The Let's Play Archive

Fire Emblem: Heroes Of Light and Shadow

by LordHippoman

Part 25: Battle: Samurai Steve

Update 16: Samurai Steve (Battle)
(Note: Since the usual database I use for portraits is down right now, the new characters in this update won't have them for now. I'll edit this post when I get them, but this one has been delayed long enough.

Edit: 3/9/15: All portraits are in place now.)

Last time, Steve finally reclassed after an unsuccessful career in magic, and we prepared to march to Lang's fortress in Grust.

But first, as always, How's Everyone?







Sleet is a pretty useless joke Tome.





More of these never hurts.









Steve is all gold, you ass.





Oh shit I already used my joke for this text ABORT ABORT

As soon as the chapter begins, we get to see an old friend.



Not Toras. Lang.







Jeorge is a familiar name. He was a possible boss in the Prologue, and a Sniper in Shadow Dragon.



Here's someone else we might be familiar with.





Well, he is a Ballistician...



(Jeorge): Orders from Lang, huh? I'm not fond of that man. His treatment of our people is simply intolerable. To work beneath him is an insult.

Sounds like nobody likes Lang.



Generic Soldier: But, Captain! You'll be accused of treason! Captain?! You can't be planning to defect to Altea...



This isn't a blink, Jeorge actually has a separate eyes closed sprite, which is cool.

: If I were to defect now, I'd drag the entire platoon down with me. So for that reason alone, I will absolutely not take any risks that might besmirch our name.

Soldier Generic: Captain...

: Anyway, inform everyone: Do not move from your stations. However, if the enemy approaches, you may engage them.

Bolding is mine, because THIS IS IMPORTANT.



Lineup is the usual crew plus Ogma. I kept Arran around for one last hurrah. You might notice Julian isn't here even though Rickard is on this map. Well, Rickard is one of very few FE characters who can be recruited in multiple chapters. If we don't get him here, we can in Chapter 6, and I'd like to show that off.



Generic Thief though, has no such luck.



So, there's a short way to the boss over this bridge, but the long way around houses a village, so we'll be sending Marth that way. However, I'm going to send a few people down that way.



On the second turn, Ogma can reach Barst. (Note that Barst and Rickard won't run at you and attack, Rickard in fact is making a beeline for the top left corner.)





: Another war has started. Once again, I fight under Prince Marth's banner. Barst, lend us your strength. We need you.

: I got nothing to do with fighting now... Well, that's what I would say if you were anyone else. Captain, I owe you. You've saved our sorry asses on more occasions than one. Captain Ogma. Just say the word. I'll do whatever you want!



Barst is a really solid axe unit. He's pretty much the typical fighter character, high strength and HP, low accuracy and resistance. Lots of people like to make him a Pirate.

Cord can also recruit him, if you've been using him. Not Bord though. Nobody likes Bord.



These three mages you can see right over the blue box that advanced on us aren't going to be too big a threat. Catria uses one to get a nice level!



And one of these. I don't know if I've shown these off, but Pure Waters are consumables that can be used to boost your Resistance. It becomes less effective over time, but they have three charges.







...hot damn. That is the best Arran level I have ever seen. Not that I've seen that many. But this is a good note to end on.







This thief is running for the hills, just like Rickard, but we can kill him. And he has a Master Seal. Which we will need to promote. After him!



The Lady Sword does a fuckton of damage. This was a double hit, so that guy was doomed. It was also around here I realized I forgot to bring a healer. Whoops.



Oh, and up top here is the reason I said it was important to listen to Jeorge. This big group of enemies won't come after you if you don't step into their attack range. To clarify, that's the 2 squares (unless you're on Lunatic...in which case he moves).

It's tempting to approach him, since he has Parthia on him, the game's Legendary Bow, which is extremely powerful, and he has a bishop behind him with a Physic staff, who can heal all the other enemies.

And no, he is not recruitable. yet. I don't even know why I'm putting this in Spoilers because it's pretty obvious.



...must not kill Rickard...



Vulnerary spam is a crux of any "forgot the healers" strategy.





So, I'm splitting the party into two groups. These guys (Barst, Ogma, Draug, and Ryan, from now on known as DELTA SQUAD) are going to go across the bridge and hit up the Ballistas and Knights.



These Cavaliers have Silver weapons, which means they can even put the hurt on Luke. But he dodged this hit.



Here's that Bishop in Jeorge's crew being obnoxious.



And here's where my plans started to fall apart. See that thief by the bridge? That's Rickard. The other thief ran past him. Since I can't kill Rickard, I can't pass through, and he's about to escape. So long, Master Seal.

Marth takes out his frustrations on this horse, as he is known to do.



Here's a better view of Asshole Thief and Bodyblock Rickard.



And a disappointing Luke level.



It looks like Arran can sneak around, but nope. That upper part of the map is just window dressing.



Meanwhile Delta Squad begins their excursion to the bridge. Ready for another example of poor planning?



Suddenly Dracoknight! It had...uh..been a while between updates. But Catria lives.



Palla here makes up for my failure to check for potential flying foes with her Silver Lancing skills.



Thankfully I remembered after this and managed to find the other 2 Dracoknights and mark their ranges so I would be less horribly fucked.



DELTA SQUAD is now within the range of the horrifying Ballista, so I'm using the forts to make them as evasive and bulky as I can for the time being.



The Stonehoist here is pretty powerful, but has the drawback of awful accuracy. Granted, he's on a fort, but 25% is still an ugly number.



It is useless against one as agile and pantsless as Barst.



Luke, give the nice flying lady your juicebox.



Operation Arran Bait is a go.



Stonehoist has a pretty great looking effect.



Little sad this one wasn't a one-shot.



That works.



These Knights are yet another obnoxious enemy that do not follow the "rush the player as soon as they're in range" rule.



Initiate follow up operation Luke Bait.



Ryan and Draug start down the path to the Knight danger zone, far from the helpful forts and into the range of yet another Ballista.

Also, as soon as this turn ends...





I've actually never had this happen before. If you take too long to reach the top left village, this guy spawns in the bottom left. It's one thief. He's not really a threat.



This bastard can be, though. He's got an Arrowspate. It's about as strong as the Stonehoist...



Leading to this terrifying moment. That was thankfully a miss. The Arrowspate is much more accurate, and counts as a bow weapon, meaning it will obliterate Catria/Palla without a second thought.



Draug picks up this nice level on the way.





Warren and Luke team up to fell the last Dracoknight.



And a pretty good level for Warren. I don't know if I'm really feeling him, but he might be worth keeping around.



Oh, and this



And yet another blow is struck in the Battle On The Big Bridge. Did I get that reference right? I haven't played FF5 in ages.



Played Bravely Default though. Just beat it. It was okay.



Look, I'm sorry, I can't give meaningful commentary to "Ogma drinks Vulnerary". This chapter is a lot like 3, it's a bit too long without many enemies to fight or anything else too interesting.



A crit from Ryan does wonders for my mood though. Also holy shit, Ryan's defense is great. I think it's higher than Draug's. He's taking no damage from that Javelin.



Finally though, it is village time.



I have some uh, bad news.

Villager: What, you don't know? I see... Th-then... Do you still want this Hammerne staff? At least, if Lena's pupil Malicia were around, I'm sure she could use it... Well, whatever be the case, I've no use for a souvenir. Please, make good use of it.

Sorry, gramps.





Sadly, the Hammerne here has only 3 uses. It's also only for Malicia (or Lena if/when we find her), but it can be really useful in keeping an expensive forged weapon alive or one of the game's Legendary weapons nice and maxed out on durability.



Delta Squad, ADVANCE



This is all that remains of that poor thief. More EXP for the peg knights.



One disadvantage of the Ballista is that it cannot hit anything within two squares. That creates a convenient safe zone for Barst here to take a Vulnerary.



Ryan begins the slow task of chipping down the Stonehoist.



Still no Speed...that's worrying. Everything else is great though.



Slowly moving the rest of the team over here.



Just realized I missed screencapping the cavaliers west of the boss. Just trust me. They were there, and now they are after Barst.



See?

One of the Cavs didn't come though...



MORE BLOOD FOR LUKE



This is what I mean about this chapter. It has been 12 turns and nothing interesting has happened since getting Barst on turn 2.



Honestly not sure why the boss is shooting for Ryan here. Irony with hitting an archer with the Arrowspate?



Back at the fort, though, Draug's sweet moves mean the last shot of the Stonehoist is for naught.



Goodbye, Stonehoist. Fuck you very much.



With just this Cavalier (soon to be chopped up by Barst) and the Arrowspate left in play, I feel confident moving Marth towards the castle.



Hitting a stationary cart of arrows still gets Ogma a pretty solid level.



It looks like Marth barely survived his perilous journey, but I had the Vulnerary if I needed it. Honestly this boss is a joke now that we have someone in range. Since he regens health, you could just sit here and hit him over and over for EXP if you wanted, but at this point I was like 15 minutes away from driving out to get Chinese, so fuck it.



Marth doesn't hold that sword right.



See what happens when you do that? You only get 3 stats.





And that's the end of Toras.





This is a promising start to your career, Barst.



This is the second Starshard, and it gives +1 to Strength and Magic.





But before the chapter ends, I picked up one of each Steel weapon from the nearby Armory, and 3 Vulnerarys from the shop.



So, not recruiting Rickard bites me in the ass again here. One of the more nefarious secrets in this game is the existence of Secret Shops, which have special inventory. There's one on this space, but you cannot access them without the VIP card. Rickard has it. So I'll have to miss this one. All it sells is one Master Seal, though.







: Yes, I know. Lang must be stopped here and now. Or else we forsake the people of Grust.

: Sire. I, too, do not intend to let him go. Say the word and with these very hands...

Steve's new sword has made her all bloodthirsty again.



: Steve, we must take extra caution when fighting inside the castle!

Kind of a weird way to end it, but next time we get to confront Lang on his home turf. It's probably a nice place.



OR A NEST OF EVIL!

Next time we prepare for a showdown with the biggest asshole we've encountered so far and to loot his house in...

Update 17: Any Number Of Puns That Involve The Word "Lang"