Part 62: (Endgame, Map 1) Requiem for a Couple of Assholes

Welcome, one and all, to the last Base in the game.

You may wonder what we're doing back in the Base menu. Well, the awful truth is, I skipped ahead a little to give you all an appropriate jumping off point for starting the voting, and kept a save back in the Base. Why do this, when there's an "Outfit" option in the very next section, containing all the shops etc you can find in the Base?

Because that menu, for some stupid reason, doesn't let you access skills. Meaning, you can't remove the skills from the people you're not bringing, and especially, we can't remove Celerity from Rafiel and put it on Reyson.

Let's get right on that.



That's better.

Now, there's some BEXP to go around.



One for Fiona...



And lots for Micaiah!



Speed!



Glorious speed!



This is probably the best opportunity you'll ever have for working on Micaiah's speed. It is unwise to let it go to waste.

We rejigger some people's skills, but the big unveil can wait for a while.



This is purely symbolic, since both these guys are about to be removed from the team. I wish them well, though.



Meanwhile, the King of Daein and the Queen of Crimea team up to seal their allegiance. Elincia has the somewhat unuseful Heaven affinity, which provides +9 Hit per half rank. However, Pelleas, who uses very powerful but very inaccurate Dark magic, will find it a great help. And both of them get to benefit from Pelleas' water affinity. I wish there were more water characters; water pairs are pretty great if you can get them (+0.5 Atk, +0.5 Def per half rank).



Then, we hit the shops. We sell every single goddamn piece of equipment that isn't a fully repaired Steel or Silver heavy weapon, rank A/S tome, or stave.

Note our cash total before...



And after. And no, we didn't sell any Laguz Gems.



So now we leave base. We'll do the rest of our shopping from outside.



Everything you remember from the last update is unchanged (shockingly), except of course Micaiah's promotion, which now looks quite reasonable. 25 speed! That's almost usable!



So, for real this time.





You voted, you decided, and it has come to this. And, I have to say, you guys certainly have good taste! This is a damn fine collection of badasses if ever there was one. Well, not Sothe, but he's not really up for negotiation. Man, why can't Volke steal things anymore? Is there any justification beyond "would make Sothe completely superfluous"?



Everyone not in possession (or scheduled to be in receipt) of an SS-ranked weapon is getting the most bitching forges we can create. We are sparing no expense. Look at that pricetag! This lance is, in fact, about the same value as the Baselard (which sells for 9300G, putting its value at 18600G), which is about right given its stats! We spring for fully pimped out Mt, Hit, and Crit, though not Wt, because that doesn't change anything.



Remember how, waaaaaay back in like chapter 4 of part 1, we talked about the Coin system and how rigged it was? Daniel shows you five cards, but the card you end up with is fixed in a set sequence that you can't game by any means at all. Any means, that is, save for saving your game, forging a ton of weapons, noting what sequence the cards come out, and reloading, repeating the process but forging your best weapons concurrently with the best cards.

As it happens, though, the Axe Card (Mt +2) is one of the better cards you can get; there are cards that give you lots of little bonuses (Mt +1, Crit +5), and there's the ultra-rare Goddess Card (Mt +1, Hit +10, Crit +5), but none of them give you Mt +2, and Mt is what we want right now. The only better card there is is the Twin Swords (Mt +3), but the best I was able to game was two Axe cards and a Sword card (Mt +1).

So, yeah, this fully tricked out Silver Lance gets an additional +2 Mt, and is dubbed The Sentinel by InwardChaos, in recognition of the real name of it's bearer's class.



Sothe scores himself a bright pink throwing knife (stats about on par with Peshkatz), named Compensation by Cancer Cowboy, in recognition of (among other things) Sothe's abysmal stats that make a knife like this necessary.



Finally, we craft a bitchin' awesome axe for Jill, and, fittingly, draw an Axe card. This brings this axe's stats almost into line with Urvan (1 less Mt, 10 less Hit, but 10 more Crit). That's pretty awesome. This axe has been dubbed Shiharam by KnoxZone, in memory of Jill's father, who was so cruelly sentenced by Ashnard to Death By Ike.

Other stuff we do; we purchase a second Verrine tome for Pelleas, we throw a Seraph Robe at Sanaki to compensate somewhat for her abysmal HP...



And we also support Fiona and Jill. This isn't quite as broken as an Earth Pair, but any A-support involving one Earth character will still wind up with at least 23% avoid, which is nothing to scoff at. And defence!

Finally, we stock up on Physic staves, and buy a Ward staff for Micaiah. She's got some grinding ahead of her, and I hope to minimise the Arms Scroll abuse required.



Deep breath.

We're ready.

Let's move out.





By overwhelming majority. Reyson is the most reliable heron, even if he does have to spend a turn transforming before he can get to full vigor-mode.

Reyson... Would you join us?

Gladly. I'll give you everything I've got.

All right, Tower of Guidance, here we come!

Never mind the fact that we're leaving all our weakest characters behind to fend off unending waves of zombies (?) with no weapons. They'll be fine. No, wait, Edward and Leonardo still have their weapons. Yep, they'll definitely be fine.

---



Uh-huh. She's at the top. Be careful, everyone. This tower is Ashera's home territory. She's certain to have her most powerful troops waiting for us up ahead. We must proceed with the utmost caution.



Hm?



---



(the following scenes, and any with this style of black border and subtitles, are voice acted. Note that we aren't supposed to immediately know who's speaking, although sometimes it's quite apparent from contextual clues)

I am honored that you have chosen to speak with me.

You would trust in the word of a stranger?

Yes. I can see inside you. I know you cannot speak lies.

Is it possible? Do you share some aspect of my power?

I do, as did my mother... Generation after generation, each apostle has been blessed to hear the voice of the goddess. We know of impending disasters, how crops will fare.... All revelations originally intended for you.

Well, this is pretty telling. Clearly one of the speakers is an apostle of Begnion...

The children of my union with Altina... I had no idea...

Please look at this.



All of the apostles have born this brand. It is our greatest secret. The senators must never know. Because of this brand, I thought that I had been born of some great sin. It plagued me always. Guilt tore at me every day as I hid my mark from my people, deceiving them constantly about my true nature.

Oh, child... how can I apologize to you?

And yet, now that I've met you, I understand. There is no shame in my heritage. None at all. I will reveal to the world that I am one of the Branded. They must see there is no shame in who I am.

No! You mustn't! You don't understand the danger you will be placing yourself in!

Oh, but I do. The senators will do their utmost to rally the people against me, as they did when I freed the laguz from slavery. But I will not be deterred. If I am to lead this nation, I cannot allow it to be corrupted by prejudice and hatred. I can put the life the goddess has given me to no greater good than this.

...Such determination. Your eyes... They very much resemble Altina's.

I will stand before my people and proudly proclaim the truth. And then I will guide them to a just and honest future. This is my promise to you.

I shall return to Goldoa and tell my friends of you and your actions. I will tell them that laguz and beorc may once again live together in peace. I will tell them that there is hope.

Thank you, father of my mothers. I strive to be worthy of the gift of life you have granted me.



Without a doubt, one of the speakers was Misaha - Sanaki's grandmother - the apostle who emancipated the laguz. And those were some fairly significant revelations in there; the entire line of Altina is Branded? And Misaha was about to reveal this to the world?

...and then she was assassinated. How about that...

What is it?

Sorry? Oh, I... Don't worry. It was nothing. All right, then... Our path leads through that door there.

...

---



Frankly, I'm amazed that you, of all people, would dare to set foot inside the most holy Tower of Guidance.

Lekain... We've been looking for you for a long time. You bound Daein to your awful pact, hounded noble King Pelleas, and stole countless lives in your appalling war. You are...beyond redemption!

Beyond redemption? My, that does sound awful. Whatever will you do with me? Oh, and let me remind you, the blood pact is still in effect. You would do well to remember that. I think you know what will happen to the people of Daein if you should dare oppose me.

Enough. We fear your threats no longer. No more will we bow to your every whim. Now that we've found you, we will exact justice upon you, then destroy the blood pact itself, ending its power over us!

So you figured it out, did you? Heh, heh... It matters not. This changes nothing, do you hear me? Here is the scroll for which you've been searching so diligently. Right here in my hands.

Ah!

And yet, none of you will ever lay one grimy little finger upon it. I have been blessed by the goddess herself. Her protection will not allow you fleas to even approach me!

Lekain! Cease this travesty of virtue at once!

What have we here? Oh yes, the apostle. Excuse me, child, but I had completely forgotten you were here. Since you've deigned to grace us with your exalted presence, dear apostle, let me share a bedtime story with you.

Brace for . I mean, even more than usual.



The senators were being constantly harassed with complaints from the people. There had been nothing like it in history. The voices calling for young Sanaki to be crowned grew louder every day... You had just turned five years old when the senate welcomed you to the throne as the new apostle. Ah, but my young mistress Sanaki, what a difficult child you were. You threw tantrums, you screamed and cried constantly. Your conduct was hardly befitting an empress of Begnion! Everyone was at a loss... You wouldn't even stop mewling and crying during official proceedings.



When he took you in his arms, you immediately stopped crying. You even smiled. We had to take advantage of this obvious miracle. In an unprecedented move by the senators, we elevated Sephiran to prime minister, keeping him serving as close to you as possible. This plan, radical as it was, proved far more effective than we dared dream. A young, handsome prime minister and an adorable moppet of an apostle brought the people's support to incredible new heights. Apparently the common citizenry is gullible enough to blindly follow any leader who is sufficiently attractive. Enamored as they were, no one ever seemed to care whether or not you could hear the voice of the goddess. With the new apostle and prime minister, the political landscape became unrecognizable.



A smile and a wave later, the people would cheer and go on with their happy lives.

...

It was too good to be true, however. Both of you were only meant to be puppets! Each year you interfered with our government more and more, imposing your soft-hearted ideals over our sovereign rights. Were such trivialities as laguz slavery and the Daein occupation worth making issues of? The pair of you were becoming an increasingly bothersome thorn in our side. And then this war against the laguz forces... You went so far as to expose our previous indiscretions and demand reparations for the sub-humans. This was unforgivable. Clearly you both had to be removed. Sephiran would be falsely accused and jailed, necessitating his removal from office. The apostle would suffer a sudden illness, and be excused from official proceedings. Or so we intended...



If Sephiran and I hadn't been freed... You were just waiting for your chance to kill us? Just as you killed my grandmother.

Out of respect for the imminently deceased, I'll be completely honest. Yes, you assume correctly. Your assassination, and the plot to once again frame the Serenes herons for it, was entirely my idea.

Yes... I thought as much.

Impressive, Sanaki. When you were first crowned, you would have cried your little eyes out. You've grown, slightly.





About goddamn time.

Alright. Let's meet our Elite Endgame Squad.



Front and centre is Ike. It says a lot about Ike that, despite the quite horrible levels he's been saddled with in the times before we forced him to use Blossom, Ike is still, basically, an indestructible goddamn killing machine - except, of course, when faced with mages. He's fast enough to double pretty much everything, and hardy enough to shrug off any physical attack thanks to Ragnell's defensive buff. And he's still got ten levels to go, and no caps hit! Yeah, Ike is basically impossible to get wrong. And good thing too...



Ike's skill set is, sadly, pretty unremarkable. He's got that Nihil scroll he picked up ex nihilo during promotion, but that's it.



Keeping the rear lines together is the newly promoted and newly viable Micaiah. Betcha never thought you'd see the day! With her newfound speed, Micaiah is just about able to start being an actual combat mage without having to rely on Thani to deal damage. Otherwise, she'll be dispensing heals.



Micaiah gets, besides the Corona mastery skill, Paragon and Shade, to facilitate her purpose as a fragile staff user. She'll be able to level up pretty much every other stave-use, and if she ever sees combat... she's the lowest level unit here, and despite that, her magic is quite respectable.



Don't get too excited, folks, the +5s are being provided care of Ena. But Sothe is still pretty crap. He hasn't really gained a level in forever, seeing as how he's both a noncombatant and a Jeigan for most of the game, and... yeah, his stats are rubbish. Micaiah is faster than him.



I'm seriously considering taking Guard off Sothe. Frankly, I worry he'll die if he has to take a hit meant for Micaiah.



Sanaki is here for occasional magic support. Just what the hell she's gonna accomplish with Rexflame is beyond me, but she's the only one who can use it, so there you go.



No skills here either. I wonder if I might be able to provide her with a last minute Paragon boost next mission... but failing that, Sanaki will be able to accomplish one very useful purpose for us later on.



Kurthnaga. He doesn't look like much, but like Vika, you'll find him to be quite viable if you're willing to put in a bit of work. One of the things you can't quite tell from anywhere on his stat page (they really should show numbers for this stuff) is the fact that Kurth, like all dragons can remain transformed for a very long time - once shifted, he gets -2 a turn, and -1 per combat. That's quite a long time!



The other very nice thing about Kurth is that he has 60 free skill points and only two pre-existing skills. That's a combination I can get behind. Maybe I should have stuck Blossom in here instead of Renewal and Adept... but Adept is here because Kurth is very slow, and he could use the boost. We'll see if we can't sort out his speed as we go. We've got Speedwings, and there's always BEXP...



Ena is not here for her stats.



Ena is here for her skills. Blood Tide is going to be useful for us, you see.



When you raise a good Jill, you raise a damn good Jill. She lacks Haar's brute strength, but when you see her double and dodge everything, you will know what you're getting in exchange.



Ooooh boy.



Nephenee has been absolutely true to her reputation as pretty much the most BEXPable character in the game. She's a dead cert to cap everything except magic using only natural levels from here on out, and that's pretty amazing.



Nephenee is once again rocking the Provoke/Resolve combo, although it's quite unlikely that she'll ever hit low enough health to trigger Resolve. Let alone Wrath.



Here's a pretty awesome Soren. He's a little better (though slower) than Pelleas, but he still has nine levels ahead of him. He's got awesome spells in every element, and he's got staves.



He's got himself Corrosion and Cancel, for lots of chances to shut down enemies. Or he can just kill them. That's pretty likely, too.



Not without reason has Rolf been occasionally referred to as "The Destroyer", and not without reason do I tell you now that you ain't seen nothin' yet.



Paragon Rolf? Paragon Rolf.



Elincia will find herself mostly healing for the time being, but there's asskicking in store for her, don't you worry.



She retains the Blossom skill for now, along with her innate Renewal. She's still got stats to fill - not that that stops her from being awesome as is.



Zihark has made a pretty solid recovery from simply being the other half of Nolan+Zihark.



Honestly, I don't know why I bothered putting Wrath on him. He's not going to get hit.



I will never get tired of posting Nolan's stat screen. It'd be funny if the one thing he doesn't cap turns out to be strength. Funny, and sad. But so sad it's funny.



God, can you imagine Nolan triggering Resolve? There'd be nothing left standing...



Even without an Earth Pair, Fiona is a solid, extremely capable unit. And I still get a little bit giddy every time I remember that we're talking about Fiona here. The Silver Greatlance will be a great stand-in until her real weapon comes along.



As for skills, Fiona returns to her original purpose as an Imbue bearer. When her OK-but-not-Zihark avoid fails her, this will make everything better.



Pelleas has not half done well for himself. Because he's nearing his final level, we won't be using that much of him, but we'll be very glad to have him around, don't you worry.



He's not getting any skills. Yet.



Volke is still Volke. He'll be making lots of people die - whether the quick way or the marginally-less-quick way.



And now he has an extremely assassin-like skill set. It's very fitting, don't you think?



And finally, there's Reyson. Reyson's value is going to have very little to do with his stats. Well, except...



As you can see, I had nothing better to do with his last five skill points than give him Miracle. I may have mentioned this before, but Herons are basically the best choice for Miracle, seeing as how its activation is based on luck, which herons have in abundance. Good for super-last-resort stuff.

What a team.



This is an interesting little battlefield. The main feature is, of course, the five-square-wide column down the centre filled almost exclusively with generals (and god help you if you think there won't be several rounds of reinforcements). This is going to be handled by our Earth Team, consisting of Fiona, Jill, Ike, possibly Soren, Nolan, and Zihark.

There's also the two side routes, each of which has its own force of generals, and also some archers, a siege-tome-wielding mage (and your second chance at a Bolting tome) and a Physic priest apiece. Kurth, Ena, Elincia and Pelleas are going to take the west path, while Nephenee and Volke are heading east.

But there's more, though! You can't really see it well from this angle... give me a second...



Do you see the slightly off-colour floor tiles towards the top-middle and bottom-middle of the picture? Those are Wardwood tiles. They offer a spectacular +10 to the resistance of any unit standing thereon. Also, harder to see, are the "Cover" tiles in the top left and right of the picture - these offer a similarly incredible +10 defence.

The Tower of Guidance is filled with these tiles, and while they're arranged in nice little clumps for the time being... the later levels are kinda a mess, and it becomes something of a pain to keep track of what cover is where.



Over to one side of all this mess is Hetzel, wielding staves of both Silence and Sleep. He's something of a distraction, if an annoying one.



The real attraction here, though, is Lekain. He's quite annoying. He has the SS-rank light tome, Rexaura, which is pretty damn powerful for a light tome (it's 4 more Mt than the next most powerful tome). He's also got a Rewarp staff, which, as you'll find out from experience (and not from reading the description), not only allows Lekain to teleport to the most annoying points on the map but also heals him for 20 HP per turn.



Let's Endgame.