Part 9: Lea: An open area of grassy or arable land. (Battle)

Chapter 4: Lea: An open area of grassy or arable land. (Battle)



Well, with all the preparation out of the way, it’s time to get to the battle!




: I’m convinced you’re just making up words now.

: Quiet, you clamshank.

: If they think we’ll sit by and let them join forces with the Aurelians, then they have another thing coming. With this ridersbane, I’ll litter the lea with their cavalry!

The game’s nice enough to toss you another hint here. Also, my god, Bentheon’s nose.




Let’s start off our newest mission by letting Dark Mage Cord get the first hit! (castor missed) The pretty formidable Might of “an axe” combined with the low Resistance numbers in Shadow Dragon makes this a pretty huge chunk of damage, more than most of our units are capable of right now.




Julian gets the kill, though, because I want him to get some experience.



Meanwhile, I need to block off the reinforcements that will rush around the lake, so the usual wall of Cavalier strategy is in order.




Ogma and Barst also lend some formidable hands.




Everyone else is just rushing west, and I figure this is a good time to show off the Convoy feature! I can use it to grab a sword from the Convoy, then trade it to Navarl so he doesn’t have to waste Killing Edge.




I mean, I would, if I didn’t forget to put anything in the Convoy




Let’s just forget that happened. I don’t think we’ve heard much about Macedon yet, but we’ll be introduced to them this map.




The Cavaliers in the top left also begin their charge. Thankfully the horsemen and Bentheon stay put.




After seeing Abel take that hit, I thought they might need some healing, so I’m sending Lena to the eastern blockade.

I immediately regret my actions because I need her over on the other side, but it’s too late! Look how well I’m starting this map off!




The armory has nothing of real interest, but I had Cord grab two Steel Lances, since we can’t buy them yet and have a lot of pretty solid Lance wielders...




I say as Abel misses a Javelin again, the irony of my statements entirely lost on me in this post-commentary.



This Hunter just exists to make the choke here a bit more difficult. I’ll have to do some creative shuffling to keep everyone alive up here.




There are bigger problems, though, namely that the cavalry has almost arrived. I’ve marked Matthis, because as you probably guessed, he’s recruitable, and the Armorslayer guy, so I can be more careful with Draug.




This is safely out of either of their ranges, but I’ll be able to catch the first couple guys with a counterattack.




Ogma gets out of here and takes a sip of Barst’s vulnerary, in case that Hunter decides to get cheeky.




Thankfully, Abel’s finished missing.




Barst never started.



As expected, the Cavs attack, and Marth deals some decent chip damage. I want to save some of the Rapier, though, there will be a lot of tougher mounted foes ahead.




Draug gets hit too, but it just benefits him, really.




Evidently this is also the trigger for the Thief and Hunter to the north to come down. I didn’t plan for that, but it should be okay.




Alright. So, the goal here is to talk to Matthis with Lena, but because I moved Lena wrong...that’s gonna take a turn. So the NEW goal is to kill off most of his buddies, then hope he doesn’t kill himself/kill one of my units on the Enemy Phase. Also there’s that thief and hunter slightly off screen.




One square out of Hunter range, Caeda removes the Armorslayer with some extreme prejudice.




Not great.




Better!




I was hoping for a crit here, but Navarre only got the chip damage. I had to bring Julian in to finish up and-






Thanks, Julian.




Lena moves forward, mostly because she kinda has to. Wrys retreats.






Thankfully, this turn cleaned up the choke point, meaning these guys can start to rejoin the main team.





Matthis you absolute FUCK you ran right past her in your urge to impale a bald man!




He’s okay, folks.




So is he.




Behold as I regret doing the 100% Recruitment Run.




: Lena?! What are you doing on a battlefield?

: I was attacked by bandits in the Teeth while tending to the sick there, and these people saved me. The real question is, what are YOU doing on a battlefield- least of all this one!

: I’m not here by choice, sister of mine. Since you left, Macedon has only gotten worse and worse. They forced me to enlist- you know I hate warfare, but it was into the army or onto the chopping block.

: Shame on you, Matthis. If you’re going to fight, then at least fight for something you believe in. Macedon has done terrible things: marrying their might to Dolhr, helping them torment people…Brother, it’s not too late. You could join Altea’s forces. They’re good people you know. Prince Marth would welcome you. They all would.

I wouldn’t.

: …All right, then. If I’m gonna to die, I’d rather die as one of the dashing than one of the dastardly. You know, Lena, you always were the reliable one, and now you’re all grown up…I thought for sure you’d have already settled down with your one true love.

: T-true love? I’ve…I’ve met no such man, Matthis.

: Hmm, is that so? I’ll bet you haven’t…

So one creepy thing about Matthis is that his dialogue, mostly in the sequel, kinda implies he has a crush on his sister. I guess this is the start of another classic Fire Emblem trend. Awkward Incestous Vibes. Which they made into a full game called Fates!

: Well, you just be careful. There are plenty of thieves out there who would steal a girl’s heart.

Thankfully Lena’s got a much better and less disturbing option.







And I think that’s the end of the enemies on this half of the map.




So now we’re headed for the bridge!




...And I should probably talk about Matthis.

I really, really don’t like Matthis. I’m not even really sure why. Maybe it’s his haircut. He’s a very defensively oriented Cavalier, with high HP and Defense growths, and his Strength isn’t too shabby, on par with Abel’s. His Skill is AWFUL, though, as is his Speed, and he’s yet another cavalier hurled at you when we’re about to get three more, one of whom is really good!




Wrys and Lena ran around and patched people up, but I cut it because you don’t want to see that. You probably want to see Wrys get a level though. There it is.




Tragically, this meant the end of Wrys’ Heal stave. Our first weapon break. Farewell, old friend.




Also here’s more matthis i’m sorry



: ACK! Y-you’re Prince Marth! Aieee! S-s-stay your rapier, I beg you!

: …What has gotten into you?

: You mean…you haven’t come to stick me like a pig for fighting under the Macedonian standard?


: Er, no…

: Really?

: Really and truly.

: Oh! Uh, right then… Sorry about that little display. I guess Lena was right. Just goes to show not all princes are cut from the same cloth!

: What do you mean?

: Oh, well, our prince- Prince Michalis of Macedon, that is- he’s strong, and proud…and an utter tyrant. They say he put the soldiers who look the most scared in the front lines on purpose.

: Hmm...Prince Michalis of Macedon.

I like that they foreshadow an upcoming villain here, but we won’t actually get to see Michalis towards near the end of the game! One big issue with Shadow Dragon is that it just doesn’t show its characters enough for you to really get a feel for them.

: Don’t worry, sire, I won’t mistake you for him again! Altean princes I can trust!




I can lure the Archers over, but the Knight is gonna stay put.




They have Steel Bows, which might be bad if you weren’t Draug. As is they get mopped up fast.




...Oh. Already?

Sometimes the RNG really, really hates you. Sometimes Fire Emblem sees you get a really good Julian level up and decides to punish you. Sometimes I need a bit for this LP. In all these situations, you get an empty level. Not a single stat procced, and Castor is just left looking like that. What a shame.




That said, the knight is open now.




PURGED BY an axe



Barst cleaned up the other one, and now there’s just one thing left to do down here.



We’ve got a new friend to meet.




: …Huh? Merric?! Merric, is that you?

: Well, yes, sire, last I looked. Whilst studying magic in Khadein, I caught wind of a war brewing and decided to seek you out.

: I see… Thank you, then. I need friends like you on the battlefield. You will fight with us, of course?

: Of course! ‘Twould be a passing shame if you didn’t get to see me flex a little magic muscle. Wait till I show you my latest: Excalibur!



Merric would be your first magical unit, if you didn’t reclass. And he’s a damn good start. Despite his low starting level, Merric is powerful, holding pretty decent growths nearly across the board and getting early access to a very powerful Tome, the Excalibur, which is a triple damage weapon against fliers. I’ve always used him, so I probably won’t this time, just for variety, unless people really want to see him in action.

You’ll see it in one of the DLC maps anyway.




To lure the Horsemen this way, Matthis makes for fantastic target practice.




Damn, only got one.





Well, I can’t complain too much. Bring me another!





Okay, never mind, that’s enough, thanks.

These guys are promoted enemies, so they give a lot of Exp. It’s an easy way to kickstart Merric if you want to use him.







And then there were two.




This poor Cleric is completely helpless. I have to give her a fighting chance, at least…

Devil Axe Time




Darros, you fool!




Thankfully Cain and Julian can mop up while Darros feels sad.





Cain kinda needs some more of these, or Abel’s going to be outdoing him.




Marth can get started on the boss here. Bentheon really isn’t a threat unless you decide to fight him with a mounted unit. Caeda doesn’t count as mounted, by the way.







Although...use the Rapier if you have Marth doing it. That 1 damage is sad.





...Why did I not equip the Rapier? I’m openly questioning you, me from last night, what the hell?




Still, I want to get him just a little lower…




To give our new star reclassed pal the finishing blow.







Thankfully he drops this, It should come in handy on someone like Draug or Abel. Maybe Caeda.

So the maps over, and

a r e n a




Let’s talk about...the Arena.




The Arena is a recurring feature in Fire Emblem games. It was absent for the Gamecube duology and made its comeback here. I could explain it all, but let’s allow our friend the Fightmonger to start off.





Entering the Arena allows you to wager your gold in a simple betting system, double or nothing. The higher the wager, the tougher the foe you’ll be up against.




This is important. You can hit B to cancel a fight, but ONLY after a turn is complete, AKA both units have finished attacking. This is important because a death in the Arena is a real death, meaning you will lose that unit. Losing 900 gold or so is way better than a death, so stay on that B button.




You always strike first in the arena, so mathematically there was no way for Cain to lose here (Unless 100% isn't REALLY 100% and haha that would be ridiculous). Easy money. The arena also provides you with a basic weapon for your class, so you can’t bring the Killing Edge in or anything.




Why, yes, this is potential infinite gold, and more importantly, infinite EXP. The enemies also scale to the challenger’s level. However, you always run the risk of dying, so use of the save points is a great idea.

Some people stay at the Arena for hours to get some maxed out units before the game even really gets started. I’m not going to be doing that, because I don’t want to break the game. Plus it’d be boring. I will use them, though.




Oh, after winning, you can fight again, but since you’re probably low on HP, I wouldn’t do that unless you just didn’t get hit or something. It does allow you to chain more battles in one turn, though.




Healing up injured Arena fighters is also a great way to grind levels on your healers.




This was a B button. When I said you get the first strike, I meant JUST the first strike, no doubles. Also, Navorbop couldn’t double this Pegasus Knight anyway. Retreat and live to fight again.




You do lose the cash, though, but it’s not that bad.




: We’ve saved up 5,000 gold and poured our prayers into every coin. Please, use this money to answer them.

Oh, there was also that other village, but it was so uneventful I missed the Screencap. My bad.




I went ahead and used the Arena to get Cain closer to Abel in levels. I might reclass one of them soon because my god we have so many Cavs.




Banarre also did some grinding here, and even finished with a stylish crit.




That is so not worthy of a stylish crit!

Anyway




: You’ll find Captain Hardin protecting the king and the lady Nyna at the Northern Fortress, located in Aurelis. When you find him, please be sure to give him this silver sword.




Nice. I guess we’ll have to give that to Captain Hardin next time. I’m sure we’ll love him.




Next time: cavalier cavalier cavalier

Bonus Content!

This was Dark Mage Cord’s debut, although his card is a bit dated now that we’ve reclassed him. So here’s Julian instead.