shiningforcegirlpower

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Playing through the game from the beginning (Tao is still on battle #2 and she's level 9 with a much more pitiful attack than what she had in my first run, making this a very slow and squishy run)

And honestly I think I'd love to see a Twitch Plays Shining Force. I think it'd be funny to see the blunders that might occur.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Temporary (Possibly Permanent) Hiatus Announcement

I don't usually schedule my posts, I just like to play Shining Force and do this challenge when it suits my mood.

However the disc I use to legally play my Shining Force game has gotten scratched making the game nigh unplayable.

If I were to find another disc it would take me a while to get back to where I was with this challenge and I may have new layouts for the characters levels if this occurs.

So please be patient in my search for a new disc.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Battle #14, Balbazak

Enemies: 5 Seabats, 2 Silver Knights, 1 Dark Priest, 2 Hellhounds, 3 Artillery, 1 Evil Puppet, Balbazak Allies: Tao - Level 15; Mae - Level 18; Khris - Level 15; Anri - Level 12; Amon - Level 1; Diane - Level 13

So due to the amount of enemies and a small space, I don't doubt that we will have to put in the rule - If the boys get hit that's a reset, cause that's using the boys to our advantage. They have a lot of movement too, so I don't doubt that the boys are going to get hit. The main one to protect is Max, and hopefully if things happen I can revive just the girls and keep the guys dead if they do in fact die.

Attempt #1: I have Mae start to go after the closest Seabat, putting her in the line of fire due to her being our tank.

Mae also proves she is faster than Balbazak, so I don't doubt that her ability to go fast will save our butts. Tao goes after Balbazak, allowing her to go after the Silver Knights with her powerful blaze spells. She even gets one down to 3 HP and the other to 1!

... but then a Hell Hound goes after Max and kills him instantly before I can move him.

Okay so Max needs to be protected above all else. I really hate that. But at the same time, this IS a strategy game and changing my strategy to fit the challenge makes sense!

Attempt #2: Next time, Tao goes first, followed by Mae. So I'm having the girls surround Max to protect him before his turn. In which I'll shove him to the corner to be safe.

An artillery moves for the enemy instead, dealing 2 damage to Mae. Seabats and Hellhound can't reach Max though,

allowing Anri to get needed experience from her freezing Seabats, dealing...

Oh that's... not good actually.

Kris clean up time.

...still more than Freeze...

Thankfully, Anri has enough defense to tank some Silver Knight Damage. Same with Khris and a Sea bat. Though... Diane is unable to use her EXTENDED RANGE AND ATTACK FOR THE ELVEN ARROW AGAINST THE WEAK SEABAT.

I'm sorry, Diane is supposed to be the anti-air unit but magic users are so much more useful in that department. Amon is thankfully able to do some damage against the Seabat Closest to Diane. Hopefully she won't die as fast.

Also, now all the boys are in a corner which should make things easier. I can freely move Tao and Anri to be protected instead of protectees.

Or I can risk Tao getting hit twice for a BEAUTIFUL Blaze Level 3 attack. But I successfully get rid of both artillery AND get a level up for Tao that includes health, defense, and dispel. Mae cleans up the Hellhound.

Now for Diane...

YAY!!!!

Khris heals up Anri, Then gets attacked by 2 Seabats... But the seabats are lining up for a Blaze Level 2... OR I could use Blaze against the Silver Knight and Seabat combo... I'll probably go with that, getting rid of a bat and freeing up Tao and Mae for assistance.

Okay, that didn't work, but the Artillery went for Anri instead of Khris which is great! Until it got a DOUBLE ATTACK AND SLAYED ANRI FREEING UP THE SPOT FOR THE SILVER KNIGHT TO ATTACK KHRIS ARE YOU KIDDING!?

A bat attacks Diane, a Silver knight does only 3 damage to Tao... Well, now Mae has her pick of the Litter. And I think I'll go with the Silver Knight that is threatening Khris... ALTHOUGH. If I keep him alive, and go for the Seabat, I could get in a Blaze with the Silver Knights and the Artillery...

Exactly what I needed Mae, thanks.

The knights are gone, but the Artillery still lives, unfortunately.

I have Diane attack the undamaged Seabat, but it... completely misses. I'm hoping I can get Khris's turn before she dies to the Seabats. Would Suck to lose her especially when I need her to level up to 20 just for easier promotion stats. Though, Amon slays the damaged bat! Love her.

The Artillery hits Tao, getting her to 7 HP after an 8 HP attack. I was worried about another double attack... Which was misplaced, because the Seabat got a double attack on Khris, taking her 8 HP. The other bat darts over to Diane, dealing too much damage for comfort. The Dark Priest, instead of healing the Artillery, begins beating on Tao, bringing her down to 2 HP.

Thankfully, Blaze Level 3 and Mae are killers.

Down goes the Artillery.

And next, the priest.

Diane gets up to Ken, and fires an arrow to a bat. While not killing it, she gains a level up, gaining HP.

A bat goes after Amon, bringing her down to 2 HP.

But then a BAT GOES AFTER LUKE AND I LOSE THE RUN ON THAT FLUKE!

Attempt #3: With Luke gone, there's a hole under Max. I probably should have just replaced him with Earnest, given I don't want to waste gold on a party member I won't use, and it would give me an easier time, but I put in my mental rules that I didn't want to replace any character unless it was a girl, which the only one I'll have to do that with is Alef.

So Khris, Tao, Mae, and Anri surround Max. I position Diane behind Anri, near Khris to protect her, and plan to have Amon sandwich to protect Diane. She finally damages a Seabat on her first try. Let's hope that this a good sign for luck. However, due to the Seabat not moving to attack Anri yet, I'll have Amon attack it and protect Anri instead. She needs more EXP than Diane anyways. I'm STILL waiting for Freeze Level 2.

Amon's deadly attack gets her a level up, with increased Defense, Speed, and HP. Unfortunately, despite the Defense and HP boost, 2 Seabats are still deadly opponents to the bird woman, biting her to shreds.

Tao is busy attacking the Artillery with Blaze Level 3 to realize what just happened, but Mae unleashes her Wrath against a Seabat. As does Diane, killing it.

Unfortunately, the Artillery survive again, and Tao is attacked by two of them. A far off Seabat rushes across the map, attacking Anri. Another attacks Diane, and she's unable to help defend Anri from the Seabat attack. Khris, analyzing the situation, runs over to Tao and heals her.

Khris levels up, gaining attack, and speed, and health, and mp. Her heal level also increases.

A hellhound undoes Khris's healing, but Mae stops an artillery from attacking Tao by slicing it with her spear. Tao takes that time to unleash another Blaze Level 3. Destroying a Silver Knight and the last two artillery.

Diane is about to run over to Khris, but then... she realizes Khris was healing Tao again. Instead, Diane decides to turn around and defend the boys, by firing an arrow at the farthest Seabat. She's unable to kill it, but gets a level up, getting more attack, defense, and HP.

The Seabat, undeterred, attacks Hans. but he LIVES! He lives! He has more Defense and/or HP than the tank that the dwarves are supposed to be! Now, I do have to reset, but... I APPRECIATE HANS SO MUCH HOLY MOLY!!! I knew there was a reason I used to like him so much! (Honestly, I used to ship him and Diane and I might start doing that again.)

Unfortunately, Ken also falls to the Seabats. Hans is surrounded, so I hope he doesn't die... And he doesn't! Max is able to Egress.

Attempt #4: I swapped Tao and Anri around this time, so maybe she'll be able to get some Experience with her Blaze Level 2 to get Freeze Level 2 soon. Also, I had Diane in the line of fire with the bats. I think that I will aim to have them down first, and try to make a wall with the girls, with Khris behind them, trying to heal everyone. (Can't wait until she has aura. Once she has that, I'm spamming it due to the low amount of viable units.)

This position appears optimal for the enemy, but they forget I HAVE MAGIC.

Mae's Spear is able to get the Dark Priest down to 1 HP, allowing Blaze 3 to have a great affect against the Seabat, hellhound, and an Artillery Unit. Khris then goes over to heal Diane, as she is the lowest HP. Though I worry about Tao and Mae.

Amon dances in the air as she and a Seabat fail to harm one another.

Anri, meanwhile goes for a dangerous move to try to gain EXP and kill the Hellhound with only 3 HP, using a Blaze level 2 where Tao used to use Level 3s. She successfully levels up, gaining defense, speed, and the SECOND LEVEL OF FREEZE. This defense allows her to survive both an artillery's attack, and a Silver knights. Before an artillery can move to attack her, Diane shoots it, stalling it long enough for a Silver Knight to fail charging towards any of my units.

Tao unleashes another bout of Blaze 3, killing a Silver Knight, Artillery, and a Bat. She even levels up to 17! She gains a little hp, and 6 WHOLE POINTS FOR MP.

Mae fails to take down the Knight for Anri, but that doesn't bother her. She walks into the blind spot for the Artillery, and unleashes a level 1 Freeze to the Silver Knights face, just because she can. Unfortunately, what she and Mae thought would happen, the artillery attacking Mae, did not. And as the Artillery moved, Anri was too shocked to dodge the deadly attack.

As Khris heals up Tao, she wishes she could have moved sooner to save the princess...

Diane shoots the Bat Amon was distracted by, allowing Amon to divebomb another bat to attack. Another bat bashes into Amon however, dealing a rough amount of damage to the sky warrior. As another bat tries to join in, Tao unleashes her last Blaze Level 3 to get them off Amon's tail.

Mae, fueled by righteous fury for her princess, slashes at the artillery with her spear and destroys it.

Khris extends her reach with Heal Level 2 to heal up Amon. Amon then slashes at a Bat, destroying it. While another tries to sneak up on Amon, Diane destroys it. Diane also levels up but gets no stat boosts.

While Khris heals the rest of the team, Amon tries to get pre-emptive damage on the Evil Puppet. Only for it to heal itself.

Amon slashes at it again, while Diane is able to get a great shot against the Hellhound. The Evil Puppet tries to retaliate against Amon, but she ends up flying around the sea to dodge it.

Tao uses the last of her magic points on slaying the puppet and hell hound with blaze level 2, and maybe doing damage against Balbazak.

Balbazak dodges Mae's spear and Diane's arrow, but Amon comes up behind him and attacks. Unfortunately, Balbazak recovers ALL that damage. Usually he's easy due to the HERO and GLADIATOR classes being up front and doing major damage. But with this challenge, it's a limit on both damage output and defense. As seen with Tao who has 20 HP, getting attacked with a Crit that does 38 HP.

Thankfully, this is good EXP farming for Amon, as she gets to Level 3 getting attack, defense, and speed. Unfortunately, Balbazak can do a lot of damage and there's not enough overwhelming with such a limit on the roster.

Though I have to say Khris had quite the anime moment. A healer who can no longer heal, who saw so many fall. She attacks Balbazak, he attacks her back, she DOESN'T DIE, and STRIKES BACK, getting a LEVEL UP FROM IT.

Mae also gets a level up after attack Balbazak, getting SO CLOSE TO LEVEL 20.

Unfortunately, Khris falls, and we're stuck in another Elliot Loop. I know how this ends, with me feeling like I should give up, but Diane and Mae will shine and pull through.

Diane got the end blow, with a double attack and leveling up in the process.

Balbazak pleads for his life but... after killing my girls?

FINE. I GUESS...

And thus, the Chapter ends.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Preparation to fight Balbazak

So we go into his fortress after upgrading Amon. And-

Ernest, this isn't a centaur run. I'm sorry I don't need-

Dude, you're blocking the path-

Looks like he's joining us.

I mean I haven't been touched since the first battle so... hahaha...

Let's go girls.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

My Girls are Getting Strong

Turns out only Amon needs to be promoted to get her steel sword, which she just got to level 10 so... Early promotion for her

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Battle #13, The Entrance to Balbazak's Fortress

Gonna be honest, I did this before the last post was up and did it pretty quick. Was just so READY to go fight. So everyone's levels are a little lower and no one is promoted.

Enemies: 6 Silver Knights, 2 Hellhounds, 3 Pegasus Knights, 3 Dark Priests, 1 Artillery

Allies: Tao, Level 15; Mae, Level 18; Khris, Level 15; Anri, Level 12; Amon, Level 8; Diane, Level 13

I send Tao up to attack a Silver Knight and she immediately kills it with a double attack. Mae immediately kills the next one. So this tempo of killing Elliot seems to have fired up our girls!

When they get up the ladder, Mae kills ANOTHER Silver Knight. Amon's gonna have trouble getting ANY experience...

WAIT I DIDN'T FACTOR IN THE PEGASUS KNIGHT'S RANGE AND NOW ANRI IS DEAD!

NOT AGAIN!!!!

Amon gets revenge for the fallen Anri.

And now we have something that can do more than one damage to Mae that ISN'T a boss.

After Tao and Khris make a combo attack against a Pegasus Knight, Amon cleans it up, earning a level up!

She needed this.

WHY IS THE HELL HOUND ATTACKING AGAIN-

She'll get revenge.

Heck yeah.

A Pegasus knight gets dangerously close. Mae misses, but Tao throws a weak Blaze level 1 against it. Khris backs up Mae, healing her.

Diane gets a good hit against the Pegasus Knight, but it's friend does pretty bad damage to her. The original attacks Tao. Now both are low, but Khris has to make a choice on WHO to heal... Tao can be good in the short run, but Diane can last longer... Amon kills the Pegasus Knight threatening Tao, making the choice easy for Khris. Healing Diane who is in danger.

Except MAE AND AMON SAVE DIANE!

Now Khris can let the damaged ones stay behind for her to heal them while Amon scouts ahead. Or Tao, since she moves faster and has already been healed.

A silver knight came down from safety, only to meet Mae and Tao for their fighting.

Khris finishes healing with Diane. And now all the gals are ready to fight.

I'll have Amon go after that Artillery. Since it's blocking a door and Amon can't get hit unless it chooses to move. Which it probably won't.

Also Mae is so beastly she's doing overkill damage to Silver Knights.

Excited for this.

... never trust a bird to do a horse's job. Mae kills the Dark Priest that blocked the way, making her way over to assist Amon.

Let's get redemption.

THERE WE GO! And ANOTHER LEVEL UP! SPD +1

Tao goes to continue beating up a Dark Priest who is fleeing up a ladder, but misses as he reaches the top. Diane WAS on her way to assist, but MAE comes all the way in to try attacking. ... and also misses.

Amon destroys the Artillery, allowing passage.

Tao receives some head trauma while climbing the ladder, but manages to hang on! She attacks the Dark priest but she's too disoriented to land it. Mae's spear meanwhile destroys the Dark Priest.

Khris gets up to Tao to heal her up.

The ladies are lining up for the final confrontation.

Not enough space to get a full Blaze Level 3, but the Hell Hound would probably be resistant. I'll go for it since Tao has SO MUCH MP.

And Mae is HAPPY to clean up.

Diane joins in too!

The Hell Hound refused to move, letting Amon get a hit in!

And of course Mae, the warrior gets the final blow.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Interlude Between Battle 12 and 13

You know, one of the challenges I was thinking of doing between the Shining Force Girl Power was the Magic Only Run (which if you want to see @claire-starsword is doing a great one), CENTAURS Only Run (which has the same amount of characters as the girls) and a Non-Human run.

The Non-Human run would be fun cause I'd have a bigger team to work with. Luke, Ken, Tao (half-elf), Hans, Gort, Mae, Khris... and one of them that would be included is Guntz the Armadillo-Man turned Literal Tank. That's the guy who's being mentioned here. He's SO MUCH FUN TO PLAY WITH!

I... completely forgot there were chests in this town, and one of them has the ELVEN ARROW... There's a STEEL SWORD NEXT TO IT! However I WOULD need to Promote Diane and Amon. I WAS going for the Promotion at Level 20, but let me open this up to you guys!

[shiningforcegirlpower]

... I can't believe that just happened.

I was so ready to farm Heat Axes to kill this man.

Anyways I am REVIVING AND SAVING.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

So.. Mae Leveled up 2 times fighting this man.

Battle #12.1, Pao Prarie, Second Attempt

It takes around 3 turns to finally get to the point where my girls can fight. And what do you know, Tao, the mascot starts off every turn!

And she's first to attack too. I could keep her safe, but I'll inch further to get the max amount of use for Blaze Level 3. Keep forgetting I have that.

Good thing I did because we are at a new level!!

Def +1, Spe +2 and NOW Mae can destroy the Pegasus knight to keep Tao safer. These two are the dream duo.

And Khris is in PRIME healing Range.

Let's hope Amon can join in some prime cleanup and tanking. (She will die in 2 hits).

Of course, the two lizardmen try to attack her, one getting her down from 21/21 to 8/21. I salute her in at least getting 16 exp... BUT SHE EVADES IT! SHE COULD PROBABLY GET HEALED AND GET A KILL!!!! AMON!!! I knew I could trust you.

Or... Tao will get the kill before Khris or Amon can move. As long as we get kills and enough gold to revive for what will undoubtably be our next battle... with Elliot...

And Tao found a Heat Axe! That... No girl can use. (Why no female dwarves!?) Oh well, free gold.

I'll let Mae kill the Pegasus Knight so Amon can (hopefully) get her kill with the Lizardman.

Or Anri gets a kill. Sure. Why not. The game HATES the bird people.

Yeah... so Amon never got to move and Khris also never got to move before ANOTHER Lizardman came up and... killed Amon. It SUCKS that Balbaroy and Amon are the same class but Amon is supposed to have worse stats.

Khris will get revenge via use of the Power Staff.

Also the enemy AI is SO dumb. They could have went after Mae, or Khris, or Diane... but they just LINE UP to DIE. MAE HE HAD ONLY 3 HIT POINTS LEFT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT.

ANRI WHAT THE HELL. AND SHE LATER EVADES HIS ATTACK WHAT THE-

Diane gets a kill.

So while I'm moving the ladies forward, I get them attacking a Lizardman. Some PEGASUS KNIGHT comes over to ANRI and Hits her- for 7/14 damage. I sigh out of relief. BUT THEN IT DOES A DOUBLE ATTACK AND- ANRI LIVED. ON ONE HP. THAT'S WHY SHE'S THE GOAT!!! THE GOOOOAAATT- A lizard man killed her.

Damn.

Khris can't get ANY healing in. Until THIS turn. Where she heals Diane for 6 HP. ... WHO THEN IMMEDIATELY GETS ATTACKED BY A PEGASUS KNIGHT FOR 9 HP ARE YOU SHITTING ME-

I only have one left...

... and I'm saving it. TAO KILL THE SILVER KNIGHT WITH THREE HP LEFT WITH YOUR POWER STAFF.

SHE IS SO POWERFUL.

And the Lizardman TRIES to kill Tao, but fails. Tao gets healed by Khris, and the Lizardman gets killed by Diane. Who still needs healing. But then the SILVER KNIGHT COMES OVER and tries KILLING TAO with a Double attack....

This battle is going to kill them all again I feel it. We're not even to ELLIOT YET. Tao and Mae work together to kill the Silver Knight. I think I'll have Diane focus on the Knight attacking Khris, and use level 1 healing the best I can.

Huzzah, let's hope it's a good one! ATK +2, SPD +1

And Tao comes over to clean up Diane's leftovers. Mae, meanwhile, delivers a nice attack to get rid of the Pegasus Knight.

Current Plan - Tao and Khris are the melee in front. Diane between them. And behind these two priests is Mae to tank from Elliot's crew behind him.

Khris can't quite make it but the other ladies are handling themselves fine so she'll just heal herself.

DEF +2!

... Okay WHY DID THE DARK PRIEST EVADE EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ATTACK WE THREW AT HIM THAT ROUND. Well, at least the next attack for Mae was a DEADLY ATTACK.

While I had the other girls kind of huddling to hide from the Artillery... Mae can take it down in one hit.

Let's see how useful Blaze level 3 is against this dragon. 10 points... okay... good to note.

Alright, let's start the futile assault.

... honestly fuck the regeneration mechanic. THIS MAN CAN DO 31 POINTS OF DAMAGE (deadly attack but still). And you're supposed to be a LOWER LEVEL THAN MY CHARACTERS.

Diane is an INFLATED LEVEL 12!!!

"Oh but GirlPower doesn't that balance with the rest of the game?"

Sure, maybe, but at the same time he's got a MASSIVE evasion stat. This battle can be absolutely brutal if you don't know where to pick up Gong, with Khris and Lowe having less MP than Khris has now, and PEGASUS KNIGHTS and SILVER KNIGHTS that are either impossible to hit or impossible to kill for your level. A LIZARD MAN has a HEAT AXE which you COULD farm for the Blaze spell but it will BREAK after a FEW uses!

Even if I had the evasion stat not kick in for Elliot, Mae and Diane only do averages of 13+8 damage. That's 21 damage. Practically 6 when thinking about the regeneration mechanic.

It would take me ten turns of getting consistently lucky to not trigger the evasion to kill him with just Mae and Diane. And that's only IF I can keep Khris up as a meat shield. Or have other meat shields survive like a no MP Tao, Anri, or Amon. But unfortunately one "STUNNING ATTACK" deals 32 hp to my hyperbuffed Khris, killing her.

And with his luck, Diane and Mae are as good as dead. Attempt number 2 is a bust.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Battle #12.1, Pao Prarie, Second Attempt

It takes around 3 turns to finally get to the point where my girls can fight. And what do you know, Tao, the mascot starts off every turn!

And she's first to attack too. I could keep her safe, but I'll inch further to get the max amount of use for Blaze Level 3. Keep forgetting I have that.

Good thing I did because we are at a new level!!

Def +1, Spe +2 and NOW Mae can destroy the Pegasus knight to keep Tao safer. These two are the dream duo.

And Khris is in PRIME healing Range.

Let's hope Amon can join in some prime cleanup and tanking. (She will die in 2 hits).

Of course, the two lizardmen try to attack her, one getting her down from 21/21 to 8/21. I salute her in at least getting 16 exp... BUT SHE EVADES IT! SHE COULD PROBABLY GET HEALED AND GET A KILL!!!! AMON!!! I knew I could trust you.

Or... Tao will get the kill before Khris or Amon can move. As long as we get kills and enough gold to revive for what will undoubtably be our next battle... with Elliot...

And Tao found a Heat Axe! That... No girl can use. (Why no female dwarves!?) Oh well, free gold.

I'll let Mae kill the Pegasus Knight so Amon can (hopefully) get her kill with the Lizardman.

Or Anri gets a kill. Sure. Why not. The game HATES the bird people.

Yeah... so Amon never got to move and Khris also never got to move before ANOTHER Lizardman came up and... killed Amon. It SUCKS that Balbaroy and Amon are the same class but Amon is supposed to have worse stats.

Khris will get revenge via use of the Power Staff.

Also the enemy AI is SO dumb. They could have went after Mae, or Khris, or Diane... but they just LINE UP to DIE. MAE HE HAD ONLY 3 HIT POINTS LEFT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT.

ANRI WHAT THE HELL. AND SHE LATER EVADES HIS ATTACK WHAT THE-

Diane gets a kill.

So while I'm moving the ladies forward, I get them attacking a Lizardman. Some PEGASUS KNIGHT comes over to ANRI and Hits her- for 7/14 damage. I sigh out of relief. BUT THEN IT DOES A DOUBLE ATTACK AND- ANRI LIVED. ON ONE HP. THAT'S WHY SHE'S THE GOAT!!! THE GOOOOAAATT- A lizard man killed her.

Damn.

Khris can't get ANY healing in. Until THIS turn. Where she heals Diane for 6 HP. ... WHO THEN IMMEDIATELY GETS ATTACKED BY A PEGASUS KNIGHT FOR 9 HP ARE YOU SHITTING ME-

I only have one left...

... and I'm saving it. TAO KILL THE SILVER KNIGHT WITH THREE HP LEFT WITH YOUR POWER STAFF.

SHE IS SO POWERFUL.

And the Lizardman TRIES to kill Tao, but fails. Tao gets healed by Khris, and the Lizardman gets killed by Diane. Who still needs healing. But then the SILVER KNIGHT COMES OVER and tries KILLING TAO with a Double attack....

This battle is going to kill them all again I feel it. We're not even to ELLIOT YET. Tao and Mae work together to kill the Silver Knight. I think I'll have Diane focus on the Knight attacking Khris, and use level 1 healing the best I can.

Huzzah, let's hope it's a good one! ATK +2, SPD +1

And Tao comes over to clean up Diane's leftovers. Mae, meanwhile, delivers a nice attack to get rid of the Pegasus Knight.

Current Plan - Tao and Khris are the melee in front. Diane between them. And behind these two priests is Mae to tank from Elliot's crew behind him.

Khris can't quite make it but the other ladies are handling themselves fine so she'll just heal herself.

DEF +2!

... Okay WHY DID THE DARK PRIEST EVADE EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ATTACK WE THREW AT HIM THAT ROUND. Well, at least the next attack for Mae was a DEADLY ATTACK.

While I had the other girls kind of huddling to hide from the Artillery... Mae can take it down in one hit.

Let's see how useful Blaze level 3 is against this dragon. 10 points... okay... good to note.

Alright, let's start the futile assault.

... honestly fuck the regeneration mechanic. THIS MAN CAN DO 31 POINTS OF DAMAGE (deadly attack but still). And you're supposed to be a LOWER LEVEL THAN MY CHARACTERS.

Diane is an INFLATED LEVEL 12!!!

"Oh but GirlPower doesn't that balance with the rest of the game?"

Sure, maybe, but at the same time he's got a MASSIVE evasion stat. This battle can be absolutely brutal if you don't know where to pick up Gong, with Khris and Lowe having less MP than Khris has now, and PEGASUS KNIGHTS and SILVER KNIGHTS that are either impossible to hit or impossible to kill for your level. A LIZARD MAN has a HEAT AXE which you COULD farm for the Blaze spell but it will BREAK after a FEW uses!

Even if I had the evasion stat not kick in for Elliot, Mae and Diane only do averages of 13+8 damage. That's 21 damage. Practically 6 when thinking about the regeneration mechanic.

It would take me ten turns of getting consistently lucky to not trigger the evasion to kill him with just Mae and Diane. And that's only IF I can keep Khris up as a meat shield. Or have other meat shields survive like a no MP Tao, Anri, or Amon. But unfortunately one "STUNNING ATTACK" deals 32 hp to my hyperbuffed Khris, killing her.

And with his luck, Diane and Mae are as good as dead. Attempt number 2 is a bust.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Another Time, Another Place. We Could Have Been Allies. (Battle #12 Pao Prarie)

Allies - Tao (Level 14), Mae (Level 14), Khris (Level 14), Anri (Level 10), Amon (Level 8), Diane (Level 8) Enemies - 5 Lizardmen, 3 Dark Priests, 4 Pegasus Knights, 4 Silver Knights, 1 Artillery, Elliot

Attempt 1 - So Pao Prarie is.... A LOT of land. Nova's advice was to stick together. We'll be spending some time to actually GET to the fights, so I'll even remark the amounts of turns it takes to get to our first fight.

Four turns and I decide to go north. Mae is in a position to fight with her spear. I'll probably go for the lizardman, and use the magic against the pegasus knights.

I'm risking Amon here but DANG is Mae strong. Despite her upgrade to the long sword it lives on 2 hp. Which is a good thing because that means that the pegasus knights shouldn't go after her. Instead the Lizardman failed to attack back, and a Pegasus knight did 1 damage to Mae.

Now let's go for a Blaze Level 3 to get rid of the Lizardman and POSSIBLY the Pegasus knights.

And this was the higher damage for it. Tao is my beloved gal.

AND MAE GOT A HIT!!!

Okay Amon... just hit... ONE HP MINIMUM.

LET'S GOOOOO-

Uh-oh. And Anri doesn't have the distance to get there to attack the lizardman. Let alone heal Amon.

BUT KHRIS CAN! And thank goodness she has some good defense given that she's our 3rd character.

The other two Pegasus Knights - Okay, let's make sure you wasted that.

I OVERESTIMATED THE GIRLS DEFENSE BUT NOT THEIR HP. Khris lived on 2. HP. Tao: on 7. But I will definitely get revenge for Amon.

Diane attacked the Lizardman that went after Tao and gained a level, getting an attack boost.

NO THE TURN ORDER IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE KHRIS GO BEFORE YOU- Khris is dead. It's FINE. We have MEDICAL HERBS. We... we can't go back to buy them. Otherwise we'd lose experience progress. And I'm not going to do THAT. OH NOOOOOOO-

I go back to playing and a PEGASUS KNIGHT KILLS TAO.

And then THEY NEARLY KILL ANRI SHE IS AT 2 HP.

Diane, filled with rage at the slaughter got a DOUBLE ATTACK. Too bad the opponent was left with 1 HIT POINT ARE YOU KIDDING ME-.

It's okay, Mae killed it and got a level up. Yeah the girls are PISSED.

Anri did a Blaze level 2 against a pegasus knight and lizardman, killing the knight and leveling up to gain hp and mp for a whole new freeze spell.

Diane and Mae tag teamed a Lizardman, and one tried to attack Anri... AND SHE DODGED. LIKE A BOSS. AND SHE DID A FOLLOWUP DEADLY FREEZE.

The girls then have a picnic with Medicinal Herbs, with Anri and Diane sharing theirs with Mae. Mae, enthused, then went and killed a Lizardman with a double attack. Diane then shared leftovers with Anri.

Then, as Diane saw a Silver Knight try to attack Mae, she came up and fired an arrow that hit and gave her a second level up! She's now level 10, with a defense increase and HP INCREASE OF 4.

A pegasus knight and fellow silver knight tried to come to back up their buddy, only to receive a spear bringing it from full down to 2 Hp, and a blaze level 2 spell, and an arrow to finish off the silver knight. The other silver knights fell similarly.

Then all the girls jumped the first dark priest. And the second one. And Mae one-shot The Artillery. And the Third Dark Priest.

But we're not beating Elliot. We're out of MP and Anri is definitely going to die. Mae and Diane can stay away, but I don't think they'll beat him. Unless the AI is required to stay... We can't even touch him!

Until Anri died, then Diane hit him and got another defense and speed level up.

Wait... this man is NOT moving.

Is this just free EXP for Mae and Diane??? I mean, they CAN kill him if they hit him but he's so hard to hit already.

I just hate that he regenerates 15 HP per turn. Elliott, please you could JOIN MAX IN THE BACK AND RELAX. OR JUST STOP. JUST STOP. JUST LET THE LADIES WIN. DID YOU SEE HOW MUCH BLOOD THEY'VE SUFFERED AND SPILLED.

NOW HE FINALLY MOVES!? HE'S REGENERATED TO FULL. THE ONLY WAY I'M GOING TO WIN IS IF MAE GET'S DEADLY OR DOUBLE ATTACKS CONSISTENTLY.

Nope he's just gonna kill me. Alright... I'll post this and have a second post for the next attempt.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

I'm Sick so I have time

So I'm starting Chapter 4 Proper while sick. The nitty gritty of this battle is one man that we meet before we fight.

*Sigh* I WISH he was a character we could play...

Sadly though, the Noble Elliot is a loyal knight to King Ramladu.

Yeah, Elliot... that's a BIG "If"

See, remember the Marionette? How we'd get close to defeating it and then it'd have 7 more health? Yeah. More and more bosses are going to be doing that. Elliot is one of those bosses.

Anyways, we sell what we don't need and talk to Queen Koron of Pao Village.

Well, #girlpower I guess.

I COULD talk to him... or not. Part of my rules, though I haven't said them yet, is just trying to use the girls. That means no selling extra weapons. I AM however, allowed to use the extra item slots the boys give me, but NOT allowed to buy them extra things. Only things I find. Essentially, they're a bag. Only because this game is built in such a way that item shuffling is deemed NECESSARY.

Anyways, we'll be heading on to Pao Prairie battle next

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Sir I need to talk to-

Wait what just happened?

Who's that little guy!?

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Battle #11 - Laser Eye

If the Marionette was the overwhelming Mini-Boss, the Laser Eye is a Boss that lives up to its chapter name. The third and final battle of the third chapter (making it the shortest chapter in the game), is one that is a mix of staying put and knowing when and where to bum-rush.

Here's another required character that we won't use. Now, onto the details.

Allies - Tao (Level 14), Mae (Level 12), Khris (Level 13), Anri (Level 9), Amon (Level 8), Diane (Level 8) Enemies - 5 Lizardmen, 2 Dark Priests, 3 Pegasus Knights, 3 Dark Elves, 2 Silver Knights, 1 Laser Eye

The Laser Eye seems to always go first, giving its initiating sequence. Apparently counting down from "10 9" seconds. Meaning each round of characters moving is apparently 2 seconds. The Laser Eye needs 5 rounds to complete its warm-up, then on the sixth round, it will fire.

I started my usual tactic for this battle. I would always wait to see if I could wait out one Laser Eye blast to get weakened Runefaust enemies before bumrushing in to try to get rid of them. Usually, my Birdmen would be used to lure Pegasus Knights into the fire, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that with just Amon.

I begin to set up my gals, but then a Lizardman comes up to attack Mae. Luckily, the girls such as Amon and Tao help out and the three of them destroy it.

I set up all the girls in a block and send Amon out to see if I can scout a way to attack the Dark Elves without alerting the Pegasus Knights.

One seems to already know what I'm doing.

I put Amon back into the block formation, but the Pegasus Knight immediately attacks Tao dealing a worrying amount of damage. Next who's able to move is Diane, so I have her attack it, dealing 4 damage and gaining a level.

I'm going to take a break.

...

I forgot to save. WELP LOOKS LIKE I'M STARTING FROM ATTEMPT 1.5!

Attempt 1.5 - I once again moved Mae too close, but she and Tao can handle it.

Also it seems that the Pegasus Knights will always move once someone is detected to be in the sky and not on the land tile. It tries to make a move on Mae, but is too far. So Diane readies to aim and fire.

Which misses. Thus missing her level up.

Mae hits it instead. Thus - Getting a level up.

The Pegasus Knight harms Diane, but Anri gets her revenge by freezing its wings and causing it to perish. She even gets a level up!

She learns Muddle, which I've never found a use for.

Khris heals both Mae and Diane, getting a level up to 14, which will give her enough MP to get another heal level 1 in her wheelhouse.

I moved Amon closer, which triggered a Silver Knight to stupidly move where the Laser Eye was firing.

Haha.

I thought Amon would be able to get rid of the Dark Priest, but she couldn't reach him. She couldn't kill the Lizardman either. But did get some damage in before it and a Pegasus Knight attacked her and she was unable to fight anymore.

Mae got revenge by hitting a double spear attack against the Pegasus Knight.

Tao then got her revenge for her fallen comrade by unleashing her Blaze Level 3 to damage the Lizardman and destroy the priest.

While the Pegasus Knight hit her, it couldn't even get her health down halfway, allowing Tao to unleash another Blaze Level 3 against it and the Lizardman.

Mae wanted to destroy the Pegasus Knight, but knew it was best to keep on and clear the path to the Laser Eye. She annihilated a Lizardman with a deadly attack from her power spear.

Anri instead destroyed the Pegasus Knight with a freeze spell.

The girls continued forwards, Mae launching spears behind her as she charged towards the Laser Eye. The Dark Elves began to regroup to help their allies on the other side of the bridge.

A Silver Knight tried to cut her off and attack but... TAO! The blazing woman! She didn't even have to use her magic. She struck that Silver Knight, doing 9 damage.

This allowed Mae to continue charging to the Laser Eye to begin damaging it.

But the other girls weren't so lucky to get to the Laser Eye in time. Tao and Anri hunkered down in an alcove. Anri spotted a Dark Elf and tried to freeze it but... She was struck down. Diane, on the other hand, tried to rush to start attacking the Laser Eye as well. She was too far away from the Alcove. But also to far to begin attacking. Khris tried to reach her, but things went to fast. A Dark Elf ran out and attacked Diane. And the Laser Eye... took away her last two hit points.

It was down to our original three ladies, filled with rage at their fallen comrades who they tried to do everything to make sure they would not fall victim to the weapon. And even then they couldn't manage that.

Mae's next attack on the Laser Eye gave her enough Experience to level up.

Khris healed herself, but the two remaining Dark Elves took her down. Now we were left with our original two ladies.

Mae landed the last attack on the Laser Eye, and was ready to heal herself with her items and begin to attack while she waited on Tao to join the fray.

Tao attacked the Dark Elf that DARE come close to her, destroying it and resisting its attacks against her.

When Mae attacked the Dark Elf against her, she left it with only a sliver. That was fine enough for Tao, blazing with the fury of her comrades souls who got to get the finishing blow against it, deciding not to heal herself, as she was so enraged.

They gave the Lizardman the same treatment.

Mae then destroyed the Silver Knight in one hit, and turns out he was the boss of the battle. So... not getting the EXP for fighting the Dark Priest but Mae and Tao are already SO far ahead from the other ladies...

Meet Pelle. A Centaur who can climb up 90 degrees of Rock. You'd think he'd be a niche centaur who is good at moving in the mountains like the dwarves or archers (compared to the other allies). But nope. Just... another Centaur.

Would be great for the Centaur only run, though. The third character you get.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Battle #10 - One of the Most Forgettable.

Allies - Tao (Level 14), Mae (Level 11), Khris (Level 12), Anri (Level 9), Amon (Level 7), Diane (Level 7) Enemies - 5 Skeletons, 4 Pegasus Knights, 2 Dark Elves, 2 Lizardmen, 2 Dark Priests

Between the Quarry and Bridge (literally), this fight is one I completely forgot existed. It's more of a fluff battle so that there isn't just two battles in this chapter.

Anyways while investigating the enemies I found this weird batch of ground.

ANYWAYS - Tao can't get too close to the skeletons, but Mae, with her new spear does MASSIVE amounts of damage to them now, getting them down to half health.

And while positioning Amon, she ended up scaring the Pegasus Knights, but encouraging the Dark Elves.

Also this is the fight where enemies start using items on themselves. But Tao got so mad at the skeleton doing that she completely anihilated it with her Blaze level 1.

Amon will be dealing with the separated Dark Elf, and I'll hope her defense isn't still garbage.

Mae and Anri tag-teamed to get rid of a skeleton. And Tao joined in to destroy the third one.

Now, it looks like the Dark Elves are settled, so I'm going to try to get Amon to destroy them. Afterall, destroying one got her to Level 8 and got her a level up that benefitted her attack and speed.

Trying to attack the Lizardman with Diane and Mae, while they missed their first attack, they destroyed it.

Anri targeted a skeleton that Mae helped clean up.

The Dark Elf missed Amon the first time, allowing her to get two solid hits before getting hit harshly, bringing her to 4 HP. Khris came in to assist, with healing and then attacking the Dark Elf.

Diane, Tao, and Mae all had to work together to take down the Dark Priest.

Diane, taking cover in the forest, began to attack one Pegasus Knight, who I hope to lure away from its partner to be beaten up.

But then some other Pegasus Knight attacked Anri, TWICE. So she's dead now. This Pegasus Knight is going to get SO destroyed. Mae was so upset at seeing a royal die again she did the perfect amount of damage after Tao's Blaze. And she leveled up to 12, gaining 2 more HP. Good for spell casters.

Amon went to attack the skeleton, dealing 1 damage. She scared the skeleton so much, it ate its medical herb.

Tao and Mae destroyed another Pegasus Knight in the same way, leaving Amon and Diane to fight the Skeleton. Then Diane got a level up.

Mae had to finish off the skeleton after it gave massive damage to Amon. Man, Amon is SO fragile... I wish they made her and Balbaroy with a bit better stats. Like Amon has better defense but Balbaroy has better attack or something like that. Otherwise it's just... Amon is Balbaroy's cleanup.

Khris healed her and then with two Pegasus Knights retreating, Amon and Diane went after them. Only for Amon to get super hurt even without hitting the thing.

Amon retreated to be healed and then went back to attack. It was left on 1 HP. It was too tempting. You'd think characters made to be flying could attack flying units better... but she couldn't. And she fell.

Diane avenged her, but then... The other Pegasus Knight attacked her.

She tried to retreat back to Khris after getting an extra turn to hit, but... It killed her and went to Khris to attack. Khris, filled with rage at the fact that both Amon and Diane, her poor allies, were destroyed by these creatures raised her Power Staff. And destroyed the creature in a clean swipe. Dealing 16 damage with a deadly attack.

Mae tried to defeat the Lizardman by herself, but the Dark Priest healed her, so Tao had to use Blaze before Mae finished it off with her spear.

After Khris healed herself, Mae and Tao finished off the Dark Priest.

That was... VERY rough. I'll need to stock up, re-assess my weapons, and health items.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

Oh yeah...

+15 Attack AND more range? Come to mama.

[shiningforcegirlpower]

What if I Told You:

Zylo is optional. you don't have to cure him with the lunar dew or the moonstone, you can just go straight back to the town. On the other hand...

WHO BRINGS A SWIMSUIT TO A QUARRY!? On the bright side, it can be sold.