Part 15: Chapter 4M: Magicannon! Master Spark - Part 2

Chapter 4M doesn't have any post-chapter dialogue, so this intermission update is going up early.



First off, with the Mini-Hakkero in hand Marisa now has access to both of her bombs in EoSD. It's a deliberate contrast to Reimu, who had both of them from the beginning.

Stardust Reverie is Marisa's answer to Evil-sealing Circle, only she doesn't have it from the beginning of the game and as such has pretty much no use for it at all since it costs too much MP, works off the wrong attack stat, is close-range, and is obsolete from the get-go thanks to Master Spark. Speaking of Master Spark it's... kind of a bad move. I'll explain why later.



With the few Points that I have, I upgrade Nitori's HP.



I also bought P-Hit for Marisa. Saving up some more for Unfocused Movement L2 or Predict was an option, but P-Hit basically translates into a damage buff anyways and Alice's Support is sufficient.



Getting closer...



Alice gets this, which lets her spend 15 MP to create a Hourai Doll unit next to her once per chapter.



The dolls are super fragile, and basically exist to be bait. Unfortunately, a future unit is much better at doing that.



They have the same attacks as back in Chapter 2M, though you don't want to actually get a kill since I'm pretty sure that means any experience or graze you would've gotten is wasted.

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Let's talk about Master Spark.



At a base 3700 power it's by far the most powerful move any of the units in your army will ever learn in FMW E (and even in FMW P there's only one attack with a higher base damage, and in practice Master Spark can outdamage that anyways), but it's also an incredibly impractical move to use. It isn't guaranteed to hit like Fantasy Seal was (it's very possible to miss with Master Spark!), isn't Post-movement (by the way, it's the main reason you should consider buying Focused Movement for Marisa), and above all it costs a metric shit ton of MP. And Marisa already had MP issues! Once Marisa casts Master Spark, she's basically spent for the chapter.

Still, it's not like it's a choice between using Marisa in a chapter and using Master Spark. If you upgraded Marisa's MP and have her stick to Magic Missile, she'll usually have enough left at the end to Master Spark the boss once. That sounds useless, but a couple of the bosses have spells that you want to blow through as fast as possible, and Master Spark is ideal for that. Alternatively, if a chapter takes place indoors you can land Marisa so her movement costs don't bite into her MP. You'll still want to stick to Magic Missile though.



In conclusion, if you want to actually use Master Spark (which you should!) this is what Marisa's movelist will look like. At 30 MP and 40 MP, Narrow Spark and Stardust Reverie are simply too expensive to use. And while Magic Missile might not be enough to kill most enemies by itself, if you get Support Attack on Alice she can chip in and help save Marisa some MP.

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Next Time on Fantasy Maiden Wars E: Daiyousei SOS!

Marisa follows the advice in her dream and heads toward the lake. The scarlet mist had caused disturbances in nature, and its effects are beginning to show on certain fairies. A black shadow is cast on Daiyousei as she plays hide-and-seek in the forest... Who will save the cornered Daiyousei from danger!?

"Save me, Cirno!!"