Part 61: Chapter 4, Update 17: Rigel Castle

Time to take it to Rudolf. We've got almost the same total army power and are only outnumbered by 1/3, should be no problem.



As usual, the game tries to screw us by forcing us through a shooting gallery before we can get into the castle proper. We have enough tools in our kit now to deal with that kind of problem, though. The bow knights, gold knights, and barons are a mix of level 1 and level 5, all pretty strong but nothing we haven't faced before by now.



Rudolf is a bit of a talker.

I leave this to fate now as a knight of Rigel. Men! You have fought well thus far! However.... The Rigelian Empire's time has ended. Hear me, all of you! This is my final request. If I should fall, don't interfere. Those remaining should surrender courageously. Do not feel disgraced! Is that clear? Don't die in vain!

Not going to be winning any awards for most motivational battle speeches, that's for sure.



Rudolf is tough. That Defense is very difficult for anyone but Alm or Dyute to scratch, and while his Magic Defense is low, he's holding an Angel Ring which combined with his high Speed gives him a 61% magic evasion. If only we had someone with a high-damage, high-accuracy spell, who could attack twice and would only need to get in one hit....



Oh, right, we do. Courtesy of a warp from Silk, the Magic Ring for extra range, and Dyute's mighty Ragnarok spell and near-capped Power.



Thus ends chapter 4.

Okay, not really - massive waste of XP if nothing else, but if you want to cheese the battle and you've leveled up a tactical nuke like Dyute, here's a good time to use it. Let's rewind a bit....


Turn 1



To start, Python and Claire team up to take out the first bow knight. Silk gave Claire a little Warp-push.



Claire's Speed is now on par with the gold knights on the map, which will let her tank a bit more than normal here.



Everyone else starts a little gauntlet run.



The two bow knights on the right attack Alm on the enemy phase, but they're not much of a problem.



Claire draws in all the gold knight and bow knights on the left side, though only one of each can actually reach her this turn. That'll leave the top of the castle open for invasion later. She got a counter-crit on the gold knight, too.


Turn 2



Python tries to start another double-team on the next bow knight, but misses one of his attacks. So instead of contributing another attack, Claire flies down to give the Angel Ring to Python.



More moving through the gate and courtyard. Zeke and Matilda have reached the castle entrance at the top, and Ryuto got himself warped up there directly.



On the enemy phase, one bow knight goes for Cleive and the other attacks Luka - not much damage in either case.



With Claire leaving the walls, the gold knights moves back to the top of the map. Three of the bow knights stay and attack Silk, Python, and Claire in turn.


Turn 3



Time to set up to wipe out the enemy units on the left side.



Dyute's only role in this mission is taking out the two bow knights on the right side, and she starts with a massive fireball here.



Another team-up for Claire and Python, with another courtesy Warp from Silk.



Python's a great ranged attacker at this point. His Defense is still pretty low but he'll be able to hold the wall for one turn at least.



The second bow knight on the right side has a death wish, apparently. But Dyute missed one of her attacks, and the second "only" did 36 damage out of 40 HP.



Matilda and Force hold the line on the north end, fending off the gold knights and a bow knight.



The two bow knights on the lower left move out of Python's range to attack him, with one hitting for 11 damage.


Turn 4



The enemy troops on the left side are now effectively split, so it's time to grind them down.



Gray gets warped on top of the wall, and softens up the bow knight for Python.



And Python gets a bit more Defense to help hold the wall.



Claire traps the gold knight and gets in some scratch damage.



Matilda moves up to attack the bow knight, and Alm back-fills the line to finish off the gold knight.



Ryuto and Zeke move in to finish off the bow knight. It's now much easier to bottle up the remaining gold knights, since they don't have any ranged attacks.



Robin closes up the line, and Force attacks the gold knight in front of him but misses both attacks.



The bow knight can't survive another round with Dyute, and the gate is now clear for Teeta and Silk to pass.



The three gold knights remaining in the upper left attack Robin, Matilda, and Zeke but without much to show for it.



I was worried about Gray getting double-teamed, but the gold knight went after Claire instead (since the gold knight has a much lower Magic Defense, and wanted to avoid Gray's magical counterattack), and the bow knight went after Python who couldn't retaliate from that distance.


Turn 5



Claire and Gray are able to finish off the gold knight, leaving just the bow knight behind now. Python spent the turn giving the Angel Ring to Gray, because:



Killing a third-tier class gives a lot of XP, and Gray finally took advantage with a great level.



Up north, Zeke and Matilda take out one of the gold knights.



Alm and Force weaken the other two gold knights, but I don't have anyone available that can finish them off without gaining a level, and the Angel Ring is still with the southern group.



The enemy phase begins with Robin taking two big hits from one gold knight while Zeke dodges two hits from the other.



Gray likewise makes an arrow miss.


Turn 6



Some more item swapping gets the Holy Bow back in Python's hands, while Claire prepares to fly north with the Angel Ring in hand. The bow knight takes 32 damage from Python in two attacks.



The west side of the map is pretty much under control now, and the enemies on the east side seem content to wait for us to approach, so we're free to take things slowly here and milk the XP. Here Cliff gets a free hit in on a gold knight before Matilda finishes it off while moving into a position to protect Robin.



I then moved Robin back in front to take the gold knight's attack, because I was worried anyone else could counter-kill the gold knight and gain a level without the Angel Ring boost. Kind of a silly concern at this point but it adds an extra layer of challenge for me.



And down south the bow knight goes after Claire this time, but misses again.


Turn 7



Gray misses a chance to finish off the bow knight, as Python hits only one of his attacks, leaving the bow knight with 13 HP.



Force and Matilda finish off the last of the gold knights. Time to head east, now.



Silk warps Claire into the new formation, and Alm receives the Angel Ring.



I made a mistake, though, and left Silk in range of the bow knight. Fortunately she's fast enough that she only got hit once, for 8 damage.


Turn 8



I decided it would be fun to have Silk take some revenge on the bow knight. Only one attack for her, though, so the bow knight lives another turn.



Meanwhile, slowly approaching the final enemy group.


Turn 9



The bow knight went into retreat mode, but the healing tile was blocked, so it just did nothing last turn. It could've moved back and attacked Silk but the AI is a little weird in this situation. In any case, it's easy for Python to finish off the bow knight now.


Turn 10



So it turns out that the barons and wizards won't move until someone gets into their attack range. The problem is that Rudolf has 9 Movement and thus has a greater attack range than any of the other enemies. We want to kill Rudolf last, so I'm going to warp Alm to the wall as a decoy.



At the same time, I'm going to draw out a single baron to control the XP Flow.



On the enemy phase, Rudolf leaves the rest of his army behind to go after Alm.



If you didn't catch that, instead of Rudolf attacking the text "Why won't Rudolf attack?" is displayed. A fair question. So Alm's safe; the biggest risk will be killing Rudolf too early now.



Alm even gets a great level out of it.



Epic baron-on-gold knight action, as Matilda draws out a single enemy.



Teeta deals 30 damage to the baron.

After several turns of uninteresting back-and-forth with luring out the barons and wizards one at a time....







I fed almost all of the XP to Teeta, and she didn't let me down. She's no longer a defensive liability, and picked up a couple of great spells in Fortify (heals the entire army) and Warp (which we've seen extensively on Silk). She also gained Illusion, which we've seen on Jenny in Celica's army. Jenny's version summons a handful of soldiers; Teeta calls up a small group of pegasus knights, marginally more useful.

Teeta's also gotten so many spells that her spell list is too big to fit on the screen. Oops.



With Teeta maxed out on spells, Force takes a turn and takes out the second wizard for a level of his own. Pretty good one, too.



Force then lures in the last baron, and Ryuto calls forth some lightning to get himself a level. Not as good, but he does pick up the Arrow spell.



After Zeke and Matilda whittle the baron down to just 1 HP, Luka is able to grab the kill. He's now got as much Defense as Force but only a bit more than half the Power, not very useful overall really.



And with every other enemy down, Alm's free to finish off Rudolf.



Prepare for a lengthy death speech.

Was it no mistake entrusting you to Sir Mycen after all? You figured it out by now, right? Your full name is Albyne Alm Rudolf. My...only son....Guh.... I have a last request.... Use 'Falcion', the holy sword that sealed Mila.... Defeat...the evil god...Doma....

Surprise! Alm is Rudolf's kid. That's why Rudolf wouldn't attack him. It doesn't really explain anything about why Rudolf was invading Sofia or anything else that was going on, though.



Oh, and we get another Angel Ring. That'll make swapping around who gets to gain levels a little easier going forward.



A decent level to finish off the Chapter 4 finale.


Next time:



Inside Rigel Castle.