Part 54: Hunter of the Red Plains - Nameless - Part 3

Nameless 3



EMIYA's a seasoned warrior, but when there's no fight to be had, he can be quite the domestic sort. For the record, every Servant has an idle animation, but you'll probably never see them for almost everyone since there's really very little reason to wait around in this game. EMIYA has the most elaborate, pulling out a teapot, saucer, and cup and pouring himself a drink.

Oh yeah, and the costume. Well, every playable character in this game has at least one alternate costume (Elizabeth has 4 costumes, including her default one). Nero, Tamamo, and Altera unlock theirs' from bond level events (Elizabeth gains 2 from bond levels), whereas everyone else unlocks them from completing their Sub Stories. So, after I finished Nameless' first two stages, I quickly finished stage 3 so I could go through the last stage with this. Said stage is based on Golden Poem stage 4 (the one with Iskandar), so be prepared for a big fight.


Nameless stage 3

The enemy will use this opportunity to send their finest Servants against us. I will face Altera in single combat. The other enemy generals I leave to you. I'm counting you, Archer, Lancer, Praeceptor Assassin. This battle depends on your efforts!

The game is using the Latin spelling of the word "Preceptor", but if you're curious about her meaning, she actually says "Assassin-sensei".

Well, that's all fine with me, but...Saber, where is Archimedes?

Our tactician? He said he'd forgotten something. He'll return shortly, no doubt. But never mind that, Archer. You're hiding something from me, are you not? You've been perfectly calm all this time, and now here you are, constantly looking all about as if you're expecting something. Highly suspicious, isn't it? Are you our Guardian? Are you my Praetor? Are you my father, perhaps?

Nero's father was named Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, a name I had to copy+paste from Wikipedia, because I could never spell that name right for my life. Probably a few good reasons not many people have heard of this guy. Your name needs to be catchy, sheesh.

Also, to quote "During his lifetime, Domitius did not enjoy a good reputation. He was accused of being the accomplice of Albucilla in the crimes of adultery and murder, and also of incest with his sister Domitia Lepida, and narrowly escaped execution only because of the death of Tiberius". Sounds like a guy who attracted trouble.

I'd have hoped you would have guessed "big brother" or something, at least! Hm... No, excuse me. You're right, it is unlike me to be so tense. But Saber, our final battle is happening here and now. We can chit chat all you like after it's over.

True enough, Hunter of the Red Cloth! One more thing to look forward to after my victory! Let us go, my three grand muskateers! Everything depends on our noble victory! Forward!

At least the Emperor's still sharp. She seems like the big-picture type, but she doesn't miss the little things. If it's her and Hakunon, I'm sure they don't need any help. I'll focus on my role at hand. First, I have to finish this battle...!



So here's a weird thing. Nero mentions Li Shuwen, Cu Chulainn, and Nameless during her opening speech, but Li is nowhere to be seen. Instead, we have Gawain in the middle fighting Altera. But I quite assure you she mentioned Assassin-sensei, so, based on this revelation I just had writing this, seems like this was a little screw-up. Ah well.



So, ignoring the top-most Sector, because Cu will handle it, you've got a number of ways you can start this stage. You can choose to go after the two highest-value Sectors, take out Altera, or take out the enemy Plant at the bottom of the map. I elected to take over the entire eastern part of the map, then the latter. Meanwhile Gawain will just have to deal with Altera for a bit.

Soon after the stage starts, Iskandar will call in the heavy units. So, get used to those guys.



I actually forgot before I came in here, but this Sector is trapped with something I can't counter. Thankfully, I was able to get out of here before it fired. Just means I'll have to remember to come back here with a full Moon Drive charge.



Part of the fun with having an allied Servant fighting with you is that Nameless can charge up Caladbolgs from a distance, simply because the enemy will typically ignore your allies to come after you. Your buddy smacks your foe from behind? That's time they'll have to take to recover, and you can get some distance and fire.



I was pretty proud of how I fought Gilgamesh. I was mostly harassing him with long-range attacks, but I mixing it up with close-range harassment and keeping a good eye on how close we were so I could prepare my strategy. S T is very reliable.



During our rematch, I was actually pretty well delayed by Cu attacking. His enthusiasm, we shall call it, kept Gil's shields up for a long time. After I chased Gil off, I won the stage, and got Iskandar to show up. Unfortunately, I still have two Sectors to conquer.



Mission accomplished, right?





Maybe not. Well, we finally meet our secret character, Artoria Pendragon. Don't worry, I'll have plenty to say about her later. We've got a big fight on our hands at the moment.

The flames of war are spreading here as well... I can ignore this no longer.



Same as always. Fine. It would've come down to us eventually.





Old friends... So Artoria is, um, dangerous. In terms of gameplay, I think she's by far the best character in the game, and that definitely shows up as an enemy. She has two extremely dangerous attacks: where she'll charge Excalibur for a bit and then fire out three waves of energy in a spread-shot formation, and the other is where she'll release the compressed air around her sword and fire off a few large tornados in a large circle (which is what was going on in the screenshot with her talking). Either of these projectile attacks can hit you from very far away and do a ton of damage.



The final move you really have to watch out for is where she'll launch a very fast sword combo at you that ends with her jumping into the air like a buzz saw. The reason this is so powerful is because if any part of the combo hits, you're gonna get hit by whatever remains. Normally one would wait for an enemy to attack, then counterattack, and to some extent that still holds up for the King of Knights. However, she can recover quickly and launch attacks with very little warning. You'll want to keep her at medium range and rush in when she's not attacking. Even then, reliablity is not 100%. For example...





I launched her into the air with S S S T, but while EMIYA was jumping forward to slash, she *immediately* responded by crashing down on top of me with her dive attack. There's basically at no distance or any state of damage where she's not dangerous, and you're probably gonna take a few lumps here and there, but fighting her in large area with lots of maneuverability can keep at least prevent her from taking advantage of her brutal close-range combos. Also, be forewarned that she will occasionally dash straight at you, which can close the distance between the two of you very quickly.



For old friends...











The end result of an ordinary magus who spent a lifetime making swords...Unlimited Blade Works.

















Ack...! Your skills...gave grown...



The way Unlimited Blade Works, lore-wise, is that EMIYA stored all the weapons he had ever seen in his life inside what's called a Reality Marble, a little pocket dimension he can create. While his mana can handle it, he can reproduce weapons extremely easily, and can call upon anything inside to fight with with low mana costs to himself. It's not something he can maintain for very long, but it's proof of a long, hard-fought life.

I was actually surprised I took more than 200 damage and still managed an EX rank, but I guess the damage parameters are different depending on a particular level.[/i]


To the world of possibilities

You know, she caused me all manner of trouble. Up until now, that is...

You mean, up until now she'd unquestioningly destroyed the shards of that Planet along with Altera, right?

...As I thought. I wasn't sure it was possible, but you are indeed a drifter like me. But I don't understand you. I don't understand at all. You should know the outcome of this incident. If so, why will you not fight Altera? SE.RA.PH will be destroyed should you leave her alone. Haven't you been called from the future where that has happened?

No. Unfortunately, I can't travel between worlds as freely as you can. I was just another Servant who lost to Altera. However... Whether due to my namelessness, or some glitch in SE.RA.PH, my "disappear" process got swapped out for "transition". So it's more accurate to say...I'm a stranger who wandered into this timeline.

...I see. So it's not that you've chased me here, but rather you just happened to survive. But then, why would you stop me? Since you should understand that Altera is wholly evil?

Stop trying to lead me to the obvious path, "Great Scholar". My world was destroyed BECAUSE we fought with that assumption. The Extella I was in was a "Dead End World, a World Without Options". But this world is different. Altera is not wholly evil yet. That decision can only be made once the ending of this Extella plays out.

I see... Although we both witnessed the same thing, you would talk of such an untenable future. It's no use talking to you. It seems we'll never understand each other.

Didn't I say that before? That you were a man who couldn't understand others in the first place?

...Goodbye, Mr. No-Name. Soak in your languid hope while you still can.



..."Languid hope", hmm? He's not wrong about that. There are two more pieces to the Harvest Star. And there are tougher battles waiting for us ahead, but...



As you can see, we have a Master made of pure optimism on our side. Someone who didn't exist in my Extella. Someone who didn't fall in mid-battle with me. A Master of the new SE.RA.PH who fought and won until the final round of the Holy Grail War. We have more than enough potential. You're the one who ought to give up, Archimedes.

Well, it's nice that you saw I was late and came to get me, but... You're unwise to come here all by yourself. ...Well, whatever. I'm sure Saber will have plenty to say to me once we're all back home.