Part 19: Update XVIII - Things Go Bad
Update XVIII - Things Go BadSo, I am doing a change from this update on. I will only go over my resets at the end, and only show off the winning attempt. I am doing this for a fucking reason. Now, first of all, we have a new unit!
Myrrh - Manakete:
STATS:
LV: 1
HP: 30 (+15)
MAG: 3
SKL: 3 (+2)
SPD: 5
LCK: 5 (+2)
DEF: 2
RES: 7
MOV: 6
CON: 9 (+4)
GROWTHS:
HP: 150% (+20%)
MAG: 80% (-10%)
SKL: 80% (-5%)
SPD: 80% (+15%)
LCK: 35% (+5%)
DEF: 80% (-60%)
RES: 80% (+50%)
CAPS:
HP: 60
MAG: 20
SKL: 20
SPD: 25 (+5)
LCK: 30
DEF: 20
RES: 20
Weapon ranks: A light, A dark.
Dragonstone: No rank. 1-2 Range (formerly 1 range). 0 Weight. 20 Might (+4). 100 Hit. 20 Crit (+5). 30 uses (-20). Effective vs. monsters. Bonuses: +10 HP, +10 MAG (-2), +10 SKL (-2), +5 SPD (+5), +15 DEF, +15 RES (-5).
Hoo boy, quite a few changes with Myrrh here. She got a lot more HP, which is helpful, her growths got balanced (in particular giving her a huge RES buff and DEF nerf, which I think I like), she can be a lot speedier now with the +5 to the cap and +5 to the dragonstone boosts, which means she can actually be maximum dodgy, so she has perfect endgame potential. And yes, the dragonstone is 1-2 range now. And yes, Myrrh now has A rank in light and dark magic and can totally just use tomes. Now, that of course comes with the problem that you're just going off her attributes then without the dragonstone boosts, but it can be really useful for dealing with fodder.
...not that we'll have a lot of fodder to deal with where we're going. Still, I can tell you that dragonstones are replenishable in the postgame, so we can use her as a get out of jail free card for a while here (and boy, do I ever do that this chapter). Plus, Myrrh actually has a second weapon, but we'll have to wait for a while to see that.
At some point in my multiple resets, I got tired of schlepping along unpromoted Marisa and Tana, figuring that if they were ever going to contribute, I'd need to promote them. There just is no room for unpromoted units anymore (Knoll is very very close to getting a level, so I take him along, have him attack one unit, get his level, then promote next turn, so that'll be during the map). So in my winning attempt, they'll be promoted (but not in the map shot, because I took that footage early). Now, Swordmaster:
CAPS:
HP: 60
STR: 23 (+1)
SKL: 26 (-4)
SPD: 30
LCK: 30
DEF: 22
RES: 24 (-1)
Swordmasters have S swords, obviously, and now have 7 (+1) move.
Tempest Assault:
- +30 CRT
Straightforward. Nothing much changed here.
I thought about making her a Wyvern Knight, but I'm just not a big fan of Pierce. Might be a mistake, but whatever. I want the three falcoknight squad for maximum triangle attack shenanigans. I'm sure I can do something with that.
Now, on to the chapter.
Can you tell that this chapter caused me a lot of problems? Can you tell yet? Well, whatever, happy thoughts, it's done now. I have footage of me beating this chapter and I don't have to do it again. Let's go.
Cormag takes the lead for now on the northwest side. This is not ideal because of the heroes, but it worked this run, so whatever.
In general, Tethys takes the mage knight and Gerik takes the sniper. The bishop alone isn't a major problem, even if I can't take him out right now.
L'Arachel levels taking out one of the two great knights in the middle group's starting area.
Ewan picks up a level damaging one of the heroes.
In the end, this group does fairly badly (fueled by Duessel missing a silver axe hit that could've killed someone), but it could be fine, since the units at the front are somewhat survivable and stacked up. Normally I want at least three if not all four dead.
Knoll picks up his turn 1 level. Clearly this portended that this was the run of destiny.
Myrrh gets her first of many levels taking out the hero Knoll injured.
And we clear out the first group and should be set up fairly well for the arrival of the next group on enemy phase.
Ross gets a level taking out one of the warriors.
Marisa's job right now is eating Purge crits and healing back up.
Ross dodges two 30~40 hit chances at death because both warriors hit him on ~40 hit chances. Oh well, it was about time something broke my way on this.
This valkyrie loves heaing up almost dead units. That healing bonus for valkyries of course doesn't just help us.
Next player phase, Cormag levels taking out the mage knight, meaning the bishop is the only one left in there. Should be fine from now on and we can concentrate on that warrior/hero group.
This time the strat is to use Gerik. I used him once before here in this chokepoint and he did great, so let's see if that works again.
Southern group cleans up their area (albeit with another 80 hit Duessel miss) and start working on the roadblock generals. Should be largely cleaned up by the time the eastern group arrives. I wonder if I should start calling them Army Group West, Army Group Center and Army Group East. Clearly crossing over my parallel running LPs is the right move here.
Alright, never mind that, let's just promote Knoll.
CAPS:
HP: 60
STR: 26 (-1)
SKL: 27
SPD: 26
LCK: 30
DEF: 23 (+3)
RES: 24 (-4)
Summoners gain access to anima magic and staves. A dark and anima, C staves.
Summon:
- Can summon one phantom at a time
Well, that was to be expected. We'll check out phantoms next turn, when I summon one.
Shoutouts to Ephraim for eating the low-probability crit I'm guaranteed to get every run. I'll get you to level 20 this map yet.
Gerik's set up great to take in one hero and warrior, killing the warrior and leaving the hero ripe for the picking while not running any risk of killing himself by killing enemies. We'll be slower, but safer. And after losing the amount of runs I've lost before, safe is good.
Also, reinforcements start with this great knight and druid. There's going to be a steady stream from this area heading right for us and we better be ready.
Top group gets a bit bogged down since Gerik needs healing and therefore we don't have enough damage to take out the hero, but again: Safe is good.
Ewan picks up the first chest with the key he got from the valkyrie. Stat boosters are always good, there's always somebody that can use them. Probably Knoll, his luck is still garbo.
Thankflly Duessel is a defensive machine and so these valkyries can take their high crit rate and shove it up their ass.
OK, next turn then. This turn I needed to heal Ephraim so a surprise siege tome doesn't murder him.
The right group and center group meet up as we start working on the road blocks.
AI turn order saves my ass here. First the Bolting sage, then the Eclipse sage. Both hit. Had it been Eclipse first, I think Garcia would've been dead? 37 HP to start, Eclipse takes 19 HP (it rounds up, apparently), leaving Garcia with 18... the exact damage the Bolting sage did. Man, I would've been fucking pissed if that happened.
Another great knight and druid pair.
Left group sets up in a way that the last warrior can't cause serious harm. So we pretty much secured this area now.
Ephraim caps level by slaughtering a general.
Another Myrrh level.
Natasha levels from healing.
Alright, now let's talk about phantoms. They've been given a bit of an overhaul, presumably because given the increased enemy numbers, eating a single attack isn't really helpful.
So they got a bit of an upgrade.
CAPS:
HP: 60 (+59)
STR: 25 (+5)
SKL: 25 (+5)
SPD: 25 (+5)
LCK: 30 (+10)
DEF: 20 (+20)
RES: 20 (+20)
They now have actual stats, starting at 15 flat. So now they can actually contribute more now, though it's a bit of a double-edged sword in that you can't just fire and forget with phantoms anymore - you can't rely on them drawing some fire and dying, letting you deploy another one somewhere else. Instead, you might end up with a phantom killing two units it was supposed to die to, then struggle to keep up with the action. Let's check out their growths (for Knoll / Ewan / Lyon in that order):
GROWTHS:
HP: 100% / 100% / 100%
STR: 40% (-10%) / 60% (-10%) / 50% (-10%)
SKL: 50% / 50% (+10%) / 50% (+5%)
SPD: 60% (+20%) / 30% (+10%) / 50% (+20%)
LCK: 50% (-5%) / 70% (+30%) / 50% (+20%)
DEF: 30% (+30%) / 40% (+40%) / 20% (+20%)
RES: 30% (+30%) / 20% (+20%) / 40% (+40%)
So basically:
- Knoll's phantom is speedy on offense and balanced on defense.
- Ewan's phantom hits hard on offense and focuses on physical defense.
- Lyon's phantom is balanced on offense and focuses on magical defense.
Overall, though, there's not really a super big difference. So I prefer having Ewan be a more offensive-focused frontliner class while Knoll can do the summoner duty.
Duessel shows his frontline value by tanking hits like nobody's business.
Next player phase, Gerik levels up killing one of the two great knights in the upper group.
And with Rennac able to safely open the door, Tana can start shanking that bishop. He'll be gone soon.
Another kill, another level for Myrrh.
L'Arachel double crits to annihilate a hero and get this level.
The phantom starts heading down to greet the reinforcements that will soon come. Amelia is chilling on a staircase because a swordmaster will pop out otherwise, and I can't be fucked to deal with that.
Since we cleaned up the main force harassing us in the center, Duessel heads up to harass the siege tome sages.
Lute kills a hero on enemy phase and levels.
The status staves make their presence felt. I think I want to take these guys out before they're too much trouble.
The reinforcement squad arrives!
As do the falcoknights with killer lances!
And of course another great knight and druid pair.
Gerik heads back down to meet the falcoknights.
And Cormag and Tana manage to clear out the northwest corridor, finally.
Hey, look, another Myrrh level.
Since I'm having a few too many units low on HP and not enough healing to go around, L'Arachel gets to take her nice new staff for a spin. This thing basically heals everything. I have no idea how much it heals, but I don't think I've seen anything a L'Arachel Fortify doesn't heal to max so far.
We start to fan out through the throne room a fair bit. This is usually a sign that I'm either going to die or about to have the map fully under control.
Go, phantom, go!
Duessel gets a great level for a disgraceful showing where he again missed a kill because of a silver axe miss and even ate a crit in return. Of course, because he's Duessel, that crit wasn't even half his HP.
If you're squeamish about wasted EXP, phantoms are not for you. This guy's putting in work.
Did you know that apparently great knights can do triangle attacks? Well, they can.
Gerik fights three falcoknights on enemy phase and I'm pretty sure he could've gotten killed if odds went wrong. Thankfully, he did not.
Also shoutouts to my sloppy ass leaving Marisa dodging a 22 crit death chance.
Saleh gets silenced, which is a shame.
Another Myrrh level, this time from her just attacking a sage and getting ready to take some heat on enemy phase.
Vanessa really shows that dragon's tear wasn't wasted on her with this level.
As a whole, we've mostly cleared out the throne room bar a general that doesn't move and a sleep staff druid, though that ballista sniper is still threatening. Right now the biggest threat are the reinforcements from the east and the horde coming in from the south.
Myrrh and Natasha however have the situation in the east well in hand.
The next phantom gets ready to go.
Knoll levels after healing.
While we position ourselves to take out the last few stragglers, the phantom does good work and kills not just one, but two great knights.
L'Arachel levels after taking out the ballista archer.
We also set up on the eastern side. I know there's more reinforcements coming, and I do not want to deal with them right now.
Rennac starts grabbing some loot.
And now that we've taken out every threat around Orson, let's take a look at him.
+19 HP, +2 STR, +5 SKL, +6 SPD, +7 LCK, +4 DEF, +8 RES and immunity from effective weapons compared to vanilla hard mode. And he's not carrying a javelin like Valter, either, he's got a spear.
However, as you might have seen from his HP being a lot lower, Cormag wielding Garm is more than up to the task.
Myrrh and a new phantom get to set up as a new barrier against the horde.
Myrrh gets another level.
And Tethys gets a level healing Myrrh.
And Cormag gets one too for taking out Orson.
Rennac gets the next treasure and Ephraim is right in front of the throne, so we're ready to seize next turn.
Rennac grabs the last treasure...
...we pick up a level for Knoll fighting the horde...
...and then seize. And since we've now finished the chapter...
...we get some promotions!
CAPS:
HP: 60
STR: 30 (+3)
SKL: 30 (+4)
SPD: 25 (+1)
LCK: 30
DEF: 25 (+2)
RES: 22 (-1)
Resolve (Ephraim ver.):
- Immunity to anti-horse effective weapon bonus damage
- Half of equipped weapon's might is added to attack power
CAPS:
HP: 60
STR: 25 (+1)
SKL: 30 (+1)
SPD: 30
LCK: 30
DEF: 22
RES: 25
Resolve (Eirika ver.):
- Immunity to anti-horse effective weapon bonus damage
- +30 CRT
Both promoted lord classes now have 8 move.
And we get some new weapons!
Siegmund: Rank Prf (Ephraim only). Range 1. Weight 10 (-1). Might 20 (+3). Hit 100 (+20). Crit 20 (+20). 30 uses. STR +5, SPD +5, RES +5, effective against monsters, negates criticals.
Sieglinde: Rank Prf (Eirika only). Range 1. Weight 8 (-1). Might 20 (+4). Hit 100 (+20). Crit 20 (+20). 30 uses. STR +5, SKL +5, RES +5, effective against monsters, negates criticals.
That "negates criticals" part can come in very handy.
And that'll be it for this chapter. Next time, something that hopefully doesn't give me as many fits. But before that...
-------------------------------------
RESETS:
Franz leading the attack on the northwest corridor was a terrible idea, as him eating an attack by a hero, a crit Purge and a sniper shot show.
Resets: 5
Gilliam was also a terrible idea, and he was just dead in multiple ways, that Purge crit wasn't even necessary if the other warrior had hit. Turns out high defense starts to not matter when the enemies are promoted and packing silver because guess what? You don't get to have 40 defense. This basically convinced me that a promotion wasn't enough for Gilliam to continue being on the squad.
Resets:
This was just dumb. I knew the moment I put Natasha there that she was going to die. I hoped that I would maybe get lucky, but I did not. At least this was right at the beginning.
Resets:
I think Lute could've survived this if I had healed her up, but I needed to use Natasha to kill a sage Lute couldn't kill, so I think this was just screwed either way.
Resets:
This one just pissed me the fuck off. This was all the way at the end, I already had killed Orson and could've seized at any time, but I wanted to try and get the chests with Rennac. And then this fucking hero just shows up, goes "Hey you remember I get big ass bonuses against wyverns, right?", and hits on fucking 4 crit. That was just complete garbage.
Resets:
On this one I was just sloppy because I was pissed off. No reason for me to leave Ewan out that far. That was just stupid.
Resets:
And this one was probably the same thing. I was too aggressive in trying to take out the status staves and as a result put Franz in a really dumb position where he just got shredded.
Resets:
I really thought I had something with Cormag in the northwest corridor, but it was only here that I actually remembered the bonus heroes get against wyverns and realized this was the stupidest idea.
Resets: