Part 25: This Map Gave Me A Kidney Stone (Prep)
Chapter 11: This Map Gave Me A Kidney Stone (Prep)Hello. Time for Fire Emblem. So, last time I may have expressed some...trepidation about this map?
Welcome to Knorda FUCKING Market.
Honestly, it’s not that bad in this game. In the sequel?
(The word “fuck” appears 9 times in that chapter)
So I’ve got some harsh feelings. This time, however, there will hopefully be no tech issues, no giant dumps of screens of failed attempts, and no two part update.
I did however get a kidney stone while screencapping this prep part so I maintain that the curse is real, and it has progressed to the physical realm. I’m never LPing FE1/3 so a piano doesn’t fall on my head or some shit.
: With each step, Marth draw nearer to one of the great waypoints on his journey.
Lena has been a massive disappointment. Maria, though? Maybe not? She’s often considered one of the worst characters in the game, because of her horrendous joining time/level, but healers recover from that easier than anyone else.
We will have to find a way to get that staff rank up quickly, though.
Thankfully Old Man Wendell can still fend for himself for a while here, and he’ll take those fancy staves for now.
Abel’s speed is a little shaky for a Level 11 Cavalier, so I gave him a quick shot in the arm via that Speedwing Zharov dropped last time.
Also Ogma has finally inherited that Silver Sword we were supposed to give to Hardin like...6 chapters back?
This map is a little strange. It’s basically divided into three levels, the Castle, the approach, and the Market.
The army has to make its way up this long corridor before anything else, then split off to one of the two destinations.
The Castle is the main goal, and it’s guarded notably by the worst enemy unit ever jammed into a Fire Emblem game. Meet the Ballisticians.
Yes, they can shoot up to 10 squares away. Their hit percentage is bad, but there’s nothing more agonizingly obnoxious than watching a unit survive with a miracle 10 HP or so and then get clunked to death by some fucking 40% hit rate rock. Thankfully, they at least can’t move, and they have a “blind spot” within 2 squares.
We’ve also got to recruit one of these guys. Keep in mind that there are different KINDS of ballista. That last guy had the Stonehoist, which is pretty much your vanilla, low accuracy, high damage weapon. Jake has an Arrowspate, which is really notable in that it has much better accuracy and counts as a Bow attack.
If you guessed that we’d need Caeda, a natural flier, to recruit him, you are onto the kind of bullshit Ballisticians are.
Oddly enough, the boss of this chapter is not on the Gate, which technically makes him optional! But he’s got an Energy Drop, which is the Strength stat booster, so we’ll want to take him down anyway. Might be a time to pull out that fancy Wyrmslayer?
Also worth noting near the castle and that bizarre ring of forts what could possibly happen there is this Sniper, who has a nasty Killer Bow and a much less nasty Spirit Dust, the Magic stat booster.
So, that’s the top route. It’s, of course, guarded by yet another ballista, the Thunderbolt, which hits Resistance. So, you know, they’ve got a variety of ways to fuck you up.
The actual Market is mostly less worrisome, though it is the first time you have to go to one of those random houses to recruit a character. There are also a ton of Mercenaries for some reason.
There’s also a village here, as well as some shops, armories, and an Arena that can come in very handy for this map in particular. You’ll see why next time.
Assuming the ghost of Knorda Market doesn’t kill me in my sleep or something.
Bonus Content
After this game, Cain becomes the training instructor for the Altean knights. There’s a whole prologue about it. Also some base conversations. Here’s one!
: Not good enough! Faster!(If Cain looks odd here, it’s because I’m using his portrait from the sequel.)
: Y-yes! Ah…: What’s wrong, Steve? Are you done already!?: No, Sir Cain! I can still do it!: Then stand up!: Got it! Hah! Hiyah! Haah!: ...Alright. Time for a short rest.: No, Sir Cain. I can still…!: No. If you go too far and break your own body, all this training will be for naught. Training your body is my task. Trust me. Leave it to me.: Understood. Then, I’ll take a rest. ...When I’m with you, Sir Cain, I remember my grandfather.: Your grandfather?: Yes. My grandfather used to train me just like this. It really brings me back…: I-I see. By the way, Steve… Do I really look that old?: Huh?: Well, I’m still in my twenties… I see, I’m like a grandfather… That’s really depressing…: Oh, no! I didn’t mean it that way...