Part 13: Treasure II

Last time, we were running around random places 'liberating' them from apparently evil oppressors. Today will be no exception as he head into Pales Castle to clear out another set of Grunians and rescue the previous failed liberation attempt.



We start out just inside the castle in the north, with enemies scattered all over the place. We also have a group of prisoners to rescue from the cell in the northwest. A couple of them have a little chat to start the chapter this time.



I think Nina brought the liberation army.

Is that true? Then we'll be saved.

Yup, I always let my hostages go free when I'm attacked by their friends. (Don't look at me like that.) Also this girl looks like one of the Pegasus Sisters, but isn't - she's actually a Paladin of all things.

Midia, we can't celebrate yet. They have no use for us anymore, so they will likely kill us.

This Boa guy seems pretty sharp. But he has an old portrait so he probably sucks.

But because of this, the enemy will be chased away. I'll have no regrets if I fall here.



Haha....That's brave. But if you die, Astria'll be sad.

...Yes....I wanted to see him once more. That's my last wish.

Too bad we won't ever come across him the rest of the game, certainly not the very next chapter, not at all.

Hold onto that wish and hold on till the very end. Never give up!

Right, let's get on with it then.



Two enemy Thieves start out right next to us for no better reason than to give us free Exp apparently. Also several units had to get left behind due to overcrowding zoning laws or something. The Mercenary is Caesar, our lucky charm for the day. That Magician there is Linda now, taking Marich's place, but otherwise we have the same group.



Off to the northwest we have a full hand of new recruits sitting behind a locked door with no weapons. The enemy Magician and Archers will all fire away at them while they sit there helpless to retaliate or even run away. Way to be, Grunians. There's even a few Armor Knights sitting blocking the hallways just to delay us. It's almost like the enemy tactician actually got smart deploying the units.



This pleasantness awaits us to the southwest. There's a General hanging out guarding the treasury, another Sniper with another Silver Bow flanking the boss, a couple Magicians hanging out in an alcove to the south, and a generic Mamkute hanging out by himself. Poor crazy dragon-thing, nobody likes him.



The boss is Bozen, and he's a nasty Priest with a high Speed that comes in wielding a Volcannon Tome. It's a couple of power levels higher than any regular magic we've seen so far - it's almost as strong as Marich's Excalibur, but only has 70% Accuracy.



Off to the southeast we have a mini-squad guarding another treasure being held outside for some reason.

Anyway lots of enemies to smite and they're all spread out so they'll probably be easy pickings, too.


Turn 1:



First I rearrange the prisoners to maximize their survivability. The two Armor Knights have enough Defense that they won't take any damage from the Archers. Midia and Boa can bait the Magician back and forth until we get there. I'll show off these units in more detail once we rescue them.



The main army moves up towards the Armor Knights.



One Armor Knight takes a big swing at Linda and then barely survives the counterattack. If Linda had gotten a critical hit and killed him instead, the other Armor Knight would've probably been able to finish her off.



Instead, he went after Sheeda, and took a lightning bolt to the face as a result. (Sheeda actually missed 2 of 4 attacks with the Thunder Sword with a 90% hit rate. )



Apparently lightning bolts just aren't as accurate as they appear as Midia dodges on an 83% hit chance.


Turn 2:



The prisoners are unscathed so far but we still have some catching up to do. Also I have no idea why that northwest Armor Knight left a perfectly good chokepoint to go stand behind a wall uselessly.




Gordon takes damage efficiency to new heights as he steals Linda's kill.



Hardin takes out the other Armor Knight, and we're free to charge again.



Sheeda moves up and throws some thunderbolts through the wall at the remaining Armor Knight.



Wolf got the Power Ring from Navarre and uses it here to become a little more Powerful. (No, I'm not above using the same joke in consecutive chapters, why do you ask?)



Waiting to move again. Sheeda's safe here since the Archers will move before the Armor Knight can get out of their way.



One of the Archers determines that attacking Barts for 1 damage is slightly more optimal than attacking an Armor Knight for 0 damage.



Midia can't dodge a second time but she's fast enough when not carrying a weapon to keep the Magician from double-attacking.


Turn 3:



Almost in range now...



Sheeda flies up and takes out the Magician, winning his Thunder Tome in the process.



Linda finishes off the Armor Knight with one of the cooler animations in the game. (Side note: I tried several times to capture the animation for Marich's Excalibur, but the export crashed every time, the program just doesn't seem to like it.)



Mostly for kicks I have Hardin attack the Archer with the Javelin. He would've actually killed him if he'd hit both times, but the Archer managed to dodge once and do a whopping 1 damage to Hardin in return.



More advancements.



The northern Archer seriously thought that the third time attacking the same Armor Knight would somehow produce a different result. The southern Archer went after Navarre because he was the only unit that could be damaged without immediately counter-killing the poor Archer.


Turn 4:



Julian frees the prisoners! Still have two Archers to deal with, though.



Midia and Boa are basically your opposite pre-promote archetypes. Boa is another Jeigan - his high base Speed will let him double-attack most enemies early on, but his growths are about the same as Riff's. Wendel is marginally better as a Priest, but really a promoted Magician is still the best choice. Midia actually has decent growths - on par with Hardin's, for example - but atrocious base stats. Her HP, Power, and Speed are all lower than the Paladin class's base stats. Hardin at Level 17 is already ahead of Midia in everything but Luck. Midia can be useful in a regular run since she can contribute right away, but here we're better off sticking with Hardin.



Oh hey look, another Archer. Thomas has the distinction of being even worse than Gordon, and since he's already 8 levels behind there's not really any point in switching to him.



And here we have the ugly twins. Tomth is a bit better than Doga and worse than Roger overall. Mishelan is just a joke. I'll do a full comparison of our four Armor Knights at the end of the chapter. For now, since we didn't bring Doga with us I'm going to arm up Tomth and actually use him the rest of the chapter.



Wolf wins the sniper duel thanks to that Power Ring and takes out the far Archer.



Gordon finishes off the other Archer himself, including an overkill critical on the second attack.

Meanwhile...



Hey Marth, why are we out here alone?

We need to head off those enemy mages while the rest of the army rescues the prisoners.

Wouldn't I be able to help more if I actually had a sword? And any kind of training at all?

Nah, they'll be attacking from range with their magic anyway. Plus, they'll probably go after me first since I'm the important one and all. And we have some backup.

Stop worrying Caesar, this won't be a problem at all.

They're just mages after all, can't even wield a real weapon.

Okay....



Oh my god it burns, it burns!!!

Hmm....Apparently we misjudged the distances there. Don't worry, you're still alive, and we've got them this time.

O-okay....

Actually, I need to head off and take care of those Thieves to the east.



Yeah, I need to go check on the prisoners.



Wait! Marth, you won't leave me, right Marth? Marth?!



Et tu, Marth...?


_{Image by Orange Fluffy Sheep}

...That may have been crossing a line. Are sacrifices more effective or less effective when they're involuntary?


Turn 6:



These Thieves haven't moved since we started. There aren't any villages, and all of the treasures are behind locked doors (and they don't have any keys), so they don't really have a reason to move. We'll send a few units back for them.


Turn 7:



I think we can take care of those Magicians now.



Sheeda should've been able to kill this Magician in one turn, but he dodged one of the attacks on a 9% chance.



Wolf is a Powerhouse now so he finishes off the first Magician. (Okay, last time, I swear.)



Great Caesar's ghost that's a good level! Wolf also gets the Elfire Tome, the next stronger basic tome.



The other Magician is so weak even Julian is able to kill it in one turn.


Turn 8:



Hardin takes out one Thief and gets one of the better bad levels I've seen. The Thief also drops a Warp Wand for some reason, but not going to complain.



Linda blows away the other Thief and also gets an Armor Killer. These Thieves are like living treasure chests or something I guess.



It'll take some time to get down here so let's skip ahead.


Turn 10:



Sheeda and Marth take out the Mamkute with the Thunder Sword and Dragon Sword, respectively. Marth loots a Vulnerary off the Mamkute. That's five items taken off of enemies this chapter already.


Turn 14:



Eh, close enough. The Sniper is a bit of a problem with the Silver Bow and he's well-protected so easiest thing to do is draw him out, since the Priest armed with Volcannon won't move.



Tomth has the highest Defense so he actually comes in handy here as bait.


Turn 15:



Only change from last turn is that the Sniper has come out to play and is now woefully exposed.



Hardin softens him up, and even Tomth gets in on the action.



Then Julian finishes him off. (Yes, Julian.)



He also gets a great level from it, and takes his Silver Bow.



Bozen has 12 Attack and 8 Attack Speed to go with 22 HP and 8 Defense. No one can kill him in one hit (not without a lucky critical, anyway) so we need to pick someone fast enough to double-attack (9+ Attack Speed) and strong enough to kill him in two hits (19+ Attack).



Axe, meet face. And a lucky critical to boot. Barts also picks up Bozen's Volcannon Tome - another toy for Linda to play with.



Wolf wipes out the first Cleric, also taking his Live Wand. Eight items taken off of enemies this chapter now.



Sheeda manages to miss twice. I really need to get her another Silver Sword (100% accuracy, vs. the 80% accuracy of the Silver Lance she's using now).



Navarre takes care of business.


Turn 16:



Just two things left to take care of - the General and the treasury to the north, and the cavalry guarding some kind of special treasure to the east. Unfortunately Julian's the only one who can open doors since I forgot to give anyone a Door Key, so it'll take a little longer than it should to accomplish both tasks.


Turn 17:



Julian opens the door to the treasury...



And Marth makes swift work of the General with the Rapier.



He also gets a great level out of it, capping Luck. I guess Caesar's ghost forgave him.


Turn 18:



Julian heads for the other door. Marth spends the next several turns using the Fire Emblem to loot the treasury, which I'll show off at the end.


Turn 19:



Julian opens the last door. Time to charge the remaining enemies.



The Social Knights are nothing to worry about, but the Paladin here is actually another boss. He's got a Silver Lance and will charge at whomever comes through that door. Looks like we need a Hero!



Navarre is up to the task. He gets a Knight's Medal off of Himmler, used to promote a Social Knight to a Paladin.



He also gets another great level, capping Skill. I guess involuntary sacrifices really are better! Make a note, people.



Hardin takes out the north Social Knight.



Wolf softens up the other, leaving 4 HP. That's right in Sheeda's range, though I have her use the Thunder Sword to guarantee the hit since she won't survive a counterattack.



Oh hey, another Pegasus Knight level.

Well all the enemies are dead, and there aren't any reinforcements, so let's finish grabbing all the treasure, shall we?





Another Silver Sword is nice and the money will be useful shortly as well, but the real prizes are the Manual and the Orion's Arrow. The former gives +5 to Weapon Level, useless for most units but absolutely critical for a few of them. There's also only one Manual in the entire game, so choose its recipient wisely. The Orion's Arrow allows an Archer to promote into Sniper - and it's a fantastic promotion, as we'll see in the next chapter or two.

We also do some shopping at the Armory:



Silver Swords! Expensive, but worth it. Can stock up on some Kill Swords and Thunder Swords, too:



Weapon availability won't be a problem for our sword users from now on.

The treasure that Himmler was guarding is special:







The Boots give +3 Movement. Remember that time I said the Speed Ring was probably the most powerful item in the game in terms of combat advantage? The Boots give just as much of a tactical advantage. Powerful units can close out on dangerous enemies more quickly. Slower units can keep up better with the rest of the army. Every unit can benefit from it, so choosing the recipient can be a difficult choice.

With all of our shopping and inventory shuffling complete, it's finally time for Marth to take the throne:



This bow's called Partia. It's one of my family's legendary items.

The other two, the Miracle and the Gladius, seem to be taken by the enemy.

With these, battles become easier!

And with that, we're done. Nine items taken from enemies, six more treasures looted, and finally the great Partia Bow gifted to us for completing the chapter. Plus the 10-12 swords we bought from the Armory. Quite the nice haul, really.


New Characters

Midia - Paladin

At first glance, Midia looks similar to Jeigan, but she actually has growth rates on par with Hardin so can definitely hold her own late-game. However her low base stats still make her inferior to a Paladin raised as a Social Knight.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 80%
  
• Power: 30%
  
• Skill: 50%
  
• Weapon Level: 50%
  
• Speed: 50%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 20%
  
• Total: 290%

Tomth and Mishelan - Armor Knights

Yay, two more carbon copies of the most useless class in the game. With every map having a seize condition there's no real need to have a slow-moving, high-defense unit to hold a chokepoint, and Armor Knights don't contribute much in an attack-first mode.

Tomth Growth Rates:

• HP: 70%
  
• Power: 30%
  
• Skill: 40%
  
• Weapon Level: 70%
  
• Speed: 30%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 20%
  
• Total: 270%

Mishelan Growth Rates:

• HP: 50%
  
• Power: 30%
  
• Skill: 10%
  
• Weapon Level: 40%
  
• Speed: 20%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 10%
  
• Total: 170%

Thomas - Archer

Thomas joins at a high enough level to be useful right away, but he's still worse than Gordon, and that's saying a lot.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 50%
  
• Power: 20%
  
• Skill: 20%
  
• Weapon Level: 50%
  
• Speed: 30%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 10%
  
• Total: 190%

Boa - Priest

Boa is basically a promoted Cleric - low stats and low growths, other than a high base Speed. He's fine as a healer - anyone would be, really - but a promoted Magician would be much better at wielding Tomes.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 10%
  
• Power: 0%
  
• Skill: 10%
  
• Weapon Level: 0%
  
• Speed: 20%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 10%
  
• Total: 60%

New Weapons:

Partia Bow - A unique holy weapon, very powerful and usable by any bow-user that can meet its high Weapon Level requirements but with very limited uses. Casts MShield (temporary +7 Resist) on the user when used as an item.

• Might: 17
  
• Uses: 17
  
• Weapon Level: 13
  
• Hit Rate: 100%
  
• Crit Rate: 0%
  
• Weight: 3
  
• Special: Casts MShield on use, range of 2 tiles, effective against flying units

Elfire Tome - The next most powerful of the basic Elemental Tomes, it's more powerful than a Fire Tome but heavier and less accurate.

• Might: 9
  
• Uses: 18
  
• Weapon Level: 4
  
• Hit Rate: 80%
  
• Crit Rate: 0%
  
• Weight: 5
  
• Special: Range of 1-2 tiles

Volcannon Tome - Like Elfire, but more so - stronger, heavier, less accurate.

• Might: 12
  
• Uses: 13
  
• Weapon Level: 5
  
• Hit Rate: 70%
  
• Crit Rate: 0%
  
• Weight: 6
  
• Special: Range of 1-2 tiles

Our current roster, with the active units in bold. (Full stats in this post.) If you want to make a change, propose a recall motion and, if seconded, we'll have a recall vote and vote on a replacement. (Only applies if there is a replacement, of course.)

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

I need five votes this time around:

1) Poor Caesar did his job well, but we need another sacrifice from among the non-bolded units next chapter.

2) We get to bring 14 units next chapter. Marth and Rena are required. I'm bringing Midia as well in order to recruit another victimhelpful member of the team. And we need to save one spot for the lucky winner of the first vote. So that leaves 10 spaces open for the remaining 13 classes - vote for three classes to leave behind next chapter. (If Midia wins the first vote, that frees up a slot, but vote for three anyway.)

3) We got a Manual (+5 Weapon Level) and it's the only one in the game. There are two ways to use it - on a unit that is stuck with a low Weapon Level and needs more in order to wield better weapons, or on a unit that doesn't have quite enough Weapon Level to wield the unique weapons like the Partia Bow. Of the former, Julian is the best example - currently 2 Weapon Level with 0% growth - and of our other units only the Armor Knights could use some help getting enough Weapon Level to wield a Silver Sword. There are more examples of the other type - Gordon can wield the Partia Bow already, and Wolf only needs one more, but Kashim actually needs six more if for some reason we wanted to give it to him. Similarly, we get a powerful lance later in the game that requires a 14 Weapon Level, which is fine for Hardin or Sheeda but would leave the Armor Knights sorely wanting. Overall, the best use for it is probably Julian, but go ahead and vote for the class to receive the Manual.

4) We also got the Boots (+3 Movement). It would be a huge benefit to almost anyone on the roster, though it's obviously more useful for units that we actually use more often. Anyway vote for the class to receive the Boots.

5) We now have four Armor Knights, and none of them are really standouts. Doga's only Level 8, mostly because he has a hard time getting in on the main action each chapter. Roger and Tomth are generally better, but are a few levels behind and, without the Boots, will have the same problem keeping up with the army. Anyway, vote for the Armor Knight to use going forward. Some helpful comparison stats:

Current Stats:
Growth Rates:
Level 20 Projection:
Tomth will end up way ahead of Roger in Skill and way behind him in Luck, and slightly ahead in Speed but slightly behind in Power. Doga has the highest Speed but that's about it. Mishelan...isn't really worth mentioning.

Next time:



More Grunians!