, "HEY REMEMBER HOW HECTOR FUCKING DIES IN BINBLA") that these weapons set. To be fair, the fact that a 2nd generation exists at all puts that flag on everyone. It's not about if everyone dies. It's how they are gonna die. 2 hours ago, ping said: The Gáe Bolg is, obviously, incredibly powerful, increasing Str, Skl, and Def by +10 each. It's a bit too late for Quan, at least to do much more than clear the rest of the arena with it, but it's a nice little apératif for the holy weapons yet to come. It's also heavier than standard spears. And considering that it's also less accurate than standard swords, that +10 skill bonus is somewhat misleading. It's not like it grants the Critical skill, like Eldigan's sword. But of course extra strength is really nice, since all those weapons have 30 might. So getting a strength boost makes them effectively stronger than the average holy weapon. 2 hours ago, ping said: "Escape"? This is a "I'm not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with me" moment if I ever saw one. Just be glad this is not Berwick Saga and bows don't get 1 range attacks. This way at least some of you might survive. What's left won't be much of a pirate gang, though. 2 hours ago, ping said: : "Be at peace, Taillte. This was quite the fruitful journey! Lord Bragi has answered my prayers and revealed to me the truth. It is precisely as I had thought. Not to mention, I even found House Edda's long-lost sacred heirloom within the tower: the staff of Valkyria. See? This is it." You sound strangely upbeat considering what you are supposed to have learned in there. 2 hours ago, ping said: : "Huh. So what you're saying is, with this rod you could bring back my sweet old grandma back to life?" : "Alas, most likely not. Valkyria is limited in many particular ways, and so cannot be used on just any lost soul. You see, all of mankind is born bearing a life force called quintessence, which-" : "Yaaawn... Er, what's that? You lost me. Why're you still talking about this, anyway? We've still gotta get outta here?" : "Ah, of course. Let us go." You can tell the issue with the Aum staff nagged at them. Who cares about all those sad plot deaths when we got a staff that can resurrect the dead? It's a fun game mechanic, but it's existence does have implications to the actual world the game takes place in. This time they clearly establish that there are rules that prevent you from resurrecting just whoever you want. But they won't actually explain what those rules are. So no one can claim foul that the staff isn't used to resurrect Prince Kurth, for example. That one would solve a lot of problems right now. 2 hours ago, ping said: Bridget's base stats are still respectable considering her joining time. Her combat is basically better than Midir's in every way (except that he currently holds the Killer Bow and she does not), although the other promoted characters still outdo Bridget. But considering that she joins at a pretty low level, that's still not too bad. It's a nice detail that with the holy blood removed, she has mostly identical growths to her twin sister. Just with the strength and magic growths swapped. Also Luck. But having Major Ulir means Briggid has overkill Luck anyway, so this might have been why her personal luck growth is only 10%. 2 hours ago, ping said: Taillte is going to hook up with Lewyn, for the simple reason of Early Forseti. The downside is that she'll have two children with very high Spd but no Pursuit skill, and I'm currently leaning towards sending the Pursuit Ring to Leif. But Arthur at least should have very good chances of proccing one of Lewyn's +damage skills with Forseti, with start-of-turn RNG abuse if necessary. Shouldn't be much of a problem. Leaf will get Pursuit after his class change, at which point he no longer needs the ring. Edited March 10 by BrightBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 17 minutes ago, BrightBow said: Not to mention once a weapon's durability runs out, it will turn into a broken weapon that will absolutely tank the user's avoid. Especially considering that negative avoid is a thing here. So not really a weapon you can go on a big Nosferatu-tanking rampage with. I suppose if one were to go for it anyway, it might actually work better on someone who doesn't have Pursuit. An armsthrift ring in Genealogy would be a pretty damn useful skill compared to it's variable use in other games. 3 hours ago, ping said: : "Be at peace, Taillte. This was quite the fruitful journey! Lord Bragi has answered my prayers and revealed to me the truth. It is precisely as I had thought. Not to mention, I even found House Edda's long-lost sacred heirloom within the tower: the staff of Valkyria. See? This is it." : "What, that grubby little cane?" : "...Taillte, please. Do try to mind your manners. This is a legendary magical staff with the power to restore life to the deceased. It is usable only by the direct descendants of Saint Bragi. That is to say, me alone." This is like, such a huge thing to just find in the tower randomly. Like, how did House Bragi lose it in the first place? How did no one check here when it's a holy place? And shouldn't finding it be major world worthy news. Even if the nebulous plot rules stop it reviving anyone useful to the story, it can still revive the dead! That's huge even in a very limited capacity. And his house just somehow lost it and now have just somehow refound it. And why is Claud the only heir to Bragi on the entire continent. What happened to his family? I'm so intensely curious about Edda and its history but the story is so frustratingly ignorant on Claude's family. The one opportunity to expand on it at all they just use for the sake of more incest bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGuy96 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 4 hours ago, ping said: I'm sure they will serve as a very scary first impression of the mighty Wyvern Rider class. I'm shivering already. Wyvern Riders in this game like to pretend they're in FE7 rather than FE6. 4 hours ago, ping said: This whole episode feels poorly timed, too. It feels like Eldigan's death, and Sigurd finding out about it, should be the climax of the chapter, not its midpoint. I think it would've worked better if the pirate invasion would've been moved to after the capture of Madino - maybe even without having their own big castle, and just as a big scary force threatening to retake Madino just as (or slightly before or after) Eldigan listens to Chagall's orders. I agree with the timing, and I like that setup. I like the Claude / Tailtyu and Brigid setups, but the pirates are a weird last enemy to fight. I suppose part of the plan here was to have the pirates threaten you when your strong units are down in Silvail, but if you know it's coming then just Ayra or Chulainn or even Arden up in Madino can protect Brigid. For the end of this chapter, it's narratively helpful if your army is in the north rather than by Silvail, but the game will happily ignore that if it needs to anyway. 4 hours ago, ping said: The plan, as has been talked about already, is for Bridget to marry Azelle, in the hope that her Sniper son won't mind his weaker stats too much, and that Magic Pursuit Patty is going to be good. I think this might be the "least optimal" pairing that I'm going for, but Magic Pursuit Patty sounds like fun. I like making Patty a competent combat unit, I'm excited to see how this goes. 2 hours ago, BrightBow said: Amazing Edited March 10 by RPGuy96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 2 hours ago, BrightBow said: Anyway, shame that Cuan never gets to interact with him in any way. It's a missed opportunity for sure. Quan introduces himself as one of the Three Amigos, but the dynamics on screen are almost entirely Sigurd <-> Eldigan, with only a little bit of Sigurd <-> Quan on the side. 2 hours ago, BrightBow said: "Wait 10 seconds until you hear the really bad news." "What do you want to hear first, the bad news, or the really bad news?" 2 hours ago, BrightBow said: To be fair, the fact that a 2nd generation exists at all puts that flag on everyone. It's not about if everyone dies. It's how they are gonna die. I'd say it would be quite possible to do a FE story with two generations and without Rocks Metors Falling in the middle (and also without time travel or hypothermic thyme lambers). Sigurd succeeds on the surface, but Manfroy manages to remain hidden, and when Shit goes Down, say, 20-25, or even 30 years later, most of the gen 1 characters are simply too old to return to the battlefield. A longer incubation time would also allow for a bit more age variation in gen 2, although a 30yo Seliph as a protagonist would probably go against the laws of anime. 2 hours ago, BrightBow said: It's a nice detail that with the holy blood removed, she has mostly identical growths to her twin sister. Just with the strength and magic growths swapped. Also Luck. But having Major Ulir means Briggid has overkill Luck anyway, so this might have been why her personal luck growth is only 10%. Right, I didn't notice that, although now I remember this being brought up in the thread earlier. Their relatively high growth in the respective useless stat of Str/Mag is a cute little hint that they both would've had the aptitude to be a priest or an archer. 1 hour ago, Jotari said: This is like, such a huge thing to just find in the tower randomly. Like, how did House Bragi lose it in the first place? How did no one check here when it's a holy place? And shouldn't finding it be major world worthy news. Even if the nebulous plot rules stop it reviving anyone useful to the story, it can still revive the dead! That's huge even in a very limited capacity. And his house just somehow lost it and now have just somehow refound it. And why is Claud the only heir to Bragi on the entire continent. What happened to his family? I'm so intensely curious about Edda and its history but the story is so frustratingly ignorant on Claude's family. The one opportunity to expand on it at all they just use for the sake of more incest bait. It's certainly a convenient happenstance, allowing Claude to explain what that strange staff in his inventory does. About the "only heir" thing - I don't think this has ever been outright stated in the game thus far, but my impression was that there's always only one heir with major blood per generation, who can actually use a specific holy weapon. But now that I'm writing this - the sword twins both have major Odo blood if Chulainn is their father, right? That would disprove the theory right away. 3 minutes ago, RPGuy96 said: Wyvern Riders in this game like to pretend they're in FE7 rather than FE6. And that even though everybody knows that FE6 is the superior Elibe game, smh my head. 3 minutes ago, RPGuy96 said: I agree with the timing, and I like that setup. I like the Claude / Tailtyu and Brigid setups, but the pirates are a weird last enemy to fight. I suppose part of the plan here was to have the pirates threaten you when your strong units are down in Silvail, but if you know it's coming then just Ayra or Chulainn or even Arden up in Madino can protect Brigid. For the end of this chapter, it's narratively helpful if your army is in the north rather than by Silvail, but the game will happily ignore that if it needs to anyway. Honestly, since the world map isn't a pre-existing setting that Genealogy takes place in... Unless it will be a plot point that Sigurd will have to go through pirate territory between chapters, the map could've been rearranged, too. Put Madino to the west, let the pirates come from that direction (with or without their own castle), put Sylvail to the north of the map. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 3 minutes ago, ping said: I'd say it would be quite possible to do a FE story with two generations and without Rocks Metors Falling in the middle (and also without time travel or hypothermic thyme lambers). Sigurd succeeds on the surface, but Manfroy manages to remain hidden, and when Shit goes Down, say, 20-25, or even 30 years later, most of the gen 1 characters are simply too old to return to the battlefield. A longer incubation time would also allow for a bit more age variation in gen 2, although a 30yo Seliph as a protagonist would probably go against the laws of anime. More or less what Elibe is, only ye plot lines aren't really connected and they don't share the inherited gameplay. But narratively Eliwood and Hector very much are the 30 years later retired heroes. 3 minutes ago, ping said: It's certainly a convenient happenstance, allowing Claude to explain what that strange staff in his inventory does. I didn't remember that line about him just finding it there. I always assumed he just had it on him the whole time. I think it's an excuse to explain what it does that causes more problems than it solves. Some simple help text, or just letting he player try to use it, would suffice. 3 minutes ago, ping said: About the "only heir" thing - I don't think this has ever been outright stated in the game thus far, but my impression was that there's always only one heir with major blood per generation, who can actually use a specific holy weapon. But now that I'm writing this - the sword twins both have major Odo blood if Chulainn is their father, right? That would disprove the theory right away. That's only via the magical power of incest. That being said, Galzus might have major Od blood at the same time as Shannan. All depends on wether marks show up for minor bloods or only major bloods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanty Pete's 1st Mate Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 16 hours ago, ping said: It sounds interesting (and challenging!), although I'll have to wait before checking it out. Ruben recommended a blind-ish Thracia run. I think he might hate me Me, when I murder Hollace, without ever figuring out who in blazes "Hollace" is supposed to be. 6 hours ago, ping said: I think I would expect a different answer from Deirdre in that case - more along the lines of "Who is Sigyn?" or "You know who my mother was?" The way Deirdre does react reads to me like she isn't surprised to be called "Sigyn's daughter" until she realises that there doesn't seem to be a reason why this complete stranger would know that. Possibly. I just think there's still some ambiguity in the wording. Perhaps there are different connotations in the original Japanese? I dunno. 1 hour ago, RPGuy96 said: I like making Patty a competent combat unit, I'm excited to see how this goes. Patty feels like one of those cgaracters that there's nary a bad father for (except Claud LOL). They all offer something different, but interesting. I rated Azelle low in my own estimations, but that was more due to him making the worst possible version of Febail, rather than how he impacts Patty. 3 hours ago, Jotari said: An armsthrift ring in Genealogy would be a pretty damn useful skill compared to it's variable use in other games. It'd be neat to see it do "(Luck + 20)% to preserve a weapon use", since Luck is even less useful here than it usually is. Maybe even make an "Armsthrift" skill, to go on an underperforming unit? Like Arden in Gen I, and then Asaello in Gen II. 6 hours ago, ping said: It's a bit of a knock on Eldigan that he's knowingly leading them to death. By contrast, Jarod knows that the senate would disappear all witnesses, so he tells his men that while they're going to die anyway, they might as well have their revenge first - the Cross Knights aren't in the same position, despite Chagall's pettiness, and Eldigan doesn't even stop to consider if he can somehow keep them out of this. I mean, when Eldigan does try to extricate them from the situation, it ends with his execution. Like, could he surrender to Sigurd - sure. But it's not for granted that the Cross Knights would all follow him. And House Nordion is currently occupied by Grannvale, so Sigurd couldn't let him go reclaim his own territory. Even if he did, he'd quickly be faced by Reptor and Rango. It really feels like a no-win situation for him. 3 hours ago, Jotari said: This is like, such a huge thing to just find in the tower randomly. Like, how did House Bragi lose it in the first place? How did no one check here when it's a holy place? And shouldn't finding it be major world worthy news. Even if the nebulous plot rules stop it reviving anyone useful to the story, it can still revive the dead! That's huge even in a very limited capacity. And his house just somehow lost it and now have just somehow refound it. And why is Claud the only heir to Bragi on the entire continent. What happened to his family? I'm so intensely curious about Edda and its history but the story is so frustratingly ignorant on Claude's family. The one opportunity to expand on it at all they just use for the sake of more incest bait. Funnily enough, I had assumed that Claud just... brought the Valkrie Staff with him. I forgot that he picked it up at the Bragi Tower. I don't think it makes a huge difference, either way. The Staff is technically useless to anyone without Major Bragi blood, so it's not as though there was any danger of Mamfroy using it to revive Loptyr. Oh, and there are others with Bragi blood, like Silvia. But hers is minor, because, well, there usually isn't more than one major-blooded person of a particular lineage at one time. 10 hours ago, Jotari said: One thing I don't like about the Genealogy Micromanagement is the 50,000 gold cap (or is it 500,000, well the order of magnitude is irrelevant, it's something with a 5). Yeah, it's 50,000. I'd be fine with the inevitable remake bumping that up to 99,999. Do a Legend of Zelda style "your wallet can only fit so many digits!". I've never had the biggest issues with the cap, though. If you want a unit to have a lot of wealth, you just need to transform those liquid assets into solid ones, like expensive weapons and Rings. Hell, I basically see the Earth Sword as a 5K Bullion, rather than an actual weapon to be used in battle. Oh, and the cap does have a slight benefit, when it comes to your Thief. "Giving" stops at the Gold cap. So, if Quan has 42K, and Dew has 10K, then Dew can "Give" him 8K, and still have 2K left over, to give to someone else. That's 20 EXP, rather than 10. 10 hours ago, Jotari said: So, yeah, Eve died in Chapter 3 or 4, but was specifically fighting with Sigurd. So no, unfortunately, he's not boyfriend of village girl. It seems Eve, Alva and Ava just continued to fight for Lachesis offscreen which included fighting against, and being killed by, their own countrymen. Wherein Sigurd then made sure the children were well looked after. Of course, this is all entirely consistent if you just let Eve die in Chapter 2, but you can still get Jeanne and Tristian if you do let him live. And the fact that you can still get them if you let him die also means they must have been conceived before Chapter 2 Oh yeah, the three Paladins stayed with Sigurd's army, but as "invisible soldiers". That's fine, I guess. Interestingly, though, they say that Tristan and Jeanne left with Oifey in chapter 5. With Shannan, Seliph, and the Sword Twins, this means that there were 7 of them. Lotta rugrats to keep their eyes on. Might've made more sense, canonically, for Edain to lead them. That way, there's an actual adult in the party, and it would pleasantly explain how Edain and her kids made it to Tirnanog. But of course, they didn't want to take her playability away mid-chapter. 6 hours ago, ping said: At the start of the next turn - presumably because Eldigan is in Sigurd's attack range - a conversation triggers: I appreciate these games usually not having the "conversation from across the map" that new titles revel in. But these two are still pretty far away to be making small talk. 6 hours ago, ping said: but she should've known better than to foist the responsibility for a baby on a 10-years-old while she is walking from one castle to another Yes and no. Her decision to leave Seliph behind, irresponsible as it might seem, probably saved his life. Were she a "responsible mother", taking her son along, we wouldn't have a second generation. Anyway the whole "Dierdre is responsible for her own kidnapping" is bullshit, because Manfroy's "villainous rewarp" powers are also bullshit. How do we know that Manny couldn't have just warped to the home castle, and plucked her there? He had no issue warping into Castle Augusty earlier, when Chagall was running it. Ultimately, this kind of rewarp BS is impossible to guard one's self against. ...That said, it was dumb for Dierdre to go out, but because she could've been skewered by a Cross Knight, not kidnapped by Dark Wizard McGee. Like, if I cross the street without looking, and get hit by a bus, yeah that's my own damn fault. But if I cross the street without looking, and fall into an interdimensional portal that pops up for mere seconds, I don't think I'm the one at fault for that particular demise. 6 hours ago, ping said: : "Damn it, Duvall! The only reason they're coming is because you lot all went pillaging, against my orders! You've got nobody but yourself to blame!" Not even true, LOL. If Sigurd sees a castle, he wants to conquer it. Even a stylish pile of mud, like the one at Orgahill. It's in the blood of every noble. 6 hours ago, ping said: Claude is going to marry Erin, which I expect to be to her son's advantage and to her daughter's... mixed blessing? Fee having lower Str than usual doesn't seem great, but she might be able to do stuff with magic swords, and the improved staff rank could be worth something once she promotes. It's a shame that the Rescue staff is still going to be out of reach for her. Claud!Fee's higher Res is a pretty big deal, actually. It means she can comfortably fly around the last couple maps, picking off Loptyr Mages, without worrying about their tomes or Status Staves. Even with her lower Strength, they're usually not surviving a round with her Brave Lance. Or you could give her the Light Brand, and hope she Adepts. 7 hours ago, ping said: Honestly, I enjoyed Chagall as a... let's say medium-sized villain. Minor is selling him a bit short, but you definitely wouldn't think at any point that he'd be the big bad evil guy, either. His scenes with Eldigan were rather unintentionally funny (at least I assume they weren't intended to come across like The Room), but in general, it was good fun to have a weak, petty, cruel man in a position of authority that is wayy too big for his britches. He's a bit similar to BinBla's Narcian in that regard, although he doesn't overstay his welcome as Narcian arguably does. He's very reminiscent of Darin to me, with ambitions that outstrip his actual abilities. Not to mention, a dark wizard having his ear. And his death kinda marking the end of the "midgame". All he needs is a son to neglect, and we're good to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 7 hours ago, ping said: I'm honestly not entirely sure how to read this dialogue. The last line makes it sound like Raquesis did not mean to advise Eldigan to go to Chagall right now, let alone... well, alone, and more that she wanted him to team up (or at least call a truce) with Sigurd and force Chagall to surrender by refusing to have the Cross Knights fight Sigurd again. But because she talks about Eldie's "counsel" that Chagall cannot ignore, it might also just be that she did want Eldigan to do what he's about to try, and only realised that he thinks that he's getting himself killed when he gifts her with the Earth Sword. So, basically - Raquesis: maybe an idiot. Eldie: definitely an idiot. I do rather like that Eldigan is not so thrilled about fighting his childhood friend, and he'd rather take any other way out. There's actually an interesting reading there. Eldigan might've known this was a completely dumbass idea, but he preferred it to meeting Sigurd on the battlefield, despite all his big talk, especially after finding out his own sister stood with him. Though maybe that's just me attending the "Selena was in love with Vigarde and became suicidal after discovering he's gone for good" school of charitable headcanons. 7 hours ago, ping said: Hurray! This dialogue is very much a reprise of Chagall throwing Eldigan in the dungeon, with the Wiseau-style abrupt shortness of the dialogue turning this very dramatic event into a bit of a comedy skit. Off with his head! *canned laughter* Of course, the almost comedic execution (no pun intended) of Eldigan's final scene kind of detracts from whatever charitable reading one might want to do. Kinda like Selena saying "madness though it may be, I shall be the one doing the killing today" and promptly dragging 30+ loyal Grado soldiers down with her in her suicide by Ephraim. Either way, he (and she for that matter) beats the next game's Camus. That one's just kind of bad. 7 hours ago, ping said: __ For the record, this is Papillon and his gang. Vewy scawwy. I'd forgotten the funny "glory to Thracia" guy was this much of a jobber. 7 hours ago, ping said: : "No matter how much I think about it, I just don't get why the Orgahil pirates have so suddenly turned on us like this. We could've sworn that boss of theirs was a good lass... Bridget or something, was it?" And now all of a sudden they aren't reviled anymore. The common folk are genuinely shocked that Bridget's pirates would perform piracy. ...You know, so many problems would go away if the word "reviled" just wasn't there in the opening narration lmao 7 hours ago, ping said: : "My... My Agustria..." Honestly, I enjoyed Chagall as a... let's say medium-sized villain. Minor is selling him a bit short, but you definitely wouldn't think at any point that he'd be the big bad evil guy, either. His scenes with Eldigan were rather unintentionally funny (at least I assume they weren't intended to come across like The Room), but in general, it was good fun to have a weak, petty, cruel man in a position of authority that is wayy too big for his britches. He's a bit similar to BinBla's Narcian in that regard, although he doesn't overstay his welcome as Narcian arguably does. You betrayed me, you're no good, you're just a chicken, cheep cheep cheep cheep cheeeeeep - King Chagall seconds before Eldigan's head rolled Anyway, yeah, Chagall's a pretty good secondary villain. He plays his role, he adds to the vibe of Jugdral being a ticking timebomb politically and gets a couple nice, memorable moments to himself. FE4 rather lacks good secondary villains, so it's nice to have one while he lasts. And then they reuse his face for some rando in gen 2 instead of Macbeth's. #JustKagaThings 7 hours ago, ping said: Good on Sigurd for telling Shanan that he isn't to blame. Honestly, I can't really blame Sigurd for this, either - Deirdre should've known better. Probably. Like, you can't expect her to account for crazy cultists warping into abduct her, but she should've known better than to foist the responsibility for a baby on a 10-years-old while she is walking from one castle to another. The time it takes from A to B is incredibly vague in Genealogy, but one has to assume that it's a bigger trip than to the neighbor to ask if they can help her out with a cup of flour. Honeslty, I really don't think you can blame Deirdre either, even. Manfroy just discovered through... Telepathy? Clairvoyance? Dark magic? Plot conveniences? That Deirdre was exactly where she was, and teleported in without delay. Seriously, that's bugging me now. If they just established that Manfroy finds out scovers at some point that Deirdre is with Sigurd, then okay, that makes sense that he'd know her location with some degree of accuracy and was just waiting for an opportunity to nab her without Sigurd there to intervene. But as it is, it just feels like he knows because he knows all of a sudden. Am I forgetting a scene or something? There was his talk with Sandima but that's before she even gets with Sigurd lol. Maybe that's why it took him all these months, he was combing the Spirit Forest in vain all that time. 7 hours ago, ping said: The "vaguely cursed weapon" trope is one that I honestly don't like very much. Can't really point my finger to why that is; maybe I just don't like this very obvious "HE GONNA DIE!!!" flag (or, in BlaBla's case, "HEY REMEMBER HOW HECTOR FUCKING DIES IN BINBLA") that these weapons set. The BlaBla one is even funnier because FE6 gives zero indication to Armads being cursed even though you can give it to every axe user in the game. It's just thrown in there in 7 for the sake of dumb references, continuity be damned. 7 hours ago, ping said: This whole episode feels poorly timed, too. It feels like Eldigan's death, and Sigurd finding out about it, should be the climax of the chapter, not its midpoint. I think it would've worked better if the pirate invasion would've been moved to after the capture of Madino - maybe even without having their own big castle, and just as a big scary force threatening to retake Madino just as (or slightly before or after) Eldigan listens to Chagall's orders. I have to agree with you there. Going from the conclusion to the villain major enough to last two whole chapters, the tragic death of Sigurd's childhood friend and the disappearance of Deirdre to... generic pirates is just kind of lame. 7 hours ago, ping said: : "Alas, most likely not. Valkyria is limited in many particular ways, and so cannot be used on just any lost soul. You see, all of mankind is born bearing a life force called quintessence, which-" Ah okay, so they do explain why Valkyria can't be used on plot deaths. It's midichlorians. Got it. 4 hours ago, BrightBow said: To be fair, the fact that a 2nd generation exists at all puts that flag on everyone. It's not about if everyone dies. It's how they are gonna die. That blond knight girl looks so much cooler than Deirdre. She would've probably not gotten Kaga'd so easily. 4 hours ago, BrightBow said: This time they clearly establish that there are rules that prevent you from resurrecting just whoever you want. But they won't actually explain what those rules are. So no one can claim foul that the staff isn't used to resurrect Prince Kurth, for example. That one would solve a lot of problems right now. I still say the explanation should be just "I need the corpse to be able to resurrect them with Valkyria." Then just throw a line in there that Kurth drowned and his body was lost to the current or something. 27 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Not even true, LOL. If Sigurd sees a castle, he wants to conquer it. Even a stylish pile of mud, like the one at Orgahill. It's in the blood of every noble. "I'm liberating this area in the name of freedom His Majesty for its oil its castle." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 4 hours ago, Jotari said: More or less what Elibe is, only ye plot lines aren't really connected and they don't share the inherited gameplay. But narratively Eliwood and Hector very much are the 30 years later retired heroes. Darn, BlaBla actually works against my point because it's a "30 years later" story that really doesn't work. (I do think that BlaBla does a lot of things very well, better than any FE game before it, but the overall plot is not one of those things) 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Possibly. I just think there's still some ambiguity in the wording. Perhaps there are different connotations in the original Japanese? I dunno. Yeah, I admit that I'm reading stuff into the tone of her surprise, which could be wildly different in Japanese. 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: I mean, when Eldigan does try to extricate them from the situation, it ends with his execution. Like, could he surrender to Sigurd - sure. But it's not for granted that the Cross Knights would all follow him. And House Nordion is currently occupied by Grannvale, so Sigurd couldn't let him go reclaim his own territory. Even if he did, he'd quickly be faced by Reptor and Rango. It really feels like a no-win situation for him. There's two important questions here that we can only speculate over: How do the Cross Knights feel about all this? Apart from the world's greatest guardsman, we don't see any of them on-screen, so we don't know if their prevailing attitude is "we shall die for Agustria's glory", "Fuck Chagall, we won't die in defense of that moron", or anything in between. I could argue that their loyalty seems to lie with Eldigan more than with Chagall or the central Agustrian government, but that would be purely speculative. How close was Sigurd actually to negotiate a settlement that would've returned Chagall to full control over Agustria? Both Sigurd and Eldigan act like they both firmly believe in the process, but the chapter's opening narration describes how Grannvale seems to entrench an abusive colonial-like rule over the parts of Agustria that it controls. How a "What if Chagall wasn't a petty dingus" or "What if Eldigan had an agenda" hypothetical would work out really depends on these. If Grannvale never had any intention of returning soveraignty to Agustria, the entire drama could've just gone down another six months later. 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Yes and no. Her decision to leave Seliph behind, irresponsible as it might seem, probably saved his life. Were she a "responsible mother", taking her son along, we wouldn't have a second generation. Anyway the whole "Dierdre is responsible for her own kidnapping" is bullshit, because Manfroy's "villainous rewarp" powers are also bullshit. How do we know that Manny couldn't have just warped to the home castle, and plucked her there? He had no issue warping into Castle Augusty earlier, when Chagall was running it. Ultimately, this kind of rewarp BS is impossible to guard one's self against. ...That said, it was dumb for Dierdre to go out, but because she could've been skewered by a Cross Knight, not kidnapped by Dark Wizard McGee. Like, if I cross the street without looking, and get hit by a bus, yeah that's my own damn fault. But if I cross the street without looking, and fall into an interdimensional portal that pops up for mere seconds, I don't think I'm the one at fault for that particular demise. 1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said: Honeslty, I really don't think you can blame Deirdre either, even. Manfroy just discovered through... Telepathy? Clairvoyance? Dark magic? Plot conveniences? That Deirdre was exactly where she was, and teleported in without delay. Seriously, that's bugging me now. If they just established that Manfroy finds out scovers at some point that Deirdre is with Sigurd, then okay, that makes sense that he'd know her location with some degree of accuracy and was just waiting for an opportunity to nab her without Sigurd there to intervene. But as it is, it just feels like he knows because he knows all of a sudden. Am I forgetting a scene or something? There was his talk with Sandima but that's before she even gets with Sigurd lol. Maybe that's why it took him all these months, he was combing the Spirit Forest in vain all that time. I don't think Deirdre is at fault for her kidnapping - no, she really couldn't have expected Manfroy's bullshit powers, or even just Manfroy being after her. She was just irresponsible in a general sense, leaving her son behind to reunite with Sigurd. I do understand her action - she established earlier that she had a premonition of danger should she separate from Sigurd, so her urge to reunite with him is more than just "because she loves him so much". But she is irresponsible when she foists the responsibility for Seliph on the 10-year-old Shanan (and I don't think that the "lucky" outcome for Seliph changes that - betting all your savings on red is a bad idea even if you end up winning), and she is reckless when she runs, alone and unprotected, from one castle to another in a fucking war zone. 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: He's very reminiscent of Darin to me, with ambitions that outstrip his actual abilities. Not to mention, a dark wizard having his ear. And his death kinda marking the end of the "midgame". All he needs is a son to neglect, and we're good to go! You're right, Darin is a much better comparison than Narcian, who only really matches Chagall in the "incompetent villain" checkbox. 2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: Either way, he (and she for that matter) beats the next game's Camus. That one's just kind of bad. Honestly, I still like Eldigan. The way he goes out is disappointing, but up until this chapter, he's been quite reasonable (as long as we assume that he just didn't know about Chagall's attitude before the start of the game) and his growing tensions with Sigurd were established quite well - starting with "OK Sigurd, why are you occupying Verdane? (...) Ah, makes sense" in ch.1 and going to "what the fuck, dude" at the end of ch.2. I'd probably put the Reed brothers above him, maybe Zelgius (don't remember RD's story details well enough to make that call), but I think I'd put him above the rest of these fuckers. 2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: The BlaBla one is even funnier because FE6 gives zero indication to Armads being cursed even though you can give it to every axe user in the game. It's just thrown in there in 7 for the sake of dumb references, continuity be damned. I'm sorry Ruben, Lot is fucking dead also. 2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: "I'm liberating this area in the name of freedom His Majesty for its oil its castle." I unfortunately don't remember the details, but somebody in the Teehee thread pointed out to me some time ago that an "Edelgard is representing US-American imperialism under the guise of bringing freedom meritocracy to the world" shitpost would have some serious potential, down to one of 3H-landia's countries having oil reserves. 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Saint Rubenio Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 11 minutes ago, ping said: I'm sorry Ruben, Lot is fucking dead also. No he isn't, he broke the thing on Jahn's head. There can't be an Armads curse without Armads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 11 hours ago, ping said: __ For the record, this is Papillon and his gang. Vewy scawwy. Dragonrider is a funny class. They are basically dragon trainees. Just worse in every area than standard Dragonknights. 4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: That blond knight girl looks so much cooler than Deirdre. She would've probably not gotten Kaga'd so easily. She is rockin' that animated Eowyn look almost as good as Reese. I suppose with the blond hair and the headband, she is quite a good match for Bridget. Some epic foreshadowing there that Bridget would pick up swordfighting down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Yeah, it's 50,000. I'd be fine with the inevitable remake bumping that up to 99,999. Do a Legend of Zelda style "your wallet can only fit so many digits!". I've never had the biggest issues with the cap, though. If you want a unit to have a lot of wealth, you just need to transform those liquid assets into solid ones, like expensive weapons and Rings. Hell, I basically see the Earth Sword as a 5K Bullion, rather than an actual weapon to be used in battle. Oh, and the cap does have a slight benefit, when it comes to your Thief. "Giving" stops at the Gold cap. So, if Quan has 42K, and Dew has 10K, then Dew can "Give" him 8K, and still have 2K left over, to give to someone else. That's 20 EXP, rather than 10. I'd rather be able to just select a number for the amount thieves give. 6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Oh yeah, the three Paladins stayed with Sigurd's army, but as "invisible soldiers". That's fine, I guess. No. Not fine. Make them enemies Kaga! Give them a triangle attack and break my heart having to kill them. 6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Interestingly, though, they say that Tristan and Jeanne left with Oifey in chapter 5. With Shannan, Seliph, and the Sword Twins, this means that there were 7 of them. Lotta rugrats to keep their eyes on. Might've made more sense, canonically, for Edain to lead them. That way, there's an actual adult in the party, and it would pleasantly explain how Edain and her kids made it to Tirnanog. But of course, they didn't want to take her playability away mid-chapter. We already have staff bot Claude at that point, so I'd be completely okay with losing Adean for the last castle or two (or three depending on how we count). They were willing to take away Finn, Quan and Ethlyn for two entire chapters. 6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said: I still say the explanation should be just "I need the corpse to be able to resurrect them with Valkyria." Then just throw a line in there that Kurth drowned and his body was lost to the current or something. I don't trust Kaga to not revive Kurth via stupid Briggid stuff if his body was announced to be missing. 3 hours ago, ping said: Darn, BlaBla actually works against my point because it's a "30 years later" story that really doesn't work. (I do think that BlaBla does a lot of things very well, better than any FE game before it, but the overall plot is not one of those things) Well, to be fair to it, it wasn't trying to make an actual generational story, Blazing Blade clearly wasn't planned when Binding Blade was written. I more meant the archetype of the characters we see there can demonstrate how a generational story could work without "rocks fall everyone dies" (or time travel or the hyperbolic time chamber). 3 hours ago, ping said: I unfortunately don't remember the details, but somebody in the Teehee thread pointed out to me some time ago that an "Edelgard is representing US-American imperialism under the guise of bringing freedom meritocracy to the world" shitpost would have some serious potential, down to one of 3H-landia's countries having oil reserves. I have genuinely made comparisons between Edelgard and US intervention policy when arguing with Edelgardstans. People are, thankfully, more hesitant to paint invading another country to foist you culture on them, killing anyone who stands in the way, as a good thing when you put it in the context of real people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanty Pete's 1st Mate Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 1 hour ago, Jotari said: I'd rather be able to just select a number for the amount thieves give. Too easily exploitable, in my opinion. Dew could just give 100 Gold every turn to get 10 EXP for essentially free. Plus, you'd have to come up with an interface to decide the amount, and it'll just take up more time for the action. I really like the existing "all-or-nothing" system. It makes the player think "hm, how can I make sure my Thief will still have funds after giving some away?" Stuff like buying weapons or Rings as "collateral", to sell back later. And the fact that the current system rewards clever thinking, like "if I Give between every Arena battle, rather than after three of them, then I'm getting 30 EXP rather than a mere 10!" 1 hour ago, Jotari said: No. Not fine. Make them enemies Kaga! Give them a triangle attack and break my heart having to kill them. I wouldn't mind that, although my personal guess is, in the inevitable remake, at least one of the Paladins will be playable. Would be wild to see an "Eva vs. Alva" boss conversation, for instance. As it stands, the trio exist in this really weird space. They're Cross Knights... but not the Cross Knights who fought in chapter 1... or in chapter 3. They give Lachesis the Knight Band, once they split up at the end of chapter 2... or do they split up? One of them is the father of substitute units, but those kids' existence doesn't depend on himself surviving, but on Lachesis dying. The Cross Knights are obliterated in chapter 3... but does that include the trio? 1 hour ago, Jotari said: We already have staff bot Claude at that point, so I'd be completely okay with losing Adean for the last castle or two (or three depending on how we count). They were willing to take away Finn, Quan and Ethlyn for two entire chapters. Perhaps they would change the Claud x Edain conversation in chapter 5, so that she agrees to leave the battlefield after Lubeck Castle is seized. Would suck to lose the Rescue Staff so early, but hey, it won't be gone for long. Just a couple decades. 5 hours ago, ping said: But she is irresponsible when she foists the responsibility for Seliph on the 10-year-old Shanan Thinking on it, why didn't she entrust Seliph to Oifey? He's supposed to be in the home castle as well - if you try promoting anyone, you'll have to go through him. And he's like 15 or so at this point, which is... not an adult, but certainly old enough to babysit. 5 hours ago, ping said: There's two important questions here that we can only speculate over: How do the Cross Knights feel about all this? Apart from the world's greatest guardsman, we don't see any of them on-screen, so we don't know if their prevailing attitude is "we shall die for Agustria's glory", "Fuck Chagall, we won't die in defense of that moron", or anything in between. I could argue that their loyalty seems to lie with Eldigan more than with Chagall or the central Agustrian government, but that would be purely speculative. How close was Sigurd actually to negotiate a settlement that would've returned Chagall to full control over Agustria? Both Sigurd and Eldigan act like they both firmly believe in the process, but the chapter's opening narration describes how Grannvale seems to entrench an abusive colonial-like rule over the parts of Agustria that it controls. These are fair points, that we don't totally know the answers to. In terms of point 1, I do think the Cross Knights are principally loyal to Eldigan, rather than Chagall. Which means they're loyal to House Nordion. Which means Grannvale, who is currently occupying House Nordion, is their sworn enemy - regardless of Eldigan's personal friendship with Sigurd. They may not dislike Sigurd - hell, they probably dislike Chagall more, since he had imprisoned their liege. But at the end of the day, it's Sigurd, not Chagall, who's standing between them and a trip back home. If Eldigan were to surrender, or simply stand aside, would the Cross Knights have his back? My guess is, most of them would, but not necessarily all. Some would fight regardless, or return to Chagall, or else abandon the situation. Hardly an ideal situation. And while Sigurd would do no harm to the Cross Knights who aren't fighting him, it's not clear where they'd go from there. Does Eldigan join Sigurd on his bogus journey, to Silesia and back to Grannvale? Does he try to return to Castle Nordion, Grannvale be damned? I don't really know. My personal take on #2 is, there weren't really concrete plans to withdraw from Augustria. I don't believe there's any justification for Grannvale's continuing presence in the south, outside of "Sigurd conquered y'all, and we're worried about you being a counter-balancing force to Grannvale". It's not clear that Chagall - or Eldigan - or Sigurd - could've done anything to change their minds. At least, not without any sort of unilateral action. Chagall was the one to take it here, but at some point, someone was gonna have to act. It could've been Eldigan saying "screw Chagall and screw Grannvale, I'm going back to Nordion". Or it could've been Sigurd getting orders to "conquer the rest of the country LOL", and being stuck with an impossible choice. But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe in another timeline, atmonth 7, Sigurd would've gotten orders to return to Chalphy. At month 8, the rest of Grannvalean forces would withdraw. And at month 9, Azmur, Chagall, Sigurd, Eldigan, and Arvis would all sit down for a picnic together. Who's to say? 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Jotari Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Too easily exploitable, in my opinion. Dew could just give 100 Gold every turn to get 10 EXP for essentially free. Plus, you'd have to come up with an interface to decide the amount, and it'll just take up more time for the action. That could be avoided by making exp gain relative to the amount of money you distribute. So 1 exp for every 100 gold (factoring in level curve for "true exp" and stuff). The current system just encourages me to have units visit villages with the thief in tow so the thief can actually visit the village and then give the money to the true recipient. 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: Thinking on it, why didn't she entrust Seliph to Oifey? He's supposed to be in the home castle as well - if you try promoting anyone, you'll have to go through him. And he's like 15 or so at this point, which is... not an adult, but certainly old enough to babysit. No, Oifey is canonically with Sigurd the entire time serving as his strategist (Oifey is the player character!). He's even with Sigurd when Shannan shows up to deliver the news that Deirdre was kidnapped. Promotion boy Oifey is just a gameplay story segregation mechanic. As I said when we were at the prologue, Oifey by now should be older than Finn was back when the game started! Fifteen/Sixteen is not an adult for us, but it would be for the culture of the people in this game. Of course "Hey ten year old look after my kid" isn't really accurate to what the reality would be. She's not literally leaving Shannan in a house with a baby. There's going to be all sort of servants and care takers and even reserve soldiers around the castle. It's more of a "Hey, big boy this is your responsibility, I'm counting on you to be the man of the house while I'm gone (also you're the only person with a name and face we know will be here in terms of story)". There are going to be actual maids to feed and change Seliph. Shannan's responsibility would be nominal. Likewise, I doubt he pulled a Deirdre himself and trekked across the entire battlefield literally carrying a baby by himself. He probably went with a few guards and stuff too (maybe Deirdre did also and Manfroy just killed them). 2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: In terms of point 1, I do think the Cross Knights are principally loyal to Eldigan, rather than Chagall. Which means they're loyal to House Nordion. Which means Grannvale, who is currently occupying House Nordion, is their sworn enemy - regardless of Eldigan's personal friendship with Sigurd. They may not dislike Sigurd - hell, they probably dislike Chagall more, since he had imprisoned their liege. But at the end of the day, it's Sigurd, not Chagall, who's standing between them and a trip back home. Regarding Generic Cross Knight loyalty, they do continue to fight after Eldigan leaves to go give Chagall some head. We don't really know what Eldigan said to them before leaving, or if he even said anything at all, but presuming he did explain himself, we can only conclude they either didn't take that as a sign to sit and wait for news of a truce, or they and Sigurd did sit and wait to see what happened to Eldigan and then they decided to just keep fighting Sigurd anyway despite their king just killing their lord and commander. No matter how you really look at that situation and assume some sort of reality, it seems like they do have loyalty to Chagall (or Agustria if you want to frame it more positively) above Eldigan. Either that or Eldigan did just abandon them in the midst of battle without a word and they just continued fighting in complete disarry and confusion...which Sigurd then capitalized on by killing them all instead of explaining anything to them. That is effectively what you do in gameplay by removing his massive leadership stars. Edited March 11 by Jotari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 FE4 Chapter 3: Eldigan the Lionheart Silvail --> Orgahil Spoiler __ Mistakes of the day: I entirely forgot to move Bridget... which ended up not mattering because I also didn't notice that some of the Pirates spawning near Madino are carrying Hand Axes. I had Dew attempt an attack so that he can go repair his Iron Sword and hopefully steal some more before going west... __ ...and I do go for it again, this time without giving the Pirates a spot to attack Dew from. ____ In other money-related news, Ethlyn (who was still wearing the Paragon Band from the turn 0 set-up), Beowulf, and Lewyn (who will carry the Paragon Band into Ch.4) get their arena runs in. Ethlyn's run was certainly quite lucky - she first lost against Doma, then beat him from 1 HP and continued to laugh at silly Keller and his silly Brave Lance. Beowulf, interestingly, was most threatened by Thornton, not Keller, since only the former would've two-shot him. Sigurd also went through the arena after Raquesis warped him back to Agusty; without Paragon, but I reckon he won't have any trouble capping, with two arenas still to go. And speaking of capping, Ethlyn eventually will, close to the end of the map. Not the most inspiring stats, but hey. Good Spd and Def, at least. You're also seeing the inventory she will leave with, grabbing the Pursuit Band for Leif and losing the Mend staff. I don't think that one matters all that much, with Lana potentially starting with Recover and Nanna definitely starting with Mend. ____ At the Tower of Bragi, Operation Taillte begins. Erin can easily set up kills for her with either the Light Brand or the Slim Lance, and Taillte manages to grab 8 kills during this chapter. __ : "D-damn..." On enemy phase, Ayra makes quick work of the miniboss, rewarding her with the Leg Ring. Ideally, Sylvia would want to grab this (and the Knight Ring), but we'll see how her, or rather Dew's, purse will feel about that. It's not like Sylvia is the only character who would appreciate some cash. In any case, come Ch.5, those items probably should go to Sigurd for inheritance. ____ Next turn, and a little bit of extra arenaing. Following a little bit of Genealogy micromanagement: With some RNG abuse, Raquesis manages to get a Def proc on the level-up from returning Quan to Agusty, which gives her a perfect Miracle set-up against Pazan. The fight vs. Doma then requires some luck, since he still has 8% hit on her, but this one works fine immediately. To be honest, this last part of the chapter isn't much more thrilling in gameplay than it is in the added story of "And now, pirates" it provides. Bridget will eventually join up with Claude, Taillte, and Erin, getting 12 kills of her own. She strong. There's often a little bit of optimisation to do - here, for example, Erin can weaken both Pirates on enemy phase, while Claude sits next to her for the extra love growth... __ ...and then Taillte can kill one on player phase, making it safe to face the other on enemy phase. But at the end of the day, this is probably the first segment where the game really only feels like moving units across the map - Aideen to the Rescue village and then north to meet Bridget; Azel and Lewyn west to say hi to their future wives; Dew first towards Orgahil Castle to steal money and then west to grab the Wind Sword; Raquesis and Beowulf east from Silvail to grab some villages of their own... And during all of that, the only action involves a bunch of, honestly, rather harmless pirates. So, honestly, I'll just fast forward through the rest of the "fight". Villages! [5000 gold; +1 Def --> Raquesis] : "Oh? Here to help, are ya? Huzzah! The village is saved! We can't thank ya enough, but mayhap this magic staff'll help ya out. They call it a Restore staff. If yer allies've been put t'sleep or silenced, one cast of this staff'll get 'em back on their feet. This oughta be a big help for ya. [3000 gold; Restore --> Aideen] : "Hey, be careful out there! Rumor has it that King Chagall's got the infamous Thracian dracoknights on his payroll. Don't think there's been a war lately where someone or other didn't hire 'em. They're like a pack of hyenas descendin' on fresh prey: brutal and indiscriminate. Nothin' survives in their wake..." LOL. LMAO, even. [4000 gold --> Raquesis] : "Why are you even here? We've absolutely nothin' to do with Agustria or Grannvale! Look. If you've really gotta fight, take it somewhere else, you thoughtless sod." [4500 gold --> Azel] Should've brought Sigurd to this one. : "Oh, it's so nice to see visitors! How 'bout a little somethin' for yer troubles? Here, take a draught of our secret medicine. Don't be shy! Drink up! Well, how 'bout that? Feel the might swellin' in yer muscles! Oughta make yer work out there so much easier." [5000 gold; +3 Str --> Midir] Conversations! : "The villagers told me of a woman who leads the pirates of Orgahil, and of her devotion to aiding the poor and weak. That would be you, correct?" : "You must be that Grannvale man... Sigurd, right? Guess this is it. Come on. Just get it over with." : "Ahahaha! Oh no, you're mistaken! I'm certainly not here to kill you. I just want to talk to you, Bridget. I'd like you to ally with us. We'd love to add your strangth to our own, to help us better fight the pirates. What say you?" : "Wait. You really want me, of all people?" : "Certainly! You'd be a tremendous asset." : "You're a strange little man, Sigurd..." The conversation does seem a little strange. It goes directly from "you lead the pirates" to "please help us kill pirates" with no intermediate steps - steps that the player knows, but that would realistically need to be established between Sigurd and Bridget. As is, he just assumes that she'll be on board with killing her former crewmates, without knowing of the recent mutiny, let alone the reason for it. : "Lord Sigurd! I apologize for the wait." : "Father Claude, you're safe! We heard about how you ended up amidst all those pirates. Everyone was so worried." : "I'm glad Taillte was close at hand. We may not have survived, if not for her magic. More importantly, Lord Sigurd, my prayers to Saint Bragi were answered." : "You have the truth of all this, then?" : "That I do. As I thought, Duke Reptor is behind all of this. On his orders, it was Duke Langbalt who killed Prince Kurth. The two then successfully framed your father, Lord Byron, for the crime." : "Just as I thought..." : "The pair's treachery runs deeper still. The murder of Isaach's King Mananan was also the handiwork of Duke Reptor. He feared a peaceful end to the war would end the sole excuse for the conquest of Isaach, so he secretly had the king killed." : "Is that so... Reptor's grubby hands are all over this mess..." : "Not quite. In the shade of his avarice, there's something else at work... Something unsettling and terrifying. Not even Lord Bragi could scry this evil presence, obscured by its power as it is." : "An evil presence? Could it be that dark priesthood... Wait! What of my father, Claude?" : "Lord Byron yet lives, but is injured and weak. I fear he is not long for this world..." : "Father... This can't be happening..." : "I'll hasten back to the capital. His Majesty needs to hear the truth. Lord Sigurd, for the time being, stay here and restrain yourself from rash action." : "Understood. I can't thank you enough, Father Claude. I beg of you, do everything you can. Save my father and his good name." : "Our fates lie with the mercy of the gods..." Sigurd restraining himself from rash action. Good one, Claude. Since all these revelations will come back in the chapter's ending, I think I'll wait until then before commenting on it. : "Surely you recall me?" : "What? How do you know my name? Hang on... You look just like me! Aideen, huh... It sounds kinda familiar... But where from?" : "Bridget, listen well. I am your twin sister! We lost you to pirates years ago, when you were just five years old. I've searched for you for years. I never lost hope that we would meet again." : "This is all so sudden... No. Weird feelings like this aren't enough! I need proof!" "There must be a hundred girls running around that look exactly like me! Surely it's a coincidence!" : "Proof, you say? Here. Draw this bow." : "Huh? Okay, that's a nice bow and all, but what's it gotta do with anything? Guess I'll humor you. So I draw it and- ...Whoa! W-what's going on?! The hell is this...? I... What's this weird feeling boiling within me... Are these... memories? Ah... my heart is on fire... Aideen? Yes... I remember now! You're Aideen... my sister." : "Oh, thank the gods! You remember! That bow is your birthright, Bridget. It is Yewfelle, the sacred bow of Jungby. Legends tell that the exalted weapons of this land, such as this one, can only be wielded by a single heir per generation. For House Jungby and Yewfelle, that rightful heir is you, Bridget. I trust this proof will suffice?" : "Oh, Aideen... Come here... Let me get a good look at you... how's our father doing? And our brother... André, right?" : "I've so much to tell you, too... Bridget... My sister." So I was correct about the "one Holy Weapon bearer per generation" rule after all. I assume this means that Balmung would be exclusive in Gen 2 even with a Holyn/Ayra pairing producing sword twins with major Odo blood? Yewfelle is a bit of an odd one. It only gives a total of +20 stat points, as opposed to almost every other Holy Weapon giving +30, and while Str and Spd certainly are very good stats to get that +10 bonus on, the latter is counteracted by the Yewfelle's high weight compared to other bows. But hey, Bridget also gets Renewal! Sure is a great skill for a ranged unit to have... So yeah, it seems to be on the weaker side as far as Holy Weapons are concerned, but it's still a bow with effectively 40 Mt. A bit inaccurate, as non-Killer bows all are, but Bridget has excellent Skl to make up for that. One conversation that I missed is the one between Midir and Bridget, which disappeared the turn after he and Aideen got married. It's probably for the better, since according to the main page, he calls Bridgit a second, *even hotter* Aideen. Sure would've been a great start for his marriage. Eventually, after a lot of turns just walking about (and after the final boss kill, but I'll put that one at the end for dramaturgic effect), Dew reaches the Tower of Bragi...: : "Oh, whoa! This is that Tower of Bragi place, isn't it? Hee hee! Got a good thiefy feeling about this one! Let's see what it's got..." : "...Aww, man! What a borin' little dump." : "...Who... Who are you..." : "Huh?!" : "...State your business..." : "Heh, maybe if I pretend I can't hear 'em..." : "How dare you... defile this sacred ground... ...BEGONE!" : "Kyaaa! S-sorry! Please don't hurt me!" : "Hah... hah... What just happened?! ...Hang on. A sword? What's it doin' sitting around a place like this? Eh, who cares? Guess I'm gettin' something outta this after all!" Stealing without body contact unlocked. Very nice. With the Earth Sword (Raquesis) and Light Brand (Erin) already on appropriate parents for inheritance, I'll probably get this one to Patty eventually, with Seliph getting the slightly worse Bolt Sword, but for now, Dew will hopefully be able to make good use out of this. During Dew's little trip, some new contestants have arrived for the arena. Raquesis crossed paths with Aideen and promptly warped her back to Agusty for promotion, where she grabs Azel's Thunder tome... __ ...which she takes to the arena until Doma ends her run, with Claude exactly copying that feat. Taillte is a bit more successful, killing Doma with a hit + Wrath!crit (while outspeeding), but Keller survives a crit and one-shots, ending her run. Maybe it would've been possible to find a RNG seed for Taillte to dodge two 68s, but that would've been rather annoying to search for, especially outside of the easy save scumming on turn 0. And Bridget is as successful as can be, although obviously without Paragon. She'll begin the next chapter with ~27.5k gold, so still a bit short - Dew could help her out, although I think Taillte should have priority there. : "Ugh, me men're jus' as useless as always! Damn all y'all!" Well then, on to the boss kill, in which Dew plays a crucial part! (this is before he starts his journey to the west, for the record) ...well, he grabbed a total of 18000 gold from Duvall and the three Pirates surrounding him. Not crucial in the fight against Duvall, but well worth the additional delay, methinks. The actual boss kill ends up working out perfectly despite a complete lack of actual planning. First, Midir gets a crit + miss... ...then Beowulf gets the kill, and the Power Ring. : "N-no... Damn it all..." In defense of my lack of planning - Midir's combat is quite random, with the Accoste skill and crit from the Killer Bow, so I just had him attack at the start of a turn to see what happens. I was lucky that it worked out like this immediately on the first try, but I assume I would've found a way to feed the kill to Beowulf anyway. Beowulf is also successful in wooing the princess. He doesn't have to worry about Eldigan telling Raquesis that he has never seen this man his entire life, either. ...too soon? __ There we go. I'm sure I wasted some time not moving some characters to where they need to be, but the most important goal is achieved: Finn is still single. Honestly, I'm not sure if that part was ever at risk. I don't think he ever spent a turn adjacent to a girl other than Ethlyn, but I vaguely remember reading that it's possible for him to marry Bridget or Taillte without ever meeting her if you seize Silvail early and Orgahil late. ...but, looking at the .org wiki, "truly in love" means that he was less than 100 points away from marrying Bridget or Taillte. Hmmm... ...nah, skipping to turn 51, at which point love growth is halted, Finn still wouldn't have found love. He has +10 love growth with Taillte and Bridget, though, so it must've been close. : "Good. We've subdued the pirate castle. Oifey, would you please gather our troops here? Now that this is all over, I'd like to ensure that everyone's alright." : "At once, sire." __ : "Seize these vile allies of Byron, accomplices to his murder of Kurth and his bid to take over the kingdom! It is the will of His Majesty! No mercy for enemies of the state!" : "Kehehe... Oh, Langbalt. Such audacity! To think, he personally put an end to that miserable prince and nearly killed Byron for putting up a fight... I've never seen such a bold ploy! And with Arvis using His Majesty's trust, it all worked flawlessly! Convincing the king of anything his hardly a challenge, but to succeed with a tale of this scale takes quite the storyteller... And here we are, with the entirety of House Chalphy framed for the crime! Heh heh... Our victory is all but assured. The throne of Grannvale shall be mine, one way or another. I'll leave no pest who dares interfere with me alive..." "Kehehe... Let me narrate my plan to the audience. Kehehe..." Yeahh, not the most elegant of presentations. Would've been better if Claude relaying his vision to Sigurd had been mandatory, even if that would've come at the cost of adding a game-over condition for his death. Since it seems rather impactful whether or not Sigurd is informed of the entire plan or not, that would have made sense, anyway. I'm also not entirely happy with how Arvis is set up here. He goes from appearing slightly sus in the prologue, to potentially being a pawn in the Loptyrian game of chess, to now being reveales as a co-conspirator with Reptor and Langbalt, without ever making an on-screen appearance after that short stint in the prologue. Of course, it's still too early to call, since there's still some time between now and shit being on fire, but right at this moment, I'm a bit sceptical. All that said, Langbalt has a good beard. I assume that Ruben loves him. : "What in the blazes is this?! I'm a traitor now, and a Grannvale legion now waits at our doorstep to arrest me?!" : "Sire... And to think, the war here was over at long last, and you were about to go and search for Deirdre." : "Gah... How could His Majesty have fallen for Reptor's lies? How could he possibly believe that my father, of all people, would kill Prince Kurth?! Aah... If only Father Claude had gotten back to the capital before they struck... Why?! Why is this happening?! I fought a pointless war, I let Eldigan die, and now this! What have I been fighting for all along?!" : "Sire..." This I do like, though. Not because I hate Sigurd, but this is a low point well set up, as I've been talking about in and between previous updates - and then comes a sliver of hope, from where things are going to go uphill again!! : "Queen Rahna bade my corps and I to come and retrieve you. We invite you and your subordinates to retreat with us to Silesse, until your good name has been cleared in Grannvale." : "...Queen Rahna of Silesse, you say? Why is Silesse willing to give aid to an alleged traitor like me?" : "Please, sir. Time is of the essence. The Grannvale assault is sure to begin at any moment now. My pegasus knights will escort you across the sea to safety in Silesse." Saved! Time to turn this all around, clear Sigurd's name (presumably by seizing more castles), and earn a happy end! The Team: Lv. HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Funds XP Arn W/L Sigurd 24.37* 55 24 0 22 22 14 16 4 45500 +219 [*] 64/1 Lex 25.12* 53 27 2 17 14 12 25 3 44140 +408 [*] 29/0 Midir 21.79* 44 20 1 16 20 8 13 4 45280 +601 [*] 26/0 Beowulf 18.52 45 17 0 16 12 4 14 0 42780 +791 [*] 8/0 Erin 19.64 42 14 2 15 23 9 16 9 50000 +784 [*] 14/0 Ayra 22.40* 48 23 2 29 29 6 12 4 35360 +622 [*] 23/1 Bridget 17.70 44 21 1 25 21 11 16 9 27580 +570 [*] 12/0 Dew 8.27 31 8 0 10 18 14 4 1 24500 +152 [1] 3/2 Azel 23.78* 42 7 23 13 22 6 10 13 10890 +660 [*] 47/1 Lewyn 17.97 43 2 18 16 25 8 7 10 16800 +760 [*] 13/0 Taillte 9.04 33 0 12 21 12 10 1 9 17000 +604 [6] 8/0 Aideen 22.62* 44 6 23 15 15 23 7 11 2180 +802 [5] 0/0 Claude 25.40 36 1 24 17 16 12 5 23 15000 +540 [5] 0/0 Raquesis 15.91 33 14 8 13 15 7 12 9 28235 +819 [6] 6/1 Sylvia 8.00 32 4 3 4 12 9 1 8 11000 +410 [1] 0/0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noish 7.68 35 12 0 10 10 4 9 0 9000 -- [1] 6/1 Alec 8.81 37 12 0 11 11 5 11 0 19920 118 [4] 2/1 Arden 8.41 39 16 0 6 5 3 15 0 47250 +72 [3] 4/0 Holyn 15.00 43 15 0 20 17 3 11 1 36500 +118 [5] 0/0 Jamke 16.45 46 15 0 16 17 10 11 1 34050 +488 [7] 4/0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quan 17.05* 47 21 0 16 17 7 13 4 10200 +215 [5] 17/4 Ethlyn 30.00* 43 15 13 20 24 14 18 8 180 +1152 [*] 9/0 Finn 23.80* 46 22 0 16 20 17 17 4 34030 +462 [*] 43/1 Deirdre 7.82 29 0 16 10 13 6 4 18 21500 -- [1] 3/0 Quan: Gáe Bolg, Silver Lance, Iron Lance, Javelin Finn: Silver Lance, Steel Lance, Skill Ring Ethlyn: Slim Sword, Mend, Silver Blade, Pursuit Band Deirdre: Silence, Aura, Circlet Dwelling On Your Mind: Noish->Sylvia, Arden->Sylvia, Holyn->Sylvia, Alec->Sylvia, Jamke->Sylvia, Dew->Sylvia, Azel->Bridget, Claude->Taillte Bridget->Azel, Taillte->Claude Taken Your Fancy: Lewyn->Sylvia, Erin->Lewyn, Sylvia->Lewyn Well And Truly In Love: Finn->Taillte Holy Matrimony: Ayra/Lex, Aideen/Midir, Raquesis/Beowulf (, Deirdre/Sigurd, Ethlyn/Quan) Sylvia being very popular, now that Aideen isn't available anymore. 21 hours ago, Jotari said: I have genuinely made comparisons between Edelgard and US intervention policy when arguing with Edelgardstans. People are, thankfully, more hesitant to paint invading another country to foist you culture on them, killing anyone who stands in the way, as a good thing when you put it in the context of real people. I have to admit that I'm still mostly ignorant about what actually happens in 3H, outside of things that people meme about. But I had to appreciate the extra spice in "Edelgard = USA", considering that "Edelgard = Fascist" seems to be the great flame war instigator in the more passionate parts of the fandom. Did I ever mention that in Civ4, the requisite tech for building Mt. Rushmore is Fascism? 19 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: In terms of point 1, I do think the Cross Knights are principally loyal to Eldigan, rather than Chagall. Which means they're loyal to House Nordion. Which means Grannvale, who is currently occupying House Nordion, is their sworn enemy - regardless of Eldigan's personal friendship with Sigurd. They may not dislike Sigurd - hell, they probably dislike Chagall more, since he had imprisoned their liege. But at the end of the day, it's Sigurd, not Chagall, who's standing between them and a trip back home. Yeah, it's always worth remembering that Sigurd's actions are those of a conqueror. He always has a good reason - at least to do something, although I've been memeing on his readiness to land on "conquer yet another castle" - but somebody who doesn't know him personally is likely to assume after the fifth castle that Sigurd has been making excuses all along. Heck, Eldigan loses his faith in Sigurd at the end of ch.2. 19 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said: My personal take on #2 is, there weren't really concrete plans to withdraw from Augustria. I don't believe there's any justification for Grannvale's continuing presence in the south, outside of "Sigurd conquered y'all, and we're worried about you being a counter-balancing force to Grannvale". It's not clear that Chagall - or Eldigan - or Sigurd - could've done anything to change their minds. At least, not without any sort of unilateral action. Chagall was the one to take it here, but at some point, someone was gonna have to act. It could've been Eldigan saying "screw Chagall and screw Grannvale, I'm going back to Nordion". Or it could've been Sigurd getting orders to "conquer the rest of the country LOL", and being stuck with an impossible choice. But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe in another timeline, atmonth 7, Sigurd would've gotten orders to return to Chalphy. At month 8, the rest of Grannvalean forces would withdraw. And at month 9, Azmur, Chagall, Sigurd, Eldigan, and Arvis would all sit down for a picnic together. Who's to say? I do agree with your read being the most likely constellation. Chagall may have jumped the gun, but it's unlikely that Grannvale would've acted to defuse the situation, like, ever, considering that policy is being made by Langbalt and Reptor at the moment. Come to think of it - with Reptor and Langbalt approaching at the end of this chapter, it's an interesting question how Eldigan and (a less rash) Chagall would've reacted to that. Would Eldigan have helped Sigurd? It seems likely that he would want to, but it seems equally likely that Chagall would try to seize the moment and launch his reconquest while Grannvale is busy fighting itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rubenio Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 1 hour ago, ping said: But at the end of the day, this is probably the first segment where the game really only feels like moving units across the map - Aideen to the Rescue village and then north to meet Bridget; Azel and Lewyn west to say hi to their future wives; Dew first towards Orgahil Castle to steal money and then west to grab the Wind Sword; Raquesis and Beowulf east from Silvail to grab some villages of their own... And during all of that, the only action involves a bunch of, honestly, rather harmless pirates. So, honestly, I'll just fast forward through the rest of the "fight". They really, really could've saved this whole part of the chapter, could they. 1 hour ago, ping said: : "Oh? Here to help, are ya? Huzzah! The village is saved! We can't thank ya enough, but mayhap this magic staff'll help ya out. They call it a Restore staff. If yer allies've been put t'sleep or silenced, one cast of this staff'll get 'em back on their feet. This oughta be a big help for ya. Filat became a country bumpkin. 1 hour ago, ping said: : "Hey, be careful out there! Rumor has it that King Chagall's got the infamous Thracian dracoknights on his payroll. Don't think there's been a war lately where someone or other didn't hire 'em. They're like a pack of hyenas descendin' on fresh prey: brutal and indiscriminate. Nothin' survives in their wake..." LOL. LMAO, even. Hey, cut him some slack. This is the Middle Ages of Anime. News don't travel that fast. 1 hour ago, ping said: : "Why are you even here? We've absolutely nothin' to do with Agustria or Grannvale! Look. If you've really gotta fight, take it somewhere else, you thoughtless sod." [4500 gold --> Azel] Should've brought Sigurd to this one. Secret good ending: Generic village mom convinces Sigurd to stop being an idiot. 1 hour ago, ping said: : "Lord Byron yet lives, but is injured and weak. I fear he is not long for this world..." ...wait... doesn't he live for like, another... Ah, we'll get there when we get there, I guess. 2 hours ago, ping said: One conversation that I missed is the one between Midir and Bridget, which disappeared the turn after he and Aideen got married. It's probably for the better, since according to the main page, he calls Bridgit a second, *even hotter* Aideen. Sure would've been a great start for his marriage. "Hey honey, listen. I got an idea for our honeymoon. You know how we just found your twin sister?" 2 hours ago, ping said: : "How dare you... defile this sacred ground... ...BEGONE!" Where did you get this sprite? It looks cool. 2 hours ago, ping said: There we go. I'm sure I wasted some time not moving some characters to where they need to be, but the most important goal is achieved: Finn is still single. Honestly, I'm not sure if that part was ever at risk. I don't think he ever spent a turn adjacent to a girl other than Ethlyn, but I vaguely remember reading that it's possible for him to marry Bridget or Taillte without ever meeting her if you seize Silvail early and Orgahil late. ...but, looking at the .org wiki, "truly in love" means that he was less than 100 points away from marrying Bridget or Taillte. Hmmm... ...nah, skipping to turn 51, at which point love growth is halted, Finn still wouldn't have found love. He has +10 love growth with Taillte and Bridget, though, so it must've been close. Congratulations on successfully failing at finding Finn a sweetheart. Now he gets to sleep with his weapons instead. 2 hours ago, ping said: All that said, Langbalt has a good beard. I assume that Ruben loves him. It is a pretty good one. Reptor compensates for his lack of one with the monocle. And yeah, it is a rather weaksauce set-up for those two. Sadly, Chagall is the game's high note when it comes to secondary villains. Well, minus Hilda, perhaps. We'll get to Hilda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 2 hours ago, ping said: So I was correct about the "one Holy Weapon bearer per generation" rule after all. I assume this means that Balmung would be exclusive in Gen 2 even with a Holyn/Ayra pairing producing sword twins with major Odo blood? Balmung is intended to be Shannan exclusive, but you can glitch it into the sword twins hands via am unintended method by using Valkyrie to revive Shannan or something. Not something I've ever done myself, I've never even managed to get Valkyrie in the second gen because I suck at shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGuy96 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 59 minutes ago, Jotari said: 3 hours ago, ping said: So I was correct about the "one Holy Weapon bearer per generation" rule after all. I assume this means that Balmung would be exclusive in Gen 2 even with a Holyn/Ayra pairing producing sword twins with major Odo blood? Balmung is intended to be Shannan exclusive, but you can glitch it into the sword twins hands via am unintended method by using Valkyrie to revive Shannan or something. Not something I've ever done myself, I've never even managed to get Valkyrie in the second gen because I suck at shipping. Specifically, you can't pawn the legendary weapons for cash. (I wonder if this is because the pawnbroker wouldn't accept it or the unit refuses to follow instructions to pawn it.) It is not otherwise locked to Shannan, but there's no way to get it to the sword twins except for the glitch Jotari mentioned which I have also never done, despite pairing Ayra and Chulainn on my first playthrough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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