Part 9: Update IX - Ballistaless

Update IX - Ballistaless



Alright, last chapter before we get Ephraim back. Let's go.



First of all, Natasha gets the Dragon Tear we got last time. I'm pretty sure she's going to be the primary healer for now and get promoted fairly soon, so let's give her a boost. Now, on to the map.





So yeah, no ballistas this time, but wyverns and Purge assholes. We also need to walk a bit more before getting to the boss this time.



So, for the first turn, we largely set up to not get a vulnerable unit smacked around by the wvyern...



...because these guys are fairly beefy. We can't really attack the cavs right away, since we'd get counterattacked by the knights with javelins as well, so a more passive approach on turn 1 seems like the way to go.



And it works out pretty well! I didn't notice that Artur was in range of one of the cavs, but whatever, he can take a hit. Now we just need to clean up.



Ross levels up in the cleanup process...



And then we start a range war, or rather a war at range, with the knights.



Garcia gets stronger when a cav gets involved as well on enemy phase. The knight he attacked actually retreated, so we won't be seeing him for a while because healing is quite a ways away.



And Gilliam also gets more knight than he was before. You'll also note that the area has gotten a lot more crowded, with three cavs and another wyvern.



Vanessa gets stronger in the cleanup process.



And while we do need Seth to do so, we do clean up the entire force in one turn.



So we trudge forward and set up to take on the next enemies.



However, I get cold feet with Franz because of his relatively low HP and pulled him out with Seth. Now...



...I was probably right to do so...



...but what I did not consider...



...was that he was not the only one at risk. Balls.

Resets: 3



Alright, second attempt. This time, we go forward with someone that can take a lot of hits.



And Ross gets to level up a second time in the cleanup.



As well as Natasha getting a level in the healing.



Our next move is to slowly trudge our way through the forests and mountains, getting attacked by a fighter and two mercs.



Neimi actually gets a level after picking off the injured fighter.



Artur gets promotion-ready as we pick off the archers on the other side while we trudge through the forest, though I don't think he'll be promoted any time soon, because I have other plans.



Gilliam takes the lead, since he's pretty good at that, and we find out that these six units there (now five) don't move, so we'll need to pick them off ourselves. And we pick up a new tome!

Shine: Rank D. Range 1-2. Weight 7 (-1). Might 6. Hit 90. Crit 20 (+12). 50 uses.

Big crit boost for Shine, just like with the other light magic tomes. Artur will make good use of this, though it still weighs him down by 1, which I find to often turn out to be the difference between doubling or not.

And during taking out that enemy squad...



...HALLELUJAH, HOLY SHIT. She fucking got Strength. Only took her ten fucking levels.



Vanessa gets a blah level as well.



As we get no movement on enemy phase, we move on up and get the cavs to move in.



Surprise! Purge asshole! Did we go over Purge yet? Let's go over Purge.

Purge: Rank C (formerly B). Range 3-10. Weight 17 (-3). Might 7 (-3). Hit 85 (+10). Crit 20 (+15). 5 uses.

I'm not a fan of those changes as somebody that will more than likely be on the receiving end of these quite a few times. I suppose the rank downgrade is to allow Monks to access it as well, and while the nerf in might is welcomed somewhat, the increased accuracy and crit make it definitely more dangerous.



Joshua gets a very myrmidon level after taking out one of the cavs.



And Seth just sets up and waits to protect Vanessa, who is trying to deal with Purge asshole.



Natasha levels again while moving up with the rest of the gang.



Next turn, Vanessa takes out the Purge asshole. ...now that I think about it, I guess this guy is the ballista replacement.



Gilliam gets more resistant after we mop up the little group between us and the bridges to the castle.



Next, we start working on the groups of four, with two magic units on forts behind two knights with javelins. In general, this just means we have Ross and Garcia hand axe the knights to death before somebody else knocks out the magic units.



Ross is now also very speed.



And Lute takes care of the other knight and gets this level for it.



While it does take a fair amount of units, we do clean up this first group.



The second group doesn't take any real work to dispatch, meaning all we have left is Murray.





+11 HP, +2 STR, +2 SKL, -1 SPD, -4 LCK, +3 DEF and +1 RES compared to his hard mode counterpart. Not sure what the nerfs are for here, but whatever, I'll take some stats not getting boosted. Also, you'll note the +1 to DEF he has shown - holding promotion items gives you a 1 point boost to one stat. Not sure why this was introduced, really.



However, he is a cav, and therefore gets fucked up by the rapier. So let's just do that.



You didn't have any ballistas!



And dead in one round of combat. You don't need strength if you have effective weapons, I suppose. Not sure what I'll do with the knight crest yet - not going to be using it right now, that's for sure.



And that'll be it for this chapter! Next time, Ephraim is back!