#but honestly the rank reset change can fuck all the way off

[crystalelemental]

I have 20 minutes before I have to feed the cat and get started on these courses that finally allowed me access, so let’s take a moment to talk about my good friend Thracia 776.

I made it through Chapter 5, and got both sidequest chapters along the way.  So that’s fun.  I decided to play on Paragon mode, because I don’t give a shit about challenge, I’m here to try and enjoy the experience for a game whose story I actually really like.

Currently, Leif is doing pretty well, mostly seems to do great with strength and speed, but his skill is bad and I don’t think he’s gained any build so that’s fun.  I think Macha’s been the most unprecedented hero so far.  She’s had two 6 point levels.  That’s really good.  Brighton’s had mostly 1 point levels so he’s not doing so hot.  Asbel seems super magic screwed, he still only has like 4 magic at level 7.  Not looking forward to that long-term.  Tanya actually got some fantastic levels too, including a lot of extra strength, so I’ll be doing my damnedest to get her back.

Chapters 1-3 remain pretty enjoyable.  Moreso now that I understand capturing as a mechanic and how to do that effectively.  A big issue before was not knowing how to set up a good capture, but now that I’m in the swing of it...I kinda like this feature?  Like it’s kinda cool.  Only kinda, though.  And the “only kinda” part kicks in as soon as you hit Chapter 4, where everything starts breaking down, but I’ll get to that.

I’m currently playing with the Lil Munster patch, which also allows me to see the hidden skills for units.  Such as Miracle+ on Eyvel, which just literally prevents her from ever dying.  I did not know that was a thing, and let me tell you, everything going on with Chapter 5′s pitfighters is suddenly a lot less bullshit.  Yes, you can argue all you want that it increases the tension when you don’t know it’s there, but also fuck that.

Chapter 4 is really where I think I’m going to start complaining.  Which is funny because on a second playthrough?  This is actually a pretty fun chapter.  You know, mostly.  Facilitating the escape of the civilians was pretty simple and fun, and it honestly helped out Karin the most, since she wasn’t particularly threatened by a guard holding a captive.  I was also pleasantly surprised at how engaging that map managed to be in terms of just...gathering Vulneraries.  Like, looking at it, I expected a disaster, but judicious use of the thieves and maybe a capture here and there actually nets you enough to equip everyone with a full vulnerary.

Until the trouble.  Let me be frank: I am always one for soft resetting when a character dies, and I’m trying to break myself of that particular habit a bit.  It’s not that I want to not care about characters, so much as recognizing that some characters I don’t give a shit about so why reset everyone else for them?  I play a quick run of Shadow Dragon before this, and just let people die, and honestly it was a lot more engaging when you’re not resetting for stupid things.  But there was one unit who causes two of the three resets, because I couldn’t afford to lose him.  Julian.  I couldn’t just lose the thief and that utility.  Resets occur not because of character love, but because you cannot give up the utility presented.

I feel like that’s part of early Thracia’s problem.  Chapters 1-3, it’s pretty easy to keep everyone alive, especially with Eyvel being actually invincible, and having three super units in Eyvel, Dagdar, and Finn.  If you got the Vouge and the Brave Axe, Osian and Halvan are actually ridiculous too.  But once you hit Chapter 4, things feel like they change to a level that’s a bit absurd?  If you didn’t successfully set up recruitment of Dalsin, I kinda feel like Chapter 4 and 4x are just impossible.  The only way to damage these armor knights are Leif’s Light Brand at range, and Dalsin’s axe.  Pretty much everyone else is dealing about 2 damage, and hoping for a crit, with none of them having the B-rank swords to make use of Armorslayer.  So the chokepoint strategy to the north feels decisively impossible because of how much damage you take, how little you deal in response, and how hard it is to actually break through and take out the mages when their numbers dwindle.  Not to mention one less unit means you have less defense against the soldier reinforcements, and it’s that much harder to protect your thieves.  Which, actually, speaking of: Thieves plural.  Which requires you actually got Lithis.  You probably did, his condition is super easy to achieve.  But.  My recollection is that the original version of this game didn’t give you little icons to tell you when people could talk to one another.  So unless you just figured out that Leif can talk to Eyvel (but not the other way around, that’s too much), you’d miss the hint about “Just catch him and hold onto him.”  At which point I feel it is fair to say people might release him after taking his stuff.  And then you only have one thief.  Which is.  Not great.  And slows down that prison escape significantly.

Then there’s 4x, where you really need 4 strong frontliners to block off attacks, and if you don’t have Dalsin I honestly feel like you’re just hosed, both in terms of taking too much damage, and having too few units to deal with the mages.  I’m not going to say it’s impossible to deal with, but for a putz like me it feels pretty impossible without the big tank man on deck.

Then there’s the issue of capturing.  Capturing only works if your build is higher than the opponent.  If you have a lower build, you can’t capture anyone.  Which is all well and good when you have four chunky axe bros and a cav on your side.  Then you can capture just about anything, especially with Tanya and Ronan giving you some nice chip damage to set up those easy captures.  But Chapter 4-5, you really don’t have many options.  Brighton is consistently able to capture, but Fergus isn’t.  8 build isn’t bad, but it’s not enough to capture one of the soldiers and take their vulneraries.  So if you didn’t get Dalsin, you have one guy who can consistently capture people.  One.  The thieves can steal, but Lara’s build is so low she basically can’t steal anything heavier than a vulnerary or door key, and she’s got 14HP so good luck leaving her in range of anything.  So like.  That’s fun.

Point being, some of these challenges feel distinctly impossible without save states as a result.  I think the biggest offender was admittedly an optional one: the two Loptyr mages in front of the chests in Chapter 5.  Man, those guys are fucked.  Tremendous damage output, poison, and had an absurdly high crit rate that would one-shot anyone if it hit.  I think Leif was able to deny the crits with Light Brand but I’m honestly not sure.  The fact you had to deal with two of them, or risk Leif having to chip them 3 damage at a time at range, was kind of a problem.  That’s the kind of thing where I don’t really know how you’re supposed to manage that, and save states feel incredibly necessary if you’re going to stand a chance.  Granted, this is optional, you can escape and just leave those chests.  But this isn’t the only situation I can think of where the game just plays stupid, and usually the stupid is with mages, because magic is resistance and no one has any.  Except Karin, who is delightfully too weak to actually KO a mage in response.  So that helps.  Situations across Chapters 4-5 have been difficult, because of the presence of magical hits that can 2-shot people if they connect, and a lot of situations feel like you’re desperately hoping for a particular attack to connect so you don’t start losing people left and right.  And then the attack misses anyway because 100% accuracy doesn’t exist, and whoops now you’re gone.

Despite that, I’m still enjoying this more than my first time through.  Maybe it’s familiarity with the game and its mechanics, but I do feel like being able to clear Chapter 4 without screaming is a good indicator that maybe it’s not as bad as I remembered.  We’ll see though, there’s much worse to come.

[bainhardt]

#RibbonQuest2.0 - Part 3: Master Ball Rank or Bust

It’s kind of poetic, in a way. My very first meeting with Jin, and the beginning of our travels together, was commemorated with the chucking of a Master Ball - a guaranteed capture. It’s a one-of-a-kind ball typically reserved only for one-of-a-kind Pokemon (like Jin). When it comes to capturing Pokemon, the Master Ball stands above the rest as the symbol of infallibility, the promise of success overcoming any and all odds.

Well, we’re gonna need to channel that spirit in our latest challenge, because our success is anything but guaranteed: we have to take on the Master Ball rank in online rated battles for Pokemon Sword and Shield! Among our countless trials and triumphs spanning generations, Jin and I have never actually battled online against other real players. The World Ability Ribbon back in Platinum would’ve been our first foray, but the DS Wi-Fi connection had long been shut down in the time before our quest began.

Keeping with the theme of RibbonQuest2.0, this comes as an unexpected surprise. Jin, like all transfer Pokemon, is ineligible for rated battles; the standardized rules only permit Pokemon born and raised in the gen 8 games. Back when our time in Galar first started, I had never even planned on mentioning the Master Rank Ribbon, simply because we weren’t allowed to try and earn it!

But all of that changed with the release of the Isle of Armor DLC and patch version 1.2. By accepting the reset of your Pokemon’s move pool to only moves compliant with its gen 8 iteration, you’re allowed to mark your transfer Pokemon eligible for rated battles online! The icing on the cake is that Jin’s XD-exclusive purification move, Baton Pass (which I bent over backwards to keep even through all the Pokemon Contests), is now a TR which Farfetch’d can learn anytime. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.

It’s like getting your hand stamped at a concert, but with a side of forced amnesia.

With that, preparations were complete. There was nothing left to do but hop to it and get battling! The Master Ball Rank doesn’t earn itself, and if I’ve learned anything from our past, I think that means we’re going to need some help...

However, in the interest of cutting down on superfluous Ribbon Gang members like (sorry to single you out) Speedrun the Talonflame, I’ll only be honoring the final 5 actual contenders accompanying Jin when the ribbon is earned. Numerous grueling battles will be fought on the path to Master Ball tier and those stories will be lost to time, for only the best of the best deserve to call themselves part of Ribbon Gang 2.0.

I got boxfuls of second-stringers here, for real.

When first beginning in earnest with the July season, I mainly played Double battles, my preferred format for fun. I had a couple different teams, but never climbed any higher than Great Ball. Some teams of note included:

self-proc Weakness Policy Stamina Mudsdale with Skill Link support and Psych Up Stored Power follow up

Entrainment Plus Dedenne alongside special attackers with spread moves (coined the “fuck redirects” team)

a strange combo Sandstorm and Round team that was kind of an excuse to see if Refrigerate Aurorus could amount to anything

I was too committed to gimmicks, and at this time still hoped to reach the necessary heights using something built for fun at its core. I convinced myself that whenever I got around to really trying, it’d come together easily enough. In the past I’d do anything and everything to increase my chances of success, and I needed to return to this mentality moving forward.

After burn out from facing VGC competitive teams, several months of distraction with other games, and the arrival of 2021, I changed gears to test out Singles beginning in March. Despite having essentially zero experience with the format, I drafted two main teams during my Singles stint:

a Focus Energy Baton Pass team designed so every other Pokemon is then guaranteed crits with every attack

a Shedinja team with Pokemon like Ditto and Zoroark designed to help determine whether Shedinja can survive the opponents

Still sounds gimmicky, I know. I can’t help it. But a funny thing happened as I continued to chip away at this challenge: the Focus Pass crit team actually kind of... worked. Once you’re critting every attack, you start to notice just how many game mechanics critical hits outright invalidate. Intimidate? Your negative offensive stages are ignored. Bulk stacking opponents? Their positive defensive stages are ignored. Grimmsnarl and Lapras walling you out? Screens don’t apply against crits (although a Shell Armor Lapras did shut me down quite handily once). Honestly, the boosted damage almost feels like an afterthought.

Every team I played required considerable reworking as I’d progress, honing in on specific threats often encountered and dropping low-participation Pokemon who weren’t pulling their weight. There was even a rule set which allowed the use of extremely powerful Legendary Pokemon for a time (a very bad time). But all digression aside, allow me to introduce the team that would eventually carry me higher than ever, swiftly through Ultra Ball tier and directly into Master Ball. They are the new and final members of Ribbon Gang 2.0.

The ones on the left, I mean. This box is just more second-stringers.

First is Gepigop the Togekiss, sporting Super Luck as a core member of the original crit team. Spamming STAB Life Orb boosted Max Airstream is the Singles meta, after all. And he’s from my Y version, same as Speedrun!

Second is PkmnConquest the Kartana, probably the most consistent and useful member I picked up along the way. Give it a Scope Lens and it’ll BEAST BOOST its way to easy sweeps - just pray your opponent isn’t hiding any Fire types in the back...

It goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes Guillotine... the Weavile at number three. YUH. She was included as a direct response to the unending hordes of Cinderace and Zapdos I faced. Focus Sash and Counter helped her turn around so many unfavorable matchups, I can’t recommend it enough!

Bringing up fourth is 8008 8008 the Rhyperior. Need an idea of how broken Dynamax Zapdos’ bulk is? Rhyperior is the only Pokemon I found who can one shot it from full HP without needing to Dynamax in return... and even then, only using Rock Wrecker. Seriously.

In our final slot is AZKi the Espeon, because Hololive kept me company through many of my battle sessions, lol. After one too many Focus Passes were blocked by Taunt, I put an end to it with Magic Bounce. You remember that scene in The Incredibles where Syndrome’s robots were revised as they faced off against more and more heroes? She’s basically that.

By the time I was barely breaking into Ultra Ball tier, I found much greater success if I didn’t try to force the crit gimmick every time, but still had it if I wanted it on AZKi, the fourth in the succession of Focus Passers. Yes, after months spent honing my skills in battle, I finally learned that just bringing three Pokemon that can beat your opponent’s is the simplest way to a win. Incredible, I know. And win we did!

The final needed victory in Master Ball tier was secured by PkmnConquest, Guillotine, and 8008 8008, a trio I found myself locking in very frequently.

It’s... it’s beautiful.

With this Master Ball ribbon attached to my Master Ball Farfetch’d, we’ve finally brought our lengthy Galarian story to its conclusion. Having managed to snag this online-exclusive ribbon before these games lost popularity or network support, Jin is once again a tried and true Ribbon Master, and I’ve no unfinished business to worry about any longer.

Until it is time to take up your sword once more,

Rest easy, Jin.

POKEMON SWSH: COMPLETE!

[alexseanchai]

Saw your posts about unofficial and official work rules, and also people never explaining what the rules were, so, well, here is my take on some of the internet usage rules as I've seen them? I don't have a tumblr, so dropping this in your anon is the only way I know to get it to you. I'm not sure if this might be useful, or if it's a completely useless (hopefully not offensive or rude?) mishmash of gibberish, but frankly, 1/15

Not rude! (Though for future reference, I have a Dreamwidth under the same handle, linked in my Tumblr bio, and you can fit a lot more text in a logged-out Dreamwidth comment than an anon Tumblr ask.)

So some of what you’re describing in this series of asks (and I’m gonna paste all those in below) involves context not applicable to the job I mentioned. Case in point, no customer was ever going to see me using the internet on the clock, because with rare exceptions no customer was ever going to see me, and zero of those exceptions would involve the customer laying eyes on either my work computer or my personal phone.

Also I kind of figured that if I worked fast enough and made few enough mistakes, nobody would want to get me in trouble. FREE ADVICE, KIDS: do not attempt to do two typical-coworkers’ worth of work when you know damn well it will not earn you two employees’ worth of paycheck. Also, the day you walk out of that office for the last time is the day your boss stops caring altogether about any health conditions your work caused or worsened. (This job was largely data entry. I did in fact consistently do one and a half to two times as much work as most of my coworkers. I was there for seven years. My hands are kinda fucked now.)

And part of the reason I posted was, this is a specific and pretty non-identifying example of an ableist pattern I wanted to illustrate and then yell about. So while I am really pleased you laid all this out, I am also pretty surprised!

Anyway, this sounds like useful stuff to keep in mind. Thank you 😸

The rest of the ask series follows the read-more:

.

my ADHD brain would have caused me to go nuts if I hadn’t figured out the rules at my workplaces, because I can’t handle lack of stimulation. That said, I’m ADHD, so take my understanding with a grain of salt, but I’m trying here. In regards to the “official” rules vs the “real” rules of personal internet usage at work, I’ve found there are three broad umbrella rules. 2/15

1. It actually matches, and there is no personal internet usage at work. This is the least common, but is the one you should assume is being used until you catch someone following one of the other versions. This is the one people will claim is in effect though, especially when you are new to the job and trying to figure out the real rules, which can be very frustrating. 3/15

2. Don’t get caught using the internet for personal reasons at work. This is more common.If you catch coworkers using the internet, pretend not to notice. See how many coworkers use the internet for personal things. If it widespread, it may be this rule. If it is just one or two coworkers, or just the boss’s favorites or the people who have been there longest, or the highest ranking ones, it may be that you have to “earn” moving from umbrella rule type 1 to type 2 somehow, 4/15

which can be very, very confusing. Subtly watch coworkers to see which variant of the don’t get caught rule this workplace follows. Common variants are Don’t get caught by anyone, Don’t get caught by the boss, Don’t make the boss OFFICIALLY catch you, Don’t let the customers catch you, and Don’t let boss OR customers catch you. 5/15

(sorry, asks made me wait for flooding, rest is coming!) 3. Give the boss plausible deniability/don’t make them catch you, UNLESS they initiate the personal internet usage. If THEY instigate it, or catch someone and choose to engage in the activity with you, it is sort of mentally classified as sanctioned team building or morale boosting, just as long as you don’t mention it to outsiders or people above boss. In a relaxed enough workplace, this last option may well look like 6/15

“as long as you get your actual work done, and no outsiders are present, go ahead and use the internet for personal stuff, just make sure to parrot the official rule if asked.” In all cases, it is expected that when asked, you parrot the Official Rule, as being caught sharing the real rule can get the boss in trouble and lead to them having to enforce the official rule. 7/15

Very few workplaces actually have the official rule as the real rule, but it is expected you will pretend it is the real rule. If you have to clue someone in to the real rule vs official rule, you must never leave any evidence such as writing, texts, or emails, the real rule can only be shared verbally and away from anyone who might overhear, and should only be shared if you trust the person you are telling not to tell the boss. 8/15

As an example, my previous boss had Official Rule no personal internet usage, but the real rule was “Have a plausible sounding excuse for any personal internet usage so the boss doesn’t officially have to notice your personal internet usage and has a reason to assume any glimpses of personal use are actually somehow related to work. Do not allow any customers to catch you using personal internet. Do not leave record of personal internet usage, as boss could be forced to notice this. 9/15

During last hour of work, IF all other tasks for the day are completed and no new tasks are short enough to be started, you may check personal emails and look up dinner recipes semi-openly, so long as customers are not ever left waiting and periodical ‘we are closing soon’ tasks are carried out on time. Additionally, if you have just completed a mentally demanding major task and no customers need help, it is permissible to spend 5-15 minutes on personal internet usage, 10/15

so long as customers don’t notice. This personal internet usage is meant to clear the mind of the stress of the last task, and should be followed by starting another mentally taxing task, especially if you are caught by boss. The correct response if caught during this personal internet break is 'I just finished X task, just watching the desk for a bit and resetting my brain before I start on Y task, unless you wanted me to do something else next.’” 11/15

Fairly complex rule, honestly. Among ourselves, we shortened it to “Keep personal usage to the private browser, close it if you leave the desk, don’t do it in front of the boss unless you have a plausible excuse, never EVER let a customer catch you, one of them is a snitch and tells boss’s boss on us, and he feels bad whenever he is forced to tell us off for getting caught even though he personally doesn’t care.” He was an option 3 variety, 12/15

as he sometimes would share not-work internet stuff during slow times, or ask about co-worker’s dinner recipe searches at the end of the day, or very rarely mention if we needed to check our personal email for some reason, to use the private browser. If he hadn’t occasionally given the go ahead for personal usage in his presence, it would have been an option 2 of the “don’t make the boss official notice or let the customers catch you” rule situation. 13/15

Wow, rereading that is kind of daunting, to be honest. I hadn’t really realized how nuanced some of that was, and I know I’m probably leaving some stuff out. Boss recently changed, so I’ve been having to slowly test the waters with new boss, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been able to articulate even this much. 14/15

I thought the comments about people not being willing to share the real rules sounded frustrated, and like trying to explain might not be taboo, so I tried to explain what I could, but if this isn’t welcome, I’m sorry for offending. Good luck trying to navigate this nonsense of unspoken rules. 15/15

[meat-kat-ultra]

🦀 the new rank reset change is dead🦀

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 23: An Altenuous Situation

Part 22

Welcome back to another week of Let’s Tolerate Thracia.  …. I mean, let’s play Fire Emblem IV.  When we left off, we had just recruited the world’s worst hostage, and were about to send him back to save his doofus father.  Let’s check out our new kid!

So here’s Cairpre. He’s… he’s certainly around.  His Major Bragi holy blood and all those staves in his backpack should be enough to tell you he’s actually the second child of Claude and Sylvia, making him Lene’s younger brother.  How he ended up in Thracia, away from his sister and adopted by Santa Claus, will have to be a story for another time because right now we’re summarizing his unit and he’s… okay.  Basically another Claude. He starts off at level one, which is not as big a problem as it could be because he should never, ever be in combat anyway, and comes in with several long-range healing staves that will make his level shoot up fast. He’s just another healer, really. Not a bad healer, but nothing super impressive. 

He starts the long walk back to his adopted father to recruit him while Patty just keeps right on stabbing some helpless dude, like a hero.

Good job, Patty! The healer down south of her who kept patching that guy up should push her over the edge to another level, and she’ll be close to promotion.  And with him gone, other units who were busy keeping her target standing still can move to clear out Hannibal’s castle.

Mook: If you wish to claim it, you must first claim my life!

There was absolutely no need to do that. He’d have disappeared peacefully when I recruit Hannibal anyway.  I just wanted the free experience points.

Patty is learning to become a cannon lately, huh? When she promotes she’ll just wreck people.  Lana also gains a level from warping our remaining promotion candidates back to home base to pick up their new clothes, with Lene’s help. 

Your mom would be proud, sweetie. But not as proud as I will be of our four shiny new promotes!  

Oh, that’s beautiful. Tinni in particular is a standout here, because promoting to War Mage lets her use swords (which… no), Staves, and pushes her Thunder rank up to A so she can finally buy her mom’s old Thoron tome.  

And Patty is here too! Cairpre even gains his first level just from zapping the army with his Fortify staff.  A good one, too. I’m so proud-ish of him.  And from here, Seliph is finally close enough to recruit Altena…

Altena: My brother, Prince Leif, has explained the truth to me, and I can no longer oppose you. If you please, I’d like to join your ranks.

Seliph: Princess Altena?! … Ah, yes. That’s right! Prince Leif has told me everything, and we’ve both prayed you would come… He’ll be so glad to know you’ve joined us. You’ve made a difficult but wise decision.

(I like the implication that the entire drama with Altena was something Seliph knew about, but just kind of slipped his mind.)

Altena: … I can still scarcely believe this has all happened. And yet, the moment I gazed into my brother’s eyes, I understood everything.

(Platonically! She was gazing into his eyes platonically! God, I hate that I feel the need to specify that.)

Altena: His eyes revealed my father’s warm gaze…  and as clear as if it were yesterday, I felt for a split second as if I was swaddled in my mother’s gentle arms…

(PLATONICALLY!)

Seliph: I admit I’m still not entirely sure what King Travant was trying to do with you. I still cannot see what would have led him to spare you and bring you into his home after murdering your parents…

(… It was the holy spear of the gods that only she can wield. Why do so many people have trouble grasping that?!)

Altena: I’ve heard he once told my brother, Arion, that he sought to use the power of Leonster’s holy lance, Gae Bolg, as his own. For that alone, he needed me…

Seliph: You were little more than a tool to him?

Altena: I… I’m still not entirely sure. For all his cruelty, he still treated me as if I were his true daughter.

(… When?)

Seliph: Did he, now… I suppose I’ve never known much of his ways.

(That’s cool, neither did the writers.)

Altena: I must as a favor of you, milord. It’s about Arion… we need to help Prince Arion!

Seliph: Certainly! I’m hardly eager to fight a man of his fine caliber, if what I’ve heard is true. The only question is, can we convince him?

Altena: I’ll do my best to persuade him again. All I ask is a little time. Please, milord!

… and having had that dopey mess, also let Cairpre recruit Hannibal.

Cairpre: Lord Seliph freed me from Luthecia!

Hannibal: Cairpre?! Y…you’re safe!

Cairpre: Yep! Listen, Papa…. I want to join Lord Seliph’s army. Thracia’s changed so much lately…. I want to fight to help all of its people, and bring back the old Thracia!

Hannibal: Heh… you’ve grown into a splendid young man, Cairpre. Very well! I, too, shall serve Lord Seliph.

Cairpre: Yes! Thank you, Papa! First we’ll help free Thracia, and then together, we’ll challenge the Empire!

See, Altena? That was a nice normal discussion that didn’t make either of them look like total doofuses who weren’t paying attention to the war they were in. Ah, well, let’s take a look at the newbies.

So here’s Hannibal. He… well, let’s not mince words, he probably wasn’t worth the effort of recruiting him. He’s not a bad unit, inherently, being a General with Pavise, Vantage, and Adept (though with only 11 speed, it’s unlikely he’ll be activating that third one very often). It’s just that the majority of his stats are only ‘decent’ at a time in the game when many units are approaching ‘godlike’, and like Arden before him, he has a lower movement range than everyone else in a game where you’ll quickly find yourself wishing everyone would just get a horse. He’ll get a little use, but honestly most of the time he’ll be staying at our home base to make sure no random reinforcements sneak up and steal it from under us.

And after two borderline duds, we finally get our shining diamond of the map.  Altena is a monster; even unpromoted her stats are already mostly equal or better than Hannibal’s, and she’s got more levels left to gain than he does with better growth rates on top of it, thanks to coming with two different Holy Blood types, Major Nova and Minor Baldur.  She’s also a flying unit, meaning Fee no longer has to go everywhere alone, and comes into the army carrying all of Quan’s old spears, including the truly awesome Gae Bolg coming at last back to our hands after we barely got to play with it last time.  It may not be the almighty nuke that Forseti or Balmung are, but +10 each to Strength, Skill, and Defense is nothing to sneeze at.  Our two combatants can now head into nearby castles to face the Arena. I suspect… there will be slight differences in performance.

Altena: Seven wins, gained two levels: +3 HP, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +2 Defense

Hannibal: Six wins, gained one level: +1 Strength

One of these two had a better performance. Though, in fairness, Hannibal getting creamed did let Lana gain a level from healing him.

Much better!  Okay end turn.

Legion of Doom: I suppose it was unavoidable… Fortify our defensive line. Until reinforcements arrive, we must defend the castle at all costs.

Brock from Pokemon: Heh, no matter. The rebels’ little rampage ends here. Ready, men? We’re going in. The Emperor himself’s put a handsome bounty on each rebel head. We mustn’t waste a chance to claim it for ourselves!

So there’s our next issue. The invading Grannvale squad to the north is fairly nasty. Entirely composed of promoted cavalry units and packing two healers with them; they’re hard to wear down in a single turn, and if they all get a shot at the same unit they can definitely take out all but our strongest kids.  So, you know, don’t let that happen.  To the south, at Grutia castle, is almost the opposite; a veritable swarm of ballistae, so Fee and Altena can’t even really get close, and a Dark Bishop with a siege tome. Once we get close to them they’ll break like cheap glass, but getting there can be risky, to say the least.  We’re going to split up; it’s a bit tricky, but in general the ballistae are not a huge issue compared to the bishop miniboss, so anyone who goes for the southern castle mostly has to have enough resistance to take a shot from him, or enough speed and luck to reliably dodge him. I go with Seliph, Leif, Nanna, Ares, Larcei, Shannan, Julia, Arthur, and Lana.  The rest of the army will be blocking off the pass to stop the incoming cavalry. Ideally, we’ll get a situation where we can split their attack across several people and then crush them on the return trip.  A few turns over movement, and we find ourselves…

Not even close! Everyone was too far away, and that first one snuck up on me real good.  I didn’t realize I’d put Lester at the edge of someone’s movement. I was so caught off guard I didn’t screenshot the combat (he dodged. Go archery!).  So our first step right now is to back the Hell up.

…

Well, okay, second step.

That’s for swinging at my squishy horse archer, jerkass. I draw back everyone to create a battle line that’s split in the middle by the castle; this should be drawing out a big chunk of the enemy without letting them focus fire on one character. End turn!

Not bad, other than the fact I forgot to equip Finn with his big-people spear and he got a little creamed. Cairpre, care to patch the team up?

Good kid. Rest of the team, rock out!

…. I really dislike that we couldn’t kill that fucking mid-boss. He hits like a truck and he’s annoyingly fast. I… don’t want to end the turn. I see it going badly. But… *sigh*… let’s see…

…. Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. I knew it. Dammit. Reset.

Okay. This time, we are going to be brave and run away. Once more, kill the outer layer and flee. Go, my brave cowards!

And with this, the only character in the boss’s attack range is Arthur, who is parked in the castle and wielding Forseti. Yes, I am a vindictive person.  End turn!

… That’s it?!  You didn’t even take a shot, you fucker! Fine, fine, Arthur will come to you.  

Congratulations, Musar, you managed to land a single blow.  That is more than most of the foes he slaughters can achieve.  Arthur also gets the droppable Tornado tome from this boss, meaning he can sell the Elwind he’s been using for his sister to pick up later, or maybe it can go to Lana after I get a chance to promote her, haven’t decided yet. Cairpre even gains another level after healing Arthur’s boo-boos.

Good kid! Not very bright, but talented in his own way.  Now, hey, who wants to slaughter?

*sniff* Not bad at all. All that remains of this enemy force is one healer that Patty can chew on to her heart’s content. I have Lana warp Lester back to the home base to promote, and on the next turn she can do the same to Arthur.  This army is really coming together!  To the north, I’m going to let Cairpre have most of the villages; he’ll need money to repair his staves after spamming them to gain levels on this map. Lana will too, of course, but she…

Has a booooooooooooyfriend. Ulster is rolling in cash and he’ll only be getting more, since he barely needs to spend anything these days, relying on nice normal swords instead of legendary money sinks, so I’ll just have him give Lana all his wealth next turn.

Now, to the south, it’s… *sigh*… time to wade into the Ballista Storm, I suppose. This will be annoying, so I’m just gonna smash it as quickly and brutally as I can; Ares, Leif, and Seliph, go right for the boss and kill.  Everyone’s on a horse so they should only have to spend one turn being shot at before they reach and take out the boss. Eeeeeeeend turn!

And you know what, let’s just stop there? It’s like seven more shots of just that.  I hate ballistae so much.

Judah: This world is Lord Loptyr’s to smother in darkness!

I appreciate that I somehow managed to miss the cool-looking part of the Fenrir spell and got the weird hit-flash moment where the whole screen turns randomly blue. Now then, our turn, and let’s try to end this fast.

*whistle* Leif, I always forget just how much of a monster promotion turns you into.  Up to the north, meanwhile, we still have an army.  I know, I forgot them too.  

You do you, Patty. While Patty torments a priest… again… Lene takes this time to chat with her newly-recruited and long-lost brother that she doesn’t actually know.

Lene: Wait, you’re from Darna too?

Cairpre: You’re familiar with Darna, Lene?

Lene: Yep! I grew up in the abbey there. They told me my mom was a dancer, who left me there when I was about two years old. That’s why I’m a dancer now. I was thinking that maybe, if I did the same thing as her, one day I might find her again.  It’s kind of embarrassing, but I taught myself everything I know about dancing.

Cairpre: That’s really great of you, Lene! I, er, guess I thought wrong about you…

Lene: Not a big fan of dancers, Cairpre?

Cairpre: Not really…. At least, not unti I met you, Lene.

Lene: Awww! Thanks, Cairpre!

Cairpre gains +1 Luck from this, because…. Look, you need to stop asking questions. I also choose not to zap Arthur home after all; he doesn’t need his promotion, and I want him to shut up and marry Julia already, so I’m gluing them together for now. Maybe they’ll hook up, maybe they won’t, but either way I’ll demand they sex who they are told to sex. Instead, Lana just heals someone and levels…

And Lester takes his promotion.

Not a super impressive promotion, but… a promotion. The turn ends there, and the enemy phase is a desperately sad event, with ballistae firing and missing again and again. It saddens me. I’m sad.

Look at that! Even Oifey doesn’t respect them.  

In any event, Patty finishes bullying the clergy and Cairpre zaps her…

And we dismantle some siege equipment.

And that’s that! The current section of map is over, so I take a few turns to move folks around; Cairpre starts trekking north to get his fortune, while the rest of the army splits up, most of them heading south to hook up with Seliph and co., but Patty, Ulster, Lana, Shanan, Tinni, Faval, and Altena are staying in the north to reinforce our assorted castles.  Thracians are tricky and they can fly, so you can’t leave your castles unattended for a second on this stupid map. The first time I played I actually managed to lose all of them but Meath just through sheer force of stupid.

And it is on this exciting note that I leave you for the week, gentle readers. Seliph, will you play us out?

(You may remember the previous update wherein Arion just suddenly turned into a rampaging douche. That state of events has stuck.)

Lewyn: I suppose that stubborn dracoknight pride compels him to fight to the bitter end.  I was hoping the legendary Arion of Thracia would be a wiser man than this… Seliph, I hope you understand we can’t turn back now. This last battle needs to be fought.

(Well, yeah, dude, his family has been trying to kill us for two weeks while we politely ask them to go away.)

Seliph: I don’t understand him. Why would Arion insist on fighting such a futile battle… how can he be so callous? Does he not understand the grief he’s inflicting on Altena?

… And hey, for once, Lewyn doesn’t spout some pseudo-philosophy at us! This really is a bright note to leave an update on. See y’all next week!

Total Resets: 27. I knew that boss was a bastard and I still let myself get caught off guard. For shame, me.

Part 24

[beevean]

So what are your overall thoughts on Forces storywise? Positives and negatives? Where do you think the story ranks in the series?

Maybe it’ll be easier to just list positives and negatives (warning: long post):

Positives:

- Even by watching a low-quality stream of the Switch version, I can say the game looks gorgeous. It does suffer a bit from the Adventure 2 syndrome, where the art direction can bet too dull for you to appreciate the graphics, but some stages are breathtaking. Egg Gate in particular looks amazing.

- While the plot on its own doesn’t belong in this section, I appreciate the simple fact that they actually dared to break from the lighter and softer approach that’s been going on since 2010, and the fact that they remembered that the cast isn’t just made of Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Orbot and Cubot. The concept was awesome! The tone was perfect, serious but not depressing and too try-hard! There was some action! It’s a step in the right direction, and I hope people will criticize the plot for the right reasons and not because “lol sonic shouldn’t try to be edgy”.

- Shadow will be playable. Even if he’s at his core “Sonic with a OP Light Speed attack” this is very important.

- While at first I was annoyed at seeing old levels again, I’m actually happy with what they’ve done. They’re not just rehashes, they’re treated like actual dynamic environments. Green Hill is not just “hey remember this level”, it’s a place dear to Sonic that was ruined by Eggman. Chemical Plant is also ruined and repurposed as a space port, almost like a Sonic CD Bad Future. Only the Death Egg is pretty much the same, although I admit, the Classic level using the same gimmicks as the S3&K version was a nice touch that I forgave because it made sense in-universe.

- The dialogue! Aside from a couple of stupid lines, mostly by Sonic, there was no trace of childish, jarring humor, nobody was OOC or treated as simple comic reliefs, and the interactions between characters were genuine and believable. Some parts kinda reminded me of the Boom cartoon. “See, Infinite, now we het to know each other! So what’s your favorite color? Do you enjoy long, romantic walks on the beach? What’s the source of your powers? You can skip the first two questions if you like” “Maybe he’ll have more friends if he stopped talking about himself in the third person.” (maybe I just have a bad sense of humor idk :V)

- Eggman and Knuckles were perfect. We didn’t see them a lot, but their characterization was on point. Knuckles was just full of charisma and he radiated confidence, a far cry from the butt monkey he’s been since Sonic X. And Eggman was actually smart, with some clever ideas like having backup sources for the Phantom Ruby, rightfully chewing out Infinite for not killing Sonic, and… well, we didn’t see it, but I like the idea of him keeping Sonic alive in his cell just so he could see what happened to the world thanks to his absence (that’s perfect fanfic fuel). And Mike Pollock managed to sound badass in certain parts. “The sun will fall upon you. Boom! The end. Your pathetic lives… are over.”

- Speaking of Pollock, the voice acting was some of the best in the games this far. I can count on a single hand the times someone sounded fake or unconvincing (mostly Silver, sadly, and Sonic was a bit oscillating). I think I gushed about Liam O’ Brien enough, he clearly had so much fun with Infinite. I can’t wait to hear the Japanese version

- And finally I love Infinite way more than I should. His design, his voice (especially his voice

- I like that thing Infinite did in Capital City. You know, when he mind raped everyone in the city by conjuring those abominations of nature. That was a clever use of his powers.

- The last shot of the game, with the Resistance hideout shining under the sun’s light and a single flower at the center, with the instrumental version of the credits’ song in the background, is honestly moving. Even after the huge disappointment that was the ending, this part made me feel satisfied and like I accomplished something (and I didn’t even play myself). It reminds me of Wiosna from Katawa Shoujo, and if you played it you know how it feels to hear that music after finishing a route.

Neutral:

- The scrapping of lives. I’ve seen people complaining that it makes the game too easy, but

1) there’s still some punishment if you lose a life, just like in Unleashed the timer doesn’t reset and of course you lose all your Rings, so if you die you can kiss that S rank goodbye;

2) lives have been pointless since the introduction of save files. Let’s be honest, when was the last time you got a game over in a game that saved your progress? And what was the punishment for a game over? At worst you just have to restart the level you died in.

So while I’m not particularly happy, I’m not disappointed either and I welcome the change.

- The music. I put it here because it’s kind of a mixed bag, there are tracks that I hate with a passion and tracks that I can’t get enough of (and I’ve only heard a tiny fraction of the whole OST). So overall I would say it’s average-to-good. 

I really wonder why they’re insisting of forcing Ohtani to compose whole soundtracks - the guy is seriously talented and I admire his work, but why can’t he be helped by someone else? I know Kenichi Tokoi and Naofumi Hataya also worked on the soundtrack, but afaik their roles are minimal.

- The Avatar himself. I’d enjoy the idea a lot more if 1) they talked, and 2) the characters stopped shilling them just a tiny bit, especially since everyone else was relegated to the background. Still, the concept of a muggle wanting to help the heroes is cool, as it goes against that sort of “elitism” in the Sonic series. And I just grew too attached to Gadget the Wolf :)

- The level design, the thing people trashed for months on end… it’s okay. Is it good as Generations’? Absolutely not. Is it bad? I don’t think so, because when I think “bad level design”, I think of Knuckles’ Chaotix and Sonic CD. 

Forces is inoffensive in this regard. On one hand, it’s not as linear as it looked like, there are multiple paths and some nice platforming sections. On the other, the 3D parts are few, short and in general not that engaging, and yes, Classic Sonic’s stages are supported by too much automation because the physics engine can’t handle him apparently. In short, if you’re okay with shallow fun and you thought Colors was fine, then you’ll be okay with Forces. (and while we’re not supposed to judge the developers as people, considering the level designers were all newbies I’d say they did a good job)

Negatives:

- the fact that you can’t recollect your rings unless you’re playing as the hedgehog Avatar. That just flies against the very core of the Rings concept.

- The sheer lack of “show, don’t tell”. Most of this game is just told, in fact most part of the plot is told via walkie talkie convos. The majority of the cast is just there to comment and guide the characters during the levels, only Silver is shown actually doing something. The most offensive example is how Eggman conquering the world is “shown” by a simple text box (people are already speculating it’s another sign of troubled production). And we don’t even see that much of the conquered world, either, aside from City (no seriously that’s the name of the area).

- What happened to you, Tails? What happened to the boy who wanted to be more than Sonic’s sidekick? Why the mere sight of Chaos 0 sends you into a panic when you fought Chaos 4 before? Why thinking Sonic is dead makes you “lose it”, when the same thing happened twice already (or once, if you want to discard ‘06) and in both cases you were devastated but still managed to kick ass? Why are you just an exposition fairy? Who hates you that much in the writers’ team? :(

- THE. RUSHING. Oh my god I could rant for hours about how the game not only is too fast-paced, but outright misses chunkes. I already mentioned the text box part, but what about the part where Infinite sends Sonic and the Avatar into null space… and they get out of there in literally ten seconds? What about Fake!Chaos and Fake!Shadow being dispatched like that, without even the simples of boss fights? What about Silver, Shadow and Omega just appearing out of nowhere? What about the “fake sun” plan being thwarted simply by the Avatar after less than ten minutes? What about the relentless teasing of Infinite’s origins, all culminating in a big fat nothing (he didn’t even take off his mask for fuck sake)? What about Eggman just vanishing after the final boss? What about the fact that two thirds of the final boss are rehashes, and at this point I’m seriously insulted by seeing Egg Nega Wisp for the third time?

- Going hand-to-hand with the rushed plot, the wasted potential. Sonic gets tortured in isolation, so you’d expect some consequences to his characterization. Nope! Not even a reveal that he was just hiding his fear by acting tough. Why are Shadow, Chaos and Zavok on Eggman’s side? Lol, they were just illusions, the real Shadow is fine and the others just don’t appear. All the cool hints about a tragic past for Infinite in his own song? Nothing mentioned in-game. He’s an experiment, that’s it. The connection with Mania? Just an excuse to justify the presence of Classic Sonic, whose only purpose in the plot is to snap Tails out of his depression. This game is just begging, “Rewrite me, please!”, and if I could write decently I’d do it myself, I’m that disappointed.

- What’s the deal with Aqua Road? It’s the only gimmick level in the game and it looks like the unholy child of those horrible bingo tables in Bingo Highway and this part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for PC.

- Very minor, but if Eggman could see the fake sun, that means he would’ve been incinerated too. Considering how smart he was otherwise, that seems like a huge hole in his plan.

That’s everything I can think of. So, in conclusion, the game is generally good but overall mixed, and I dread the coming of November 7th because I can’t even imagine the kind of reception this game will get (and since it’ll come right after Super Mario Odyssey I don’t think it will sell well :\). 

I would personally play it if I had the chance because the game doesn’t look broken, boring or frustrating, and if I can manage to have fun with ShTH Forces will definitely be entertaining :V but it’s clear something went seriously wrong during the production and it feels like there are bits of the game missing, bits that could’ve elevated the quality from “good” to “excellent” - which is also why I hope Sonic Team doesn’t throw everything away but keeps the good parts and expands on them to create an even better game next time.

So if you’re planning on getting Forces, ask yourself what do you want to see in a Sonic game, because that’s the thing that makes the difference between “it’s not perfect but I can have fun with this” and “this game is absolute trash and Sonic doesn’t deserve this”.

[elkian]

chapter 23

“lol elk you’re a bit behind did you forget-” no. this chapter fucking murdered me.

First thing’s first

Ivan is a cheating cheater who cheats, so he has a crit rate at range with the shadow sword, which in theory is not supposed to be possible. I found this out 20+ turns in to this 24-turn map.

THINGS I’VE CHANGED:

I tried to train some of my lower units (Itsuke, Yue, Arthur, and Rex; Lirin to an extent) on my previous attempts. I will not do that. I am bringing Team Steamroll because I need someone who has a fucking chance to hit the boss.

re: having chance to hit the boss: I cheaped out on weaponry last attempt, and what few attacks could hit couldn’t finish him and he would murder anyone on a counter.

What do these four shots have in common?

...

These are my only units with 20+ Skill. I have 33 Units - including a number of Prepromotes - and a grand total of 4 of them have 20 or more Skill.

I’ve said it before on previous chapters, but this playthrough more than anything burned into my brain that, at the very least, Skill is not a dump stat when you don’t have enough of it.

With his paltry Defense but excellent Luck, Anakin had the least chance of being critted to death but could barely survive a regular hit. And a 4% chance to lose a Plot Character is officially Too Damn High.

Levion will be my Tactical Nuke of choice this run. Not only does he have the best Skill of most of my army, he has the defenses to tank return fire and enough Con to keep his Speed above being doubled, not to mention access to Lances.

While I was in here - and I need to clear some Inventory space for this and the next stage - I realized there’s no reason not to promote Kelik. He’s capped, Anakin’s promoted, Shon’s going to promote this run, and Sieg can’t use it.

Note that Kelik cannot go head to head with Ivan either. I’m not really sure what Blazer was thinking - Shon’s promotion gains are far better (though that might be a slight on Shon, since he needs all the help he can get).

Oh, and his official titel is...

Suuuuuure, Blazer. Sure.

Actually, he has a support with Althares and Levion, so it may be worth bringing him next attempt.

Anyways. Upon actually checking the numbers, trying to Dodge Ivan is nigh-impossible, which is a useful consideration.

I’ve replaced Yue, Itsuke, Arthur, and Rex with Levion, Inanna, Tamiko, and Ace.

Yes. Inanna. Why?

Because Triangle Attack if Levion can’t nuke Ivan in time is why.

Alice is an absolutely amazing Prepromote and comes equipped with an Elixir, Silver Lance, and Wind Sword(40 charges!). She doesn’t take up a deployment slot nor require inane recruitment shenanigans to start. One of my few regrets on this level was not requipping her better so that she didn’t need to keep using Wind Sword charges.

Oh, and I have a save file from my failed previous attempt if anyone wants to figure out how to kill Ivan with 4 turns to go and a passel of units that would melt if he looked at them wrong.

I just noticed that Inanna and Alice are the same level. After being fed like 3(?) Angelic Robes, Inanna is +6HP, -4 Skl, +1Spd, -6Lck, -3Def, and +1Res. Ouch.

Some inventory management. One of my BIGGEST regrets on my last attempt was only bringing the Armor Cutter and then the person wielding it always being in the wrong spot.

Oh yeah, I promoted Mark. He and his shiny new stats look super sweet. He’s a few points up on Liquid, who was my first pick for this level.

If I have to repick, I’ll probably trade out the pegs for Eduardo and Liquid, or possibly Shadow there.

OH

YEAH

THAT

An important consideration for Shon’s (absurdly heavy) super-special sword is that the Brave Effect takes place before enemy counterattacks. And he caps for-

-oh god, this is going to be one of THOSE runs isn’t it.

Anyways, Shon fulfills his Destiny(TM). Something I realized is that his sprite looks oddly probably because it’s a recolored Eliwood sprite. That hair in particular.

Again, the stat gains! +2 minimum in everything but luck, +3 and +5 to Def and HP respectively. Did Blazer use standard gains for Kelik and not Shon, or the other way around?

I recommend following along Blastinus’ LP, btw, since I’m very tired and not going to go over every detail, especially inventory management.

I’m more careful re: positioning, so the steel Lance cav closest attacks Inanna (miss)  and this mage attacks Mark. I’m kinda surprised he managed that counter, to be honest. No one else is in reach.

And here we have the True Boss of the map. This Bishop is equipped only with Physic, and is bound and determined to make your life a living hell.

:( even with Effective Weaponry Karina cannot 1-shot this cav. She and Innana do not have Delphi shields, so I need to be sure to knock out that archer before proceeding. (Archer is also in the outmost range of the hand axe Fighter nearby).

Lirin eats the Steel Lance Cav that attacked Inanna. 

On one hand, I’m enthused that she can almost double this archer to death. On the other, I’m sad she can’t double this archer to death. Also, 33 HP feels like a lot even for a level 16 Archer.

I always forget about Berserker crit rates

Everyone piles on the Steel Sword Cav, the last living foe in range. Sieg was doing this on my last attempt, too, as if to taunt me.

I was wrong, Karina’s in range of the Fire mage and a Javelin Cav to the north. Ace runs up to switch her to Javelins.

Anakin refreshes Tamiko and she takes out the Axereaver Soldier through the wall.

Dream big, buddy, dream big. (She crits them immediately)

And again! Crit on the second hit.

This is important: this is the range of the Bloody Rifle Sniper. I’d forgotten that Bloody Rifles are Killer Longbows.

Also, you can see that the jav cav stayed put since the mage moved first (and missed on 70+%. glad it’s not just me.)

Parking Mark on that hill just out of BR range leads to some unexpected hilarity and an excellent level.

This Fighter makes some questionable choices, though I will say I think this is the first time Alice took a hit on any of my attempts.

Jav Cav runs into melee range and joins the ranks of mooks who failed to hit Tamiko. The level’s a bit meh but she’s already incredible.

Lyam managed, across two turns, a pair of BR hits vs the stationary soldier indoors. I guess the first hit didn’t bring their health low enough to proc the Bishop.

Anakin Motivates Mark and gets this timely, if not exactly impactful, level.

Why did he refresh Mark, you may ask?

this is why. GET BENT.

By coincidence (Mark) and design (Shon), this plants my dudes right out of mage range. I will walk someone in there in a second though.

By luck I manage to Rescue-chain Althares to just below that zone, with Alice and Emma and no real wasted movement.

That Knight has the Brave Lance, btw, so be sure to keep them switched to the Javelin til you can kill them.

oop. Forgot that indoor Knight had a Jav too.

OH. THIS MAGE HAD ELFIRE. THAT’S RIGHT.

Karina misses but doubles since Elfire is heavy, and gets a timely level.

This troubadour is bugged or something - this is the second attempt in a row they’ve run up to a wounded ally and done nothing.

Of course it’s the redundant (Knight Levion just damaged) that you get a crit on. Still better than Storm.

Mark and Shon team up to kill the Knight (Shon has a free inventory slot and I don’t want the Brave Lance ending up with Liuke) and Karina takes Lirin’s Delphi Shield and soars up to switch Shon back to javelins.

Honestly one of the biggest crimes of this level is there’s no chance Liuke will be mobile, so if you mess up on inventory management sweet, useful loot will drop and have nowhere to go. There’s no shortcut back to him - it’s turn 6 and we’re just now in sight of the door.

that lower Mage has Dasher, which apparently has an animation in other versions of this Hack, but not this one.

Probably the smartest move in terms of survivability. Shon’s high Luck negates the Short Bow crit.

jeeeeez-us. Shon doubles the Dasher mage to death for a decent level whilst I contemplate how close we came to a reset here.

Aircalibur mage. The tome is fittingly as light as air, so they can put their full 11 speed to work fwiw. I will not be parking Karina in range.

That Fighter has a Steel Axe and the Sage has Thunder. Tread careful.

Mark dispatches the archer for this dodgy level.

It’s a good idea, on a map like this, to manually end each unit’s turn. For example, while paging through Units, I’d totally forgotten Anakin to the south. That would have been a pain to make up for. Instead he runs up to refresh Lyam for giggles.

Althares is on a House so he has some terrain advantages. Kinda wishing I’d brought his promotional now. Ah well.

Oh and I lied. I put the Short Bow (remember, Blazer hacked it to have 1-2 range) on Lyam and put him on the forest in front of the Fighter just to see, and he ends up melting the AC mage for no damage himself.

I actually got a crit on this potshot on the next turn only to realize that wasn’t the Sage and to reset. Sage does not get hit and I reset again because that was for actual joaks. I have no idea with the Bloody Rifle, honestly.

7 turns in to a 24-turn level and we are just now in sight of the door. A thief is about to spawn btw. The Door Key Knight and Chest Key Mage are buggy - the Knight will unlock the door, while the Mage will step on, but not open, the upper-leftmost chest, which is the first one the thief can reach. It can be pretty hilarious actually.

God. Even Sieg’s super-special effective sword isn’t enough to keep his ass intact. We don’t do this. instead, every non-magic-proof ally moves up to just out of range and every magic-proof one walks in.

Almost forgot to finish this joker off.

All the enemies on this level are high enough that low-promos can get decent chunks off them. I’d complain, but honestly I’m okay with these stats.

Every single JaveKnight goes for Lyam. He crits one, fells none, and doesn’t get hit once.

Lirin, meanwhile-

OH SHIT HE’S FAST ENOUGH TO DOUBLE

Yeah, I did not brain that good. Thankfully her Luck-Res-HP are all high enough to keep her in one piece.

Crunch the numbers, kids. Don’t end up with dead ponies.

Tamiko restore Lirin to full and she annihilates the Sage for a decent level. Wish she’d had that strength before - she could only do 14 with an Iron lance so I gambled on Steel instead.

Cia incinerates a remaining Knight for her first Sage level. Outstanding.

I doofed up and had Cia end turn after refreshing her so Levion and Lyam step into Hero-Merc range

Ow. Also, wishing I’d brought a sword for him after all. Didn’t use it at all last attempt. Guess I could have trade-scummed it.

It’s a good thing none of them can double him. He can’t double back, though (Cia can). He misses the Hero, too.

Shon smacks the Hero down and snags the Angelic Robe from them.

Lyam notches the Steel Sword Merc for a level I have no right to complain about.

Liring and Innana finish off the Mercs; Emma and Althares dash for the left side treasure. I come to the realization that Emma could very likely solo the entire left side, since the Mage drops the Chest Key. I want to try grabbing the Lockpicks this time, though, so Althares joins her.

Okay, solo is an exaggeration but not by that much. Also, dammit, I should have kept her at the edge of range. Ah well, Javelin drop is good too.

...well okay then (that’s the Emblem Axe btw)

I’ll take it!

The chest key Mage steps down to fail at hitting Althares, but the Thief still goes right. Maybe the Mage isn’t meant to move.

Althares, with Anakin’s help, steals both Lockpicks and Dracoshield. Howard kills the mage (needing a steel sword for it too) and Emma obligingly melts the thief for an odd-for-her but very welcome level.

Right side needs to be cautious. I don’t think it’s an accident that this Cappricio-wielding General is right in range of that cracked wall. The Shaman just has Flux, but that Physic Bishop is right there. That Warrior at the bottom is carrying a silver axe, too.

Yowch. Alice and the Shaman both land a hit, Alice whiffs the second.

Althares grabs the Earth Master Animate Seal and the squad swings back around.

Levion gives no fucks about your critty lance, though I actually sit him on a pillar instead.

Enemy phase, everyone misses.

not Levion, though.

Honestly, having this guy out of my hair is well worth the Silver Axe uses.

Innana and Lyam knock down the wall and Mark has better odds with Iron. He gets up to 98 EXP too.

Ace and Levion finish off the General for a surprisingly decent level.

Thanks to some trade shenanigans, Alice pops the chest. I decide to send the Axe on since Levion is about the only person who has a chance landing a hit on the boss with WTA

ACE IS BA-

-ck?

Halberdier with Drizzle

Archer with Steel and Longbows

I really wish Anakin had a prestige class of some kind. His high utility means he earns EXP super fast - ten per phase just from Motivating - and he’ll ram 20 sooner than later.

Innana and Lirin kill the Archer and Alice grabs a Bloody Rifle from the chest.

Levion and Mark move into Drizzle range- thanks to WTA Mark can just scrape by not getting critted to death and Tamiko heals Lirin for a decent level

times like these I really wish I had the Heavy Lance. I keep forgetting to trade the Armor cutter off Howard too - all the armored units have Lances so I keep forgetting.

OH SH-

THANK GOD

Mark initiates The Slaughter and gets a great level for it.

Drizzle’s low hit (Ace’s on a pillar) means that no one has gotten hit yet, thank god.

Inanna finishes the job and gets a level.

Yup. That sure is a level.

We don’t start the final offensive just yet, but I check the numbers of Swordslayer vs Swordmaster and conclude that I love Levion.

One of the biggest problems I had in my last attempt is that no one had the HP to tank a crit from that damn thing. Levion can take a crit, as well as a single Silver Sword Crit I believe and the double.

Also, I can’t tell if this is deliberate or a coding bug/fail, but unlike other ranged swords the Shadow Sword uses Strength at both ranges and can crit at both ranges. Don’t get crit if you can help it.

Althares opens the leftmost door and Karina snags this, sending the now-redundant Delphi Shield back to the convoy. Be absolutely sure you have space before you play this level. The next one gives you a ton of shopportunities too.

Alice and Lyam take down the Shaman. What does it say when it takes two prepromotes to kill an unpromoted enemy, I wonder?

Oh, btw.

Ace can double a swordmaster.

we won’t be doing this (jfc that crit) but still.

It takes Howard (2 misses with the Emblem Axe) Sieg and Cia to kill the true boss of the level.

NOW we can start on Ivan.

Bad: Ivan doubles and hits twice while Levion misses.

Good: He doesn’t crit and has switched off of distance attacks. I forgot about plinking.

Althares grabs the last item - an Eclipse tome - leaving boss and throne all that’s left undone.

Even with his Accuracy woes, Ace whips out two Javelin hits. I love you, Ace.

just for chuckles, I let Howard take a shot with the Killer Lance. No one dies and he doesn’t hit.

I move Anakin up for Motivating Ace before having second thoughts.

Remember what I said about Light Magic being a good finisher due to its high accuracy?

No one dies, but he makes both hits.

Oh. Huh.

I’ll take it.

And this chapter is FUCKING FINISHED. I have so many regrets, largely due to making bad starting choices and not knowing how to finish. I probably didn’t need to steam roll it this hard, but Aside from some scares no one was actually at risk of death at any point. And there’s an arena next map for actual training and purchasing purposes.

Night all.

(if you have interest in my failed attempt, it’s a private post over here)