Part 20: Pegasi

With Aritia freed, Marth and the gang head over to the Raman Temple to try and figure out how to beat Garnef.




In our way is yet another random batch of bad guys, this time from a group we haven't seen before - the Black Knights.



There's a small squad from the Black Knight group guarding the town. The Paladin isn't really anything special, but the two Social Knights do both have Armor Killers.



Another couple cavalry squads await us at the foot of the long bridge. There's a few Knight Killers around here, plus one Social Knight with a Kill Sword.



Stallone guards the castle with a Silver Lance. He's probably the easiest boss we've had to face in awhile. The Cleric nearby has a Reserve Wand, but we've been dealing with those pretty easily already.



Marth's army must cross the Cashmere bridge to get to Raman. But the Grunia Black Knights block the bridge. A battle's about to begin!

Given the army we have now after last chapter's slog, there's not much to threaten us here. This chapter's another of the filler ones that were removed in the SNES remake. So, let's spice things up a little bit.


Turn 1:



We have two Pegasus Knights with us, and neither are Sheeda. A third will be joining us shortly. You'll notice that Jake is here despite getting voted out - I guess I miscounted how many units we could bring.

We're a long way from the bridge, but we're not in a particularly hurry here.



But first, some item management to take care of. Marth's Defense bumps up to a healthy 14, while Roger's Speed goes all the way to 15, vastly improving his deadliness. Honestly I could've sworn that you guys would give the Dragon Shield to Navarre to cover up his one weakness, but Marth is a pretty good choice, too.



Only the holder knows their power!

Also I visit the house to get it out of the way early. We'll be having lots of fun with those Orbs, oh yes....



Our lines are an undignified mess, but that's okay because we've given Roger four stat-boosting items now so he's ready to just murder everyone by himself. To be honest, an Armor Knight is a pretty good choice for the extra help. It's all but impossible to tank via avoidance in this game - max natural avoid is 20%, plus some from terrain, there's no weapon triangle or supports to boost avoidance any further, and most enemies have 80% accuracy or better weapons. So straight out Defense-tanking is a good strategy - particularly when a map has no mages, such as this one.

On the enemy phase, two Social Knights with Armor Killers charge at, but cannot reach, our new favorite Armor Knight. Even with the effective damage bonus, Roger would only take 7 damage from each of them anyway (and they have no chance at doubling him thanks to that Speed Ring).


Turn 2:



Roger also uses the Secret Book. The message is a vicious lie, he actually gets +5 to Skill.



I'm not in any big rush so I leave Roger out to face the Armor Killers alone.



Roger takes 8 damage from one Social Knight and dodges the other, dishing out 20 damage to each in return. So we're now strong enough to let the enemy charge at us with effective weapons to no avail.


Turn 3:



Gordon and Hardin finish off the two Social Knights with ease.



Gordon gets this rather acceptable level. He's almost 5 points ahead in Power now, and can reach a 36 Attack when using the Partia.



Roger takes point again, since the thread seems to like him so much and he's pretty well-suited to lead a charge now. Paola and Katua continue to fly around aimlessly.



Roger's defense for the flying horse attack is to just stand there and take the 2 damage, then dish out another 20 damage in return. Although he's now had six strikes with the Kill Sword at a ~28% crit chance without actually getting a crit yet. The Bow Knights can't do any damage to Roger so they don't even bother to advance.


Turn 4:



Jake is also invulernable to the Bow Knights, so Rena warps him down there to harass them.



Meanwhile Gordon pulls off an overkill crit to finish off the Paladin.



That frees up enough space for Roger to charge and take out one of the Bow Knights.



Who needs good levels when you can just pile on the stat boosters?



It is actually intentional for the front-lines to include two bow-users here. The only enemies that can reach them are two Social Knights who will have to use Javelins from range.



Not the best of matchups for these Black Knights, and they are both counter-killed as a result.



Up near the town, the Bow Knight decides it'd be a good idea to attack Jake for no damage and get counter-attacked (for just 8 damage, but still).


Turn 5:



Roger finishes off the second Bow Knight with ease.



And Wolf and Gordon try to bait out another pair of enemy units.



Wolf catches a Paladin, dodges his Javelin, and then gets a Bowgun-crit to complete the counter-kill.



He also catches a Bow Knight, takes a hit, and then gets another counter-kill.



The RNG gods do not approve of my plan for this chapter.


Turn 6:



Roger's going to attract another Social Knight, while Hardin and Chainy have business in town.



Oh hey, another Pegasus Knight showed up.


Turn 7:



To no one's surprise, the new arrival is Est, completing the Pegasi Trio. She's still technically an enemy for now, though - like the others, she'll head straight for Marth without attacking anyone. You could order one of her sisters to attack her for kicks if you like, but they can't actually talk to her.



I make another attempt to draw out a single Social Knight, as the previous attempt failed when Roger scared off the one stuck with just a Knight Killer. There is a point to all this. Three points, in fact.



The two Armories provide another opportunity to stock up on Silver and other specialty weapons. With our current bankroll, there's really no reason to be using anything but the best at this point. Oddly enough there are no Dragon Killers - they actually can't be bought anywhere, apparently. I'll have to be more careful with the ones we have.



The two Shops have a bunch of Tomes, but all are inferior to the stash of Torron Tomes that we picked up last chapter. We do pick up a couple extra Recover Wands for Rena, just in case.

There's also an Arena in the town, but fuck that.



Roger dodges a strike from the Kill Sword, and destroys the Social Knight in exchange.

Meanwhile, Est makes her way over to Marth:



Yea, I think we know how the story goes by now.



But I can't use it, so feel free to equip it.

I don't care what your stats are, you just became the best recruit ever.

The Miracle Sword is the second of the Archanean royal weapons, and only Marth can wield it. It has 18 Might, but is limited to just 24 uses. That's not as much of a problem as you might think.


Turn 8:



Setting up some stuff. I think that the closest Social Knight will go after Gordon.



One lonely reinforcement pops out of the fort and heads for Roger, but can't reach him.



Gordon successfully draws out the Social Knight. The reason why will become apparent shortly.


Turn 9:



You see, the Pegasus Sisters have a very special and mostly useless gimmick.



Just put any two of them on any two tiles adjacent to an enemy unit...



And then attack that enemy unit from a third adjacent tile with the third sister, so that the three form a triangle formation.



In case that wasn't immediately obvious, what happens is this - when two of the White Knight Trio are next to an enemy (whether they waited there, attacked that enemy, attacked a different enemy - whatever), and the third member attacks that enemy from melee range - forming a "triangle" among the three - the attack becomes a Triangle Attack. Despite the fancy name, all that actually happens is that the attack is guaranteed to be a crit (which, if you remember, is triple damage). Moreover, if the enemy happens to be alive after the first hit, then the second hit (if applicable) will also be a Triangle Attack. Two straight guaranteed crits is pretty nifty, particularly once Est and co. get powered up, but the setup required makes practical application of the technique all but impossible. It does make for yet another handy tool to put in the boss-killing toolbox, though.

Honestly, it's kind of a strange feature, and yet it's been carried forward to most, if not all, Fire Emblem games since. Given that at this point in the game, we're one-shotting most enemies anyway, calling the Triangle Attack situational is being generous.



Roger knows he's the real star of this chapter, and takes out the Social Knight reinforcement the conventional way.



Roger, you only have two levels left, I expect a couple of masterpieces.



Another problem with the Triangle Attack in this case is that Paola has been left a bit exposed.



Well that wasn't so bad.



Uh...



Oh. Well, how about that.



Two Social Knights pop out of the forts this time. Both go after Roger, both get killed.


Turn 10:



What? It's not like Paola or Katua are allowed to attack anyway, might as well make use of them.



See, she even got a level out of it. When most of our units are at or near their max level, Est joining at Level 5 unpromoted places her a bit behind, but with levels like that it can definitely be worth raising her up anyway. Seriously, Power and Defense in the same level on a Pegasus Knight?

(Side note: Est now has as much Defense and more Power than Sheeda. Way behind in everything else, of course, but there it is.)



Julian gets a timely crit on the Bow Knight.



That's not how your levels were advertised, Julian.



Still just hanging around, taking our time.



Roger might actually need some healing soon. This turn brings two Social Knights and a Bow Knight, all with silver weapons. Alas, he can't counter-kill the Bow Knight, so he'll have to wait until the player phase.



Roger's penultimate level disappoints as much as the previous few have.



Paola's hit, but only for 3 damage. The "effective" weapons here just aren't very good against other classes.



And Paola dodges another arrow. She keeps that up maybe she'll get to live.


Turn 11:



I'm not going to apologize for this.



Oh hell, the RNG doesn't like my hubris. You may not have realized it, but critical hits, even those from the Triangle Attack, are still subject to accuracy rolls.



In this case though, the ability to use the Triangle Attack on the second attack allows Est to get the kill anyway.



Why not, Julian's got nothing better to do on this map, might as well kill another defenseless Bow Knight.



Let's see what that Bow Knight can do now.



He decides to keep banging his head on Roger, who just dodges anyway.



Four reinforcements this turn, with the previous set joined by a Paladin with a Thunder Sword.



The new Bow Knight goes after Kashim for 12 damage. Kashim would normally kill him on the counter-attack, but misses on his second attack.



And another Social Knight with a Knight Killer scratches Paola. Honestly after she dodged two ~70% hit chance would-be arrow-kills, she's almost earned the right to live. Almost.


Turn 12:



We've got some trash to take out. Gordon gets it started.



He also gets a great level, capping both Power and Luck. On average Gordon will hit just 16 Power at max level, but he's capped it here with six levels to go.



Jake finishes off the Bow Knight that Kashim couldn't.



This might be the most you'll ever see the Triangle Attack used in a Fire Emblem LP.



Navarre massacres another Bow Knight, and Wolf takes care of another Social Knight.



Roger gets patched up and heads back to the western forts. Paola prepares to withstand another attack.



Thunder Sword Paladin takes the bait and goes after Gordon from range (he can't reach any closer) and gets counter-killed without even landing his lightning bolt.



Another Social Knight sees Gordon as a tempting target, but can't seem to get his lance on target.



Navarre takes 9 damage from this Bow Knight but isn't in any real danger.



Paola suffers another scratch for the purpose of drawing in another victim.


Turn 13:



Don't tell me you're surprised by this.



This level, however, is surprising. Est's Defense is pretty irrelevant as a Pegasus Knight, since on promotion she'll get the same bump to 14. She has a much better Power potential, though (70% growth) so it'd be nice to hit that a few more times.



Return of the paint circles! Cleaning up the last round of reinforcements as Roger, Wolf, and Gordon each get a kill.



And Roger hits the level cap, just squeaking out one more point of Power. He could be magnificent if he were allowed to promote, but as it is he's just "average" for our power team, even with all the help.



Gordon also gets a level, but he drew his Power-Luck level so ends up with nothing.



Can Paola survive one more round from another Knight Killer?



No problem.


Turn 14:



This really doesn't get old. Besides, Est needs the experience.



The front-line crew cleans out another round of reinforcements. It's winding down now - only three units showed up last turn.



Wolf gets his final level, with a nice little Power boost. He's actually a bit behind in Power and Luck but otherwise turned out about average. Like most units that can't promote, his biggest drawback ends up being not enough levels to gain.



Also, this level from Navarre. In case you forgot how much of a god he is. (Awfully fragile god, though.)



Oops, four reinforcements again this time. The Thunder Sword Paladin and the Silver Bow Knight both attack Navarre, while the Silver Lance Social Knights stab Kashim and Jake.



Also this asshole Paladin shows up out of the middle fort with a Silver Sword a turn earlier than advertised. Fortunately I had the foresight to not leave Chainy untransformed right there. That certainly did not happen.


Turn 15:



Ugh, my lines are a mess again. Kashim and Gordon take out the two Social Knights, Navarre takes care of the Paladin, and Julian and Jake team up for the Bow Knight.



Julian even gets this great level to make up for the last one.



Not the sturdiest of front lines, but it'll do.



No, I'm not above using the Triangle Attack on a helpless Cleric, why do you ask?



There's that 70% Power growth.



What? Don't look at me like that, you voted for her to sacrifice herself for the greater good of greatgood levels. Besides, I'd say if she survives this one, she definitely deserves a reprieve.



Stallone doesn't get any dialogue here, and he's so jealous of Paola that he tries to get his horse to fly, too. 25% chance for Paola to survive her Triangle Attack punching bag trial....



I honestly don't believe that that just happened. Rest well, Paola, you deserve it. Besides, what kind of monster would I be if I sacrificed a Pegasus, right? (Despite my best efforts....)



Oy, another round of these guys. I think this is the last turn for most of them, we'll see. The Social Knights take their free shots on Wolf and Gordon, while the ranged units go after Navarre again. It's too bad the only ranged sword is the crappy Thunder Sword, or Navarre could really go to town on these guys.



You know, the FAQ I'm using very clearly says that this guy only shows up once, but here he is again. Of course, it's been wrong a lot about the reinforcement timing already - they usually show up for more turns than what's listed. Anyway, Hardin takes the hit and then gets another counter-kill.



Capping Skill in the process.


Turn 16:

Time to wrap things up.



To be honest, if I had a way to give her a weapon, I would've used Paola here, but Est will have to do.



One more time...



Uh, one HP short.



More like the Untouchable Sisters, right?



Ok, now one more time.



That's more like it. Ladies and gentlemen, the Triangle Attack in all its glory.



And just in case we wanted a third Paladin, we get another Knight's Medal, too.



Last bit of reinforcements to deal with here. Once again, Kashim and Gordon take out the Social Knights, Navarre handles the Paladin, and Julian gets the Bow Knight.



Plus, these levels.



Had to rearrange the line a bit to make the attacks. Chainy's unarmed but he'll be a nice high-HP, high-Defense distraction. Now, according to the FAQ, only three reinforcements should be showing up this turn....



Screw this. Maybe I'll just have Marth seize next turn. Or send Est over to this side....

Anyway the Paladin goes after Jake, and takes him down to 4 HP because Jake is so goddamn slow. The Bow Knight fires at Navarre again. Chainy successfully distracts one of the Social Knights, while the other takes his customary shot at Wolf and misses yet again. Apparently the game heard my earlier comment on dodge-tanking not really working in this game and decided to prove me wrong just to spite me. Even if it does work out in my favor. Or something.

Also that northern Paladin suicides on Hardin again without even landing a blow. I have Hardin parked on a fort for some free healing and an avoid boost, for as long as it's needed.


Turn 17:



I have it on good authority (ie: me saving a state and immediately ending turn to cheat and check) that last turn was the last round of reinforcements. So all we need to do is finish off these stragglers, maybe do some shopping off-screen, and then finally seize the "castle" and thus enter the Raman Temple.



Julian gets all stabby on one last Bow Knight.



Hardin kills the last Paladin.



This is actually a pretty good level at this point, since Hardin's total growth rates among his uncapped stats are just 130%. He's pretty far behind in the uncapped stats, but really just having 40 levels to grow can fix some bad luck.



I try to feed Kashim another kill, but his incompetence shows through again. Navarre finishes this one off instead.



And Gordon takes out the last of the Black Knights (at least, for this chapter).



The threats ended, we splurge on a bunch of silver equipment and a handful of Thunder Swords and Recover Wands. It put a small dent in our treasury. There's an easy way to replenish it here, though.

Now, Est is the original of an archetype that continues throughout the series for a unit that joins late in the game at a low level, but with great growth rates. One of the best parts of the original Est here, is that in the chapter in which she joins, there's an Arena that's perfect for catching her up to the rest of the army. Since Sheeda's already at Level 20, Est really needs to match her going into next chapter, don't you think?

Est's matchups in the Arena are: Iron Axe Pirate (easy), Iron Lance Social Knight (can get tricky later if Est is low on Defense), Thunder Tome Magician (easy and can cheese it with the MShield Wand), and the mandatory mirror fight with an Iron Lance Pegasus Knight (also pretty easy - enemy Pegasi have low Power, too). Est's high Speed should keep her doubling the whole time, and her high Power growth should keep her ahead of the damage curve. Just to be safe I'm going to wimp out and save a state every turn anyway, and just end the chapter if she falls. You know you prefer it this way.

So, how far did she get?



Sweet lord look at that Power! Sure, she's way behind Sheeda in Luck, but who the fuck would trade 9 Power for 9 Luck?! (She's not even ahead of her averages or anything, that's just how good and well-balanced her growths are.) The Arena was a breeze, only an enemy crit could have gotten in her way and (fortunately) those are pretty rare.

Well will be an interesting vote for next chapter. There can be only one!

Oh right, need to finish the chapter still. Blah blah, Marth seizes the castle gates or temple gates or whatever.



Psh, like there's anything left that can threaten me now.



Have you seen our army?





Wait, what? In order to have fewer casualties, we're gong to fight with one hand tied behind our back? Wouldn't the better solution be to send in everyone we have and overwhelm them before they can react? Bah, whatever.


New Characters

Est - Pegasus Knight

Est, much like Katua, is amazing if you can be bothered to raise her up. Conveniently, there's a handy Arena in the very chapter where you recruit her. She's damn-near RNG-proof, even for a Pegasus Knight.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 50%
  
• Power: 70%
  
• Skill: 70%
  
• Weapon Level: 70%
  
• Speed: 70%
  
• Luck: 60%
  
• Defense: 20%
  
• Total: 410%

New Weapons:

Devil Sword - We actually got this last chapter, but I forgot about it. Similar to the Devil Axe, but not nearly as strong. Still, I guess that lessens the risk of self-mutilation?

• Might: 17
  
• Uses: 19
  
• Weapon Level: 1
  
• Hit Rate: 100%
  
• Crit Rate: 0%
  
• Weight: 5
  
• Special: (21 - Luck) % chance of damaging user instead

Miracle [Sword] - The royal Archanean sword that for some reason only Marth can use. Like the Partia, it's high-powered but with very limited uses. If only we had some way to mitigate weapon decay....

• Might: 18
  
• Uses: 24
  
• Weapon Level: Marth only
  
• Hit Rate: 100%
  
• Crit Rate: 10%
  
• Weight: 2
  
• Special: None

Our current roster, with the active units in bold. (Full stats in this post.) Recall votes are suspended from here forward, except for special cases that I'll bring up myself.

Lord: Marth
Pegasus Knight: Sheeda/Est, Minerva [Dragon Knight], Paola*, Katua
Social Knight: Hardin [Paladin], Abel, Kain, Machis, Biraku, Roshe, Jeigan [Paladin], Midia [Paladin]
Armor Knight: Roger, Doga, Tomth, Mishelan
Archer: Gordon [Sniper], Thomas, George [Sniper]
Cleric: Rena, Riff, Maria, Boa [Priest]
Mercenary: Navarre [Hero], Oguma [Hero]*, Caesar, Raddy, Astria [Hero], Samson [Hero]
Fighter: Barts, Maji, Saji
Hunter: Kashim
Pirate: Daros
Thief: Julian, Ricardo
Magician: Linda, Marich, Wendel [Priest]
Bow Knight: Wolf, Zagaro
Mamkute: Banutu
Shooter: Jake, Beck
Commando: Chainy

^{* Non-violently retired}

Three important issues that need deciding:

1) I need a new sacrifice. Possibly a new worthy trial if you feel like sparing whomever.

2) We get 12 units for next chapter - not as horrible as I feared given Marth's claim at the end of this chapter. Given the first vote, that leaves us room for 11 more units - and Marth, Sheeda/Est, Linda, Rena, Julian, and - yes - Banutu are all required. So vote for five units to bench among the following: Hardin, Roger, Gordon, Navarre, Barts, Kashim, Daros, Wolf, Jake, and Chainy. Keep in mind that next chapter is relatively easy (unless you're Daros), and many of the available units are level-capped.

3) We now have two Level 20 Pegasus Knights. One of them will get to promote next chapter. The other will be permanently relegated to the bench (or worse). So, to put it simply, vote to use going forward either Sheeda or Est.

Promoted stats for each:
They will have the same Defense and Defense growth. They have the same HP growth, though Est currently has 2 more HP. Est is also behind in Luck, but should catch up with her 60% growth. Main difference is Est will cap Power in a couple levels, while Sheeda with a 20% Power growth will average just 13 Power at max level.

Next time:




We raid the Raman Temple.