The Let's Play Archive

Fire Emblem: Heroes Of Light and Shadow

by LordHippoman

Part 4: Bachelorette Party

Part 3: Bachelorette Party

Last time on Fire Emblem: Heroes Of Light And Shadow, we proved our superiority to our allies by beating the crap out of them. Well, except Ryan. But I think we know how that would go. This time around, we get to training.



These prologue chapters are riveting. Only 5 more to go!



: From today on, you will train together as a team in your bid to become fully-fledged knights. The first half of your training will focus on developing your practical skills. Without further ado, I will introduce the senior knight who is to be your instructor.

Oh Jagen. You're the most senior knight in my heart.



Another familiar face from Shadow Dragon, Cain was the only survivor of the Gra betrayal of Marth's dad, Cornelius.



I'm not sure how to read this threat but I'm fairly sure Cain is terrifying to train with.

: Even amongst the Altean knights, Cain is one of our strongest men. You must all become strong enough to earn his approval.

Cain did end up as one of the best units in the previous game, so I can believe that.

: Let's begin today's training!



Three of Cain's friends are nameless goons. I think that's the FE universe equivalent of "hobos he bribed off the street".

: The opponents are determined by the ability of each platoon. 7th Platoon, your opponent is...

Cain does that dumb drum roll noise with his mouth, I assume.



Princess Cae-



Dammit, Katarina!

Well, let's get this show on the road.



Luke and Rody have been depowered a bit from their last appearance, but they're at least fighting on our side now! Luke has a sword, and Rody a lance.

This is probably a good time to bring up a staple of Fire Emblem combat, the weapon triangle! There are 3 main categories of melee weapons, Axes, Swords, and Lances. A weapon used against its weakness will grant the user additional hit rate and damage, and vice versa. How much depends on the level of the weapon in this game (E, D, C, etc.)

Lances>Swords>Axes>Lances

Bows, Tomes, and another weapon type we've yet to see are neutral in this. In some FE games, there's a magic triangle too, but not this one.

So, since there's two axe wielders and one sword wielding enemy among the faceless goons, we'll want to use Luke against the axe men and Rody against the mercenary, if possible.



Caeda here (Called Sheeda in Europe, I don't know if they're pronounced the same way) is nothing to sneeze at. That 12 speed is scary. We'll want to stay well out of her range. But as long as we do that, it ought to work perfectly so...





This map can actually be fairly tough on Hard and above. You have little room to maneuver, and since our MU is a squishy mage, she and Ryan won't be much help in soaking up hits from those three enemies that rush us right as the stage starts.



So I go with this setup, keeping Steve and Ryan towards the back, and staggering Luke and Rody to make it more difficult to get surrounded, and ensure all 3 enemies can't hit one of them.



Yikes. As you can see, two solid hits from these fighters will kill Rody.



Because of the staggered setup, though, they can't double team him, and the other has to go for Luke. That lower hit rate on the fighter's part is weapon triangle in action.



Unfortunately, the Mercenary can still reach Rody, but Weapon triangle advantage, combined with his lower strength, will keep our cavalier alive.



After all that, though, Rody is much worse for wear. Time to show off another feature of this game. See how Steve is adjacent to him? Keep that in mind.



Speaking of Steve, she doesn't quite have the damage necessary to finish off this merc. Maybe if her last level wasn't so shit!

She reduces him to one health anyway. But that doesn't help Rody's situation. So let's try something else.



Since Rody is next to Steve, he gets a new command, Trade.



It allows him to trade items with Steve, so let's take that Vulnerary.



Nice. That'll let him take another hit.



Ryan does some chip damage to the southeast fighter.

I move Luke to the fort to heal him up a bit, as well as try and lure the Fighters away so Rody isn't double teamed.

In retrospect, it would have been smarter to have him move one square south of Rody and thus prevent a double team by body blocking. This is the first of what are sure to be my many mistakes in this run.



Thankfully, the fighter cannot resist the sight of a squishy Steve. Her counter attack hurts, too.



And that vulnerary gives Rody just enough health to survive another hit.



Steve reacts badly to having axes sunken into her head.



And poor Rody finally gets his revenge on that damn fighter, softened up again by Ryan.



You can also select individual or groups of units to see the range of, instead of just "all of them".

Since I'm terrified of Caeda, I'm going to let Luke heal up on the fort first. She won't move until she has a shot at one of us.



After 2 turns, full health Luke is able to pull off Ryan's patented "Bait" strategy.



Caeda shows her Fire Emblem spirit!

...Actually I suck at screenshots. Here.

: Fear won't help you; approach with confidence and the intent to fight.



7 damage? Come on, Caeda.



...Oh. Yeah, Caeda has enough speed to double most units, making her twice as effective.



That 6 Resistance, compared to the 0 most units have right now, severely hampers Steve's effectiveness.



But chip damage still rewards exp.

It should be noted that Caeda is supposed to have a special quote for fighting MU, depending on their class, but I didn't get it for some reason.

Here it is from the script on Serenes:

: So you're a mage, Chris Steve? Pegasus knights are resistant to magic, you know. I'm not going to lose this one. Come, show me what you've got!

It is time to unleash our secret weapon.

DEPLOY THE RYAN



Bows deal triple damage to flying units, like Caeda here.



Apparently causing her to explode. Hopefully that doesn't ruin the wedding.



I wasn't slow on the screencap here. Caeda is just not much for words.



And Ryan gets a level that makes Steve look like a total chump. Step it up, Steve!







: Promise me you'll become squires worthy of helping Marth.



: If you ever need help during the practical training, do call on me. And I'll fight, but as your companion.

: Hmm? We'd gladly appreciate your help, but I'm not sure if we would be allowed to.



No, don't wake him from his nap. He gets cranky.



Where the hell did you come from?



Steve, did you forget the last chapter? Friendship?



Taking groups of like 12 or so people and letting everyone else sit on the bench and watch?



Oh god it's a quiz

Well, the more we get Jagen talking, the better, so let's say yes and let him blab.



: Then I shall tell you. Our victory in the previous war was not just by merit of Altea. Gathering and fighting together with allies of various positions and statuses... This is how Prince Marth fights. No matter when an ally came to our side, they could instantly join the battle with us. That is also a necessary skill for an Altean knight.

He says pretty much the same thing if you say no, but I have my reasons for saying yes.



Steve is blown away by this new coming of Friendship.

: If we can combine our strengths when we fight, I'm sure we can achieve anything. Right, Steve?

: Yes, you're right.

And that's the end of Prologue 3. It's pretty progressive of Altea to incorporate the king's betrothed into their violent mock combat training. But Caeda is pretty metal.

Next time, we are joined by a true hero in Part 4, Bald is Beautiful.