To Become an Elitist [Playlogs FE1-5] [currently playing: Thracia 776]

[BrightBow]

3 hours ago, ping said:

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.

But you also just got a new healer. You could most certainly do with more heal staffs.
 

3 hours ago, ping said:

: "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."

I guess this confirms that Claude was officially kaga'd and needed the ladies to keep his 5 defense ass protected.
 

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?

Well, in the old patch this was phrased as an assumption rather then a certainty.

In any cases, it's impossible to trade those weapons. So without glitches, it's gonna stick with whoever starts with it.

...which funnily enough means that there ended up being no practical reason to code those weapons to require holy blood in the first place. Because there is simply no way to get those weapons on someone who doesn't have the matching holy blood in the first place.
 

3 hours ago, ping said:

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 tha

Continuing the trend of Ulir just kinda drawing the short stick among the crusaders.
 

3 hours ago, ping said:

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.

Eh, just keep trying until it works. Tiltyu is funny like that.
 

3 hours ago, ping said:

: "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?!"

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

5 hours ago, ping said:

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.

So am I, and I actually played it.😛

I just -jokingly- think of this supposed Empress of Uncivil Discourse, as a pale imitation of this dude.:

-Similar-ish hair color, similar liking for meritocracy, similar-ish position of strength and yet some shadiness (Yamato Hotsuin preceded Lady E FYI, he was created in 2011). Also a master of the Dragon Stream, which is basically the same idea as Fateslandia's Dragon Veins. Except, he gets human nature fundamentally rewritten. Which mean the long-term prospects for a meritocratic world -where everyone lives to cultivate their own talents, where everyone acknowledges who is truly the best for each job without bias, where bottom-feeders don't exist in society and everyone can die knowing their life's work was not wasted on the undeserving- are much better.😁 (Provided you choose his ending, I've my preferred alternative.)

5 hours ago, ping said:

Did I ever mention that in Civ4, the requisite tech for building Mt. Rushmore is Fascism?

Thanks for giving me another reason to refuse to acknowledge 4 as the Best Civ Ever.

On 3/10/2024 at 9:49 AM, ping said:

although a 30yo Seliph as a protagonist would probably go against the laws of anime.

Anime ages are often inaccurate.

I think Yuri (Infinite Space) is 26 here, after the 10-year timeskip spent in a prison (looks way different from his slimmer, smaller, younger, self). Could easily pass as in his thirties? Mindset did gain some appreciation for "might makes right" during that time, adding some Western -"older"- grittiness. The anime-colored long hair coincidentally reminds me of Seliph.

5 hours 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."

Implication with the dialogue here that that Ogrehill isn't actually part of Agustria? Looks pretty barren terrain-wise, can't be easy for agriculture. I can see nobody wanting to seriously govern the island. Although Bragi Tower and the existence of villages means it has to have some form of governance.

As for the "this feels anticlimactic after Eldigaal" thing, I guess Genealogy just couldn't let you pursue multiple objectives at the same time on this one. No unleashing the bandits and the XKnights at the same time, with whichever castle Sigurd seizes second ending the chapter.

5 hours ago, ping said:

All that said, Langbalt

House Dozel is... okay, maybe it's not actually that bad. I was going to say "Dozel is cursed by being axe wielders in a pre-Thracia game", which curses their characterization as well, outside of Lex. But then, really, all seven ducal/royal Houses of Grannvale are underdeveloped. The vast scope and the IRL age of Genealogy do this, minus maybe Freege? Does Claud even have family? Too much continent-crossing, generations, and Cult-kun. A 30 Years' War-esque situation wherein the story focused entirely on Grannvale, with the neighbors making self-benefitting jousts into Jugdral's soft center, could've been better for developing the seven houses.

...I know I haven't commented in a bit here, just sayin' I'm still reading it.😀

Edited March 12 by Interdimensional Observer

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

2 hours ago, RPGuy96 said:

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.

While I think it's the former, I kinda like the second as a headcanon. I like those little details about the characters having their own drive and motivations, beyond just what I (the player) try to make them do. It's why I'm one of the, like, three or four people who prefer Genealogy's "falling in love accidentally" to the "gating it behind an S-support" that the new games all do.

By the way, it's kind of wild that the Blacksmith is totally cool with repairing Holy Weapons, while the Pawnbroker refuses to touch them. Like, dude. You're ripping me off 20K gold every time I pass the Paragon Ring around. I put your kids through the Academy at Belhalla. You can afford it.

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Congratulations on successfully failing at finding Finn a sweetheart. Now he gets to sleep with his weapons instead.

Finn x Silver Lance is the real OTP.

...Or if you're a sicko like me, you give him Quan's Steel Lance with 50 kills on it.

6 hours ago, ping said:

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.

The more I've thought about it, the more I've come around to the notion that Chagall - craven may he be, and generally awful all the time - isn't wholly in the wrong at the start of chapter 3. It's a "morally gray" moment for an otherwise "morally black" dude.

Hard to say, exactly - it would be a quickly evolving scenario. Would Sigurd flee to Silesse, as he does in canon? Try to cut through to Chalphy? Surrender to Rango and Reptor? Or team up with the remaining Augustrians? It's hard to say, especially if he's acting without the knowledge that Father Claud gleaned at the Tower of Bragi (due to either being stopped at Madino Castle, or else getting killed by Pirates in Orgahill).

6 hours ago, ping said:

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.

He's a fundamentally honorable person who keeps stumbling into an ever-more messed-up situation. He always has the "right reasons", but whether he's doing the "right thing" becomes debatable, at least after aiding Lady Lachesis at Nordion Castle. Taking the fight further into Augustria becomes the turning point, with his horse's brake lines seemingly severed.

6 hours ago, ping said:

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.

Very impressive, getting Ethlyn to level 30! I think I've only made it to the high 20s with her. You never told us you were going for rankings! ...Or you did, and I missed it.

As for the inventory, while I'm a fan of Pursuit on either Lewyn or Naoise, I must admit that it will make a big difference for Leif early on. Best of luck to the Leonster defense squad!

6 hours 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".

 

So you're saying that they're pirates... who don't do anything? They just stay at home, and lie around?

6 hours ago, ping said:

: "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."

These little goofy touches - conversations or events that give a straight-up stat boost - are one of my favorite aspects of Genealogy. It really serves to make even something like stats feel less abstract, and more linked to the world around them. Moreso, in my opinion, then being gifted an "Energy Drop", or what have you.

6 hours ago, ping said:

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.

AYRA OVERRATED

CHULAINN OUTDATED

LONG HAVE WE WAITED

MAGISWORD DEW ACTIVATED!

6 hours ago, ping said:

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...

It's kinda funny to think that, with 13 Weight and +10 Speed, Briggid will have the exact same speed using it as she will with the Killer Bow. It's a 3-weight weapon with just one +10 boost. Hell, they could've given it 40 Might, and it'd be functionally equivalent to Yewfelle as it is. Enjoy your Holy Weapon with no stat boosts.

...Kidding aside, the non-mainline Bows in the game all do something interesting, and none seem to overshadow the others. There's the light and accurate Killer Bow. The ever-Adepting Brave Bow. And the immensely powerful Yewfelle. None of them are broken, but they're all good, solid weapons.

6 hours ago, ping said:

: "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..."

Reptor: "Boy, I hope nobody is listening into my villainous monologue right now, keh heh heh! That would certainly render my position most precarious, indeedly so!"

6 hours ago, ping said:

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.

It's funny to think of how allergic Kaga apparently was to giving skills to your infantry staffbots. In all of generation one, only two playable characters have no skills whatsoever: Edain, and Claud. Even Arden gets Vantage, while Briggid gets Pursuit as a class skill. As a result, Lana and Lester are the only child units who can end up skill-less - most notably, when Claud is their father. Even getting thrown a bone, like Miracle or Renewal, would've been appreciated.

23 hours ago, Jotari said:

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.

What, am I supposed to believe that this is some "teleporting Oifey", who can travel between Sigurd's side and the home castle at will? I doubt that very much!

Wait, Finn is really that young? His portrait does not convey that very well. He looks to be the same age as Alec or Naoise.

23 hours ago, Jotari said:

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.

Honestly, village-pillaging is optimally a two-man job regardless. One to rob the Bandit - either by being a Thief, or by using the Thief Sword - and one to kill the Bandit. One to visit the village, and one to... uh... twiddle their thumbs, I guess? Admittedly, with Canto or the Knight Ring, you can visit the village right after killing the Brigand, so that's cool. Anyway, if you're targeting a village without actually robbing the Bandit (at least, at the point in the game where it becomes possible to do so), you're essentially leaving 5K gold on the table.

More broadly speaking, would the ability to control the amount of gold that Thieves or Partners can give between each other be the worst thing in the world? Sigh... no, it wouldn't. I don't personally see it as necessary, but I could live with it. If such a change enhances some people's enjoyment of the game, then they're not true fans and they don't deserve - ahem, I mean, I would be happy for them. Yes. Sincerely.

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, BrightBow said:

But you also just got a new healer. You could most certainly do with more heal staffs.
 

I guess this confirms that Claude was officially kaga'd and needed the ladies to keep his 5 defense ass protected.
 

Well, in the old patch this was phrased as an assumption rather then a certainty.

In any cases, it's impossible to trade those weapons. So without glitches, it's gonna stick with whoever starts with it.

...which funnily enough means that there ended up being no practical reason to code those weapons to require holy blood in the first place. Because there is simply no way to get those weapons on someone who doesn't have the matching holy blood in the first place.
 

In terms of gameplay you can't legitimately get Balmung into Larcei or Scathach's hands, but I'm terms of lore as major holy blood bearers they absolutely should be able to use it. As for gameplay, I think it is impossible for some people to use certain weapons. Like, I vaguely remember training Coirpre to promotion because he inheritance Holsety only to be dismayed that he couldn't use it because his weapon rank still wasn't high enough...I think. Though hat might be the lone example possible by gameplay. Claude won't pass Valkyrie down to a daughter but I don't think some like Fee could use Valkyrie as a Falcon Knight.

Edit:I just checked Coipre's stats and I could be wrong about him not using Holsety. Maybe my remembered dismay was just about how goddamn long it took for him to promote (I wasn't genius enough back then to think of warping someone to the same spot to grind).

On this subject, I feel Brigid should have been a man or something. Because it really sucks that in this game with twelve Holy Weapons you can only control the users of two, and they're both magic weapons... meaning they largely have the same users (Coirpre and Sety with a bit of Artur on the side). Of course, making Brigid a man would solve very little since the only other bow wielder in the second generation is Lester who is Briggid's nephew already (course that's if it's a direct change, other characters could swap classes). It's just kind of annoyingly limiting. I guess Forseti already breaks the second gen's balance in two, so if you could give Gae Bolg or something to anyone then it would just further the ridiculousness, but a 100kill Brave Sword already has the power imbalance anyway, you just need to work slightly harder for it. I want the special plot imbalance too. At the very, very least let the game be smart about who inherits the major holy blood and shake things up so it makes more sense. Specifically, let Lana inherit major Holy Blood if you marry Claude to Adean instead of pointlessly giving Lester a Valkyrie he can't use. We can have same sex inheritance of every other pairing but reverse it when the father has the same class as the daughter. Because it's just plain silly that your main staff bot of Gen 2 can't use the ultimate staff.

3 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Continuing the trend of Ulir just kinda drawing the short stick among the crusaders.

She managed to get into Heroes, that's more than most of the others can claim.

Edited March 12 by Jotari

[CelestialContrail]

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

As for the "this feels anticlimactic after Eldigaal" thing, I guess Genealogy just couldn't let you pursue multiple objectives at the same time on this one. No unleashing the bandits and the XKnights at the same time, with whichever castle Sigurd seizes second ending the chapter.

According to some Genealogy rom hacking documents I've read, there's apparently a hard limit of 50 active enemy units at a time, which would pose difficulties for having both the pirates and the Cross Knights on the field at the same time. I do agree with the general sentiment that the chapter would flow better if the pirates were moved to be more of a mid-chapter breather between seizing Madino and facing down Eldigan.

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 minutes ago, CelestialContrail said:

According to some Genealogy rom hacking documents I've read, there's apparently a hard limit of 50 active enemy units at a time, which would pose difficulties for having both the pirates and the Cross Knights on the field at the same time. I do agree with the general sentiment that the chapter would flow better if the pirates were moved to be more of a mid-chapter breather between seizing Madino and facing down Eldigan.

I can totally believe that. I remember in T776 that enemy reinforcements abruptly stopped for me during the Tahra battle, since there were already too many. 

[Jotari]

I'm going to defend the Pirates rounding out the chapter. I think it works as a gameplay element to have  it mostly focus on the new characters recruited, but more than that, I like how it lulls you into a a sense of ease. The dramatic battle with Eldigan is done, Sigurd is basically doing some post war clean up stuff and then bam. Suddenly he has no home anymore. Think of it in terms of more traditional Fire Embelm chapters, this would be the post Eldigan/Chagall chapter to calm down before the plot twist. And, as someone pointed out earlier, in terms of global positioning it does put him in the north which works best for the story. Sure, the geography could be rearranged, but if Chagall happened to be having his last stand in the extreme north then I feel like the design would have felt a bit too contrived. This more naturally puts Sigurd on the opposite end of the map to Reptor.

I do have a potentially great idea though. What if Deirde wasn't captured by Manfroy, but instead by Langbolt and Reptor? Shannan manages to escape with Seliph, making it less seem like she's put her baby in the hands of a ten year old, and more like she saved them.  And, of course, she has no wandering across the battlefield. Shannan is the one then that shows up and delivers the news that Sigurd has been branded a traitor, has lost Deirdre and the Agustrian capital all in one go. The slight issue there is that Langbolt and Reptor getting their hands on Deirdre would need some write around since they aren't meant to have any direct connection to Manfroy and they would try to use Deirdre for their own means (like marrying Bloom or Danann) if they had the faintest idea who she is. And them finding her would make her seem a more naturally believable wife of Sigurd. So I guess Manfroy could warp into the castle in the midst of it being taken by Langbolt and Reptor. This makes Manfroy seem more capable while simultaneously making his powers less bullshit, as he has to take advantage of the natural confusion rather than just "somehow" finding her in the middle of a field.

[BrightBow]

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

She managed to get into Heroes, that's more than most of the others can claim.

Getting exploited by the gacha software is neither an achievement nor a badge of honor.

She did however manage to get into Thracia 776 and was referenced in Tear Ring Saga. So that's nice.
Between her, Raquel, Sylvis and Penneloupe, she also seems to have started her own archetype too.

[ping]

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

They really, really could've saved this whole part of the chapter, could they.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, absolutely.

Answer with a bit more goodwill: I suppose it gives a bit of breathing room between Eldigan's death and the Grannvale legions appearing at the horizon.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hey, cut him some slack. This is the Middle Ages of Anime. News don't travel that fast.

I beg to differ. News travels instantaneous in Jugdral. If it's convenient to the plot.

Like, for example, if Mahnya had arrived to escort Prince Arsehole back to Silesse and allows Sigurd to join them out of her own initiative - that would make sense. Erin sent her subordinate to Silesse six months ago at this point, so it would be reasonable for the queen to start wondering what is keeping Lewyn this time. But instead, Lewyn's mom seems entirely informed about the situation in Grannvale/Agustria. Mahnya arrives with her orders to save Sigurd while he himself is still in shock about Reptor and Langbalt arriving.

I dunno, maybe the next chapter will reveal that the ruling houses of Jugdral all use Palantíri to keep up with global events. Otherwise, this seems to be another example of Genealogy being very fucky about the passage of time.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...wait... doesn't he live for like, another...

Ah, we'll get there when we get there, I guess.

Oh look, another example of Genealogy being very fucky about the passage of time.

(I genuinely like the story thus far, some minor hiccoughs notwithstanding, but Genealogy is really loose with its sense of scale - both in time and in the scope of the land and the armies)

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Where did you get this sprite? It looks cool.

That is Minnie "Stroni" Goodsoup, a minor character from Curse of Monkey Island.

8 hours ago, RPGuy96 said:

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.

Ah, I see. That would've been an elegant solution, were it not for a glitch-y workaround.

7 hours ago, BrightBow said:

But you also just got a new healer. You could most certainly do with more heal staffs.

I guess I'm being very lazy by keeping it on Ethlyn, aren't I?

To be honest, I don't even know how useful Claude is even going to be. Most of Aideen's staff usage was pretty much just for the XP, although I will say that now that she has Physic and Claude has Fortify, they can make up for their low movement that way.

Looking at it, Lewyn should also easily hit Lv.20 in the opening arena section, so that's another character who would appreciate a healing staff. And Raquesis wouldn't mind upgrading her Heal, too, since she'll hopefully promote on turn 0, or at least very early in the chapter, too, allowing her to basically work as Ethlyn 2.0.

7 hours ago, BrightBow said:

I guess this confirms that Claude was officially kaga'd and needed the ladies to keep his 5 defense ass protected.

Not to mention that Erin is the only character who can join up with them and act as a frontliner very quickly.

(Somebody should do a Claudie's Angels poster with Erin, Tailtyu, and Bridget)

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Thanks for giving me another reason to refuse to acknowledge 4 as the Best Civ Ever.

Wellll, the implication isn't so much that the dudes carved into the mountains were fascist, or proto-fascist, or anything of the sorts. I see it more as criticism of the deification of political leaders alongside the glorification of a nation's past. But that is a discussion that (a) is rather off-topic and (b) can turn ugly quick, especially with the reference to fascism in place.

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

By the way, it's kind of wild that the Blacksmith is totally cool with repairing Holy Weapons, while the Pawnbroker refuses to touch them. Like, dude. You're ripping me off 20K gold every time I pass the Paragon Ring around. I put your kids through the Academy at Belhalla. You can afford it.

But who would the Pawnbroker sell them to? ...well, an overly rich, excentric collector. I'm not going to assume that it's not an actual in-game phenomenon that people can only buy weapons that they're proficient in. But one could argue that the Holy Weapons would be too spicy to buy and sell - imagine some random small-town art vendor having the Mona Lisa for sale. That would invite questions, even if it was properly bought from the Louvre (or whoever officially owns it).

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

The more I've thought about it, the more I've come around to the notion that Chagall - craven may he be, and generally awful all the time - isn't wholly in the wrong at the start of chapter 3. It's a "morally gray" moment for an otherwise "morally black" dude.

Chagall does an understandable act (the narration does state that Grannvale is exploiting Agustria) for a petty reason (Chagall's just mad that he isn't in charge). I think that's how I would put it. You could easily do most of ch.2/3 with a less awful king (although you'd have to find another trigger than Eldigan's imprisonment), with the main difference being that Sigurd would probably look a bit worse as the guy upholding the occupation.

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

What, am I supposed to believe that this is some "teleporting Oifey", who can travel between Sigurd's side and the home castle at will? I doubt that very much!

Wait, Finn is really that young? His portrait does not convey that very well. He looks to be the same age as Alec or Naoise.

Oh look, another example of Genealogy being very fucky about the passage of time.

I do think Finn is a bit more of a babyface than Alec and Noish. I think his portrait has a bit less shadow on the face than theirs, and his head seems to be a bit smaller.

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

In terms of gameplay you can't legitimately get Balmung into Larcei or Scathach's hands, but I'm terms of lore as major holy blood bearers they absolutely should be able to use it. As for gameplay, I think it is impossible for some people to use certain weapons. Like, I vaguely remember training Coirpre to promotion because he inheritance Holsety only to be dismayed that he couldn't use it because his weapon rank still wasn't high enough...I think. Though hat might be the lone example possible by gameplay. Claude won't pass Valkyrie down to a daughter but I don't think some like Fee could use Valkyrie as a Falcon Knight.

To be honest, despite the eugenics mechanics, Holy Blood still seems more like divine providence than proper Mendel-ing. Aideen and Bridget are identical twins, so it seems "logical" that they their bloods should have the same "level" of holiness, for example. So I'd be willing to accept that major blood still isn't an automatic pass to use the appropriate holy weapon and that it still requires some dragon deity to point its finger at you to allow it.

3 hours ago, CelestialContrail said:

According to some Genealogy rom hacking documents I've read, there's apparently a hard limit of 50 active enemy units at a time, which would pose difficulties for having both the pirates and the Cross Knights on the field at the same time. I do agree with the general sentiment that the chapter would flow better if the pirates were moved to be more of a mid-chapter breather between seizing Madino and facing down Eldigan.

Ah, that makes sense. In addition to the Observer's observation, the GBA games also have that hard limit. It regularly comes up in the fight against Murdock in BinBla, and I remember that somebody didn't have Vaida spawn in Cog of Destiny, most likely because of this, too.

 

[BrightBow]

18 minutes ago, ping said:

Looking at it, Lewyn should also easily hit Lv.20 in the opening arena section, so that's another character who would appreciate a healing staff. And Raquesis wouldn't mind upgrading her Heal, too, since she'll hopefully promote on turn 0, or at least very early in the chapter, too, allowing her to basically work as Ethlyn 2.0.

Also Fury.

Even Tiltyu, eventually.

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Getting exploited by the gacha software is neither an achievement nor a badge of honor.

She did however manage to get into Thracia 776 and was referenced in Tear Ring Saga. So that's nice.
Between her, Raquel, Sylvis and Penneloupe, she also seems to have started her own archetype too.

Huh? I don't think Ullr was in Thracia. Have you swapped to talking Briggid? Because Briggid is rather infamously not in Heroes despite Ullr (and eventually her son) being there before her. We do have Pirate Briggid though.

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

Wait, Finn is really that young? His portrait does not convey that very well. He looks to be the same age as Alec or Naoise.

The Serenes ages page puts him at ~15, though that's unsourced so it's probably just someone's gut feeling? It does have a link to the manga ages which presumably are actually stated in the manga, that says he's 16. Assuming he's 16 at the start of the game, that would put Oifey, stated in game at the start to be 14, at Finn's starting age by chapter 3, as the Thracia 776 timeline (unused but I don't see any reason to doubt it as it lines up with the dates that are given in Genealogy) puts the events in Agustria as happening two years after the Verdane stuff. Regardless we do know that the overall first gen takes place over a course of four years.

[Saint Rubenio]

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

I do have a potentially great idea though. What if Deirde wasn't captured by Manfroy, but instead by Langbolt and Reptor? Shannan manages to escape with Seliph, making it less seem like she's put her baby in the hands of a ten year old, and more like she saved them.  And, of course, she has no wandering across the battlefield. Shannan is the one then that shows up and delivers the news that Sigurd has been branded a traitor, has lost Deirdre and the Agustrian capital all in one go. The slight issue there is that Langbolt and Reptor getting their hands on Deirdre would need some write around since they aren't meant to have any direct connection to Manfroy and they would try to use Deirdre for their own means (like marrying Bloom or Danann) if they had the faintest idea who she is. And them finding her would make her seem a more naturally believable wife of Sigurd. So I guess Manfroy could warp into the castle in the midst of it being taken by Langbolt and Reptor. This makes Manfroy seem more capable while simultaneously making his powers less bullshit, as he has to take advantage of the natural confusion rather than just "somehow" finding her in the middle of a field.

I like this idea. This idea works really well. And I think the concern you raise would be very easily solved - just have them know that she's Sigurd's wife, but not much else besides. They kidnap her to use as leverage against Sigurd, but Shannan escapes with a message from her not to worry, to escape and keep fighting. Then, while she's in captivity, Manfroy shows up and spirits her away. This also makes Manfroy's discovery of her location less dumb - if he knows his target is Sigurd's wife, and then Sigurd's wife is taken by those two morons, he'd have a lot less ground to cover than as it is, where it feels like the guy's clairvoyant.

Heck, there'd even be a bit of room to give Langbalt and Reptor a tiny bit of depth there. Make one of them, or both even, seem rather reluctant about using Deirdre in this way, or show them being genuinely concerned when she vanishes. But maybe I'm getting a bit carried away here.

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

Finn x Silver Lance is the real OTP.

...Or if you're a sicko like me, you give him Quan's Steel Lance with 50 kills on it.

That's a pretty galaxy brain idea. It's not like either of Quan's kids need it.

4 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Getting exploited by the gacha software is neither an achievement nor a badge of honor.

She did however manage to get into Thracia 776 and was referenced in Tear Ring Saga. So that's nice.
Between her, Raquel, Sylvis and Penneloupe, she also seems to have started her own archetype too.

Kaga is definitely fond of his tough-as-nails archer girls. This is something that I am fine with, because it's my favorite of his recurring archetypes. Wish FE would do some tough-as-nails archer girls as well. There's been Etie most recently, but I desire more.

3 hours ago, ping said:

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, absolutely.

Answer with a bit more goodwill: I suppose it gives a bit of breathing room between Eldigan's death and the Grannvale legions appearing at the horizon.

Coulda been executed a lot better, though. Oh, well, it is what it is.

3 hours ago, ping said:

I beg to differ. News travels instantaneous in Jugdral. If it's convenient to the plot.

Like, for example, if Mahnya had arrived to escort Prince Arsehole back to Silesse and allows Sigurd to join them out of her own initiative - that would make sense. Erin sent her subordinate to Silesse six months ago at this point, so it would be reasonable for the queen to start wondering what is keeping Lewyn this time. But instead, Lewyn's mom seems entirely informed about the situation in Grannvale/Agustria. Mahnya arrives with her orders to save Sigurd while he himself is still in shock about Reptor and Langbalt arriving.

I dunno, maybe the next chapter will reveal that the ruling houses of Jugdral all use Palantíri to keep up with global events. Otherwise, this seems to be another example of Genealogy being very fucky about the passage of time.

Well, uh... They travel slowly for the peasantry?

3 hours ago, ping said:

Oh look, another example of Genealogy being very fucky about the passage of time.

Honestly that one's just a weird goof. I don't understand why that line is there. They just had not to write that line. Did they just decide to have a timeskip later and forgot they had that line there? That I could understand, it happened to me with one of my hacks lol

3 hours ago, ping said:

Ah, that makes sense. In addition to the Observer's observation, the GBA games also have that hard limit. It regularly comes up in the fight against Murdock in BinBla, and I remember that somebody didn't have Vaida spawn in Cog of Destiny, most likely because of this, too.

Can confirm. These are older games, having too many variables in play would be tough on the hardware.

[Jotari]

20 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like this idea. This idea works really well. And I think the concern you raise would be very easily solved - just have them know that she's Sigurd's wife, but not much else besides. They kidnap her to use as leverage against Sigurd, but Shannan escapes with a message from her not to worry, to escape and keep fighting. Then, while she's in captivity, Manfroy shows up and spirits her away. This also makes Manfroy's discovery of her location less dumb - if he knows his target is Sigurd's wife, and then Sigurd's wife is taken by those two morons, he'd have a lot less ground to cover than as it is, where it feels like the guy's clairvoyant.

Heck, there'd even be a bit of room to give Langbalt and Reptor a tiny bit of depth there. Make one of them, or both even, seem rather reluctant about using Deirdre in this way, or show them being genuinely concerned when she vanishes. But maybe I'm getting a bit carried away here.

It would change things for Sigurd too though. Namely in that he'd know what happened to Deirdre. The way it's done in the game is that she goes missing and nobody knows how or why. Sigurd can't even begin to look for her. If he knows or has reason to suspect she's in the hands of his enemies then him sitting on his laurels for a year in Silesse would make him seem either more callous or helpless than would work for Sigurd's character. So word somehow getting our that Deirdre vanished in the commotion would work better for Sigurd's character (and twist the dagger a bit more as he'd have reason to hope she somehow managed to escape). I think it'd be a hard sell for him to even go to Silesse in the first place if he thought Deirdre was in immediate harms way somewhere he can pin point, though it could be written for him to relent by someone pointing to the literal baby in his arms that needs to be brought to safety.

Edited March 12 by Jotari

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Can confirm. These are older games, having too many variables in play would be tough on the hardware.

AW keeps the unit cap at 50 as well, another Intelligent Systems product from the same eras. ...Although I didn't mention it above, because if a battle had 3-4 armies, that'd be upwards of 150-200 units on the map. Somehow, the 50-limit seems to only be an issue per army.

[ping]

Help! The numbers don't make any sense!

__

From this fight, we can derive Senghor's hit and avoid:

• 58 + 20 (arena avoid) + 22 (Beo's avoid) = 100 hit. Steel blades have 60 innate hit, which puts Senghor at 20 Skl.
• 134 (Beo's hit) - 92 (disp. hit) - 20 (arena avoid) = 22 avo --> 11 AS. Steel blades have 6 Wt, which puts Senghor at 17 Spd.

__

From this fight, we can derive Senghor's hit and avoid:

• 52 + 20 (arena avoid) + 28 (Jamke's avoid) = 100 hit. The ranged attack of the Flame Sword has the same innate hit as Elfire (80), which puts Senghor at 10 Skl.
• 102 (Jamke's hit) - 60 (disp. hit) - 20 (arena avoid) = 22 avo --> 11 AS. The ranged attack of the Flame Sword has the same weight as Elfire (12), which puts Senghor at 23 Spd.

Do I have some obvious brainfart here, or is Senghor cheating? Both duels are neutral wrt the weapon triangle, and I'm pretty sure that terrain does reduce magic accuracy in Genealogy.

--

edit: I get the same result for opponent #6, Nikias, a Warrior who either uses a Brave Axe or a Brave Bow. Like Senghor, he has the same hit and AS/avo with both weapons, with the stats on the wiki confirming to the Brave Axe stats I calculated, even thouth the Bow should be lighter and more accurate.

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

Very impressive, getting Ethlyn to level 30! I think I've only made it to the high 20s with her. You never told us you were going for rankings! ...Or you did, and I missed it.

Forgot to respond to this -

If I recall, the XP requirement for a ranked run is very strict, so I think sending off Quan at Lv.17 easily counteracts his maxed out wife. Not to mention Deirdre at Lv.7, or the crew of Lv.7-8 (Noish, Alec, Arden, Dew - all outleveled by Taillte already) significantly hampering the effort.

And even if I managed to grind them all to Lv.30 in the last two maps - I'm sitting at 13 recorded losses. I have been playing entirely without emulator saves, just as Kaga intended, so the deaths I have reported do stick to the save file.

Edited March 12 by ping

[ping]

FE4 Chapter 4: Dance in the Skies

Sailane (Turn 0-1)

Spoiler

The unthinkable has come to pass. Sigurd is now a traitor in the eyes of his beloved Grannvale. In desparation, his army flees to find refuge in the northern Kingdom of Silesse.

It lies under the watchful guard of the valiant pegasus knights and wind mages, and so for over a century since its foundation, Silesse has maintained itself as a neutral nation and resisted all invaders. However, ever since the death of its king several years ago, the royal family has been plagued with strife over its inheritance, and shades of war creep over the peaceful land.

The late king and his wife, Queen Rahna, hada single son, Prince Lewyn. The king's greedy younger brother, Duke Daccar, objects to Lewyn being heir to the throne and has confined himself to Zaxon Castle in protest. As if acting in concert, the king's youngest brother, Duke Maios, has set to work raising an army for himself at Thove Castle.

Out of disgust at his uncles, Prince Lewyn left Silesse to travel the world years ago. Is there no end to the dukes' avarice? Their lust for power will condemn Silesse, a beautiful and majestic land, to the searing ravages of a brutal war.

From the allied castle of Silesse, two Pegasi take flight towards "our" castle, Sailane:

: "Sire, Queen Rahna is here to see you."
: "Queen Rahna?"
: "Good evening, Lord Sigurd. Are you comfortably settled into Sailane yet? Is there anything at all that you need?"
: "As much as I appreciate the offer, we're fine. I can't thank you enough for your hospitality, Your Highness."
: "I know Sailane is perhaps too small to house all of you adequately, and I'm sorry, but please, bear with me for a while longer. I'm doing all I can to hasten your liberty. I've sent letter after letter to Belhalla to advocate for your innocence. As of yet, however, I've still heard nothing at all from King Azmur."
: "This... This has to be Reptor's doing! First he betrays my father, and now he's stopping all of your letters! He must be!"
: "Calm yourself, Lord Sigurd! I know well the pain you're feeling, but you cannot let your grudges rule you. Your anger will not save your father. Hatred will only destroy you from within. I swear to you, I can and I will find a way to set this to rights, but you must be patient."
: "You're right... I'm sorry, Your Highness. I really appreciate all you've done for me."
: "It's alright, Lord Sigurd. Oh, before I forget... There actually has been some good news from Grannvale of late."
: "Good news, you say?"
: "Mm. A previouisly unknown daughter of Prince Kurth has been discovered. All of Grannvale is rejoicing at the news."
: "Huh?! Is that even possible?"
: "It took King Azmur only a glance to recognize her true heritage. She bears the brand of Naga, the proof of a true heir to House Belhalla. There is no doubt. She is Kurth's child."
: "I see... Thank goodness. At the very least, this means the royal lineage won't go extinct."
: "That's not all. The princess and Duke Arvis are in a relationship. King Azmur has given his blessing, and a magnificent wedding will soon be held."
: "Arvis? Really?"
: "All who've seen the happy couple eagerly attest that this beautiful princess and Duke Arvis are perfectly matched together. To say nothing of how happy the couple is said to be! Young love is wonderful, isn't it? ...Oh. Lord Sigurd, I'm so sorry. I forgot. Your wife is still-"
: "Deirdre... My wife's still gone, yes... It's been over a year since she vanished. She's missed an entire year of watching Seliph grow up."
: "I'm so sorry, Lord Sigurd, but cheer up. I know you'll reunite someday."
: "You're right. I feel it, too. I can't give in to sorrow just yet. I can't give up on finding her."

Sure is too bad that nobody seems to know the name of Kurth's long-lost daughter.

This is a continuation of the previous topic that Sigurd technically has all the pieces available to conclude, or at the least suspect, that Arvis is about to marry Deirdre, who is also his half-sister.

I don't think Rahna provides him with any more hints about Deirdre's identity - but what Sigurd should be able to figure out here is that Arvis is likely to be about to unknowingly marry his half-sister: Sigurd knows that Arvis's mom had an affair with Prince Kurth, that Arvis's mom fled Grannvale after Arvis's dad killed himself over that affair, and that Kurth never remarried because he couldn't get over that relationship. It's not a big leap to suspect that Kurth's only child came from that affair, even though it's not impossible that Kurth would've searched comfort in casual encounters with other women.

Also, just to get it out of my system, eww.

: "Ah, of course. I'll be with you in a moment. Lord Sigurd, one last thing... Beware of Duke Maois of Thove. I regret to say that my brother-in-law has long hungered to claim Sailane for himself. It's only a matter of time till he goes so far as to attack you. I wish I could provide you with reinforcements, but..."
: "...I know. The capital is under the very same treat from Duke Daccar of Zaxon. You cannot afford to weaken your own guard. Daccar will pounce upon you given even a hint of weakness. Don't worry about it, your highness. There's nothing the Thove army can throw at us that we can't handle."
: "Ah, of course. I should be more confident in such veteran heroes as yourselves. Oh! I've been talking for so long, I lost track of the time. Take care, Lord Sigurd."
: "You too, Your Highness. Thank you."

: "You've just chatted for hours and hours with Sigurd, yet you can't even acknowledge your own son?"
: "My son? The one who abandoned me two years ago, going gods know where? How do I talk to someone who's clearly not here?"
: "Heh heh... So this is how it's going to be, is it? You're still mad at me, then?"
: "Of course I am! Do you have any idea how hard it was without you, and how worried I've been after you? That my own son could be so cold-hearted... I thought I knew you better than this."
: "Look, I know you're upset, but I had my reasons for all this. But come on, I'm home safely! Surely that counts for something and you can forgive me? I swear I'll make up for it and be the very picture of a good son. Hey, how about I give you a shoulder massage to start?"
: "Oh! What nerve! Treating me as if I'm an old crone... Look, Lewyn, there are more pressing matters which we need to talk about, and soon. Come to Silesse as soon as possible. Do not forget! Do I make myself clear?"
: "...Sigh. I thought she'd never stop."

The implication being that Lewyn never even bothered to show up at his mother's during the whole year he's been back in Silesse.

For goodness's sake, don't encourage him.

: "Indeed, she hasn't been anything as cheerful as this since before you left."
: "Thanks, Mahnya. Knowing you're at her side is a big relief. Look after her, okay?"
: "Yes, sir! Rest assured, I will protect the queen with my life, on my honor as the captain of the Silessian pegasus knights."
: "Thanks. Oh, one more thing... Are you gonna leave Erin here with Sigurd?"

: "Oh. Eavesdropping, were you, Erin?"
: "You were about to tell him too much, so..."
: "Ah. My apologies, Erin. There are things he shouldn't know just yet, of course... Erin, I'll be leaving with Queen Rahna and returning to Silesse Castle shortly. You'll stay here and keep an eye on Prince Lewyn. Best of luck."
: "Thank you, Mahnya."

Mahnya and Rahna out. And speaking of out...

: "Sigurd, we'll now be taking our leave. It's high time we returned to Leonster. Rest assured, we'll be back, this time leading the full military might of Leonster to your aid. May that day come soon, my friend."
: "I'm going with Quan, Sigurd. Don't worry, though. We'll be back before you know it! Take care of yourself."
: "By your leave, sir, I'll be departing with my lord. Thank you for all you've done for us. Don't give up, sir. One day, I know, the charges against you will be cleared and your good name restored. I know you can do this."
: "Thank you. You've got quite the journey back to Leonster ahead of you. I wish I could do more to help you on your way. may your journey be a safe one!"

Not sure what Finn was referring to with "all you've done for us". It's been entirely onesidedly Leonster helping out Sigurd, hasn't it?

And because we haven't had enough cutscenes yet...

__

Greetings, Elliot with a new wardrobe.

: "Dithorba! Is the army ready to deploy yet?"
: "Yes, sir. Bishop Cuvuli's wind mage unit has infiltrated the forests near Sailane. They await your command, sir."
: "Very well. Relay my orders to Cuvuli: move in on Sailane! Dithorba, I trust your pegasus corps are already briefed on your mission?"
: "Yes, sir. Our task is clear. My squadron is to raid the enemy from above, disrupting their tactics."
: "Good. Now get to work! Grannvale will owe us a handsome reward for bringing them the heads of their infamous traitors! Heh heh heh..."

Finally!

This map starts out fairly straightforward, with a linear path from Sailane to Thove leading through some forests and across bridges acting as choke points, and with a number of villages on the way to collect. After that, it seems that we'll have to get back to Sailane and cross a few mountain tiles to get to Silesse, and from there to Zaxon. No villages on the south side means that there's probably not that much time pressure on that part of the map, though.

To nobody's surprise, the villages are under threat immediately - the three  closest are even going to start burning on the very first turn.

____

The closest group of enemies not preoccupied with the villages is a bunch of Wind Mages led by a status-using Bishop. Good to have Restore on Aideen to counteract him - the only character at the start of the chapter who can resist his spell is Claude, although Erin will join him after promotion, with the Res band still equipped.

__

We also have two long-ranged mages with Blizzard tomes waiting; one in a good position to pelt an approaching army, the other one not as much.

The second mobile miniboss is Dithorba, who can punish unattentive players pretty hard if you bring her to single-digit HP. It's a nice touch that she gets the skill from an item, not as an innate skill, since the latter would've been much easier to miss. Although in Dithorba's case, it's also interesting to note that she carries three Authority stars / a +20 hit/avo aura.

And finally, the first "real" boss. Using wind magic, so he has fairly high AS, and a Baron, so he has the fairly annoying Pavise skill.

Now then, pre-fight preparation. First: It was indeed silly not to have Ethlyn sell her (or, technically, Aideen's) Mend staff. She even was in range of a castle to do so on the last turn of ch.3. Claude is going to pick it up from the pawnbroker.

____

And then, of course, arenaing, with Arden politely moving the RN string forward a bit for Lex's advantage. Here is today's match-up:

(1) Kamahl - Lv.13 Wind Mage
	39 HP | 2 Def | 8 Res
	[Elwind] - 24 Atk | 98 Hit | 20 Avo | 10 AS

(2) Kaledin - Lv.16 Paladin
	56 HP | 13 Def | 6 Res
	[Steel Sword] - 23 Atk | 106 Hit | 20 Avo | 10 AS
(2R) Keith - Lv.16 Arch Knight
	56 HP | 12 Def
	[Steel Bow] - 28 Atk | 94 Hit | 8 Avo | 4 AS

(3) Senghor - Lv.19 Forest Knight - Skill: Adept
	59 HP | 13 Def | 4 Res
	[Steel Blade] - 29 Atk | 100 Hit | 22 Avo | 11 AS
	[Flame Sword] - 15 Atk | 100 Hit | 22 Avo | 11 AS

(4) Nikita - Lv.22 Pegasus Knight
	57 HP | 11 Def | 9 Res
	[Brave Lance] - 28 Atk | 106 Hit | 12 Avo | 6 AS
(4R) Nene - Lv.22 Archer - Skill: Pursuit
	52 HP | 11 Def
	[Silver Bow] - 31 Atk | 102 Hit | 16 Avo | 8 AS

(5) Kraft - Lv.25 Mage Knight - Item: Shield Ring
	65 HP | 10+5 Def | 12 Res
	[Elthunder] - 29 Atk | 108 Hit | 14 Avo | 7 AS

(6) Nikias - Lv.28 Warrior
	68 HP | 18 Def | 5 Res
	[Brave Axe] - 35 Atk | 96 Hit | 16 Avo | 8 AS
	[Brave Bow] - 33 Atk | 96 Hit | 16 Avo | 8 AS

(7) Atlas - Lv.30 Baron - Item: Skill Ring - Skill: Pavise
	75 HP | 21 Def | 10 Res
	[Bolganone] - 30 Atk | 112 Hit | 8 Avo | 4 AS 

As I mentioned earlier today: Yes, hit/avo on Senghor and Nikias's ranged weapons is fucky. Here is proof -  also of Serenesforest and the .org wiki getting Keith's Skl wrong by one point! Gasp!

Overall, people fighting through all, or parts of, the arena were the following:

	  Lv.	  HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res  Funds  XP    Arn
Sigurd	  26.11*  57  24   0  22  22  15  18   4  23000  +174  [*]
Lex	  28.28*  56  27   2  18  14  12  25   4  49360  +316  [*]
Midir	  25.79*  47  21   1  16  23   9  13   4  32600  +400  [*]
Beowulf	  23.32*  49  22   0  28  18   4  18   3  35880  +480  [*]

Erin	  24.12*  43  15   9  19  27  10  19  14  37140  +448  [*]
Raquesis  21.50*  37  24   8  22  20   9  21  10  30535  +559  [*]
Lewyn	  22.93*  48   3  28  23  30   8   8  15  50000  +496  [*]
Taillte	  15.64   43   0  15  24  13  13   1  11  19000  +660  [*]

Claude	  25.58*  36   1  24  17  16  12   5  23  1700   +18   [3]
Holyn	  15.96	  43  15   0  20  17   3  11   1  39120  +96   [4]
Jamke	  18.21	  47  15   0  16  17  11  12   1  44050  +176  [6]

There was certainly some brute-forcing (Especially for Taillte! She even needed a few resets to get past the first opponent.) and RNG advancement involved...

...as well as a neat little mid-fight swap to the Miracle Sword by Raquesis.

__

She still had to buy the Brave Sword from Beowulf to get through Kraft and Atlas, since they both two-shot her without activating Miracle, but that seems quite worthwhile, especially because it was enough to get her to promotion.

Beowulf, Erin, and Lewyn also reached Lv.20+ during this, but of course, the Master Knight promotion dwarfs even Lewyn's bonuses from going Sage.

You'll notice that Sigurd didn't gain nearly as much XP as the other arena winners - that's because he bought the Knight Ring ahead of time instead. It's entirely useless on him, of course, but I thought it prudent to spend the 40k on it now, since Sigurd won't be able to afford both it and the Leg Ring (and maybe even the Paragon Band) at the same time.

Not entirely sure yet how much steroids I want to pump into Seliph. I don't want to do do a lord solo, I hope that much is obvious with how I'm playing gen 1, but he is the best recipient for a lot of the inheritance resources.

After all the initial arenaing is done (with a few characters, namely Bridget, Ayra, and maybe Azel, waiting for a potential money injection for a Paragon run), there's a few convos to get out of the way:

: "I need to ask you something quick."
: "Hm? Me?"
: "Yeah. That okay? I mean, we've been friends for years. And I don't think there's anyone else who I can ask about this."
: "Huh. You look downright grim and serious... If you really think I can help, then sure. What seems to be the problem?"
: "Well... I, er... I'm only with you lot because I was just following Claude around, but I'm starting to think I shouldn't have done that..."
: "What makes you think so?"
: "It's because people are acting kinda like they're treading carefully 'round me. And when I'm around, people stop talking about my father..."
: "Ah... That certainly doesn't sound fun. But I'd say people really do like you. It's more that they honestly aren't sure how they should treat you, and that they're worried they'll cause you grief. Don't worry too much. It'll all be fine once they get to know you better."
: "Yeah... Guess you're right. Thanks, Azel. Think I might be feeling a bit better 'bout this now."
: "Hah! Glad you're back to normal, Taillte. If you're ever feeling like this again, I'll always be here to help you through it, no matter what happens."
: "Okay. Thanks!"

Gosh, this almost makes me like Taillte! Too bad about the first impression.

Anyway, this was a love conversation, adding 100 points to their affection. I hope Azel will still grow to appreciate the pirate queen, but I can't say no to +5 HP. ...I just hope that I won't have to redo the chapter just because of this.

: "I am. I bought it for you, after all. Silesse's pegasus knights are a formidable foe to face. With a bow of this caliber in hand, I know you'll be better prepared to fight them."
: "Milady... I still can't believe this isn't a dream! I can't believe we're actually married... I've dreamed of this for so long."
: "I've long dreamt of the same myself. I had wanted to act upon it for so many years, but I couldn't, even at my loneliest... But... I think by now you can just call me Aideen. I'll always look out for you Midir. I'll always pray for your safety."

As the First Mate mentioned, the Brave Bow is one of three high-end bows that all have their own advantages. Killer vs. Brave Bow seems very dependent on enemy avoid (Killer Bow has 100 hit!) and if Midir can still quadruple with the Brave Bow's higher weight.

Not much to say about the convo itself. Cute. Not quite revolutionising the field of romantic literature.

And finally, Sigurd talking to Claude. This one doesn't yield any rewards, but it still ends up being canon for this run:

: "I did return to Grannvale, and I was about to relate the truth to His Majesty. But Reptor interfered before I could do anything, and now I, too, am branded a traitor to the motherland."
: "Ugh. I've had enough of just sitting here and letting Raptor have his sorry way! I swear, I've half a mind to storm straight into Grannvale and end this once and for all!"
: "No. You know better than to rely on brute force or to risk the common folk's safety. For now, Lord Sigurd, we must endure."
: "But, Father Claude-"

"No. Bad Sigurd. No seizing Belhalla. Bad."
"Grr.... Woof! Bark! Grrrrr...."

: "Make no mistake. I feel your pain, too, but this crisis's end now lies in fate's hands. There's nothing any of us can do to save ourselves anymore."

Remarkably fatalistic, compared to everybody else's more encouraging speeches.

At the end of the turn, of course there's more cutscenes:

: "Move in! Teach the traitorous scum the terror of a wind mage's wrath!"

The Wind Mages do indeed move in. Very. Slowwwwlyy. Literally 1-2 tiles of movement. Not sure if intentional or if their loose formation confuses the squad AI.

And finally, at Zaxon (a pretty good approximation to the pronounciation of the German "Sachsen" = Saxony, although the a in Sachsen is more like the u in luck):

Hello Elliot's father who is now not-Elliot's big brother.

: "Heh heh... Why, this little drama is finally getting interesting. Wouldn't you say, Pamela?"
: "Indeed, sir. However, as I recall we didn't account for Sigurd's fugitives being here. Their strength poses a real risk to the plan. If Maios at least succeeds at weakening them, perhaps Silesse's fall will still go smoothly?"
: "Even if he fails, I still have my private deal with Grannvale in my favor. Their Lord André should arrive shortly with a battalion of reinforcements. Heh heh... My victory is certain, Pamela! I'll be sitting on the Silessian throne by the end of the week!"
: "Without a doubt, sir."

Ohhh, this is where Aideen and Bridget's brother appears. I had first predicted that he'll be an evil uncle for the second generation. I do remember the scene he undoubtedly will be a part of, but I didn't remember that it was him leading the enemy troops.

Anyway, there's one silly dialogue that I can show and then reset and pretend it never happened:

: "Hey! Hey, Erin! You totally like Lewyn, don't ya? Like do ya really like him?"
: "Huh?! I... that's... Er, no. Prince Lewyn is beloved and respected by all the people of Silesse, myself included."
: "Oh? Okay, then. Then I guess you'd be okay with me and Lewyn getting together, right?"
: "Er... Yes. I wouldn't really mind..."
: "Reeeeally? That wouldn't bug ya at all?"
: "No, I'm sure I'd have no issue. Why do you ask? Am I supposed to object?"
: "I dunno! But if it's all fine by ya, then I guess it's time for me to go work my magic on Lewyn..."
: "Er... The thing is, a prospective queen of Silesse ought to possess the same grace and dignity as our Queen Rahna."
: "Oh, so you're sayin' I'm not cut out of it? How rude!"
: "Er, no... That isn't-"
: "Hmph. Fine, then. I'll show you!"

What a nice way to end an update.

This is a bit of an easter egg, since it's not a Talk command and thus doesn't show up in the unit list, either. Apart from giving the player a headache, it also adds a few love points for Sylvia/Lewyn, and even fewer for Erin/Lewyn.

 

Edited March 12 by ping

[Saint Rubenio]

6 hours ago, ping said:

Help! The numbers don't make any sense!

__

From this fight, we can derive Senghor's hit and avoid:

• 58 + 20 (arena avoid) + 22 (Beo's avoid) = 100 hit. Steel blades have 60 innate hit, which puts Senghor at 20 Skl.
• 134 (Beo's hit) - 92 (disp. hit) - 20 (arena avoid) = 22 avo --> 11 AS. Steel blades have 6 Wt, which puts Senghor at 17 Spd.

__

From this fight, we can derive Senghor's hit and avoid:

• 52 + 20 (arena avoid) + 28 (Jamke's avoid) = 100 hit. The ranged attack of the Flame Sword has the same innate hit as Elfire (80), which puts Senghor at 10 Skl.
• 102 (Jamke's hit) - 60 (disp. hit) - 20 (arena avoid) = 22 avo --> 11 AS. The ranged attack of the Flame Sword has the same weight as Elfire (12), which puts Senghor at 23 Spd.

Do I have some obvious brainfart here, or is Senghor cheating? Both duels are neutral wrt the weapon triangle, and I'm pretty sure that terrain does reduce magic accuracy in Genealogy.

When in doubt, blame Kaga.

3 minutes ago, ping said:

Out of disgust at his uncles, Prince Lewyn left Silesse to travel the world years ago. Is there no end to the dukes' avarice? Their lust for power will condemn Silesse, a beautiful and majestic land, to the searing ravages of a brutal war.

I mean, who was the one that left, though? Way to give the handsome, non-recolor one a pass, game.

4 minutes ago, ping said:

: "My son? The one who abandoned me two years ago, going gods know where? How do I talk to someone who#s clearly not here?"

Honestly, Rahna's the only one who's actually giving a crap here. While everyone else is too busy going off on their own for their selfish ideas and plans, this poor woman's had to handle the country basically on her own.

(Also nice typo)

5 minutes ago, ping said:

The implication being that Lewyn never even bothered to show up at his mother's during the whole year he's been back in Silesse.

Also, yes, that's absolutely terrible and she's entirely justified in giving him the silent treatment.

6 minutes ago, ping said:

"She's actually very happy, now you've returned a year ago and didn't even see her until she came all the way here to meet with Lord Sigurd."

6 minutes ago, ping said:

Greetings, Elliot with a new wardrobe.

It's woman who is in Heroes for... well, I know the reason, it's because a character from Thracia is randomly her daughter, but like. Couldn't have picked a more forgettable bosswoman, honestly.

12 minutes ago, ping said:

Honestly, if they were going down that route, Pamela deserved to get in far more. At least she does one memorable thing.

[ping]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I mean, who was the one that left, though? Way to give the handsome, non-recolor one a pass, game.

 

Honestly, Rahna's the only one who's actually giving a crap here. While everyone else is too busy going off on their own for their selfish ideas and plans, this poor woman's had to handle the country basically on her own.

(Also nice typo)

Lewyn's excuse is rather thin, too. He ran away because his uncles would start a civil war about the succession... but why would the two of them not start a fight between each other, if both of them are willing to do so to grab the throne from Lewyn? So now there's still two pretenders, both of the with shaky legitimacy, and the third one who actually has a claim to the throne is awol. Good job, Lewyn. You didn't solve any problems, you just dumped them onto your mum.

(the apostrophe is shift+"#" on the German keyboard layout. I'm only surprised that I don't make that typo more often)

 

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

7 hours ago, ping said:

Do I have some obvious brainfart here, or is Senghor cheating? Both duels are neutral wrt the weapon triangle, and I'm pretty sure that terrain does reduce magic accuracy in Genealogy.

Senghor is cheating, buuut your calculations are slightly off, because you failed to account for the Luck stat. Remember, Avoid = AS * 2 + Luck. So, if he has 22 Avoid, that doesn't necessarly mean 11 AS. He could have, say, 5 AS and 12 Luck. You can only really know his AS by which units with Pursuit succeed, and fail, at doubling him.

Anyway, yeah, it does appear that they had certain "combat stats" in mind, and worked backward to adjust their stats accordingly. Thankfully, that does not appear to extend to giving Senghor 29 Attack with the Flame Sword.

7 hours ago, ping said:

I recall, the XP requirement for a ranked run is very strict, so I think sending off Quan at Lv.17 easily counteracts his maxed out wife. Not to mention Deirdre at Lv.7, or the crew of Lv.7-8 (Noish, Alec, Arden, Dew - all outleveled by Taillte already) significantly hampering the effort.

Anecdotally, EXP was the only area I managed to Ace on my latest (subs only) ranked run. But I also did merciless amounys of Arena grinding, gold grabbing, and Paragon passing.

Alec and Noish, still in the single digits? That's a bruh moment. They're only, like, the second-worst Christmas cavs out there. Ya gotta love 'em!

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's a pretty galaxy brain idea. It's not like either of Quan's kids need it.

The "sicko" part was getting 50 kills on the Steel Lance to begin with. Basically, I need to send Quan on a murderous rampage, and hope he Adepts with uncanny frequency. That said, actually getting 50 kills on something that isn't a Sword is an uncanny feeling.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Coulda been executed a lot better, though.

Just like Eldigan, ay-oh!

...What, too soon?

1 hour ago, ping said:

The late king and his wife, Queen Rahna, hada single son, Prince Lewyn. The king's greedy younger brother, Duke Daccar, objects to Lewyn being heir to the throne and has confined himself to Zaxon Castle in protest. As if acting in concert, the king's youngest brother, Duke Maios, has set to work raising an army for himself at Thove Castle.

Weird how the uncles are barely pallete swaps of an Augustrian father-son duo. What's the age difference supposed to be here? And at the very least, they could've been given green hair!

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "I know Sailane is perhaps too small to house all of you adequately, and I'm sorry, but please, bear with me for a while longer. I'm doing all I can to hasten your liberty. I've sent letter after letter to Belhalla to advocate for your innocence. As of yet, however, I've still heard nothing at all from King Azmur."

It's kinda crazy to think that Sigurd and co get a whole-ass castle to themselves. Like, what happened to the previous "Duke of Silaine"? Did he get thrown out on his ass?

...Actually, if they wanted to give the enemies any sort of nuance, they could've taken this angle. Make the previous master of Silaine a minor enemy you face, working in concert with Lewyn's uncles to get his domain back.

2 hours ago, ping said:

Not sure what Finn was referring to with "all you've done for us". It's been entirely onesidedly Leonster helping out Sigurd, hasn't it?

Hm... maybe the Gold and the Pursuit Band? Plenty of kills on their weaoons, too. It's been a nice spot of training, these past couple years.

...Wait, who's running Chalphy while all this is going on? Byron's at war and/or dying, Sigurd's leading this campaign, and Ethlyn just follows Quan wherever he goes. Do they have a mother who's still alive? I'm just thinking, if not, then it creates a power vacuum at home.

2 hours ago, ping said:

The closest group of enemies not preoccupied with the villages is a bunch of Wind Mages led by a status-using Bishop. Good to have Restore on Aideen to counteract him - the only character at the start of the chapter who can resist his spell is Claude, although Erin will join him after promotion, with the Res band still equipped.

God, I hate "staff-only enemy Bishops". Since Staves don't have a Weight stat, they have an uncanny Avoid rate. Add in some Authority stars, and it gets super unlikely to actually hit them with the Thief Sword. When normally, these kinds of enemies would be "free real estate".

2 hours ago, ping said:

As the First Mate mentioned, the Brave Bow is one of three high-end bows that all have their own advantages. Killer vs. Brave Bow seems very dependent on enemy avoid (Killer Bow has 100 hit!) and if Midir can still quadruple with the Brave Bow's higher weight.

Yeah, they both have their time and place. What's kinda funny is, the Killer Bow's namesake advantage is "negated", in a sense, against flying enemies. Since every bow attack is always critting a flying enemy. The Killer Bow is still good against fliers, of course, but because of its light weight and accuracy - not it's "Killer" effect.

2 hours ago, ping said:

This is a bit of an easter egg, since it's not a Talk command and thus doesn't show up in the unit list, either. Apart from giving the player a headache, it also adds a few love points for Sylvia/Lewyn, and even fewer for Erin/Lewyn.

Love this convo, even if it's easy to accidentally trigger.

Speaking of secret events with Sylvia, don't forget the Shield Sword event in one if the northeastern villages! It's widely usable, and a great tool for anyone to inherit.

[ping]

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

Senghor is cheating, buuut your calculations are slightly off, because you failed to account for the Luck stat. Remember, Avoid = AS * 2 + Luck. So, if he has 22 Avoid, that doesn't necessarly mean 11 AS. He could have, say, 5 AS and 12 Luck. You can only really know his AS by which units with Pursuit succeed, and fail, at doubling him.

(Non-recruitable) Enemies have zero Lck

Of course, I technically can't tell if that is true for arena opponents (other than Holyn), too, but Serenesforest explicitly says that it is the case. Now, I can't quite trust the numbers on that page, since I have found a few mistakes already, but because it's true for enemies on the field, and because I don't think I've seen an arena opponent (other than Holyn) with an odd avoid stat, I think it's pretty safe to assume that Serenes is correct about this.

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

Alec and Noish, still in the single digits? That's a bruh moment. They're only, like, the second-worst Christmas cavs out there. Ya gotta love 'em!

Nobody cares about bachelors.

...that's basically it. They're victims of my eugenics program, and specifically of my insistence on giving Patty, Fee, and Ced magical dads.

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

It's kinda crazy to think that Sigurd and co get a whole-ass castle to themselves. Like, what happened to the previous "Duke of Silaine"? Did he get thrown out on his ass?

It would be feasible (although most likely 100% headcanon) that Rahna herself is the Duchess of Sailane. It's likely that the king of Silesse would've married a noblewoman, so why not a duchess?

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

Hm... maybe the Gold and the Pursuit Band? Plenty of kills on their weaoons, too. It's been a nice spot of training, these past couple years.

"Thank you for letting us slaughter your enemies and plunder their riches" - Finn

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

...Wait, who's running Chalphy while all this is going on? Byron's at war and/or dying, Sigurd's leading this campaign, and Ethlyn just follows Quan wherever he goes. Do they have a mother who's still alive? I'm just thinking, if not, then it creates a power vacuum at home.

Well, the enemies of House Chalphy are also busy fighting a war in Isaach. And after Kurth's death, Reptor and Langbalt have an excuse to go kill Byron and Sigurd as a permanent solution, instead of occupying Chalphy's lands. But unless stated otherwise, it would seem likely that during the year that Sigurd spent in Silesse, either of the evil dukes would take it over. They control the king, so they would have the means to do so.

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

Speaking of secret events with Sylvia, don't forget the Shield Sword event in one if the northeastern villages! It's widely usable, and a great tool for anyone to inherit.

Oo, and you don't even get a replacement in gen 2 if you don't grab it here. That does seem rather important.

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

It's woman who is in Heroes for... well, I know the reason, it's because a character from Thracia is randomly her daughter, but like. Couldn't have picked a more forgettable bosswoman, honestly.

Honestly, if they were going down that route, Pamela deserved to get in far more. At least she does one memorable thing.

And they didn't even give her Miracle, those fiends! Honestly, I'd rather Cuvuli. A staff locked villainous character is cool. Of course one or both of Lewyn's uncles being armoured mages would be the best. But Heroes doesn't want us to have nice things, and the series in general doesn't want us to have armoured mages.

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

.lec and Noish, still in the single digits? That's a bruh moment. They're only, like, the second-worst Christmas cavs out there. Ya gotta love 'em!

And people say Genealogy is Horse Emblem. Lewyn is a lot more useful than Alec or Noish. Really it's Nobility Emblem. Just as Kaga intended.

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

It's kinda crazy to think that Sigurd and co get a whole-ass castle to themselves. Like, what happened to the previous "Duke of Silaine"? Did he get thrown out on his ass?

...Actually, if they wanted to give the enemies any sort of nuance, they could've taken this angle. Make the previous master of Silaine a minor enemy you face, working in concert with Lewyn's uncles to get his domain back.

Make Cuvuli the Duke of Silaine...I'm a Cuvuli fanboy now.

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

...Wait, who's running Chalphy while all this is going on? Byron's at war and/or dying, Sigurd's leading this campaign, and Ethlyn just follows Quan wherever he goes. Do they have a mother who's still alive? I'm just thinking, if not, then it creates a power vacuum at home.

No, Sigurd's mother is dead, this is the very chapter that establishes that as he comes to see Lewyn's mom as an adoptive mother in this time (presumably they went on lots of nice picnics together where she ranted about how had a son Lewyn is while Sigurd was thinking "man I'd be so much better a son than that waster").

As for who is in charge of Chalphy, I think Oifey's parents are dead too, who are the minor blood cadet family. So it's probably Palmarch, Sigurd's underling that is never seen or mentioned in Gen 1.

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

God, I hate "staff-only enemy Bishops". Since Staves don't have a Weight stat, they have an uncanny Avoid rate. Add in some Authority stars, and it gets super unlikely to actually hit them with the Thief Sword. When normally, these kinds of enemies would be "free real estate".

You leave my boy Cuvuli alone. He's working hard. And he gave me a lot of trouble in my Sigurd solo, so he has my respect.

[BrightBow]

5 hours ago, ping said:

Sure is too bad that nobody seems to know the name of Kurth's long-lost daughter.

Yeah, but since she is brainwashed anyway, logically she would have had a different name forced on her. Seeing how the name of the missing wife of Lord Sigurd of House Chalphy would hardly be entirely unknown.
That would make more sense. But it would also just needlessly complicate things. So I most certainly don't mind this getting streamlined and everyone going by the names we know them as.
 

5 hours ago, ping said:

: "Well... I, er... I'm only with you lot because I was just following Claude around, but I'm starting to think I shouldn't have done that..."
: "What makes you think so?"

Being stuck for a year in a snow country alongside traitors to the crown, probably.
 

5 hours ago, ping said:

: "I did return to Grannvale, and I was about to relate the truth to His Majesty. But Reptor interfered before I could do anything, and now I, too, am branded a traitor to the motherland."

This seems so awkward. If he made it all the way to Grandbell, why would he flee all the way here instead of his own territory? This also makes it much less believable that Tiltyu is still sticking around.
Not to mention it's also contrived that it was apparently specifically Reptor who stopped Claude from reaching the king. Alvis is the guy who acts as the king's right hand. Keeping letters or visitors away from the king would be his job. But of course Sigurd can't know yet that Alvis is part of the conspiracy, or he would toss out the invite to his BBQ.

I would say that it's much easier to imagine that Claude simply recognized the writing at the wall and realized that with Reptor and Langobalt in Augustria, he was not going to make it back to the capital, so he joined the trip to Silesia. For Tiltyu being suddenly confronted by a huge army lead by her dad must have been scary too. So I could see her sticking around for the time being.
 

5 hours ago, ping said:

: "Make no mistake. I feel your pain, too, but this crisis's end now lies in fate's hands. There's nothing any of us can do to save ourselves anymore."

Remarkably fatalistic, compared to everybody else's more encouraging speeches.

From here on out Claude will keep alluding to the fact that he got some bigger spoilers from the tower than he said. Though he will only directly state so in a conversation with Aideen if she is his wife.
Also that convo is one of only two ways to get the Rescue Staff in Gen 1. The other one is Aideen getting it from Azel if they are married in chapter 4. ...but since it's an A rank staff, it's actually quite hard to pass down in that case.
 

5 hours ago, ping said:

This is a bit of an easter egg, since it's not a Talk command and thus doesn't show up in the unit list, either. Apart from giving the player a headache, it also adds a few love points for Sylvia/Lewyn, and even fewer for Erin/Lewyn.

Maybe it's done that way since Sylvia already has a convo with Claude listed.

In any case it's interesting how despite the story pushing Levin and Fury so hard, in gameplay Sylvia is heavily favored. Almost as if that couple is meant to be your punishment if you don't keep Sylvia away from Levin.

Edited March 13 by BrightBow

[Jotari]

32 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Yeah, but since she is brainwashed anyway, logically she would have had a different name forced on her. Seeing how the name of the missing wife of Lord Sigurd of House Chalphy would hardly be entirely unknown.
That would make more sense. But it would also just needlessly complicate things. So I most certainly don't mind this getting streamlined and everyone going by the names we know them as.

As I said when Cigyun was mentioned in two different context months or years apart, it's entirely believable that two people could have the same name and not be related. In fact, we have an example of the one Steve Limit being violated in Jugdral for no plot reason or reference of anything like that, with the Cross Knight Alva and the Leinster knight Alva having the same name for no specific reason. That being said...I actually like the idea of Manfroy giving Deirdre another name. It would make his plan more robust and it would be crueller on Deirdre as even more of her identity is stolen from her. And for stuff like Cipher and Heroes we would have two specific identifiers for Deirdre in her pre and post amnesiac state. I don't think it would be too confusing for the player either. Give the common man some credit, we can tell it's Deirdre from the same portrait, even with portrait reuse her vanishing in one chapter and showing up in another as someone who was mysteriously refound is enough to understand that she's the same person even if everyone is walking around calling her Lady Kurthina or something.

[BrightBow]

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

It's kinda crazy to think that Sigurd and co get a whole-ass castle to themselves. Like, what happened to the previous "Duke of Silaine"? Did he get thrown out on his ass?

If it's anything like Berwick Saga, the duke might be working as Sigurd's secretary.

[Interdimensional Observer]

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

It's kinda crazy to think that Sigurd and co get a whole-ass castle to themselves. Like, what happened to the previous "Duke of Silaine"? Did he get thrown out on his ass?

-As if all the castles we see are the only castles to exist.😛

Any royal family worth a crown ought to own multiple estates. Presumably, Rahna picked one of the best spares for her special guests. And given she's staying at Silesse Castle, I'd imagine that's the capital city residence, and the Sallane property could be the royals' rural retreat, or perhaps summer palace (to escape the heat) given its more northernly location.