Part 50: Battle: Seize The Starsphere

Update 29: Seize The Starsphere (Battle)

It's time to go visit Gotoh in his house full of crazy feral dragons, thieves, and evil wizards, because he is pretty much terrible at his job. First though, let's check up on our pals.





Why do I keep getting these?













Pretty standard stuff. Now then.





And so our destination is pretty clear. There's no throne in sight so...might as well just go for the green square.



We have a new-ish friend for this map. Xane's been with us since Chapter 11, but this is the first time he'll fight with us. Shadow Dragon players already know his gimmick, but if you haven't played that game, you're probably gawking at how awful he is. No weapon ranks, garbage stats, and he's not a Manakete, so no Dragonstones. Well, he has a trick.






And suddenly two Steves!

Xane is an extremely unique unit in the series who, IIRC was never used again. He's a Freelancer, which means he can mimic anyone on our team and gain their class, stats, etc., by moving next to them and choosing "imitate".

There are some drawbacks, though. Xane can only stay transformed for 5 turns, and transforming does end his turn. In addition, his HP doesn't change upon transforming, unless it exceed's that unit's max HP (this will probably never happen naturally). His level-ups also only effect his untransformed state, which makes them pretty useless. He's a pretty versatile character, but I'm not a huge fan.



Immediately fuck this Thief.



Oh man. This is a prize. The Warp Staff has 7 uses and is hilariously great. With this, one of our staff users can teleport a unit to literally any square on the map. Think Rescue in reverse. This is a staple of low turn runs.



I want Sirius to fight the Ice Dragon instead of Catria, because he needs the levels.



Xane having less HP than Steve means I need to heal him with Malicia to get him up to her max.



Yikes. He really does need some better defenses. Still some of the best Res on our team though.



Next turn, Sirius gets the first dragon kill of the map.



Yes. I will take that.



Time to lure in the Dragons. Note that that's Xane, not Steve. Sadly, fighting the dragons here is going to leave the units on the sides open to attacks over the wall by the Dark Mages, but we'll live.



Xane/Steve has the worst defenses of the lot, so this is about the worst we'll get from the dragons.



Ogma dodges his foe, and the one that went for Barst is already a pile of dust on the ground.



He had a friend, though. Barst doesn't care.





Barst never cares.









Kind of humid today. Huh.



The other dragons and Dark Mages in the center hall will not stand for this nonchalant display of Barst power, and rush us. The thieves come too, surprisingly, considering their usual strategy of "run and hide".



Alright Xane, that's enough playing Steve for now.



Catria crits and removes one of the mages lining the walls.





This Dragon learns that you cannot hide from the Barst.



Defying all rules of video games, Elfire does not do any extra damage to the Ice Dragons. It did in the original game, apparently, as well as Bantu's Firestone, but that's been cut in the remake.

I'll admit to having never played FE3 and just seeing that in a "trivia" thing while I was reading up on this map.



Anyway here's another Mag-less level for Merric. I cannot escape this curse.





And thus the mage population was thinned.



Perhaps putting our lowest level character in front was not my best idea.



Our mages are superior.



...goddammit Malicia what did I just say



This dodge is a good dodge.



So was this. Killing Edge guys will never not make me nervous.



Gah fuck, Levin Sword guy! Another miracle dodge, but I suspect this is the game trying to fuck with me for calling these guys non-threatening in the prep update.



Yeah, Caeda, run, this is a bad place for you.





Dragon down, but look at all those thieves coming in. This is another one of those maps that just throws a million guys at you at the beginning and lets up towards the end.



Rare footage of Merric actually using that staff rank.



Killing Edge, meet Killer Axe.



I know I could spend this on a thing in this chapter. I'm not going to because I never really use those. If you don't know what I mean, you will later.



What you are seeing here is the very last second of this thief's existence.





I'm pretty sure that was called something else but okay, if you say so.



This is for almost forcing a restart, asshole.



I predict many Paladins dead at Barst's hands with this.





Not too bad.



horse butt, pro screenshot timer



One more for the pile.





These thieves are too fast for NavadtheBadDad to double.



Marth gets to help!



Yes game, I'm sorry I've been ignoring Marth. I'll Drill Grounds him or something.



Malicia will love this.



Geez, fuck Levin Swords today.



The good old Luke/Nav tag team is enough to get rid of it, though.



Pretty nice.



Even nicer.





The Javelins finish the Dark Mages, and the first and most difficult part of the chapter is done.



Xane is back to being Xane as I have Merric and Malicia heal up the team.



And now, the Royal Honor Guard. Something seems a little off here though...



Stepping on the tile Gotoh marked with Marth causes the ice to melt away...



And...Merric?



Oh, no, it's Gotoh, they just have the same sprite.

: To reward your courage, I entrust you with the Lightsphere. This will nullify the Darksphere's power. Defeating Hardin will no longer be an impossible task. And what of the star shards?

Hey, so, those Shards we've been gathering since Chapter 3 are important now. You need every single one. If you got them all, you are on track for the good ending. Make sure you get them all or you'll miss out on a lot!



This was relieving to see even though I had already counted 12.

: Goodness gracious. With these, I can restore the Starsphere. Wait one moment... Marth. This is the Starsphere. I entrust this to you also.

So our Starshards are gone forever now

: Huh? Lord Gotoh, why would you give me something so precious?

: Only you can restore the Binding Shield... The shield has chosen you.

You probably already guessed this next plot bit.



Marth has not.





: You mean...! This Fire Emblem is the Binding Shield... Lord Gotoh, does that mean... If I were to place all five orbs into this, the Binding Shield will be restored?

: You are indeed correct... But 600 years have passed since it broke... The earth dragons sealed under Macedon will soon awaken. There are several hundreds--no, several thousands.

Well that sounds like more of Minerva's problem to me.

: I will entrust Tiki to you as well. You will find her in the room to the right. With her, you can defeat those dragons. But I must warn you. If you do not complete the Binding Shield, even Tiki will be destroyed.

: What?! But why!?

: Because she is still a child. Without the shield, she too will degenerate.. In time, she will turn into a beast and attack humanity. I took pity on her and sent her to sleep. But if the Binding Shield is restored, we will no longer have to worry. The shield will protect Tiki. Marth, I leave Tiki in your hands. Please free her from her destruction.

So, I'll admit that I don't really get this. Xane said earlier that dragons who sealed their forms inside the Dragonstones were safe from going crazy, and that's why he and Gotoh are okay, as well as Bantu. So why is Tiki losing it? Is it just because she's still technically a child and they're more vulnerable? I'm not quite clear on this part.

Oh, and if you DIDN'T get the Starsphere and thus cannot complete the Fire Emblem...

: I see. You couldn't collect them all... I suppose it couldn't be helped... Nevertheless, I will take what shards you have. Tiki is sleeping in the room to the right, but since the shield has not been restored, I cannot let you meet her. She has yet to mature into an adult. Without the Binding Shield, her degeneration is but inevitable. In time, she will turn into a beast and attack humanity. I'm afraid Tiki cannot ever be allowed to awaken again. 'Tis for her own good... Marth, if you have taken the treasures, then head to the room to the left. I shall await you there...

Not only does he steal the Shards you did manage to get, he just leaves Tiki locked away. Gotoh is a very lazy demigod.





You get an extended item fanfare for this one, and you deserve it. The Starsphere is a really good item, even aside from its plot requirement.





The Lightsphere is much more situational, but also plot required, since we cannot nullify Hardin's Darksphere without it.



The room on the left thaws too, revealing the throne and treasures.



And on the right, Tiki. You can totally skip recruiting her here if you want, or straight up kill her, but you'd be a huge jerk. Don't be a huge jerk.



Unfortunately, our good deeds have not gone unpunished, as 5 reinforcements spawn at the entrance.



Imagine those three are here instead, I may have fucked that up :shh:



Another flood of dragons. Hope you weren't sick of these guys yet. Thankfully we'll get a break from them soon.



Lame level, but at least Strength is capped!





Now he's just showing off.





This was a bit close for comfort.



Oh, and now the other units in the left and right wings charge us. I suppose you could make this easier on yourself by dealing with them one on one before activating Gotoh, but I figure I owe myself something after how much I cheesed Chapter 12.







And that's all she wrote for the reinforcements.



I'm taking on the right side first.



Here's an example of a Xane level up.





More Tomes!





Sirius is starting to pull it together. He could use some more speed and luck though.





He should take lessons from Caeda here.

The other side is the exact same, so I won't bore you all with the screenshots.



This happened though.



And with that, we've pretty much won the map. Just a few errands to take care of.



Like this.



marth she is not inside your eyelids wake up you asshole



: ...Mar... Mar-Mar... Oh, Mar-Mar!! You came! You came to see Tiki!!

: That's right, Tiki. It's been a while. Have you been well?

: Uhh... not really. Lord Gotoh said that I had to sleep again. But... I don't wanna. I slept all by myself for a really long time. I had so many scary dreams, over and over. I dreamt I ended up like the poor fire dragons and ice dragons... That I was a terrifying monster. I'd attack humans and kill them. "No...", "Stop..." they'd shout, and then I'd wake up. All alone, in this pitch black room... I cried so much.

Yeah, Tiki's life is pretty terrible so far.

: And each time, Ban-Ban comforted me. Then, one day he took me out, and brought me to a human village. The village life was so fun! Everyone treated me so nice... I was really happy. I don't wanna sleep anymore... Next time I close my eyes, I feel as though I'll never open them again. I don't want that. I want to live with everyone. I don't want to sleep.

: Tiki, it's alright now. I'll protect you. So don't cry anymore...

: Really...? I don't have to see those terrible dreams anymore?!

: Oh, of course! Once the Binding Shield is restored, you can come live with us. Tiki, trust me, and come with me!

: Yeah! Yaaay!! Thank you, Mar-Mar!

And so Marth adopted a child.



Tiki is an interesting unit. She's a Manakete, like Bantu, but she has access to the Divinestone. That is TRIPLE DAMAGE TO ALL DRAGONS. That is pretty damn useful in any map they're involved in.

Against human units though, the only real things Tiki has going for her are her transformed 20 Defense and 21 Resistance. Unfortunately, that gets offset hard by her meager 18 HP. Using TIki basically means using the Divinestone, and that has a maximum of 30 uses. You can give Tiki more stones, though. Bantu's Firestone will work on her. Again, though, limited availability, and not nearly as good transformed spots, leaving that 18 HP open to be decimated.

There's a secret shop on this map here:



That is completely inaccessible unless you use the Warp Staff. It sells Fire, Ice, Flying, and Magic Dragonstones. The first 3 turn Tiki into a Fire Dragon, Ice Dragon, and Wyvern, while the last makes her a Mage Dragon, something we haven't encountered yet.

None of their stats are as good as the Divinestone, though, and I'd rather save that money and the Warp Staff use.

Anyway, where were we?



Oh yeah, that middle chamber where Gotoh was has this in it.



This is okay I guess?



This is really good.



Infinite Range Feena. Only 3 uses though. Save this for endgame, trust me.





Also very good in a game where Resistance is so rare.







: Though it was to protect her, I was far too cruel to her. I suspect she must really hate me... You should go, Marth. I will send you to Altea with my powers.

Gotoh if you could teleport why did we walk here in the first place you dickhead.

: Lord Gotoh, why don't you come with us?

: Hmm... At the moment I've one thing I must still investigate.



Gasp! I mean, the player knew that already if you got the Kleine chapter but..GASP.



Just like Michalis, and you saw how that went.

: Yes, you killed his body. But his soul was held prisoner by the Darksphere, and within it, his hatred only grew. Afterwards, his former disciples--the heretic bishops--resurrected him. And they seem to be planning something foul.


: I see. Very well, Lord Gotoh. We shall split ways here.

: Indeed. If I find something, then I too will visit Altea afterwards. I'm counting on you, Marth. Everything rests on your shoulders. You must save both our races from the path of destruction.

And we fade out to find Steve, contemplating.





Prepare your wacky theme music.

: Hey, Steve. You said you're Marth's Royal Guard, right?

: Yes. My mission is to protect Prince Marth.

: I see. But if you really plan on protectin' him, then you need the strength to match your conviction. Hey, do you wanna know a way to get stronger?

: Huh? Do you know how to?

: 'Course, just hold on a second.



/: Tiki's still a kid, but the real reason she can fight is because of her hairstyle and tiara.

oh no

: Wait, what?! Are you serious?!

/: Yeah, if you wear your hair like this, then you'll be that much stronger. So all you gotta do is wear this tiara, and wear your hair like Tiki. If you do that, then a legendary power will flow through you! ...Well, maybe.



Farewell, popedom. We ascend to the seat of DRAGON QUEEN.

: Sure, why not?

/: Alrighty then. I'll be sure to do this properly.

: Thank you, Sir Xane!



: Is something the matter, Sir Xane?

/: Ah, no, it's nothin'. Well, see you around. I'm looking forward to your new look!

Steve cannot resist the urge to put everything on her head.

Next time:



And more importantly:



Later.