Part 33: Gra'dess Of The Skies (Prep)

Chapter 14: Gra’dess of the Sky (Prep)

I was going to do a little intro here about how Gra sucks, and their only real canon trait is that they suck, but then I realized that’s pretty much exactly what I did last time.




That’s the opening joke there you go





: Gra had been a trustworthy neighbor and ally. While the Altean army was out on an expedition, Gra struck from the rear, annihilating the Altean soldiers, killing Marth’s father, King Cornelius and stealing Falchion, the blade of light. It was a crushing blow. Much time had passed since that sad day, and much had changed. Now it was Marth’s turn to descend on Gra Bastion, and face King Jiol, the man who had robbed him of his father.

For the guy who killed Marth’s father, Jiol really doesn’t get much spotlight or characterization in this game or the sequel. His daughter’s better.




I might swap Draug out for one of the Ballisticians, we’ll see.




This is a pretty big map, and it can be fairly challenging. Just to fuck with you, there’s a Ballistician right there. Across…




A bridge. Perfect match for that Bridge Key I bought back in...Chapter 8.

I’m gonna call it foresight.




The west side of the map needs Marth to run across and reach that village or it might be destroyed. Unfortunately, that means he has to pass through this incredible asshole building filled with bowmen just to fuck up that specific tiny strand of beach.

I hate Gra.




The main bulk of the army needs to work its way into the center courtyard. Be wary of this Ridersbane Knight. Gra’s units are typically pretty low level, but they make up for it by having lots of them, backed up by reinforcements.




The bottom right corner houses the world’s worst ambush from a Sniper who doesn’t know we somehow have a bird’s eye view of the battlefield, but there are two chests in there so we’re going in anyway.




The throne room is the bottom left corner, and these thieves will be a problem if they reach the chests or the village, so we’re on a bit of a clock.



Jiol is a fairly standard boss. His attack is nothing spectacular, but his defense is good, and Mages can’t melt him like most Generals without risking getting crit by that Killer Bow, which is a death sentence. The Hammer seems like the ideal way to go about this.




This chapter also gives us our first appearance of the Fortify staff, which heals the ENTIRE ARMY when used. It’s a pain in the ass and basically means that your chip damage means nothing while that guy is still alive.




To help defeat Jiol, I’ve taken a Hammer and improved it.




No longer is it Hammer, it is Hammest.



Somehow the armory guy had the perfect expression for this:


Bonus Content

In Which Ballisticians Are Retconned Out Of Existence

So, Beck and Jake both reappear in FE12, but they’ve lost their ballistas. In fact, Ballisticians as a playable class no longer exist.

: Yo, ‘afternoon.

: Good afternoon, Sir Beck.

: Oh, just call me Beck. Also, quit the formalities. Being formal makes you sound so cold and distant, don't you reckon? So, let's talk in a more natural way.

Like Norne, Beck is “vaguely southern” and that’s about it.

: I see... Alright, got it. Then I'll do just that, Beck. Nice to meet you.

: Yes, Dame Steve. I'm honored to make your acquaintance.

: Er, weren't you being formal...? Oh well. I heard from Prince Marth, you used to be a ballistician, correct?

: Yeah, I was originally a member of an army. Even after the war was over, I travelled the world with my ballista, but it eventually stopped movin'...

: An accident?

: No, actually... In order to move a ballista, we need the oil from a special fruit. However that fruit disappeared after the last war, see. So you can attack with a ballista, but not move it and therefore, you can't travel with it either. Gettin' it to places would be just too hard, see.

Imagine being the poor guy at Intelligent Systems who one day gets a memo slammed on his desk that just reads “EXPLAIN BALLISTICIANS”.

: Ah, so that's why... Indeed, none of the enemy ballisticians we've faced in this war moved at all.


Thankfully someone wiped out the Ballista Apple or whatever.

: Yeah, that's why I decided to choose this guy to keep me company during my travels, instead of my old ballista. I call 'im Pony.

: I see you've grown attached to him. He's a good horse.

: A pony among ponies, you could say.

: I see.

Welp.