Part 64: God's Resolution - Jeanne d'Arc - Part 1

God's Resolution - Jeanne d'Arc





Next on the line-up is Jeanne d'Arc, the one and only Extra Class unit playable in this game. I scarcely doubt there's anyone in the developed world who hasn't heard of Joan of Arc, but as a refresher, you see. The historical Joan was born in Domrémy, in a far northeastern French village in 1412 (now Domrémy-la-Pucelle, named after her). At an early age, but her own admission, she had several visions of angels and saints to support the current French monarch, Charles VII, in his war against the English, who had been occupying northern France for some time after several disastrous French defeats at the hands of Henry V, including the Battle of Agincourt (1415). Through various means, including predicting the outcome of a minor battle in France's favor before news had actually arrived of it, she found her way to the French royal court (which was at Chinon, not Paris. The City of Lights was very much in English hands), where Charles assigned her to relieving the siege of Orleans, the last of France's major cities not in English hands.

Now, Joan herself admitted that she never killed anyone and basically acted as a rallying cry for the French army, her advice and morale-boosting was apparently quite helpful, as the siege was lifted and the English suffered a string of defeats after the failed assault. Joan and the French army's victories included recovering the city of Reims, the historical capital of French kings and where they go to receive the crown. Charles VII was formally crowned as king there in 1429. The recovery of Reims was followed up with a failed assault on Paris a few months later.

After the assault on Paris, one of the Hundred Years War's many truces kinda left her without anything to do about the English. She instead turned her focus on the Hussites, a religious movement based around the teachings of Jan Hus. Joan was an intensely Catholic woman who despised any sort of non-conformity to the Catholic Church, as it happens. Shortly after the latest truce, the war resumed in 1430, but her war ended sooner than she probably planned and she was captured by the Burgundians, who were allied with the English. The ensuing trial for heresy was, as you might expect, in English hands and was all for show. She was charged with heresy and crossdressing, among other charges, but the conclusion was never in doubt. Joan was burned at the stake on May 31, 1431. She would not see the end of the Hundred Years War, but it would end in her homeland's victory in 1453. Shortly after her death, she would get a retrial by more sympathetic clerics and was declared innocent in 1456. As a final postscript, she was officially declared a saint in 1920

So after all that, Jeanne is among a distinguished group of real people who became Servants in this game (Li Shuwen, Iskandar, Nero, Archimedes, Elizabeth, sorta-Altera, and Lu Bu, and possibly-probably Gilgamesh). Hm, that's actually a pretty substantial number of units in this game who were real folks. Never stopped to think about that. On another topic, this costume of Jeanne's is based on her casual outfit in Fate/apocrypha (though she usually wears a jacket with this outfit, too). It's called Girl from Orleans, and it's actually her appearance as a French girl named Leticia. See, nobody actually summoned either Ruler in apocrypha. Leticia just happened to be basically a perfect fit for Jeanne d'Arc magically and physically, so the Heroic Spirit of Jeanne d'Arc took over her body, but she can transform in a moment into Jeanne's more familiar battle dress / cape / headdress and such.



Now, Jeanne's first stage is Dawn Arc stage 5, and its recommended level is 15, on Hard. This is a gigantic pile of crap, and you'd be a damn fool to attempt it as Jeanne on any level lower than like, 22 or 23. Even so 20 is far too low. You'll see why...


Jeanne d'Arc stage 1

Yes.

Saber and her Master possess the Regalia. I must destroy them. There are three people who possess the three pieces of the Regalia. Saber, Caster, and I. Technically, the three Masters are the rightful owners of the Regalia. They are the Sovereigns of SE.RA.PH. They possess the Royal Authority. ...However, they have been split into three pieces. The Body, the Mind, and the Soul.

Those are the three great features that a Cyber Frame is composed of. If the Mind and Soul have been split, the Body...

...is in a terribly unstable state. If I leave it like that, whatever intelligence and memories it possesses will disappear in time.

That... Does that mean you wish to possess the other two Regalia so that you can save your Master?

The destruction of Saber and Caster. The reunification of the Regalia. The Umbral Star desires those things. My desires don't matter.

...Is that so? (You say what you want does not matter. But that's not the same as saying you do not care. So you are not a machine. As I suspected, you are closer to a true Cyber Frame, just like us. Do you think and feel like a person? Like we Servants who are born unto this SE.RA.PH?)

What are you doing? I don't know which one of you is heading out, but stop chattering. It's about time for the grunts to conquer the territory.

Yes, it is. So...

I will go. Altera, please wait in the home base.

...Fine. I'll leave it to you. Destroy all that stands in our way.

So we'll shortly get the bit with Li Shuwen pulling his disappearing act, but we've got a new character to introduce before I fight him.



So Jeanne is...hm, how to say this? The thing with her is she has a number of neat things she can do, but she suffers from a crippling lack of power in her attacks that really needs to be alleviated with a power-boosting Install Skill. I didn't for this stage, and it's going to be absolutely miserable as a result.



Her S S T combo is basically a simple melee combo which ends with her kicking a target away. Both her S T and S S T are basically identical, just slightly different that vary where Jeanne and her target end up after the attacks are done.



I'm not demonstrating it here very well, but S S S T ends with her rushing forward while twirling her standard (it's a standard, not a flag, very important to differentiate) around, dragging along a group of enemies that ends with her kicking and slashing away. Her sword is actually the sword of St. Catherine (I think Catherine of Alexandria if you're looking her up on Wikipedia), but it's not like St. Catherine was a particularly bloodthirsty individual, so it's not very powerful on its own. That's not to say it doesn't have some tricks, of course. In Jeanne's life (in this series), she never used it, for the record, but she would qualify to be a Saber.



And her mid-air attack combo ends with her twirling the standard so fast (two-handed twirling, at that. It's hard to notice but that's how she's spinning it so fast) she floats along like a helicopter, dragging enemies along with her. Jeanne's attacks are more oriented to dealing with large crowds of enemies, and gaining weapon range on most of the playable Servant cast in this game. The problem is she doesn't hit for very much as a result. The additional problem here is a level 20 Jeanne doesn't have access to her most powerful moves, and as a result, this stage was a struggle to get through.

I still think she is fun to play as, it's just...not as things are. Next stage, trust me. In particular, her T T combo right now is pretty good for quick staggering damage, but it turns into a pretty devastating close-range damage dealer when she has more sting to it and an extra button press.



I should note that her T T combo ends with her dramatically sheathing her sword, which will keep you in place for a bit. While it's not so bad, given T T will stagger any non-super enemies, you will take a bit of damage if you haven't scattered a group or an enemy quickly rushes you.



Finally, Mr. Fisticuffs is gone (and this time, I won't forget there's still one Aggressor in this Sector this time). Just have Nameless and Cu to go...



After this long in a fight, and still that much health. I'm just gonna spoil it, I'm not even gonna try going for EX rank. That'd add on like 20 minutes at least.



That's quite enough of that. It's always a pain fighting really fast enemies with projectiles as Jeanne, who has neither. After that, more thrilling gamelay ensued until I finish the Regime Matrix. Let's just hurry along...

My turn to fight? Perfect. I've been waiting for this moment!

I'll strike you down here. Brace yourself, Lancer!



I was kinda dreading this fight, since Cu is a *horrible* matchup for Jeanne. Cu is fast and completely neutralizes Jeanne's range advantage. I think the key here is pressuring Cu a lot and never giving him much range on you. And of course, blocking a lot. Even so, having the Anti-Hero Install Skill on (reduces damage from Heroic Spirits), certainly helped matters.



And look at that, my slapfight with Cu cost Iskandar his life (sort of). The price of shoddy preparation, I'm afraid. Shortly thereafter, I ended up beating Cu. I had had enough of this stage for a lifetime or two, and no way was I gonna pull another Jeanne Gambit to conquer all the Sectors.



Exhausting.



Not bad for a flag bearer. You might even be better than average, Servant. Could it be that underneath that soft exterior, you secretly love to fight?

I'll leave that to your imagination. But don't think of me as some precious little diamond.

Ah. That almost sounded feisty. I had assumed this holy maiden who saved her country in the name of Heaven would be some starchy saint, but... You're rather well-suited for this. And you do have potential. Come back to the home base, Ruler. Maybe Altera would like to chat some more.

I mean, if you're remotely familiar with Jeanne's history, you'd know she's the type who leads from the front, and besides that, Fate Jeanne's personality always has her rushing into trouble, sometimes turning out well, sometimes not. The type who shoots first and asks questions later, basically.

...I intend to. But I don't require your permission, King of Heroes.

Of course you do, you fool. Here in the "Forces of Destruction", or whatever, you're a foot soldier, while I am Altera's second in command. You'll take your orders without question. If any soldier steps out of line, my job is to whip them into shape. Do you understand?

His first couple lines, his "angry" portrait was used. Quite unexpected Jeanne would be the first person to really piss him off.

...You call yourself Altera's second in command, but you don't intend to obey her, do you?

Of course I do. I owe her exactly one favor. So here I am, paying it back. Whatever happens after that is not my concern, though I hope it's entertaining in any case.

...So Altera's campaign is a pleasant little hobby for you, is it? ...Very well. I see exactly where you stand, King of Heroes. And I will judge this battle with my own eyes.

Thrill junkies are always troublesome folk to work with.