Part 13: Chapter 4R: Battle Amidst the Mist - Part 2

It might not be that appropriate since you're wrong on all parts there Omnicrom.

I'm glad we made it here okay. Here, have some tea.

Thanks. I didn't think we'd run into so much trouble coming here from the village.

It looks like it was worth it, though. The mist is much thinner here.

How's Akyu holding up?



That... ritual-like thing Reimu performed seem to work.

That's the power of Daikoku. It should have removed all the abnormal energy from her.

While her work ethic is extremely questionable, Reimu does actually know how to do all of a shrine maiden's duties, including invoking the power of the gigantic Shinto pantheon.

Well, that's a relief.

I guess Daikoku's really busy right now because of this mist. I need to resolve this incident as soon as possible.

I'd like Akyu to stay here until that's done, if you don't mind.

Yes, I think that would be for the best.



...

Okay, I tagged along with you for some reason. When can I go back?

Gah! How long have you been here!?

Hmph, I've been here the whole time.

Oh, yes. Keine said she was going to lecture you.



Wha?

...Or so I'd like to say, but we don't have time for that right now.

That's right. As soon as I finish eating lunch, I'm getting started. This incident must be resolved, and quickly.

I'll go too. I can't just stay and watch the shrine after coming this far.

Do you have any ideas about where to go to start resolving it?



The lake... Did you find some sort of hint?

No, just a hunch. When I was looking around earlier I didn't check by the lake.

I kind of doubt she checked more than a couple miles around the shrine.

Just relying on your shrine maiden's intuition? Although since we don't have any clues, I guess we have no choice but to do so.

I'm sure you already know this, but this will probably get dangerous.



I'd laugh, but considering my luck so far this is very possible!

I never fail. I guess you can tag along if you want, though.

...Um, do you mind if I come along as well?

That would be a big help, but... didn't you say you had work to attend to?

I do, but... When I look at the state the village and Akyu are in...



Youmu actually has a history of shirking her duties due to her strong sense of justice.

...I think Milady will understand.

You said you're a gardener or something, right? Are gardeners really that busy?

Oh, I do not only work in the yard. The housework is also my responsibility. That is mostly what keeps me busy.

Youmu's "house" is a gigantic mansion, and she's literally the only one maintaining the place.

I see. If you're busy, you don't have to come with us, you know.

No, it is fine. I do not feel right leaving with this mist here.

I understand. Well then, let's eat and then head out.

Yay! I didn't know I would be getting food!



Aww...

I don't care what you eat, but you're coming with us afterwards. I'll give you a moxibustion on the way.

Huh? What's that? I've never heard of it before.

Are you sure it is okay to bring a youkai we do not really know with us?

If we're leaving Akyu here, we can't just let this youkai go. Plus, I want to watch her so I can punish her if she tries to pull anything again.

I don't really care. Just get it over with quickly.

Geez you guys, what about my plans?



Loafing around is totally a plan.

Boo... you're right. I guess I have no choice...

I'm not sure I'm comfortable going to resolve an incident with such a big group.

Having more people on your side never hurts. Youmu, Rumia, I look forward to working with you.



I thought the shrine maiden was moving out... But it looks like things just got a lot more exciting.



This is going to be a great article! Hope you don't mind if I take some tantalizing pictures!



...It's silent, almost as if the whole village has died... Though that would not be impossible, considering this ghostly energy. At least, I don't see any humans walking around outside...



(B) Ah... Ouch...

Is that a human? It's reckless for him to be going out at a time like this. No one will be there to save him if I leave him be. I suppose I have no reason to abandon him.



(B) ...! You're... the youkai that's always buying fried tofu, aren't you...?

Youkai of Ran's species traditionally love fried tofu, and Ran is no exception. And I can't blame her, because that stuff is really good.

What are you doing out here? You must not value your life very much if you're wandering around in this mist. A human like you shouldn't be able to last more than a few minu... Oh? What's that you're holding?

(B) ...Oh, this? When I woke up, I found this amulet in my hand.



(B) Maybe they put it there. If this thing wasn't clearing up the mist I wouldn't even be able to walk.

(...That's a demon-warding talisman. It's nothing special... It seems like it's using its demon-warding power to protect him from the mist. But, that talisman...)



(B) ...Not too far. About 100 feet or so, I'd guess...

You should be fine, then. Head straight home, alright? Don't overestimate the power of the talisman. As you might have guessed, you would do well to avoid going out for a while.

(B) Heh heh, I wonder... It's so vague, but when I was saved, I feel like I saw the shape of a goddess. If I could just meet that goddess one more time, I would have no regrets.

If you just stand here saying foolish things, your talisman will lose its power. Now hurry up and go home.



In other words, someone besides Hakurei gave him that talisman, but... Well, I guess it was useful for me to check on the village after all. Looks like things have been set in motion here as well.

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We now have new units.



As the dialogue straight up stated, Rumia has joined the party. This is one of the coolest things about FMW; normally in SRW games, you only ever get to play as the heroes. Maybe a couple fan-favorite villains can be recruited, but for the most part if a character you like is a villain all you're ever going to see of them is a boss fight. But in FMW? In FMW you can expect to recruit every single Touhou character. This might mean that the intermission screen is going to be a gigantic clusterfuck by FMW4, but I don't care.



Anyways, I blow my newly acquired riches on Youmu and Rumia.



On the skills front, once again nothing happens for Reimu and Keine. But since Youmu still has all that Graze from killing Rumia in Chapter 2,



I have her pick up Berserk. I could have waited until she got another 10 Graze so she could buy Unfocused Movement, but honestly Youmu's strong enough for now.

Youmu's skill wishlist is pretty much just Berserk and Unfocused Movement. She also might want to look into Predict/Belief since she can hit 130 Power really quickly, but those are kind of expensive. Tipsy is also an option, but I consider that to be a waste of Graze.



As for Rumia, she's got issues. See, she starts with zero Graze. This is really, really bad for her because Rumia desperately needs skills to be useful, so unless you're willing to devote a chapter or two of feeding kills to her Rumia's just going to be nothing more than a spare body. With that said, if you do decide to develop Rumia the sky's the limit. Rumia can make practical use of Support Attack/Defend, Unfocused/Focused Movement, Berserk, Belief, P-Hit, P-Damage, Shotgunning, and, since she has such crap Skill,

Random Dodge (this skill levels up)


Mind you, even if you totally pimp out Rumia she'll probably never be as good as any of the other characters in whatever role you decide to make her (Reimu/Marisa/Youmu will be a better attacker, Keine/Nitori will be a better tank, and Alice will be a better Supporter). So you're best off making her a blend of some kind, which of course costs even more Graze.



Finally, Keine gets the Oni's Nail.

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Unlike any other character available, Youmu and Rumia's level 2 WP Bonus is completely different from their level 1/3 WP Bonuses.

Youmu Konpaku

Level 7 Stats - Level 20 Stats


Personality: Strong-willed (Hit: +1 Power, Evade: +1 Power, Kill: +5 Power, Get Hit: +1 Power, Ally Killed: +1 Power)

Character Skill: Parry Lvl 2-4 [Levels up at levels 7 and 15]

WP Bonus: Swordarm Lvl 1 (In the next battle, Parry is guaranteed to activate), Gardener Lvl 1 (Increase Parry level by 1), Swordarm Lvl 2 (Parry's activation rate increased by 25% for a turn)

Spirits: Accel [1 SP, Level 1], Spirit [35 SP, Level 1], Focus [15 SP, Level 10]

Youmu is a very solid character, and is pretty much what would happen if Marisa traded her range for being better at almost everything else. Youmu needs to be up close for most of her attacks, and she's more than capable of getting and staying there. Youmu does have some MP issues, what with her constant movement and the cost of her finisher, but Roukanken doesn't cost anything so if you stick to that Youmu will have more than enough MP to drop Meditation Slash on the boss a couple times. Speaking of bosses, that's probably Youmu's only real concern; she may be fairly durable, but she's no Keine. Boss counter attacks can be an issue for her, especially if you're taking advantage of Berserk, so it's a worthwhile strategy to just keep her near someone with Support Defend and have her focus on counter attacks.

Unsurprisingly, considering it focuses on her game, FMW2 buffed Youmu considerably. She doesn't join until the last two chapters though. But she's totally awesome when she finally joins!

Rumia

Initial Stats - Level 20 Stats


Personality: Easy-going (Evade: +1 Power, Kill: +5 Power, Get Hit: +1 Power, Miss: +3 Power)

Character Ability: Shade (Reduces Laser damage by 1000 at the cost of 5 MP)

WP Bonus: Darkness Lv1 (The next enemy Rumia hits will have a halved hit rate for a turn), Shade + (Upgrades Shade into reducing Laser damage by 1800 and costing 10 MP), Darkness Lvl 2 (The next enemy Rumia hits will have a zeroed out hit rate for a turn.)

Spirits: Vigor (Restores 30% of max HP) [20 SP, Level 1], Strike [20 SP, Level 9], Fury (Ignores all enemy skills in the next battle) [20 SP, Level 19]

Rumia can best be described as a blank slate. With three item slots and a full six skill slots to work with, you can mold Rumia into one of or some blend of three roles: an attacker (purchase Shotgunning and Unfocused Movement and upgrade her MP), a tank (purchase Berserk and Belief and upgrade her HP and Armor), or a supporter (purchase Support Attack/Defend and Focused Movement and upgrade the appropriate attributes). Unfortunately, a specialized Rumia will only ever be mediocre compared to the army's big hitters, so the only way she'll ever really be useful is as a blend of some sort. That requires pumping a lot of resources into her, and I believe I've made my point already about resources in FMW1. Worse, Rumia starts with zero Graze, so you'll need to feed her dozens of kills to even get her going, which needless to say means actively gimping the rest of your army. And if you decide that Rumia's not worth all the effort, well say hello to the worst character in the game. At base, Rumia can't aim/dodge very well, can barely tank attacks that aren't Lasers, does mediocre damage, has mediocre Spirits, is at a great risk of dying from counter attacks, and will probably end up clinging to Keine.

More positively, FMW2 gave Rumia a new ranged move with a new song, gave her a fairly nifty skill that severely increases her utility, and introduced a new game mechanic that actually made her a considerable option over all of the other tanks.

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No chapter preview this time, because I don't want to spoil something. So instead, have a special Suspend dialogue!

Oh, are you stopping? Good work.

Yes, it is rather late, you shouldn't push yourself. You might end up having hip pains like me...

There really should be someone younger doing this, I suppose... My apologies for having to put up with an old lady like me.

Though I've had lots of experiences back when I was young myself... Ahh, I've started rambling on again. Sorry for being a bother.

See you again.

That Suspend dialogue is the only way to get Lady A in the Chronicles. You have to literally keep resetting the game until it pops up. Getting Lady A was the very last thing I did when I first 100% completed this game, and it took half an hour of resetting.