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

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

3 hours ago, BrightBow said:

"Sometimes, life seems so complicated. Nothing is truly good or truly evil. Everything seems to be a shade of grey. And then you spend some time with a man like Corrin, and you realize that there is really such a thing as truly evil."

"So I lied. I cheated. I bribed Jakob to cover up the crimes of Hans. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all? I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all again, I would. On Lunatic Mode."

- Average Conquest fan

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Yeah, I actually mentioned that earlier. They swapped Hannibal's castle for the sake of the fan service. By all rights Leif should have been asking for help from this guy

But he's not as photogenic as Hannibal.

Alternatively, Travant redeployed Hannibal from Meath to Kapathogia in advance of Seliph's invasion. Out of concern that a Hannibal stationed "on the frontier" would more readily defect to the opposing army.

6 hours ago, ping said:

Don't forget that the flat price increase caused by tariffs hits the poor harder than the rich business owners! No wonder the rich and powerful prefer them over a progressive tax system! ...although the stereotypical Econ major is probably opposed to higher tax rates for the rich, too.

"See this curve, Prince Leif? It means that, at a certain point, increased taxation on corporations and the wealthy discourages investment, to the point of actually reducing received revenue from taxa-"

"For the love of Njörun, August, all I asked was whether we have enough funds to splurge on an Elfire for Asbel."

[ping]

FE5 Chapter 9: The Banner of Njörun

Spoiler

Putting down the bandit uprising at Mount Violdrake, Leif's army now sought to join forces with the remnants of Leonster's nobility. Leif set a course for General Hannibal's mountain villa, where the deposed nobles now lived in hiding...

Again, deployment slots are pretty limited for this map - 8, instead of the 6+2 from the previous one. If this stays like this, it seems difficult even with the Fatigue mechanic to use all the characters one might want.

: "Is this the area, Merloch?"
: "That's correct, sire."
: "Hmph... So these bandits are harassing Thracian citizens? Even for your average brigand, that's stupid."
: "Exceptionally stupid. Even so, my lord father, you didn't need to come here in person for such a trifle."
: "And what kind of king would I be if I wasn't aware of all the matters that trouble my realm, trifling or no? Besides, it's been too long since you and I had an outing of our own, Altena."
: "Indeed, Father. I'm glad we were able to spend time together."
: "Shame that Arion couldn't join us. I wanted him to come along, but he didn't want the capital to be left unattended in our absence."
: "He's merely taking after your example, Father."
: "Mm. When I was his age, I'd already taken the throne. Arion needs to keep at it if he wants to outpace me."
: "He's doing his best - and so am I. I want only to be a pillar of strength for our family, my lord father."
: "Good. The two of you are Thracia's future. The North abounds with crops, and the mountains of the South hide much in the way of resources and riches. An independent Thracia will need both, not just one or the other. To have a single, united Thracia... My fondest wish is to return this land to what it was in the days of Dáinn and Njörun. ...Even if it damns me to the deepest pit of Hell."
: "...Father?"
: "Altena..."
: "Yes?"
: "...The wind is changing on us. Let's head back and leave this one to Merloch."
: "As you wish, my lord father."
: "You good to handle this on your own, Merloch?"
:"Hah! You insult me by asking, sire!"
: "All right, then I'm entrusting you with the rest of our soldiers. I won't accept any excuses - wipe out every last bandit. Show them what it's like to have made an enemy of Thracia!"
: "Leave everything to me, milord!"

I like Travant in this scene, although Altena is laying on the whole "daddy's girl" act a bit too thick, in my opinion. My impression in Genealogy was that she already had a history of arguing with Travant, so her borderline acting like she's brainwashed is a bit jarring.

: "Then leave it to me. I'll draw their attention and buy everyone time to escape."
: "Wait! General Hannibal sent word ahead. According to him, Prince Leif and a coalition of warriors from Fiana and Munster are already en route. We have to hold out until they get here..."
: "Understood. If you've no objections, I'll establish a defensive perimeter.

: "We're moving out! Follow me!"

I have to point out how funny it is that we're getting a blue-haired female character and her name is almost Seliphina. She even has strands of hair in front of her shoulders very similar to Selphinus.

And I want to point out that I made portraits for Kane, Alba, and Robert while I was at it. What are the chances that they'll ever be needed?

: "Hm? Blast...! Take a closer look at their armor, Prince Leif - that's the Thracian army!"
: "Wh-What?! Wasn't this vila supposed to be under the protection of General Hannibal?"
: "Perhaps Thracia finally learned of their presence, or perhaps General Hannibal tipped them off..."
: "I'll not hear it Augustus! General Hannibal is a man of honor - he'd not do such a thing!"
: "...Be that as it may, we must move to rescue them immediately! If the nobles of Leonster fall with that villa, we'll lose the people's support and any hope of liberating Thracia or rebuilding Leonster!"

I see that despite his short venture into "nobles don't understand the plight of the common man", Kaga is quickly drawn back to "everybody LOVES the aristocracy". Also, Leif is a bit quick to trust Hannibal so implicitly here.

The map! It's a pretty interesting one - the direct path between Leif's group and Selphina's desperate few is blocked by a lot of forest and mountain tiles, so apart from Karin, your characters won't get to the top left of the map before the enemy does. And the enemy does rush towards it - at least the Soldiers, Archers, and bottom left Knights do. The Knights guarding a (Meteor) Bishop only move if you move into their range, and the Wyverns' movement seemed a bit erratic to me.

Part of the Wyvern squad is the boss, who also sports pretty impressive numbers. The only problem: Asbel's Grafcalibur deals effective damage vs. flyers, so he doesn't even need to crit Merloch to one-shot him.

The Bishop has some nice loot on him, making him very much worth capturing.

[HP 50% | Str 25% | Mag 10% | Skl 40% | Spd 35% | Lck 55% | Def 15% | Con 10% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Rank: Bows (B)
Skill: Accost

Selphina seems a bit odd. She joins 6-7 levels above her three companions, but without the stats to reflect that. She's the fastest by one point - but her HP and Str (tied with Robert) are both the lowest between the four. She should still easily be the best unit between the four, since proximity to promotion is worth more than having "more room to grow" and she is the only on of the group with a good weapon rank, but she still gives some "unpromoted Midia" vibes. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. But just judging from what I'm seeing, I think I would've put Selphina at Lv.10 so that she can act as an acutal quasi-prepromote similar to Gerik in SacSto, and at least a few stat points to separate her from the other new recruits.

[HP 65% | Str 45% | Mag 10% | Skl 50% | Spd 60% | Lck 70% | Def 25% | Con 20% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Rank: Bows (E)
Skills: -

Excellent growths, easily the best of any bow user that has joined Leif thus far, but Bows (E) at this point is a cruel joke. Even Tanya, all the way back in Ch.1, had 10 WEXP towards a (D) rank. Ronan was a bit over halfway there. So yeah, seems like a pretty terrible character, especially in game where growths can be massaged by scrolls, but WEXP cannot. I don't even know if Arm's Scrolls are already a thing - Manuals existed in Akaneia, but that's back when Weapon Rank was a skill like any other.

For completion's sake - he does have a FCM > 1, unlike his companions.

[HP 70% | Str 40% | Mag 10% | Skl 45% | Spd 50% | Lck 65% | Def 30% | Con 25% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Ranks: Lances (E+40), [Swords (D+10)]
Skills: -

Callion, but boring? With apologies to all the Alba fans out there. I know there's a bunch of them in Berlin.

[HP 75% | Str 55% | Mag 5% | Skl 40% | Spd 35% | Lck 50% | Def 35% | Con 30% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Ranks: Lances (D+20), [Swords (E+20)]
Skills: -

His stats are a bit more skewed towards Str/Def than Alba and Callion's, so that's at least some unique quality.

But yeah, while Selphina and Robert are at least our first mounted bow users, Kane and Alba feel very much like replacement units and little else. A bit like Noah and Treck in BinBla, except even more underleveled and neither of them dreamt they were a horse.

__

First order of business: Leg day for Leif and a promotion for Finn.

And after that, I decide to gamble a little and send Finn, in support range of Leif and Nanna, into both the boss's and the (stationary) Meteor Bishop's range.

____

: "Y-You're no common bandit! What's going on here?!"

The Meteor gets absorbed by Nanna, who's just barely standing in its range, but in nobody else's.

: "F-Forgive me, King Travant, Your Majesty..."

And that's that.

____

As I mentioned, the Wyverns seem a bit planless - two approach the escape point, while a third one lingers further back with the footfolk.

Loot: secured.

And Marty 1v1's a Wyvern. Successfully, although he delays the inevitable for a turn with a miss here.

__

At this point, the first enemies start threatening the scrub squad. Luckily, they have a narrow choke to defend, but between their low stats and lack of Vulneraries, it's still not an enviable position.

__

.....

(oh, that's Ronan who's not in the first screenshot)

...seems like Robert is our most competent archer, after all.

__

This is probably the most scary round of combat this chapter. The last Wyvern kept lurking above the mountain, so there was no way of blocking him from doing anything dangerous. It's good that he went after Selphina instead of a Lance Cav, who were choking the point at this time, but it's still a 1/8-ish chance of death.

__

After that, the point-chokers rotate a bit, while Marty from the east and Leif's group from the south start to relieve the position.

That part of the fight wasn't much of a problem, even though it never looks nice to have a bow user at the frontlines. But I think I can skip ahead and show the two goody huts on this map:

: "Hey, I know the feeling. Got just the thing! It's called a Stamina Drink. When you're just plain worn out, gulp down that little beauty and you'll be ready and rarin' to take the field again! I'll give you this one as a free sample. If you like it - an' I'm sure you will - see about buyin' more at the Vendor next door, eh? Oh, but best stock up while you can! Tahra's the only other place that sells these. It's worth every coin for soldiers like you!"

5000 is a lot of gold, although not as much as it seems, since prices as a whole seem a bit higher in this game than they tend to be in the series. But I think I'll try to avoid using Stamina Drinks, just to interact with the Fatigue mechanic more "naturally". I'll keep this one on hand in case I'll have to field a fatigued character for some specific reason.

I almost forgot about this village when Leif's group passed looped back north, so Hicks had to backtrack a bit to grab it. He unfortunately didn't have much fighing to do between Finn and Asbel prodding buttock and taking names.

: "I went hunting once, an' found this in the mountains behind my house. It must've been written on fine vellum to have lasted this long. From all the calligraphy, I figure it's gotta have something to do with those well-to-do folk that live up in the villa. You look to be helping 'em already, so could you see that it gets back to them?"

Another more generalist scroll, but with a bit more value than Baldur's Scroll. I wonder if there's an intended message in that.

: "Next time, THEY'LL be the ones retreating...!"
: "I'll ride ahead, Prince! Be careful!"
: "OK, onto the next battle! Ever onward and upward!"

Hey, I did find value for these portraits!

: "As you wish, milord. I'll secure the way ahead!"
: "Wh-What a rush... Everybody all right?"

So, there we go. About 10 turns to beat the map and 5 to backtrack to the southern village. Cool map, honestly, with a unique set-up of starting locations and terrain.

Come to think of it - I believe that Tahra is often credited as Fire Emblem's First Defend Map, but clearly, it's this one, no? It combines that objective with "Escape", but still - you defend Hannibal's Villa, and not just by technicality, with all the enemies going straight after it.

: "You've... grown into quite the splendid young man."
: "Whatever I've accomplished, I owe to you and Finn. Without your sacrifices, I never could've come as far as I have..."
: "...Oh, this is most unbecoming! Confound it... I... I, ah... I suppose I've become easier to move to tears in my age."
: "...Duke Dorius, I think you've earned-- Ah! Y-Your arm! Don't tell me you..."
: "Oh, this? Bah! It's but a trifle. I... grew careless during the battle for Ulster. The disgrace is mine alone to bear."
: "At Ulster? Then... it was for the sake of ensuring my escape... Dammit! Is that what it always comes down to?! How many more people have to sacrifice themselves just to save me? How many?! Even you, Dorius... All for me..."
: "Hah! Don't let this, of all things, weigh heavily upon your heart, Prince Leif. Even supposing I wasn't injured, an old dotard like me would hardly be of any use to you now. Let us not allow our minds to linger on past wounds - we've much work to do yet. I understand you wish to aid Tahra. I mean to do the same, but we've precious little time to act. I've sent Glade ahead to the city. We've gotten word back from him, and he reports that the Empire means to mount an all-out assault against Tahra perilously soon. With you and your forces here, every brave soul in Thracia now stands assembled beneath the banner of Njörun. The reborn kingdom of Leonster must be unleashed upon the front lines - starting with the Thracian soldiers amassed outside!"

: "Outright suspicious, even."
: "I'll start coming up with a plan. Give me a moment to get a better look at this strange state of affairs, Prince Leif."

: "...Who in blazes is that? That Dracoknight - a woman, by the look of it - what's she saying to the Thracian troops? Some kind of declaration?"

: "The men in that villa are not bandits - they're a mercenary unit the General has stationed here to PROTECT this area from bandits! Sheathe your swords! Withdraw at once!"

A rather expensive misunderstanding for the Thracians. Good thing Leif is about to bring these Leonster knights with him, since I can't imagine Trabant wouldn't take a closer look at "Hannibal's private army" if given the chance.

Hannibal's private Army:

	  Lv.	    Fat/HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Con  XP
Leif	  14.28	    --  37   7   0   6   9  12   7   9  +31	[+7 HP]
Finn	  13/2.63   19/ 32  14   2  12  14   7  10  11  +163*
Hicks	  9.55       1/ 32  10   0   6   6   8   9  15  +7
Karin	  10.33	     6/ 21   6   9  10  20  19   5   1  +104

Marty	  11.94	    40/ 42  13   0   7   5  13   9  20  +254	[+3 Skl, +3 Spd]
Ronan	  9.79	    26/ 24   8   3   7   9   3   2   7  +81
Nanna	  9.47	     9/ 23   6   7  11  10  14   5   4  +126
Asbel	  10/4.22   15/ 36   0  14  15  20   8   7   6  +89	[+7 HP, +2 Mag]

Selphina  8.61	     4/ 22   5   3   7  10   7   6   5  +61	[base]
Robert	  2.39	     6/ 23   5   0   4   9   7   4   7  +39	[base]
Kane	  2.09	     1/ 26   7   0   4   7   3   6  10  +9	[base]
Alba	  2.27	     3/ 24   6   0   4   9   4   5   9  +27	[base]

 

  

11 hours ago, Jotari said:

Yeah, I actually mentioned that earlier. They swapped Hannibal's castle for the sake of the fan service. By all rights Leif should have been asking for help from this guy

But he's not as photogenic as Hannibal.

Ah, sorry, I must've missed that.

Although I think you mean this guy: Or maybe it was this one:

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Btw, mounted units count as units with 20 Con for the sake of rescue and capturing. So it's no longer possible to carry Marty around. It also means some enemies flatout cannot be captured.

Yeah, I noticed that when I tried to boost him a bit with Karin during this chapter. Feels like a bit of an oversight that Kaga didn't put the value at 21, tbh.

[BrightBow]

57 minutes ago, ping said:

Part of the Wyvern squad is the boss, who also sports pretty impressive numbers. The only problem: Asbel's Grafcalibur deals effective damage vs. flyers, so he doesn't even need to crit Merloch to one-shot him.

But he does have a movement star. With the ability to move twice in a row, he can very much target any squishy he wants.

I suppose the safest way to handle him would be to lure him with Asbel holding a scroll. Can't move twice if you die to a counter attack on your first move.
Sadly Asbel still can't actually double him.
 

57 minutes ago, ping said:

The Bishop has some nice loot on him, making him very much worth capturing.

Wind tomes are rare indeed. They are also lighter than Grafcalibur.
 

57 minutes ago, ping said:

Selphina seems a bit odd. She joins 6-7 levels above her three companions, but without the stats to reflect that. She's the fastest by one point - but her HP and Str (tied with Robert) are both the lowest between the four. She should still easily be the best unit between the four, since proximity to promotion is worth more than having "more room to grow" and she is the only on of the group with a good weapon rank, but she still gives some "unpromoted Midia" vibes. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. But just judging from what I'm seeing, I think I would've put Selphina at Lv.10 so that she can act as an acutal quasi-prepromote similar to Gerik in SacSto, and at least a few stat points to separate her from the other new recruits.

You might notice her growths are also identical to Nanna's. There is a bit growth reusing going on in this game.

That bow rank really is worth a lot, though. Can't overstate just how hard it is for everyone else to reach the rank required for the good bows.

Charge sounds like it should be good on her, but her HP is too low for it to ever realistically trigger.
Oh well, at least that way it also cannot backfire.
 

57 minutes ago, ping said:

I don't even know if Arm's Scrolls are already a thing - Manuals existed in Akaneia, but that's back when Weapon Rank was a skill like any other.

No boosters for weapon ranks, I'm afraid. Gotta do it the long way.
 

57 minutes ago, ping said:

But yeah, while Selphina and Robert are at least our first mounted bow users, Kane and Alba feel very much like replacement units and little else. A bit like Noah and Treck in BinBla, except even more underleveled and neither of them dreamt they were a horse.

One of them eats gloves, though.

 

57 minutes ago, ping said:

At this point, the first enemies start threatening the scrub squad. Luckily, they have a narrow choke to defend, but between their low stats and lack of Vulneraries, it's still not an enviable position.

You could just have everyone but Selphina escape and have her sit on the gate and let the +10 defense work in your favor for once.

Selphina has convos with Finn and Carrion here. The Carrion one results in the Elite Sword. So you really don't want her to escape prematurely.
 

57 minutes ago, ping said:

A rather expensive misunderstanding for the Thracians. Good thing Leif is about to bring these Leonster knights with him, since I can't imagine Trabant wouldn't take a closer look at "Hannibal's private army" if given the chance.

Might also cause him to doubt that Hannibal can be trusted with the Thracian border.

Edited July 29 by BrightBow

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 hours ago, ping said:

I like Travant in this scene, although Altena is laying on the whole "daddy's girl" act a bit too thick, in my opinion. My impression in Genealogy was that she already had a history of arguing with Travant, so her borderline acting like she's brainwashed is a bit jarring.

It's so different from how Travant loathed Altena in Genealogy. Almost as if IS realized "well Travant was SUPPOSED to love his "daughter"" -but didn't show it whatsoever, and thus created an opportunity in Thracia 776 to correct Genealogy's error. 

Of course, all Travant is doing is fantasizing about a united Thracia, which is his dream, with Altena being but one agent for achieving it. It's not him and her doing something removed from the things that motivate Travant in life, something that could be consisted solely a father-daughter moment.

Edited July 29 by Interdimensional Observer

[Saint Rubenio]

1 hour ago, ping said:

I have to point out how funny it is that we're getting a blue-haired female character and her name is almost Seliphina. She even has strands of hair in front of her shoulders very similar to Selphinus.

She's also the only blue-haired female character in all of Jugdral. Food for thought.

1 hour ago, ping said:

And I want to point out that I made portraits for Kane, Alba, and Robert while I was at it. What are the chances that they'll ever be needed?

Yeah I'll just tell you right now, unless you go off the record and write them your own dialogue, the answer is never. Those three are the biggest losers in FE since the Archanea cast, and they didn't even get a remake with supports. All they have is Kane's cool official artwork, Robert's cool escape quote and Alba's... uh, optimality to unlock 21x.

1 hour ago, ping said:

 

I see that despite his short venture into "nobles don't understand the plight of the common man", Kaga is quickly drawn back to "everybody LOVES the aristocracy". Also, Leif is a bit quick to trust Hannibal so implicitly here.

No, I agree with Lugh, Hannibal is immediately trustworthy. Only a true hero would keep such a beard.

1 hour ago, ping said:

[HP 50% | Str 25% | Mag 10% | Skl 40% | Spd 35% | Lck 55% | Def 15% | Con 10% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Rank: Bows (B)
Skill: Accost

Selphina seems a bit odd. She joins 6-7 levels above her three companions, but without the stats to reflect that. She's the fastest by one point - but her HP and Str (tied with Robert) are both the lowest between the four. She should still easily be the best unit between the four, since proximity to promotion is worth more than having "more room to grow" and she is the only on of the group with a good weapon rank, but she still gives some "unpromoted Midia" vibes. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. But just judging from what I'm seeing, I think I would've put Selphina at Lv.10 so that she can act as an acutal quasi-prepromote similar to Gerik in SacSto, and at least a few stat points to separate her from the other new recruits.

She's the best dedicated archer in the game. Not that that means much but her B bows easily beat anything Robert could possibly bring to the table, probably beats Ronan and Tanya despite their availability advantage (to say nothing of the horse), Accost is kinda nice to deal more damage to things and in a few chapters she gets a nice goodie that might as well be her prf.

1 hour ago, ping said:

[HP 65% | Str 45% | Mag 10% | Skl 50% | Spd 60% | Lck 70% | Def 25% | Con 20% | Mov 1%]
Weapon Rank: Bows (E)
Skills: -

Excellent growths, easily the best of any bow user that has joined Leif thus far, but Bows (E) at this point is a cruel joke. Even Tanya, all the way back in Ch.1, had 10 WEXP towards a (D) rank. Ronan was a bit over halfway there. So yeah, seems like a pretty terrible character, especially in game where growths can be massaged by scrolls, but WEXP cannot. I don't even know if Arm's Scrolls are already a thing - Manuals existed in Akaneia, but that's back when Weapon Rank was a skill like any other.

For completion's sake - he does have a FCM > 1, unlike his companions.

...And yeah, Robert has a decent amount of things going for him, buuuuuuuuut E bows destroys him. There are no way to raise weapon ranks in this game but grinding them out, one point at a time. Robert takes a million years to get to where Selphina starts.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Callion, but boring?

Nope, Finn but boring. Both he and Kane are in Finn's class, without Finn's availability, prf, character bits and FE4 returnee bias.

I've used Kane before, of course. Dude's green and boring, tailor made for me. He's... unexceptional.

1 hour ago, ping said:

5000 is a lot of gold, although not as much as it seems, since prices as a whole seem a bit higher in this game than they tend to be in the series. But I think I'll try to avoid using Stamina Drinks, just to interact with the Fatigue mechanic more "naturally". I'll keep this one on hand in case I'll have to field a fatigued character for some specific reason.

Conversely, if someone doesn't want to interact with fatigue, all they have to do is arena abuse a bunch and get a surplus of them.

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Next time, THEY'LL be the ones retreating...!"
: "I'll ride ahead, Prince! Be careful!"
: "OK, onto the next battle! Ever onward and upward!"

Hey, I did find value for these portraits!

I was wondering if you would or simply post screenshots of their death quotes.

[Jotari]

11 hours ago, ping said:

I like Travant in this scene, although Altena is laying on the whole "daddy's girl" act a bit too thick, in my opinion. My impression in Genealogy was that she already had a history of arguing with Travant, so her borderline acting like she's brainwashed is a bit jarring.

It's nice to see him not acting horribly towards her though.

11 hours ago, ping said:

5000 is a lot of gold, although not as much as it seems, since prices as a whole seem a bit higher in this game than they tend to be in the series. But I think I'll try to avoid using Stamina Drinks, just to interact with the Fatigue mechanic more "naturally". I'll keep this one on hand in case I'll have to field a fatigued character for some specific reason.

Thanks to capture it also means you'll rarely even be spending money to buy weapons. It's only tomes, which are somewhat rarer than they should be (especially wind and light) and are only available and select points that you'll have much reason to buy.

11 hours ago, ping said:

Come to think of it - I believe that Tahra is often credited as Fire Emblem's First Defend Map, but clearly, it's this one, no? It combines that objective with "Escape", but still - you defend Hannibal's Villa, and not just by technicality, with all the enemies going straight after it

To be pedantic, every chapter in Genealogy is a defend map since you get game over of the enemy seizes your home castle 😛

11 hours ago, ping said:

: "...Who in blazes is that? That Dracoknight - a woman, by the look of it - what's she saying to the Thracian troops? Some kind of declaration?"

And, of course, it's Dorias who sees Altenna here since canon mandates Leif be unable to find out about her existence until the end of the game. Unfortunate that Dorias wasn't born with Finn's seeing-holy-aura gene.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

She's also the only blue-haired female character in all of Jugdral. Food for thought.

She must secretly be Sigurd's mother!

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

No, I agree with Lugh, Hannibal is immediately trustworthy. Only a true hero would keep such a beard.

We have two mansions up in these mountains. One belonging to Hannibal and one belonging to Dagdar. I wonder if they know each other.

Edited July 30 by Jotari

[ping]

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

But he does have a movement star. With the ability to move twice in a row, he can very much target any squishy he wants.

...well, luckily, I didn't notice that.

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

One of them eats gloves, though.

...is he giving somebody a come-hither look? Like, the tilted head and the "look at mah crotch" sitting pose make him look a tad dtf.

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

You could just have everyone but Selphina escape and have her sit on the gate and let the +10 defense work in your favor for once.

Selphina has convos with Finn and Carrion here. The Carrion one results in the Elite Sword. So you really don't want her to escape prematurely.

...

Well, I made my peace with missing important and powerful things in this playthough. Just as Kaga intended.

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It's so different from how Travant loathed Altena in Genealogy. Almost as if IS realized "well Travant was SUPPOSED to love his "daughter"" -but didn't show it whatsoever, and thus created an opportunity in Thracia 776 to correct Genealogy's error. 

Of course, all Travant is doing is fantasizing about a united Thracia, which is his dream, with Altena being but one agent for achieving it. It's not him and her doing something removed from the things that motivate Travant in life, something that could be consisted solely a father-daughter moment.

I don't mind it much, but Travant's little diversion seems very much directed at the player. The gaiden had Augustus lecture Leif how the south desperately needs the food surpluses from the north; now Travant happens to tell Athena how the north would benefit mightily from the mineral riches in the mountainous south. The idea that a united Thracia would be more than the sum if its parts is clearly put down for the player to pick up here.

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

She's the best dedicated archer in the game. Not that that means much but her B bows easily beat anything Robert could possibly bring to the table, probably beats Ronan and Tanya despite their availability advantage (to say nothing of the horse), Accost is kinda nice to deal more damage to things and in a few chapters she gets a nice goodie that might as well be her prf.

I think I remember the goodie - Brave Bow, acquired by talking to her hubby, right? ...rhetorical question, no need to answer it, I'll see it when I get there.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Nope, Finn but boring. Both he and Kane are in Finn's class, without Finn's availability, prf, character bits and FE4 returnee bias.

I've used Kane before, of course. Dude's green and boring, tailor made for me. He's... unexceptional.

Nah, I'll maintain "Callion but boring". Kane and what's-his-face might have the same class as Finn, but in their role - very underleveled midgame cav - they (and especially Alba) seem much more like Callion, but with any cool stuff (swords while mounted, FCM, lines of dialogue) taken away from them. Finn is an overleveled earlygame cav. Very different.

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

It's nice to see him not acting horribly towards her though.

Yeah, no complaints about Travant in that scene. It's Altenna whose dialogue feels a bit off.

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

To be pedantic, every chapter in Genealogy is a defend map since you get game over of the enemy seizes your home castle 😛

That's very smart-ass. I like it.

 

[Saint Rubenio]

7 hours ago, Jotari said:

We have two mansions up in these mountains. One belonging to Hannibal and one belonging to Dagdar. I wonder if they know each other.

You know, I never thought about that. Hannibal and Dagdar are beard neighbors.

3 hours ago, ping said:

Nah, I'll maintain "Callion but boring". Kane and what's-his-face might have the same class as Finn, but in their role - very underleveled midgame cav - they (and especially Alba) seem much more like Callion, but with any cool stuff (swords while mounted, FCM, lines of dialogue) taken away from them. Finn is an overleveled earlygame cav. Very different.

Yeah that is true. The unit feel is much closer to Callion. Though, really, I feel like those two are kind of their own special brand of bad. Most everyone else in the game has at least something going for them. Even if it's just being a joke unit, it feels intentional, you know? These two feel like generics.

Edited July 30 by Saint Rubenio

[BrightBow]

3 hours ago, ping said:

...

Well, I made my peace with missing important and powerful things in this playthough. Just as Kaga intended.

I think the intend is rather to flesh out the characters more, with the occasional goody serving to encourage players to think about who might be able to chat.

Thracia might not show available talks like FE4 did, but Tear Ring Saga did bring it back.

Maybe Thracia doesn't have it because unlike in FE4, Talks can be initiated by either party. So you have situations like Selphina who has 3 talks she can initiate in the same map.

The 3rd being Leaf, btw.
Man, they really like to emphasize that Lachesis might not actually be dead.
In fact, the Selphina / Finn convo is actually longer if she speaks to Leaf first and learns about her being MIA.

[Revier]

Seems like you're finally in the part where Thracia gets good. And all it required was suffering through 4-5 generic opening levels.

[BrightBow]

I suppose one advantage that the scrub knights have is that all of them have two people that support them.

Kain, Alva and Robert get supported by Selphina and Glade
Carrion gets supported by Leaf and Selphina
And Selphina gets supported by Leaf and Glade

Extends to Finn too, funnily enough. He gets supported by Leaf and Nanna.
And Glade actually gets +20 from Selphina.

[ping]

On 7/30/2024 at 3:44 PM, Revier said:

Seems like you're finally in the part where Thracia gets good. And all it required was suffering through 4-5 generic opening levels.

Well, about that...

FE5 Chapter 10: Nowell Valley

Spoiler

The forces of the Fiana Freeblades, the Magi, and the remnants of Leonster's nobility, though but strangers to one another, had rallied behind their common cause. They quickly cohered into a formidable fighting unit, and became a new army all their own: the Liberation Army. The time was finally right to head for Tahra and break the siege upon the city.

The Liberation Army made their way to the Imperial-Thracian border, which they would cross through Nowell Valley, a small gap in the otherwise impassable mountain rainge...

: "She's been assigned to it on the direct orders of General Kempf. There's no doubt he's out to harass her, having her made such a back-breaking trek each day..."
: "Truth be told, Fred, I'd rather be out here than cooped up in Fort Dundrum, having to look at Kempf's face every hour of the day."
: "Oh ho ho! Scathing words, but General Kempf is... quite an embarrassment, really. A highborn noble, his impudence and pettiness undermine his stature, and he behaves closer to a boy than a man. Perhaps it's natural to be a little insecure when Commander Reinhardt's fame has so thoroughly eclipsed his own, but to be so vindictive about it as to take it out on the Commander's only sister? You'd scarcely believe there was any noble blood in him at all. He's a disgrace to his uniform."
: "General Kempf is utterly convinced that my lord brother is somehow his competition. He doesn't understand the solidarity that comes with military service."
: "They're both close in age, were both promoted to General very young... It's easy to see how such a vile mindset took root."
: "But my lord brother certainly doesn't feel the same way about him."
: "Then that's all the more reason for General Kempf to hate him, wouldn't you say?"
: "What? Why? If the hatred's not mutual, there should be no reason for it to continue!"
: "Hah! You don't get it? I envy your innocence. It's Kempf's way of thinking that ensures North and South Thracia will never be as one."
: "I don't follow... What's that got to do with the North and South?"
: "...Ah, I've bent your ear for too long, though it's been good to speak so frankly. Why don't you stay a spell and catch your breath?"
: "I will. Thank you. You spoil me, General..."

: "Our reports say that their garrison is small, but they make up for it with force of arms: the fort is guarded with ballistae - a sort of giant bow that can fire across great distances. They're tremendously powerful - we'll have to destroy them before advancing toward the fort."
: "How do you propose we do that?"
: "We've three means of attack. First, we could send the majority of our forces to draw the enemy out of ballista range. Then, we send a small force to deal with the ballistae while they're occupied. Simple, but effective. Second, we could storm the valley with our cavalry, overwhelming their main body and allowing us to swiftly dispatch the ballistae. This... could work as a last recourse."
: "They both have their own crucial downsides... What's the best course of action?"
: "That would be the third way. Since you've caught on that both plans involving direct confrontation are inadvisable, I'm sure you don't need it spelled out for you, Prince Leif!"

To be honest, Dorius's advice seems awful on many levels, topped by the rather silly "I'm sure you can figure this out yourself" at the end. But before that, the two suggested approaches don't just have "crucial downsides", they both simply don't work. Dorius says that we could lure the enemies out of ballista range... but as far as I can tell (after some failed attempted and before beating the map, as I'm typing this) - many of the enemies don't seem to move at all. The sextett of Armours in the centre of the map, for example, never passed the bridge right next to them, even when I was killing the Ballista right in front of them. Note from after playing the map: They don't even move once you start murdering them...

As far as the second option is concerned - out of the six ballistae on the map, maybe half are in a position that allow the player to punch a way through the mooks and kill them. I say maybe half because I don't know if the NE ballista counts, lightly guarded and out of any other ballistae's ranges as it is - but out of the other five, three are positioned so that the terrain blocks you from reaching them. I suppose Dorius thinks that Leif can punch through a mountain, or shoryuken somebody up that cliff to reach the ballista in the top center?

And I guess Leif is smarter than me, because I'm really not sure what Dorius is trying to stub Leif's (and/or my) nose into. The way he phrases is clearly point into some non-confrontational path to the objective, but I just don't see it. The southern path, if you lower the bridge in question, might be less heavily guarded, but it's not exactly without confrontation. And the northern path would require Karin to ferry units across the western river - while fully in range of two ballistae. I'm sure she could dance around it, but there's plenty of characters that would constantly be in risk of death while in range of two ballistae, waiting to be ferried over.

Because these ballistae are quite strong. For the record - this particular Ballistician still three-shots promoted Finn (32 HP | 10 Def). Dagdar (43 HP | 10 Def) would survive three hits, but lolAccost, so we'd have to go as far as Marty (42 HP | 9 Def, no Accost) to find somebody who doesn't get three-rounded.

This Bishop acts as a seventh Ballista, so to speak - Bolting with 17-ish Atk (depending on his Mag roll, ofc), carrying a Physic, so capturing him would be rather nice.

More than just "nice" would be to capure the Armour that guards the nearest bridge, but I'll get to that.

The boss would also be rather nice to capture, especially because he seems like a nice bloke that doesn't exactly deserve to be murdered, but... yeah, no. Stealing the Master Seal will have to do.

__

And finally, there's Dvořák, because the map really needed a random man on a dragon.

---

Now, to what made... or rather is still making this take so goddamn long: Well, apart from me catching the (non-'rona) flu, which makes up about a week of the wait... This map has (1) too much that can go wrong and (2) too much that appears random, whether that is actually the case or just some event triggers that I don't recognise. Let's start with the first turn:

As I mentioned, there's an Armour with a second Flame Sword. Obviously, I must have that - but it's wielded by a Armour. On a fort. Which immediately reduced our options drastically. We need Asbel to chip him and hit him precisely twice, without critting (and keep in mind Asbel has a x3 FCM). Add to that his Adept skill and I actually didn't send in Nanna to apply Charm, since "Asbel procs Adept, but also misses once" seemed like a better bet than him not proccing it at all.

So disregard Asbel moving after Nanna - change of plans afterwards.

__

And this is how, ideally, turn 1 goes. Hope that Asbel does the right amount of damage (note: The Armour might even low-roll and get two-shot if Asbel gets "lucky"), then hope that Fergus, with Karin and Nanna applying +hit, manages to bonk the Armour with the appropriate Slayer. Neither he nor Finn deal meaningful damage, if any at all, with their respective Brave weapons, so I believe this is actually the best odds I can get, and I don't like 'em.

After that, the Ballisting commences. Admittedly, Fergus and Lifis aren't standing in defensive terrain here, but you can see that many coins are flipped here.

__

Next, this bastard of a Thief. He might immediately move, in which case he destroys the northern village on turn 3. Or he might still stand in place on turn 3. Is it random? Is it triggered by something? I don't know. I'm reasonably certain that it's not caused by proximity of blue units, since I've stabbed him before when he was still standing on his starting forest.

So, both villages are under fire - the one to the north a lot more immediately, but the southern one is more awkward to get to. It's just barely too close to the Ballista to its east that Karin can't swoop in, grab the reward and canter out, so she'd have to drop somebody in to get the village and the rescue them out again.

Ideally, somebody who is tankier than Macha. These two Ballistae rolled just high enough combined on Str to two-shot her (19+22 Atk). Well, I should check if there's a better tile to drop her to, since the list of tanky characters with low enough Con to not halve Karin's movement is rather short. It might begin and end with Leif, actually.

And finally, something that (I think) isn't highly random, for a change. If you end your turn close to the knighty bridge, or if you visit the southern village (probably the same for the northern one, but I don't know for sure), the game cuts back to the boss:

: "I'm honored, Lady Olwen, but we have our orders. Yours is reconnaissance - and alerting Fort Dundrum must be your first priority!"
: "I can't just leave you here! You must allow me to help you defend the valley, if only for a little while...!"
: "..:Very well - provided that you swear to leave the battlefield and ride for Fort Dundrum in short order."
: "Thank you, General! Fred, let's move out!"
: "Hah! There's the Lady Olwen I know!"

__

And with that, Fred and Olwen enter the field. They will charge at you, although as Largo insisted, they will turn around and escape the map towards the west fairly soon. ...it's honestly rather flimsy reasoning to have them join the fight to begin with, since reporting an invasion by an unknown force would be a rather important piece of reconnaissance to report.

Anyway, I hope I made my case why I do not enjoy tinkering with this map. When faced with a difficult map, I like the process of figuring out its tricks - where have I to push forward, and how far? Do I have to avoid crossing some line that triggers reinforcements, aggroes a group of enemies, or something like that? How can I keep two groups of enemies separate?

The first part of the arena map was interesting in that regard. There was a balancing act between pushing the NE enemies before the enemy mages join up with them, and fast enough to avoid the stronger arena fighters, versus not having Mareeta spawn too early... Well, after that, the map dragged on a bit too long, so I suppose my point is that thus far, Thracia has been at its best when a map is short and sweet and a little tricky.

When I'm tinkering with this map and fail at some point - for starters, I'll have to roll the dice for Asbel and Fergus getting the Knight capture again, followed by maybe having to rush to save the northern village, and maybe the southern village will be under threat soon, oh, and maybe that Wyvern Knight will start charging our troops, or maybe not...  There is just no process of Figuring Out happening because the next time, I'm playing a rather different map than the last time. I'm sure this is a nice feature for replayability, but for me as a first-time player, it's hard to sit down and think, "Oh boy, I'm going to have so much fun playing Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 by Kaga Shōzō! I can't wait!"

__

That's all I have to say before going back to headbutting through the chapter. But to make sure that I don't end this writing session so entirely negatively, here's two rather good things I somehow forgot to include in the previous update. Now... Oh boy, I'm going to have so much fun playing Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 by Kaga Shōzō! I can't wait!

---

SO MUCH FUN!

However, as it turns out, the solution to rescue the northern village isn't some clever positioning or anything. It's to restart the map so often that the Thief forgets which way he's supposed to go. I'm so good at fireembling!

__

This masterful gambit even makes it easy to grab his Rapier and Stamina Drink!

Anyway, as it turns out, I'm still going to deal with some significant chance of death - avoidable, looking at it now, but I'm not going to give the map any credit for that.

The idea was to drop Machua below the village so that she's only in range of one Ballista, and then to have Karin pick her up immediately and canter out of danger. The problem: Even with her +Move level-up (i.e. 9 Move), if Karin drops Machua two tile below the village, she can only canter to the tile she is right now. And from there, she cannot move next to the village, pick Machua up from there, and still canter out.

And, look at that, I can't delay visiting the village for a turn to allow Karin to reposition, either, because the Thief is already *right there*. So, Machua is going to have to get her dodge on...

__

...and luckily she does, only getting hit by the second incoming ballista bolt.

The solution I didn't think of: Well, I honestly forgot that Karin started the map already at Lv.10. She could've promoted for another point of movement, which would've allowed her to go in and out of Ballista range one tile deeper. But as I said, that's not a point in this map's favour. Not only does Karin need that +Move level to reach 10 Move after promotion (a 16.6% chance for that to occur), but I'm pretty sure that my Karin got more favouritism during the prison break than can be reasonably assumed and she's still only at Lv. 10.33 at the start of the map.

So, both villages are saved by the age-old strategy of Dumb Luck.

: "See, I fancy myself a botanist, and a few months ago I started an experiment. I wanted to see what would happen if I watered a tree using only Pure Water. I won't keep you in suspense - this here staff is what resulted from the whole thing! Use it, and it'll fortify your magic, same as if you'd just gulped down Pure Water yourself. Hm? Where's the rest of the tree, you ask? Uh... You're looking at it. That staff WAS the whole tree. Poor thing never grew bigger than three feet tall... Heh, it turns out Pure Water actually isn't very good for plants. Yeah... Probably should've checked that before I spent months on the whole experiment..."

[Ensorcel received]

Good thing the guy didn't fancy himself a zoologist or antropologist.

: "Well, you be sure to show the Empire some of our famous Thracian hospitality! Drive the lot of 'em outta our valley! Oh, an' take this with you. I've just been usin' it as a walking stick for years, but I think it's enchanted. Maybe it'll help!"

[Rescue received]

Unfortunately, Nanna is still quite a ways away from the (B) staff rank necessary to use this. She's only halfway to (C) and I just checked - she only gains sword rank from promoting. Staffy does have the rank to use it, but Rescue always feels better on a high-Move character.

Oh, and speaking of time pressure: Here's Dvořák who in this particular run decided to fly south, right on the turn that Machua and Karin did their thing. Why did he go south? I don't know.

Once the initial bullshit... I was going to say "is dealt with", but it's more like "randomly didn't happen" - the map becomes very lame, in the worst variation of the SacSto Ch.5x template. First, we have to retreat a bit to avoid Fred's range...

__

...but Olwen decides that it's already time to turn back anyway...

(and I could swear that this is a turn earlier than when it happened in a previous attempt)

...and after that, no enemy on the map is aggressive anymore. The armour knights don't move at all, neither does the Bolting Bishop, and Dvořák just randomly floats in the SW part of the map until he (seemingly randomly) decides to move again.

So, what to do in that situation? Why, bait out Ballista shots until they run out of ammunition! What an epic strategy! ...but seriously, the map does nothing to discourage you from doing this. No reinforcements, nothing to pressure you. And since I'd rather not waste the incredibly good luck from turn 1, I guess we're doing the epic strategy of waiting out Ballista fire.

Followed by the epic gameplay of shooting at immobile enemies.

Followed by baiting out more ballista shots. This one is doubly epic, since the remaining two ballistae's ranges actually overlap!

__

And as I said, Dvořák starts moving again at some point because ???.

____

Finally, something unironically epic.

Marty hits Lv.13 from that fight, which I decide is good enough to promote him. Party time!

Which reminds me, Fergus already promoted on turn 2, after hitting Lv.12 from capturing the Flame Sword.

Bonk.

Hicks unfortunately didn't find that much to do this chapter, but at least he got enough XP to get to Lv.10. I don't think I'll insta-promote him, since his stats could really use some scroll-boosted level-ups, so I'd rather not cut his XP gain.

____

Eventually, we get to the westernmost part of the map, fighting some cavs (two of which have effective weaponry, but Marty doesn't care about that) and finally triggering that small contingent of units from the south.

Although to be honest, the most noteworthy thing here is me grinding Karin's sword rank a little bit. She still has almost a full weapon rank to go until she can use magic swords, and she only gains Lance rank on promotion (just checked that one, too, although I assume it's the norm for non-Sword cavs and their sword ranks).

Yoink!

And while Nanna grabs some chip XP here...

__

...in the end, it's Asbel who gets the bosskill, even though he gets xcommed in his first attempt.

: "Argh...! So... This is how it ends..."

And doesn't even get a nice silly scroll level from it. Shame.

So, there we go. Shit map. Either luck-based or so intransparent with how enemy AI works that it's effecitively luck-based for a blind(-ish) player, followed up by being incredibly lame and boring once the villages are safe. Probably the second-worst map I've played during this project, only beaten in shittiness by Gaiden's desert archer fort. I'm sure there's some really neat tricks one can pull off to make it less of a haxfest, but played as Kaga intended, blind and without savestates, this map is garbage, combining frustration with utter boredom.

: "Who was she?"
: "I didn't recognize her, but there's little doubt she rode for Fort Dundrum to bring word of our incursion."
: "So the enemy will know we're coming..."
: "Just so. And Fort Dundrum is no common encampment - it's regarded as impregnable, even a permanent fixture of the region. Combine that with the advance warning we've given them, and they'll have plenty of time to shore up their defenses even further. The fort's commander is surely no slouch - he's certain to make the most of the extra time to prepare. Indeed, I fear we'll have a most difficult time seizing the fort..."
: "I see... Still, there's no other route that would allow us to cross the mountains."
: "That seems to be the hand we've been dealt, my prince. If we're to arrive at Tahra in time to act, we must take Fort Dundrum."
: "Then there's little point standing around and complaining about it. The longer we wait, the stronger the fort's defenses will be. This is our only cance, and we'll make the most of it!"

Surprised they didn't see and discuss Olwen's sad, kindly eyes.

The Team:

	  Lv.	    Fat/HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Con  XP
Leif	  14.58	    --  37   7   0   6   9  12   7   9  +30	[+7 HP]
Finn	  13/4.62   46/ 33  15   2  12  15   7  10  11  +199
Hicks	  10.04	     4/ 34  11   0   6   6   8   9  15  +49
Fergus	  12/1.42    8/ 35  10   1  14  14   8  10  10  +50*

Karin	  10.92	    11/ 21   6   9  10  20  19   5   4  +59
Macha	  9.46	     8/ 27   6   1  14  14  10   5   7  +155
Dagdar	   */8.69    4/43   15   1  11   9   2  10  15  +20
Marty	  13/1.58   47/ 44  17   1  13  11  14  12  20  +164*	[+3 Skl, +3 Spd]

Lifis	  8.11	     3/ 22   6   1   4  12   2   2   6  +34
Nanna	  11.58	    23/ 25   6   7  12  11  15   5   5  +211
Asbel	  10/5.89   29/ 36   0  15  16  20   8   8   6  +167	[+7 HP, +2 Mag]

Brighton  10.25	     0/ 32   7   0   7   7   3   8  13  --
Callion	  1.50	     0/ 24   5   1   5   8   6   5   6  --	[base]
Selphina  8.61	     0/ 22   5   3   7  10   7   6   5  --	[base]

 

[Saint Rubenio]

1 hour ago, ping said:

To be honest, Dorius's advice seems awful on many levels, topped by the rather silly "I'm sure you can figure this out yourself" at the end.

This sequence is infamous because of this, yeah. I believe what Dorius suggests is indeed to ferry units across the river and go south to avoid the ballistae, but like... That's not great either, Dorius.

1 hour ago, ping said:

The boss would also be rather nice to capture, especially because he seems like a nice bloke that doesn't exactly deserve to be murdered, but... yeah, no. Stealing the Master Seal will have to do.

Fun fact: If you capture Largo, you get a different scene at the end of the map where Dorius praises you for being honorable, so the game very much did want you to at least try.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Surprised they didn't see and discuss Olwen's sad, kindly eyes.

Don't worry, there'll be time to discuss Olwen's moral conundrums at a later time.

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "I don't follow... What's that got to do with the North and South?"

Yeah, I don't know either. Definitely something added by the translation. Strange.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

And I guess Leif is smarter than me, because I'm really not sure what Dorius is trying to stub Leif's (and/or my) nose into.

I don't think anyone knows what Dorias is talking about.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Because these ballistae are quite strong. For the record - this particular Ballistician still three-shots promoted Finn (32 HP | 10 Def). Dagdar (43 HP | 10 Def) would survive three hits, but lolAccost, so we'd have to go as far as Marty (42 HP | 9 Def, no Accost) to find somebody who doesn't get three-rounded.

Hate those crappy old ballista. Terrible stats but way too much range. So you just have to tank them.

Fortunately Tear Ring Saga fixed that and limited their range to 3-7. Still a bit too weak to serve as effective area control, but at least properly circumventing them is an actual option.

No objection with how Berwick Saga handled them. They are always extremely accurate and devastating. You never want to take hits from those.
But they also have an additional limitation of needing to manually be turned. And they can't turn and fire at the same time.
Not to mention you've got plenty of new options too. Like, you could use someone with Hide to sneak up on them. Or maybe do something creative with Guard.
Probably don't want to use Provoke, though. Elbert's Arrowbane might make this tempting, but if it fails him and he does get hit, it could mess him up. Elbert is generally a bulky guy but not quite "tank siege weapons with your face" levels of bulky.
The range of Provoke is also only 5 hexes, so 2 hex shorter than that of a ballista.

VS2 actually has ballista with up to 12 range. But they also have an appropriately increased minimum range, so their threat area is about as easy to circumvent as that of the classic 3-7 ballista.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

The boss would also be rather nice to capture, especially because he seems like a nice bloke that doesn't exactly deserve to be murdered, but... yeah, no. Stealing the Master Seal will have to do.

It also plays a different ending scene if you do manage to capture him where you have a chat with Dorias instead of August.
Though you do have to actually hold on to Largo for that. Won't work if you release him.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Unfortunately, Nanna is still quite a ways away from the (B) staff rank necessary to use this. She's only halfway to (C) and I just checked - she only gains sword rank from promoting. Staffy does have the rank to use it, but Rescue always feels better on a high-Move character.

Is movement that important if the staff has infinite range?

Nanna is a great healer, but you would have to go out of your way to grant her access to the really good shit.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Marty hits Lv.13 from that fight, which I decide is good enough to promote him. Party time!

Perfection.

Edited August 18 by BrightBow

[Jotari]

Yay, we're back.

1 hour ago, ping said:

The boss would also be rather nice to capture, especially because he seems like a nice bloke that doesn't exactly deserve to be murdered, but... yeah, no. Stealing the Master Seal will have to do.

He also looks like Marth's father from the manga

1 hour ago, ping said:

__

And finally, there's Dvořák, because the map really needed a random man on a dragon.

I believe I promised a rant on Dvorak at some point. Well, here it is. Who the hell is Dvorak? Like, seriously. He never speaks and is never referred to, like plenty of Thracia bosses, but for all the others in his scenario we can pretty easily assume who they are and why they're fighting with the baddies, but Dvorak makes no sense. He has a draco knight so we can assume he's a Thracan mercenary, right? Well, no, actually. Because this chapter takes place on the Thracian border. This is a border fortress intended to protect North Munster from Thracia. Why would the empire hire a mercenary from the army they're actively defending against. Sure, they're nominal allies, but it's an uneasy peace at best. Hey, maybe he's like the sole Thracian representative in the military for international friendship. A liaison or diplomat of sorts. Yeah, that'd work, only...he should be in a jail cell right now because the empire forces should absolutely assume Leif is a Thracian force. They're here at the border guarding it from their nominal ally but open secret rival power and then they get attacked out of nowhere by a mysterious force. Thracia should be the prime suspect. In this case they'd be wrong for thinking it, but it would be the logical conclusion. If we ever get a Thracia remake they need to have a few lines establishing who this guy is, have Largo interrogate him about who the enemy forces is, have Dovrak swear they aren't Thracians and have level headed Largo note there doesn't seem to be any dracoknights in Leif's ranks and sends Dovrak out to put his money where his mouth is and help defend the border from the mysterious foe.

Also Dvorak has a unique face, which is freaking weird given he's as minor as a character can be.

1 hour ago, ping said:

[Rescue received]

Unfortunately, Nanna is still quite a ways away from the (B) staff rank necessary to use this. She's only halfway to (C) and I just checked - she only gains sword rank from promoting. Staffy does have the rank to use it, but Rescue always feels better on a high-Move character.

I think the intent of this map was for you to recklessly charge the ballista and then use the rescue staff to get your unit to safety. Though, the terrain means that Karin is the only one who can reasonably reach the rescue staff. Overall it's a bitch of a chapter that offers no purchase for the player to approach from, and that's precisely what I love about it. Unlike most non defend chapters in the series it actually feels like the AI doesn't want to lose. A very quintessentially Thracia chapter. Why yes, I am a maniac, what of it?

1 hour ago, ping said:

I guess we're doing the epic strategy of waiting out Ballista fire.

Followed by the epic gameplay of shooting at immobile enemies.

Peak Fire Emblem!

 

 

 

[ping]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Fun fact: If you capture Largo, you get a different scene at the end of the map where Dorius praises you for being honorable, so the game very much did want you to at least try.

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

It also plays a different ending scene if you do manage to capture him where you have a chat with Dorias instead of August.
Though you do have to actually hold on to Largo for that. Won't work if you release him.

I'm not surprised, but that really seems like a terrible experience to try without savestates. You basically can't use a mounted unit because they get ridersbaned if they miss, which limits your options to...

• Marty
• ...

...and of course, he'd have to use a Hammer because the Brave Axe isn't going to punch through Largo's 27 Def. Capturing the Flame Sword guy was already bad enough.

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

Is movement that important if the staff has infinite range?

Nanna is a great healer, but you would have to go out of your way to grant her access to the really good shit.

Well, if you want to "rescue ahead" somebody as a poor man's Warp, instead of getting somebody out of a sticky situation. I suppose if Warp is as readily available in this game as I remember, that function of the Rescue staff isn't as important, but it would've been a nice option for Nanna to have if it was a C or even D-rank staff.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

He also looks like Marth's father from the manga

Clearly, I just killed Marth's great-great-great-great-(...)-grandfather. What a monster I am.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Also Dvorak has a unique face, which is freaking weird given he's as minor as a character can be.

The greatest crime is that it's a shaved face, when the original Antonín had a rather nice full beard.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Peak Fire Emblem!

With the unfortunate side effect of ludonarrative dissonance: Kaga is telling a story about heroic knights and epic battles, while creating gameplay that feels like WW1 trench warfare.

[Saint Rubenio]

36 minutes ago, ping said:

I'm not surprised, but that really seems like a terrible experience to try without savestates. You basically can't use a mounted unit because they get ridersbaned if they miss, which limits your options to...

• Marty
• ...

...and of course, he'd have to use a Hammer because the Brave Axe isn't going to punch through Largo's 27 Def. Capturing the Flame Sword guy was already bad enough.

Cavaliers can just canto away. This game has super canto, there's no reason to leave them in ridersbane range, ever. And well, Hicks and Brighton can use the hammer. Still, really not much of a reason to capture him beyond vibes and his nice-ish inventory. Later in the game there'll be another sympathetic bossman who can technically be captured, but he's insanely difficult to nab due to his circumstances. Plus, don't forget, Gomez was capturable. The game does generally seem to give you a way to spare the more sympathetic folks, for your own peace of mind if you care for that.

35 minutes ago, ping said:

With the unfortunate side effect of ludonarrative dissonance: Kaga is telling a story about heroic knights and epic battles, while creating gameplay that feels like WW1 trench warfare.

To be fair, the vibe he was going for in Thracia was very much not "heroic knights and epic battles." That's Genealogy. Thracia is a ragtag group of nobodies running around led by a minor lordling who spends of the game making mistakes and running away from one threat or another. WW1 trench warfare does suit the vibe better... Even if I honestly could not call map design one of Thracia's strong suits. It's so hit or miss.

[Interdimensional Observer]

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Even if I honestly could not call map design one of Thracia's strong suits. It's so hit or miss.

More like... overdesigned? 

"Cracking the enemy's impenetrable fortified defenses" is gameplay-narrative-integration kind of map in Fire Emblem that springs up every so often, I guess?

The issue, is that IS went into the design room and forgot permadeath is a thing and Fire Emblem players would like to not suffer it maybe that's the point of the Leonster nobodies?. Strong ballistae too close to each other, with thick and impassable terrain, and a solid number of meatshields around the ballistae. The armor has no chinks. -But it does have thieves simply to annoy perfectionists.

I don't remember this map too well, I largely (luckily?) forget my one Thracia experience at this point. Yet I kinda have some vestige of feeling about it, maybe? Like, if an ordinary FE fan was allowed to design a "challenging" defensive enemy map, but forgot the player has to be able to win, and overdid the defenses. Especially for what is a midgame map, before you're firing on all cylinders.

Could C10 T776 be worse? Yes, Grit could take command of the ballistae mid-battle and up goes their range. -But envisioning worse is super-easy and does nothing to make the reality any better.

...A Thracia remake could maybe fix this map if they simply toned down the ballistae? Later games have them be closer to chip damage for reasonably-durable non-fliers. Might be more realistic for HUGE bolts to deal BIG damage to individual humans ...but simply have toothpick-Mt ballistae and separate murdermachine Mt ballistae that show up later/in more solitary places.

Edited August 19 by Interdimensional Observer

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

17 hours ago, ping said:

And I guess Leif is smarter than me, because I'm really not sure what Dorius is trying to stub Leif's (and/or my) nose into.

"My thoughts are 'too complex' for gamers", says Shouzou Kaga.

17 hours ago, ping said:

: "See, I fancy myself a botanist, and a few months ago I started an experiment. I wanted to see what would happen if I watered a tree using only Pure Water. I won't keep you in suspense - this here staff is what resulted from the whole thing! Use it, and it'll fortify your magic, same as if you'd just gulped down Pure Water yourself. Hm? Where's the rest of the tree, you ask? Uh... You're looking at it. That staff WAS the whole tree. Poor thing never grew bigger than three feet tall... Heh, it turns out Pure Water actually isn't very good for plants. Yeah... Probably should've checked that before I spent months on the whole experiment..."

There is precisely a 1% chance that this was actually his dialogue in the original game, and not something the Oroject Exile / Li'l Manster team made up for him because it sounded funny. I'd say 0%, but that number doesn't exist in Thracia 776.

17 hours ago, ping said:

Probably the second-worst map I've played during this project,

If I recall, this was the map I gave up on, during my first playthrough attempt. Thracian ballistae make me want to rip my teeth out.

17 hours ago, ping said:

Marty	  13/1.58   47/ 44  17   1  13  11  14  12  20  +164*	[+3 Skl, +3 Spd]

The Marty Party is so over...

15 hours ago, Jotari said:

Hey, maybe he's like the sole Thracian representative in the military for international friendship. A liaison or diplomat of sorts.

Ah, the "Worf", if you will.

15 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Yeah, I don't know either. Definitely something added by the translation. Strange.

Kempf holds Reinhardt in spite. The South holds the North in spite. Far from a friendly rivalry, it's "one wants what the other one has". What's worse, they do not feel even respected by the target of their scorn. This asymmetry of contempt and indifference will make mixing impossible, like water and oil.

At least, that's how I read Largo's statement. It certainly sounds like something that Kaga might have put in the original.

15 hours ago, Jotari said:

think the intent of this map was for you to recklessly charge the ballista and then use the rescue staff to get your unit to safety.

The Rescue Staff that the player doesn't even have yet? Is Dorias psychic?

[ping]

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The issue, is that IS went into the design room and forgot permadeath is a thing and Fire Emblem players would like to not suffer it maybe that's the point of the Leonster nobodies?. Strong ballistae too close to each other, with thick and impassable terrain, and a solid number of meatshields around the ballistae. The armor has no chinks. -But it does have thieves simply to annoy perfectionists.

If the thieves weren't as stupidly close to the villages (I'm still not sure if there's a way to save both of them without putting Karin into ballista range), they could've served as a incentive to not solve the map by exhausting the ballista ammunition. As is, they make the first 4-5 turns incredibly luck-based if you want to get both villages, and after that, you can just turtle until the chinkless armour starts to rust because there's literally zero incentive left to go fast. Very epic.

I think "overdesigned" is a good term for this map, but there's also zero positive interactions between its pieces. The thieves don't incentivise you to press forward, since the villages aren't in the direction of the main objective. The meatshields protect the ballistae, but in a way that doesn't prevent the trench warfare approach, and it leads to the Knights becoming lame ducks once the ballistae are out of ammo. Olwen and Fred incentivise the trench warfare approach, since they push you back once you reach the central bridge.

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

"My thoughts are 'too complex' for gamers", says Shouzou Kaga.

To be fair, gamers (or at least Gamers with a capital G) aren't exactly capable of complex thought to begin with.

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

The Marty Party is so over...

He needs some time to recover from his hangover. Or he can drink a counterbeer and keep partyin', but I think I'll try and avoid using S-drinks and take fatigue as it comes.

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

Kempf holds Reinhardt in spite. The South holds the North in spite. Far from a friendly rivalry, it's "one wants what the other one has". What's worse, they do not feel even respected by the target of their scorn. This asymmetry of contempt and indifference will make mixing impossible, like water and oil.

At least, that's how I read Largo's statement. It certainly sounds like something that Kaga might have put in the original.

What's a bit unfortunate about the comparison is that up to this point, the narration tried to push for more of a "both sides" situation in Thracia - sure, the South is highly militaristic, but the North has been rather callous about the ongoing famine in the South - while Kempf vs. Reinhardt is set up to be about as ambiguous as Valter vs. Selena, and that's assuming that Reinhardt is going to display some stupid camühsy loyalty.

[Jotari]

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

The Rescue Staff that the player doesn't even have yet? Is Dorias psychic?

He sacrificed his right arm for enlightenment.

2 hours ago, ping said:

and that's assuming that Reinhardt is going to display some stupid camühsy loyalty.

Reinhardt doesn't display much of anything when it comes to personality or loyalty. A lot of characters talk about Reinhardt but he makes shockingly little narrative impact when he finally does appear (and by that point you're so primed to warp skip his gameplay impact is lost in the total bullshit of that chapter).

[Saint Rubenio]

3 hours ago, ping said:

while Kempf vs. Reinhardt is set up to be about as ambiguous as Valter vs. Selena, and that's assuming that Reinhardt is going to display some stupid camühsy loyalty.

I would call him a worse Camus than Selena, so uh.

[BrightBow]

Reinhardt just exists as a foil to Olwen. I really don't think he is meant to be more than that, no matter how hard Heroes pushes him.

[ping]

FE5 Chapter 11: Fort Dundrum

Spoiler

Breaking through the enemy's lines, the Liberation Army finally set foot on Imperial soil. Their invasion could now begin in full. However, there was no time to celebrate: Fort Dundrum, widely regarded as an impregnable defense against Thracian incursions, now stood before them. If they could not capture Fort Dundrum, the army would never reach Tahra in time...

: "If you don't send reinforcements, General Largo is as good as dead! Just say the word, and I'll lead our troops to stomp out these invaders! Please, General Kempf...!"
: "You claim this enemy 'appeared out of nowhere' to besiege Fort Nowell, but who exactly were they? Remind me: what was your assignment again? I'm just a lowly General of House Friege, and these little details escape me all the time. Ah, wait, it's coming back to me! Reconnaissance, wasn't it? But if your duty was reconnaissance, surely you'd come to me with more than 'they just appeared!' Or are you such an incompetent soldier that you failed to gather even the slightest bit of information!"
: "I came here to warn you precisely because there was no time to do anything else! Listen to yourself! You're badgering me for needless details while our borders are under siege! Does it matter who the attackers are?!"
: "And what if this 'attack' is merely a ploy to lure us away from the fort? Did you consider that, girlie? Fort Dundrum earned its reputation of being impregnable only because House Friege's 12th Division is here to guard it! Without them, the fort is mere stone and slate! If I don't have complete information on our enemy, I can't chance deploying the 12th Division. It would weaken our position!"
: "And what of General Largo?! Perhaps sending our troops out is a risk, but he faces certain danger at this very moment!"
: "Bah, what's one or two old men in the grand scheme of things? Besides, how much time could he really have left, anyway?"
: "Wh-What?! General Kempf, even now, you... You..."
: "The glare you're shooting me is almost treasonous on its own - I've had men executed for much less brazen displays of disrespect. So before you back up that glare with equally traitorous words, let me warn you: you're very close to insulting the chain of command. It's amusing watching you squirm, I admit, but are you really willing to defy your superior officer, knowing what the Empire does to traitors?"
: "Tch..."
: "Is that it? You've got quite the mouth on you, but no spine to back up your words."
: "....."
: "You're a simple girl who got into Belhalla's military academy on the prestige of her blood, not the skill of her sword-arm. So naive, so oblivious to the way of the world... You're lucky to have a commanding officer as understanding as I. Don't worry. I never expected much of you: I know that your only real weapon is to go begging your brother for help."
: "Wh-What did you just say to me?!"
: "Hm? Are you hard of hearing? I said that all you're good for is to go crying to Reinhardt!"
: "You...!"
: "Oh, how he must dote on you... Then again, Reinhardt's greatest skill is knowing how to lead women on!"

Shaky, do your thing.

: "Yes, General! Lady Olwen, in the name of the Empire, you're under arrest! Drop your weapon!"
: "Tch... General Kempf... How contemptible..."

: "Hah! That should put the impertinent little girl in her place. And if his own sister is executed for mutiny, Reinhardt will no doubt be stripped of his rank as well! Oh, the look on his face when he hears of this will be quite the spectacle! Ahahaha!"

__

: "Don't play dumb! Why have you done this to lady Olwen?! It's a violation of our military code to punish a subordinate over a personal grudge like this! You have a responsibility to overturn this! Please, sir, release her at once! Otherwise, I have no choice but to report this matter to Princess Ishtar!"
: "'Personal grudge?' Nonsense! Right where you're standing, Lady Olwen drew her sword against me, her superior officer! She meant to kill me!"
: "Wh-What?! That's not possible! She... She would never..."
: "Fred, since you're so well-acquainted with our military code, what's the punishment for turning your sword against a superior officer? Because I seem to recall that it's a crime punishable by execution..."
: "...So that's your goal, is it? Your cowardice knows no bounds..."
: "Be that as it may, as Olwen's adjutant, her duties now fall to you. I command you to ride forth and engage these invaders in her place. But be warned: this isn't merely an order, it's a punishment. You are not permitted to retreat for any reason! See the battle through, regardless of the outcome, or I'll have Olwen executed!"
: "Kempf...! You're shameless!"
: "Hm? Did you say something? Eh, must've been my imagination. Heh, heh, heh..."

Kempf really makes Narcian's ascension to Wyvern General seem deserved and reasonable. But his punchability and incompetence aside - Olwen, while she's obviously cast as the victim of Kempf's resolve to get at Reinhardt in any way possible, doesn't exactly come across as a paragon of competence, either, even before Kempf manages to goad her into drawing her weapon. I suppose we enter the conversation after Kempf has already been kempfing for a bit, but with how emotional Olwen acts from the very beginning of the scene, I have a difficult time imagining her as an army officer. I dunno - maybe it's meant to imply that Olwen actually does occupy a post that's above her ability and maturity thanks to Reinhardt's name and/or connections, which would make Kempf's comments more effective because they're not entirely unfounded.

The Team! Nothing too out there, I think. Asbel takes a break because I'm pretty sure I remember a detail about Kempf that means that we won't need a boss killer, so I might as well reset Asbel's fatigue. Lara I brought as capture bait, although I didn't end up using that. She, Macha, and Lifis ended up not gaining any XP this map (not that getting captured would've helped her level up).

The Map! Considering how much this place has been hyped up, it's honestly pretty basic, although just aesthetically, it's at least neat how the fortress is built right between two mountain ranges.

Unfortunately, Kaga decided to add a forested 1-tile choke right at the starting location. This sucks. Worse than the omnipresent unnecessary walking at the start of Akaneia maps. Well, most of it, there's still Book 2's Ch.3, but still - this kind of choke point with rough terrain means that it's not just the busiwork of moving forward your entire army, it adds the frustration of having your characters get stuck behind one another all the time while still being unnecessary. Heck, this is worse than Genealogy's long walking stretches. At least you can move your units forward quickly in that game. Well, most units. Most of the time.

Kempf doesn't actually have the most impressive stats - Asbel could probably one-round him with a crit follow-up attack. He does have very strong weapons... and a Venin Edge. And two Vulneraries. I guess using poison and having more healing items than necessary is supposed to be a reflection of his cowardly character.

Most of the generic enemies aren't anything special. Probably the most notable are the two Archers, because of their Killer Bows...

...and the fact that three (a conspicuous number) of the enemy Knights carry Door Keys.

Now, à propos door keys... Before starting the map, I counted doors, added +1 for the chest, and decided that a 6-use Lockpick should last Lifis through the map. And technically, that could've been true - but I only managed to grab two of the Door Keys and if you've played this game, you probably already guessed where this is going. I would've restarted the map, since it's honestly a lot less painful than the last (if still a bit lame at places), but...

...look, that's a second +Move level-up on Karin. Hands are tied. If that chest's contents were more valuable than this, well, sucks to be me, I guess.

__

I'm skipping over the initial group of Soldiers and Archers, since they're honestly not too threatening. Leif got an Adept proc here, so unfortunately, only one Killer Bow goes into Leif's armoury.

__

In the inner courtyard, the Knights seem to walk around randomly, while Fred luckily doesn't seem to move at all. This makes it easy for Hicks to bait out Knights safely and bonk them with his Hammer - it's possible that he killed one of the Door Keys on enemy phase that way, although there's a non-zero chance that I was blameless. But we'll get to that later - here's why it's especially important that you can bait out the Knights without fully committing into the courtyard:

At the end of the first enemy phase, Kempf reminds me why he didn't bother sending out any scouts to confirm Olwen's rather sketchy scouting report: In Jugdral, everybody has eyesight that would make Janaff jealous, so Kempf can just evaluate the invading force in person while sitting on his throne. Indoors. Behind locked doors.

: "Are they being led by... a boy? Why, he can't be more than 14 or 15! I've got swords that are older than him! Ah, I see... That must be the wayward Prince Leif! First Olwen, and now Prince Leif marches right up to my doorstep! The gods are most generous today - this is my chance! All hands, hear me: I've a plan for just such an occasion as this, but for it to work, you must lure the enemy inside! And don't be too obvious about it! Prepare to launch Operation Portcullis!"

Again, I have to question the competence of the Imperial officer corps. If Kempf has prepared a trap for Leif, shouldn't everybody involved already know what they're supposed to do? I know, I know, it's one of those "I can't wait to see their faces when they fall into my trap which I shall now explain to the audience, mweheheh" speeches, but still. Although, I suppose if the Knights around Fred are just expected to die, that would explain why they don't know the details of the plan.

____

Anyway, some time later, the Knights are sufficiently whittled down to hopefully spring the trap safely.

I am of course aware that Fred it recruitable, but I didn't remember the details, so I checked if Leif can just talk to him (nope) and then waited outside the ranges of the remaining two Knights.

: "All right, men! Fire at will!"

...and I did not remember the 2 x 3 doors appearing to trap Leif inside.

What I expected were more than two Ballistae, so that's why I sent the relatively bulky, mobile, and rescuable-without-Mov-loss Leif in first. Seeing the trap spring, I think I vaguely remember that it has to be Leif specifically in order to trigger it, so if that's the case I could've rushed in with half my army and just kept the southern doors shut, which would've given me enough Lockpick / Door Key uses to get to Kempf and grab the chest.

Instead, let's count: six doors to get through the courtyard, and a seventh to enter the throne room. I have 6 Lockpick uses available and two Door Keys from the enemy Knights, so that's one Lockpick use left. I would've needed two to get the chest. How nice.

Oh well. Back to the plot, where Fred doesn't seem too impressed with Kempf's tactics:

: "When our forces met in Nowell Valley, I respected the honor with which your army conducted itself! It seems I was mistaken!"
: "...On behalf of my home, my honor compels me to agree with you. The crusader Thrud would not have fought using such treachery. This is all because of that fool of a man, General Kempf... This disgrace is his doing. As a knight, I'm loath to give my life in service of such a foul plan. You seem to be an honorable lad. I've self-control enough to not turn my sword against you if you can promise the same."
: "...If you've no mind to fight, sir, then we have no reason to meddle with you. In fact, we may even be able to help each other - I'd wager the both of us have little energy to spare, now."
: "I... can agree to those terms. I've many things left undone. ...It#s settled then. We can both agree that our time is better spent devising an escape."
: "Very well. My forces will storm the castle's interior in short order. When that happens, you should make your escape to the south - we can take care of the gate ourselves. Are we in agreement?"
: "We are. It appears I owe you quite the debt... I'm Fred, proud knight of House Stade. I would know your name as well, friend."
: "...It's Leif. Leif of House Leonster."
: "House Leonster?! I... I see... Well, Lord Leif, I believe we'll meet again one of these days!"

Ah yes, the age-old Fire Emblem trope of "Outsmarting Your Opponent Is Evil". We've been there before, we'll go there again. #JusticeForZola

Useless fact of the day: Fred comes from a Hanseatic city not too far from Hamburg.

With a bit of trading, I can open the three southern doors right away - good thing I moved Leif first, in that regard. I then position two frail characters who barely survive a single ballista shot (25 Atk, both of them) into range of one ballista each - dismounted Karin to the left, Ronan to the right.

Naturally, the result is that both ballistae shoot at and hit Leif. Good thing he was (a) at full HP and (b) not in range of the enemy Knight.

And here's my potential excuse for the lockpick disaster: Maybe it was Fred, not Hicks, who killed the third Door Key before I could grab it. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on what the result would've been, I didn't check, though.

: "You'd turn your blade on me in this situation?! What idiocy!"

Note: This is Fred attacking his former comrade during "green" phase.

After that, he escapes towards the south, though, without killing the Knight stuck between the doors to the north from 2-range.

Now, with the situation under control, I think the next step is obvious:

Super epic ballista baiting! Wow! Thrilling gameplay.

But seriously, this seems like the "correct" way to play if you're not using savestates. Two ballistae with way too little non-overlap to wiggle through with any modicum of reliability. And since they previously went after Leif (37 HP | 7 Def) over Karin (23 HP | 5 Def) or Ronan (24 HP | 2 Def), it doesn't seem like there's some smart distractionary tactics one could deploy.

__

No speed :/

__

Also no speed :/ (it was capped already)

____

Eventually, the ballistae run out, the soldiers in the north-west are slain/captured, and it's time to move against Kempf.

__

It seems that the Bishop with the Physic staff will move to attack, but the Mages flanking Kempf won't...

...but the Knights will. It feels a bit odd to have the squishy mages being the ones holding the line, but I suppose if an enemy is stationary, it might as well be one with 1-2 range.

____

Mages are killed, Kempf is being shot at...

: "Ugh... What a joke...! I must flee this place, at least for the time being..."

...and there we go.

Maybe I should take a note of the following for the Unpopular Opinion thread, if it holds true for the rest of the game:

Thracia Fog isn't that much of a problem. What really drags Thracia 776's gameplay down is its awful usage of enemy ballisticians.

: "We cannot afford to rest on our laurels, however. This being an Imperial fort, I expect there are children imprisoned here as well. Let's make the most of our swift victory, and conduct a sweep of the interior! If indeed there are children locked up here, we must help them at once!"

And next up, another gaiden. I would assume that this was unlocked by Fred surviving (him fleeing the map may or may not matter), which on the one hand is a fairly reasonable gaiden requirement - but of course it would be odd that Augustus only thinks of the children if a random Imperial officer manages to escape the battle unharmed.

The Team:

	  Lv.	    Fat/HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Con  XP
Leif	  15.71	    --  37   7   0   6   9  12   7   9  +113	[+7 HP]
Fergus	  12/1.52    9/ 35  10   1  14  14   8  10  10  +10
Hicks	  13.28	    21/ 37  12   0   8   6   9  10  17  +324
Brighton  10.32	     1/ 32   7   0   7   7   3   8  13  +7

Karin	  12.20	    21/ 23   6  10  10  20  20   5   4  +128	[unmounted]
Dagdar	   */9.07   10/ 43  15   1  11   9   2  10  15  +38
Osian	  6.06	     3/ 32   7   0   8  11   5   5  11  +95
Dalsin	  8.49	     1/ 32  10   0   3   2   1  12  15  +7

Macha	  9.46	     8/ 27   6   1  14  14  10   5   7  --
Lifis	  8.11	     3/ 22   6   1   4  12   2   2   6  --
Lara	  3.22	     0/ 14   0   0   1  11   7   0   3  --

Selphina  8.72	     5/ 22   4   3   6   8   7   5   5  +11	[unmounted]
Ronan	  10.89	     5/ 24   8   3   7  10   3   2   7  +110
Nanna	  14.89	    44/ 28   8   7  15  11  18   4   5  +331	[unmounted]

 

 

[Saint Rubenio]

54 minutes ago, ping said:

Kempf really makes Narcian's ascension to Wyvern General seem deserved and reasonable. But his punchability and incompetence aside - Olwen, while she's obviously cast as the victim of Kempf's resolve to get at Reinhardt in any way possible, doesn't exactly come across as a paragon of competence, either, even before Kempf manages to goad her into drawing her weapon. I suppose we enter the conversation after Kempf has already been kempfing for a bit, but with how emotional Olwen acts from the very beginning of the scene, I have a difficult time imagining her as an army officer. I dunno - maybe it's meant to imply that Olwen actually does occupy a post that's above her ability and maturity thanks to Reinhardt's name and/or connections, which would make Kempf's comments more effective because they're not entirely unfounded.

For all the memes with Kempf, I think the trope was done better later, both by Kaga and by Kagaless IntSys. Narcian's even funnier while managing to have a semblance of a presence, and then on the Kaga side of things he perfected the trope until we got Therenius in Vestaria Saga 1, a man so dumb it's even reflected in gameplay. Kempf, meanwhile, sits on a really awkward spot, like... really, all of this game's notable villains. He has an important problem, but more on that later.

As for Olwen, Kaga can't write women she is inexperienced and naïve. At this point she still sees the world and her empire with rose-tinted glasses. I guess it's not that surprising that she'd react like this to a blatantly evil moron like Kempf. It does not add up with her view of the world, where everyone is honorable and kind like Largo and her brother. Or something. It's not like she's had that much writing up to this point.

58 minutes ago, ping said:

Heck, this is worse than Genealogy's long walking stretches. At least you can move your units forward quickly in that game. Well, most units. Most of the time.

Genealogy chapter 4:

...nah but yeah, there was zero point to that forest, I don't quite know why it's there.

1 hour ago, ping said:

 

Ah yes, the age-old Fire Emblem trope of "Outsmarting Your Opponent Is Evil". We've been there before, we'll go there again. #JusticeForZola

It's only okay when the player does it.

1 hour ago, ping said:

And next up, another gaiden. I would assume that this was unlocked by Fred surviving (him fleeing the map may or may not matter), which on the one hand is a fairly reasonable gaiden requirement - but of course it would be odd that Augustus only thinks of the children if a random Imperial officer manages to escape the battle unharmed.

I believe there's also a turn requirement, hence why he mentions capturing the fort quickly. But nah, yeah, gaiden requirements have almost never made any sense in FE.