Part 15: Revenge

Rolling along on our way to free Marth's homeland, we stumble upon these guys:



Couple of treasures, a gauntlet of Archers behind a wall, a Shooter guarding a raised drawbridge. We start on the northeast island, should be an interesting run.

For now, some back story on why we're here:



...Aritia. Aritia was obliterated and King Cornelius was killed. Now, 2 years later, Marth's entered the castle where the murderer of his father hides.

Ah, good old fashioned revenge mission. Though it seems like it would have to be more than just two years later, right?



Primary goal here is to get across the river, burst through the Armor Knights, and then charge the boss. Julian can actually lower the drawbridge, but only from the other side of the river, so we'll need to get the Shooter out of the way first. The first time I played this chapter, I didn't know if/how to lower the drawbridge so sent everyone circling around to the west, past the guantlet of Archers. This time around I know better, but at the least Marth still needs to head over to the village there at some point.

The Shooter guards the bridge with a Stone Catapult - high damage, low accuracy. One of the Armor Knights has a Knight Killer, so we'll have to keep Hardin away from him. The Archers aren't anything worth noting, but the Cleric has something special...



The Reserve Wand can be a huge pain in the ass. It heals every allied unit for 10 HP, with infinite range. So if you don't kill off an enemy in one turn, it'll end up buffed back up. It's one of the few cool weapons that an enemy shows up with that we don't get to grab off his corpse when he dies.



The boss is another General, who I'll show off shortly. He's flanked by a couple Armor Knights - one with a Silver Lance - and a Cleric sporting a Relieve Wand. The two Thieves aren't much of a threat to the village with the locked doors around. The treasury holds another Silver Bow-equipped Sniper, waiting to pick off whoever unlocks the door.



Jiol is a return to the giant-tank bosses. I guess he's also the guy who killed Marth's father. He's got a Silver Sword, but we have plenty of ways to take down bosses like this by now.


Turn 1:



Navarre's such a badass that he can walk on water. Well, if it's channeled through a narrow stream, at least. In all seriousness, this is one of the stranger promotion gains that a Hero gets - Mercenaries can't cross rivers. Gordon will get the same benefit whenever he gets around to turning into a Sniper. For now, there's no need to have Navarre cross right here and be exposed to everyone around.



This looks like a more cautious approach.

The two houses nearby have some more new-player advice:



The Silver Card is crucial to breaking the game legitimately. We'll see it soon.



S Knights become Paladins for example.

And a bare-bones promotion guide if you hadn't figured it out by now.



Not much happens on the enemy phase, but one of the Armor Knights misses Sheeda with his Javelin and takes a couple lightning bolts to the face in exchange.


Turn 2:



Time to take out that Shooter and lower the bridge.



Jake tries to make himself useful by breaking out the Thunder Catapult for effective damage, but falls just shy of the kill (and takes 7 damage on the counter).



He also gets our favorite mostly-useless level.



Navarre crosses over to finish him off. He did 10 damage with an Iron Sword to an enemy with 16 Defense.



He also gets another great level, though he's running out of stats to gain. From here out it's basically going to be just rolling for Defense. He's actually missed on his 90% HP growth five times, and only hit on his 10% Defense growth twice. Not going to complain though with how blessed he's been in everything else.



Julian then is free to lower the drawbridge. He's awfully exposed at the moment, though. (Fun story - you can actually lower the drawbridge from the near side, I just assumed that IntSys would hate the player enough to make them take out the Shooter first. So all this maneuvering was mostly unnecessary.)



Sheeda moves over to soften up the Armor Knight with the Knight Killer...



And gets a critical, a kill, and a level:



Everything except Power and Defense, and she'll get more of those at promotion anyway.



Sheeda's surprise kill frees up Hardin to go murder the other Armor Knight.



Meanwhile, Linda roasts this Armor Knight with Elfire. Poor guy got blasted with both lightning and fire.



She gets a pretty decent level out of it, too.



As the army crosses the bridge, Marth prepares to head west towards the village.



A couple of the Archers start heading out to meet us. We won't really need to wait though since Marth won't take a lot of damage from them anyway.


Turn 3:



Ready to swarm, with Machis taking the lead for us.



But first, Navarre takes out the last Armor Knight here.



Navarre and Julian will be heading down to the treasury. Marth begins making his way to the northwest. Everyone else forms up in the courtyard, with Hardin and Machis drawing out the Archers.



The enemy Cleric uses the Reserve Wand here. Not sure why since there weren't any damaged enemies, but there you go.



One Archer went after Marth, and suffered a pair of lightning bolts for the trouble. Another took a shot at Machis, while a third cowers in the corner.


Turn 4:



Breach!



Roger puts his Boots to use to get in on the action, but he's not fast enough to double-attack and get the kill.



That's okay though because Wolf is ready to finish the job.



And then he gets the shittiest of shit levels this side of an empty one.



Sheeda doesn't like Archers very much, but can't quite get the kill alone.



Kashim helps out.



He gets a pretty good level out of it, but he's still far behind.



Navarre and Julian keep heading for the treasury, and Marth slides through the forest again. Off-screen, Machis stops off at the Storage to pick up a Door Key.



On the enemy phase, Marth dodges an arrow and counters with another pair of lightning bolts.



Hardin takes 3 damage but isn't really in any trouble up there.


Turn 5:



Marth makes it to the village...



And you are?

This tome belongs to Akaneia. Himmler hid this for his own but I gave something in return.

And... Keep Nina safe... Please... Excuse me. We will meet again.

We'll be seeing this guy again soon enough. Kind of weird that he's hanging out in this random village in Gra though.

Anyway, we get the Torron Tome, which gets stuffed into Storage since Marth's inventory is full. It's basically an exact copy of Marich's Excalibur Tome, just with 10% less crit rate and lower durability. Linda will probably swap out Volcannon for it. The Torron Tome is one of the main reasons Linda is better than Marich, since it's effectively a replacement for his unique weapon, while Linda's Aura has no such substitute.



Navarre and Julian are ready to rob the treasury next turn.



Meanwhile Hardin and Roger clean up the last of the Archers.



Hardin also picks up this pretty fantastic level.



Wolf moves in to work over the Cleric, but misses on one of his shots. I don't have anyone else that can finish him off, so he'll probably heal up next turn.



The southern front is now open for pillaging.



The Shop is pretty normal. It does sell a Door Key if you find yourself stuck here and unable to open the door otherwise.



The Armory looks like nothing special at first glance, but it does sell Silver Bows if you're running low.



Almost time to assault the inner sanctum now.



These two Pegasus Knights pop in for a visit on the enemy phase and head straight for Marth. They're old friends:



Paola and Katua are two of the three sisters we've seen hanging around with Minerva, so we can expect to be able to recruit them here. I wonder where Est is, though?

Paola comes in at a higher level with both a Silver Lance and a Dragon Killer, but overall is going to end up weaker eventually than any of the other Pegasus Knights. Katua is a great alternative if Sheeda isn't working out too well, but starting at Level 3 this late in the game can make it difficult to catch her up. She also comes with a Kill Sword.


Turn 6:



The Cleric didn't bother to heal himself - honestly, I'm not even sure if the Reserve Wand would work on the user, since the other Wands don't. In any case, Roger finishes him off.



Marth heads over to talk to th sisters, with Wolf and Hardin moving down to join the others.



The robbery down here can be tricky. If Navarre somehow misses or fails to finish off the Sniper (admittedly unlucky), then Julian will be vulnerable. Fortunately, he can survive one hit, and while equipped with the Kill Sword as he is now, he will just barely avoid getting double-attacked.



Julian opens the door...



Navarre moves in to attack the Sniper...



And no need to worry as Navarre easily handles him.



Continuing to move up....Wait, why are you all the way up there Machis?

King Jiol! I throw myself at your mercy! Marth's army is full of savages, they're planning on sacrificing me in some kind of primitive pre-combat ritual! I beg for you to take me in!

Is that so...











Fool...

Meanwhile, the Pegasus sisters reach Marth...



...to become your ally. I will do my best.



When we heard Maria was rescued, Katua and I escaped from Macedonia.

We'll fight alongside princess Minerva.

That or ride the bench next to her.

But our younger sister Est hasn't returned from Grunia yet.

Well that partially explains that earlier question, then.

Together we're even more useful.

A subtle hint towards a flashy and mostly-useless game mechanic that we'll see in a few chapters.

For now, we'll just send them to the Storage to deposit their weapons and figure out what to do with them next chapter.


Turn 7:



You know, Barts hasn't had nearly enough time lately.



So let's send him against this Thief and park him in the chokepoint.



He manages.



His levels haven't gotten any better though. The Thief also drops a Vulnerary.



Bow-users hang out as a rearguard while the others form up behind Barts.



Julian grabs the first chest for some extra cash.





Barts tanks the Armor Knights like a champ, but I forgot to put the Hammer on him first. That's okay though, someone else can get the kills next turn.


Turn 8:



Some unit shuffling preparing for some stuff.



Hardin and Linda finish off the two Armor Knights.



Barts and Sheeda then team up on the Thief. Unfortunately even with his 19 Speed Barts can't double-attack with the Steel Axe being so heavy. The Thief drops another Vulnerary though. More than I need, really, and the Storage is getting kind of full, so I just toss it.



A couple of Pegasus Knight reinforcements show up. Nothing too threatening - they only have Iron Lances - but our bow-users can get some free experience from it.



Pegasus Knight against a Shooter is a bit of a mismatch.



The other one can't reach anyone so chases after Marth.


Turn 9:



Jake makes quick work of the first Pegasus Knight.



Meanwhile, it's time to face off against Jiol.



Barts does 32 damage to soften him up. Interesting side note - normally a unit gains experience equal to damage dealt, but Barts only got 20, so I guess that's the limit?



Linda has some catching up to do, so she takes the kill.



Not a great level, but her levels really just boil down to Speed and No Speed anyway.

Incidentally, if we had let Jiol live long enough to attack...



I should have destroyed all of you!

Little late for that, now.



Hardin takes care of the Cleric.



Julian gets to the second chest, picking up the Silver Card. It gives a 50% discount at all shops, but only for the unit holding it.



And Jake tanks another round of reinforcements. The stray Pegasus Knight from last turn kept chasing after Marth, too.

We're pretty much done except for the reinforcments, which have another seven turns in them. Basic strategy is Beck and Roger tank, while Gordon and Kashim kill them off. So here's some levels to satisfy your +1 addictions:



Kashim gets a couple usefully mediocre levels.



Roger gets tank-ier.





Gordon picks up a couple surprisingly decent levels. He's still lacking in Skill and behind in Speed, but there's a fun way to fix that:





By promoting to Sniper, Gordon gets +2 HP, +5 Skill, +4 Speed, and +2 Movement. Granted, most of those bonuses are because he was so far behind to begin with. But he's a pretty great unit now all of the sudden. Like Navarre, he also gains the ability to walk over rivers.



Marth also picks up a pretty good final level from a stray Pegasus Knight.

Eventually Marth makes his way down to seize the throne:



Oh, so that's why we came here. Thanks for the retroactive plot.

It seems Garnef took it to Khadein.

I feel like we've heard both of those before. Guess where next chapter is going to be?

I see... But without the Falchion defeating Mediuth is impossible. It seems we have to go to Khadein.

This statement is patently false. But we'll figure all that out later.


New Characters

Paola - Pegasus Knight

Paola is kind of an odd case. She's a perfectly serviceable unit, and even comes at a high enough level and with high enough base stats to be useful right away. Even so, she's clearly inferior to every other Pegasus Knight - though she's at least better than Minerva.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 70%
  
• Power: 50%
  
• Skill: 80%
  
• Weapon Level: 30%
  
• Speed: 20%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 30%
  
• Total: 290%

Katua - Pegasus Knight

Katua joins at a pretty low level but can be worth raising. Her growths are a shade above Sheeda's, but more importantly, they're better-balanced. She has higher, serviceable Power, HP, and Defense growths, and the only thing she'll be behind in is Luck.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 70%
  
• Power: 40%
  
• Skill: 80%
  
• Weapon Level: 70%
  
• Speed: 80%
  
• Luck: 40%
  
• Defense: 30%
  
• Total: 410%

New Weapons:

Torron Tome - The best regular Tome in the game, it's strong, accurate, and even has a small crit boost.

• Might: 13
  
• Uses: 21
  
• Weapon Level: 5
  
• Hit Rate: 100%
  
• Crit Rate: 10%
  
• Weight: 3
  
• Special: Range of 1 or 2 tiles

Reserve Wand - Kind of situational, but still pretty powerful. It heals every unit on the team for a fixed 10 HP, regardless of distance.

• Might: 10
  
• Uses: 12
  
• Weapon Level: 8
  
• Hit Rate: 100%
  
• Crit Rate: 0%
  
• Weight: 0
  
• Special: Heals All Allies

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.) We got a possible replacement for Sheeda this chapter, and we get another in a few chapters, so I'll run up a full comparison at the end.

Lord: Marth
Pegasus Knight: Sheeda, 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, Caesar, Raddy, Astria [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

Just one vote this time:

1) We need yet another sacrifice from the non-bolded units above. Though apparently I need to practice some more subtlety, because they're starting to catch on.

It'll be a quick vote so I can maybe do another update over the weekend to catch up. We get to bring a whopping 16 units next chapter, so everyone gets to play!

Also, a comparison of Sheeda, Katua, and Est (who we'll get in Chapter 18):

Current stats:
Growth rates:
All three will average capping Weapon Level and Speed before promotion. Katua and Est end up looking pretty similar at that time - Est has more Power and Luck but less Skill and HP. Sheeda will end up capping Luck as well while Katua and Est are stuck below 10 Luck thanks to a 0 base, but she'll be way behind in Power and Defense. Of course, the promotion to Dragon Knight will fix much of that gap, but it'll just widen again over the next 20 levels. Est, in particular, will average capping Power with her 70% growth there - Katua also comes close - and the promotion boost to 14 Defense really makes any difference in growth rates on that stat moot.

Really, it's a trade-off - Sheeda's already level 14, and once she promotes to Dragon Knight her Power and Defense will be fine. Katua will end up better, but is already 11 levels behind. Est can be even better, but by the time she joins will likely be even further behind. There's still plenty of catch-up opportunities, particularly since none of them can promote until Chapter 19 anyway, so we'll be fine no matter which one eventually gets chosen.

I don't plan on holding a full vote-off until we get Est, but in case you were thinking of replacing Sheeda with Katua now, just know that there's another option coming in down the road.

Next time:



The obligatory Fire Emblem desert chapter!