Part 32: Pretty Much Just Me Sighing For Several Images (Battle)

Chapter 13: Pretty Much Just Me Sighing For Several Images (Battle)

Ironically this was way easier than I thought it be. I did get fairly lucky. It’s still a bad map because Ballisticians are just not fun to play against.



: Nonetheless we must face them head-on; they stand between us and Altea.

: That hunger for danger worries me, Marth. Humanity’s hopes rest on your shoulders. I would sooner not see them crushed.

Way to pass the buck there, Nyna. You’re part of this royal mystic shit too.

: Which? Humanity’s hopes, or my shoulders? …Have a little faith, Nyna. The enemy ballisticians can strike from afar, but they’re powerless up close. All we need to do is move in and silence them before they do too much damage. Watch!

Marth is so dead.




Wow. That’s a lot of red.



Here it is with just the Arrowspates marked. Caeda is going to have quite a bit of trouble advancing on this map.



Squishy units like Linde, Maria, and Julian need to stay back, because they’ll die pretty quick...at least to anything physical. Holy shit, does she really have 15 Res?




Everyone who can charges the enemy Ballistas, and here’s the trick to this map. Stonehoists have shit accuracy. It’s almost always in the 30’s. Much of your success on this map, without fancy Warp tricks n’ such, will be weighed upon how many times Stonehoist misses, because there are a ton of them and they’re difficult to avoid.




That said, remember that Ballistas are useless to anything within 2 squares. Cain is safe here...from this set.

I’m not going to show every single Ballista shot because that would take forever and be dull as hell.



Just know that this guy chose to advance forwards. He has movement points.

This did not end well for him.




Old Man Wendell also took a hit, so Maria’s Physic stave is going to be pretty damn crucial. This is probably Physic’s best map, which is a heavy statement to make.




This guy also has 4 movement. I’m not sure why there are only two of them that do this, and it’s these very arbitrary two.

I really just do not get this map in general, I guess.




Still, he ain’t going anywhere now.




And that frees up a slot for Wendell to work his magic. Literally. Ballisticians have gross Defense, but their Res is as awful as any other melee class in this game.




And with the Arrowspates dealt with, Caeda can move into position. Don’t be afraid to rush these first few turns, the less of these Ballista around, the better your odds of survival.




Here’s a slightly better shot of Stonehoist’s animation. The rock shatters and explodes into rubble, it’s pretty neat, but hard to get in screenshot form.




Also, Astram attacks his girlfriend. While she is in range of two different Ballistas.




Well, this was a good try. Fuck you, Astram.









But there was a miracle. The miracle of “These Two Guys Didn’t Even Fire”.

I don’t know how it happened, or why it happened. Maybe Shadow Dragon’s taking mercy on me. Maybe it’s like “Oh, hey, you’re a little over halfway done, you’re on the Ballista chapter, we feel you.”




But I do know that I’m healing Midia IMMEDIATELY.




Also, visiting a village. I’ll let Astram stew and feel bad for a while.




Oh. Is that what Archanea Palace is called? I think it is.

: After my shameful defeat there, see, I took refuge in this village. And when I heard your army was marchin’ this way, I readied my ballista, hopin’ for another taste of battle. So how ’bout it, princey? Take me along! I’m packin’ thunderbolts, see? The enemy ballisticians’ll never know what hit ’em!

Thunderbolt, huh?




Beck is extremely similar to Jake. He’s got slightly better HP and a bit more Speed, but if your Ballistician is getting attacked and risking being doubled, they’re probably in deep shit anyway. Jake’s got the edge in Skill, which is what really matters for Ballisticians. I don’t really like them, as I said, but Beck’s got a special bit of utility for this map.

See that Thunderbolt?




Welcome to effective Magic Damage at a Ballista range against any and all Ballisticians.

You’re alright, Beck. You’re alright.




Of course, we can’t ignore the classics. South side, looking good.



Alright, time for this donkus.






After you hit her twice she was nearly there!

: Oh, Astram! How could you not have heard? Archanea is free! The Altean army came, and liberated the palace along with all the hostages within! Now we fight as one. Come with us, Astram! You needn’t dance to Dolhr’s fiddle any longer.



That is the look of a lady who is heavily considering telling him she “needs to talk”, for a multitude of reasons.

: Now you can. We can take them together.

: That we can. …Midia. I am sorry I left you alone. I will not make that mistake again.

I don’t think they ever explain where Astram was when the castle fell. Midia was with Nyna.

: No, you certainly won’t. Now that I have you back…you’ll find me exceedingly reluctant to let you go.

: Ooh… Yes, I can see that! Just take care you don’t crush me instead of Dolhr!



If you asked me for a summary of Astram as a unit, I’d probably just kinda shrug at you. He’s alright. His growths aren’t terrible, he’s got an extremely respectable 30 in Strength, for example, but he’s going to hurt for defensive stats outside of HP. Those are awful bases for a Hero, but the B in Swords out of the box does him a lot of favors.

I wouldn’t call him a “good” unit, but he’s not “bad” either. He’s pretty okay.




He can also chat with Marth!



: Correct, Sir Astram.

: …Forgive my lack of courtesy, but you and I need to be clear on a certain point.

: Oh?

: While I have decided to lend you my sword, my allegiance lies with Princess Nyna-not you, my lord. I will follow your orders, but should I learn you have been false to her, or that you are manipulating her… Heads will roll.

That’s about the closest thing Astram gets to a catchphrase. In that he also says it in the sequel. Look, you get what you can with Shadow Dragon characters.

: Well, Sir Astram…in the interest of keeping my head atop my shoulders, let me suggest this: Fight with me. Watch me, and then judge for yourself whether I am worthy of your skill and of your help.

: …… Hmm, very well. Your orders then, Lord Marth.





Alternatively, you could just watch his girlfriend. She’s pretty convincing.




Never too many of these.




I decided to use BOTH Physics on Midia, because I’m paranoid.




Abel, meanwhile, being one of our bulkiest allies, is just going to march in and say hello.




Yikes. Not only is Thunderbolt a danger to other Ballistas, it’s magic damage, so keep an eye on it even if you’re using, say, Wolf, to tank these.




These two still refused to fire. I’m questioning if they even want to be here.





But they ARE worth experience.









I’m not too worried putting Wendell in Thunderbolt range to patch Abel up. Magic Damage cuts both ways!




Now we can start creeping up on the boss. This is where things start to get very, very dangerous.




Whoops, excuse me, Ogma’s gotta clean up real quick.




Impressive how he can just carry that around.





The other Thief goes down to a Julian/Marth tag team. The thieves on this map are especially nonthreatening.




This spot is outside Arrowspate range, but close enough that I’m hoping Caeda will draw a little fire from the other Ballista.

: Hmph! Care to see what steel the Wooden Cavalry is really made of?

Why didn’t they call it the Steel Cavalry? (He shot at Midia instead)




There’s a Stonehoist, Thunderbolt, Arrowspate, and the Boss’ Pachyderm in this tiny area. Anyone you send in here is going to need good defenses and a little luck. The concept, not the stat.




Let’s get rid of one nuisance. I imagine that, after taking this guy out, you’re meant to use Beck’s Thunderbolt on the boss. But I want that experience on someone else, since I’m probably not using him.




Time to patch Abel up and see what we’re working with.




Grigas is the most dangerous boss so far. 27 Damage. In that range. And he’s got an Arrowspate and Stonehoist in the back to back him up, along with a Cleric to patch him up. Obviously you’ll want to remove his support, but the Arrowspate is more likely to hit for less damage, while the Stonehoist has bad accuracy, but a bigger payload. Be careful here.

Allow me to demonstrate not being careful.



Maybe they’ll waste a shot on Caeda!




I wasn’t that lucky. That’s 18! On Barst!




I know you can’t see it too well here, but that’s Barst casually leaning to the left and saving the run.




And now we’re going to get rid of this asshole before he heals too much. This also puts Barst in a position where he’s safe from the Pachyderm.




Abel and Caesar doubleteam and down the Arrowspate.









Using both Physics to patch up our damaged units gives levels to each healer.




But Caesar’s also in the blast zone.




Another lucky miss. Thankfully I picked the Arrowspate to down first, because it almost certainly would have hit and killed Caesar.




No more of that.




The handy thing about Grigas is that when he’s all alone, he can’t cover his sides at all.

The super fucking obnoxious thing about Grigas is his 16 Defense and ability to vaporize pretty much any Mage trying to get in range.




Still, with a little persuading…(Barst missed for 3 turns in a row here.)




We’re all done here.




That’s not the prince, that’s Barst. Blue hair, I know.

: General Camus and his Sable Order will be upon you rabble very… soon…and you will die…on the lance… of the greatest warrior…alive…

They...actually won’t be “on us” for a while, but good talk.




Little bit of shopping before we end things here.




And

Fuck Ballistas Forever




: Today, there was this commoner… She mentioned Grust was divided about the war. Some of its people wanted to fight with Altea, she said…Ever since I lost my father and kingdom, I’ve held nothing but hate in my heart for Gra and Grust…



Fun fact, you can meet that “commoner”. She’s in the house by the Armory, and she basically just says “wow Dolhr sucks I wish we could be on your side, but Camus got to us first.”

: And now you find your hate for them has been lessened?

: No… the hate remains. I will never forget the pain they inflicted upon me, the rage I felt. Yet now, at least, I can tell you it’s not just hate…Not anymore.

: Not all evils are wrought of evil purposes. Perhaps this sounds naive, but…A true leader needs to look at his opponent and see more than just an enemy.

: ….



Next time we get to fight someone who kinda goes against Nyna’s whole thesis there.

Let’s avenge Frey

Bonus Content



The Incredibly Persistent Assho-

The Love Longing Brave, Astram