The Let's Play Archive

Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light

by DKII

Part 27: Fall of Mediuth, Part 1




Here we are, the final chapter.



Oh look, it's Gato again.

Huh? Gato? But why....

Long ago I vowed to never speak to the foolish humans, but as I watched you, I began to think humans are not as terrible as I thought. My power isn't comparable to Mediuth's, but this old man can surely take on his soldiers.



And with that, Gato joins our team.



He comes with some nice goodies, and his stats would be impressive - he even comes with 7 Resist - if our entire team hadn't just spent the last chapter taking super-steroids.



Marth is well-equipped for this chapter. Falchion for the boss, a Dragon Killer for all the other Mamkutes, the Miracle for tough enemies, and a Silver Sword for everything else.



Rena has a set of the strongest Wands, can zip all over the map to use them, and can even take a few hits now. I'm still mad that the Hammerne can't fix anything I'd actually want to repair, though.



Linda only has a couple uses of Aura left, but plenty of Torron Tomes to get through the chapter after that. Unfortunately everyone else's power surge has left her a bit behind, but a fixed 26 damage can still come in handy in certain situations. She still retains her status as best counter-attacker.



The Devil Sword is Julian's best friend - without it he'd be far too limited in weapon selection to even compete with the rest of the team. He's also responsible for opening the only door on the map, conveniently located right in front of him.



The gimmick for this map, is that we're spread all around the edges of it. The order of the units on the unit select screen determines who gets placed where in some fashion.



Hardin has lost the uniqueness of high Movement, but still benefits from a good weapon selection. He's also carrying a Thunder Sword just in case a fixed 14 damage comes in handy some time.



I had big plans for Roger with the Gradius, but alas it was not to be. Interestingly he's basically identical to Hardin at this point - kind of funny given that a Paladin and an Armor Knight are kind of as far apart as can be in terms of team role.



Wolf will still be useful for sniping enemies through the walls and finishing off weakened units, but otherwise his inability to counter-attack adjacent enemies makes him one of the least useful members of our team.



Another group is to the northwest. Chainy is loaded out with some extra supplies, but he's not actually close enough to be able to transform into anyone that can use them. Like everyone else, he can still make a good wall, though.



Navarre, our original god-unit, is no longer quite as special so I gave him a Devil Sword to help make up for it.



Chiki only needs the one item to attack, so she holds some supplies as well. Also, she's easily the best unit we have now with a whopping 33 Defense after factoring in her Dragonstone bonus. She also still has 56 Attack against other Mamkutes.



Est still has the advantage of being a flyer, but that's worthless on this indoor map with no terrain. She carries the last Devil Sword.



The last group to the northeast is easily the weakest. Starting off is Barts, stuck with weak axes but a sentimental favorite.



Daros gets the Devil Axe for the sheer ludicrosity of it. His water-walking abilities would give him a leg up on the rest of the army if there were actually any water around.



Gordon still has several shots left from the Partia but suffers from the same limitations as Wolf.



Jake has a variety of Catapults and enough Power and Speed to make use of them, but missed out on last chapter so isn't going to be able to move anywhere quickly. I do have some items stashed away in the Storage, if he can make it there....



The western group of enemies has a variety of different classes - a couple Demon Mamkutes, fast Heroes with a Dragon Killer and a Silver Sword, all-around tough Paladins with a Dragon Killer and a Silver Lance, an 18-Defense Silver Sword General, a Priest with a Worm Tome and 18 Speed, and two 27 Attack, 18 Defense Shooters with Elephant Catapults but no Speed to speak of. All in all a formidable set for a normal player's army, but absolutely no concern for us.



The eastern group is much smaller with similar units. The Paladin actually has a Javelin, which is a complete joke at this point in the game, and the Dragon Knight has 18 Defense but only has a Thunder Sword. Remember, the Thunder Sword does a fixed 7 magic damage - and all of our units have 7 Resist.

Starting around Turn 6, the east room will spawn a Javelin Dragon Knight and the west room will spawn another Shooter and Priest. Again, the east side is much weaker, which will serve our B-team northeast group well.



There's an item shop here if you really need a Vulnerary or a Door Key. It also sells Bridge Keys for some reason. Be careful though - starting around Turn 10 each of the four forts will spawn enemies, the most dangerous of which is a Demon Mamkute.



The center of the map is our goal. Two 18-Speed, Silver Bow Snipers protected behind impassable walls. Two more Reserve Wand Clerics. A Level 20 Demon Mamkute guards the hallway with 27 Attack and 28 Defense (plus the normal immunity to magic). Some reinforcments will pour out of each of the stairways, as well - a Silver Sword Hero and yet another Demon Mamkute.

But, it's the Mamkute on the throne that we're really interested in....



Mediuth doesn't look like much at first. Level 20, sure, but only 10 Speed and 45 HP? And even with Dragonstone bonuses, a base 10 Power and 12 Defense can't be that bad, right? Well, the Earth Dragonstone has 20 Might, so even our max-Defense army will be taking 10 damage per attack - 30 damage on a non-negligible 5% crit chance. The real killer though is the 23 Defense bonus - giving him a total of 35 Defense. On top of that, the throne will heal him at the start of every enemy phase, and there's only room for one unit to attack from melee range (plus three units from two tiles away).

To put the 35 Defense in perspective - Mediuth will take precisely 0 damage from all Silver weapons. He'll take all of 2 damage from the Devil Sword or the Partia. A Dragon Killer would do 3 damage - except it's not actually effective. Ditto for Chiki's Dragonstone. The Gladius could help by dishing out 5 damage from two tiles away, but Mediuth is immune to ranged attacks.

We do still have plenty of options, and the one that the game shoves in your face - Marth wielding the Falchion - will manage 15 damage in one hit. Look a little closer at that number - Marth can actually defeat Mediuth in a single critical strike with the Falchion.

Unlike every other chapter in the game, victory is obtained immediately upon defeating Mediuth - no need to actually seize the throne. Given that, and the fact that we have nothing left to accomplish, our general strategy will be to rush the center, eliminating every enemy en route, and settle into a defensive position there before the reinforcements start while the elite of the elite take on Mediuth.

If we still had our two Warp Wands, we could end the chapter on Turn 1 with some luck - warp Chiki to take out the Demon Mamkute guarding Mediuth, then warp Marth to win the game with a single, lucky, critical hit. Instead, we'll do it the old-fashioned way - by killing everything in sight.

But that will have to wait until next time!


New Characters

Gato - Priest

If you just barely made it to the final chapter, Gato is your crutch to help you get through it. He comes with a Reserve and a Recover Wand, plus the two most powerful non-unique Tomes in the game. He has max Skill, Speed, and Resist, and a solid 15 Defense with 38 HP for even more survivability. He even has pretty good growths in his non-maxed stats if he happens to gain one or two levels during the chapter.

Growth Rates:

New Weapons:

Earth Dragonstone - Only the final boss, Mediuth, can wield it, and with good reason. On top of a game-max 20 Might, it has a ridiculous 23 Defense boost as well, grants immunity to ranged attacks, and negates the effectiveness of Dragon Killers and Chiki's Dragonstone. The upside is that it only has a 70% hit rate and weighs so much that Mediuth always has 0 Attack Speed.