Part 41: Chapter 17x: Thiefless Speedrun (Prep)
Chapter 17x: Thiefless Speedrun (Prep)
: The stories of Marth’s return to Altea have become distorted over these years. It’s best to hear it from someone who was there.
: But I was-: Don’t worry, I’ll clear everything up.
: This was just as terrible as they say it was.
The Ballistas are still a nasty threat on Normal, honestly this chapter’s not too different. They have a little less attack power than their Hard versions, but they’re just about as obnoxious.
That said, so many more of my Normal units have better Defense.
Horace is pretty great on this map. Fresh from recruitment with a Steel Bow, he can one round most of the enemies, and he’s not going to be taking much, if any damage from them.
: Alas, Sir Astram fell on the field of battle.
: Thankfully, we recovered his stuff.
I realized I didn’t get Grigas’ boss quote last time. Here it is. Wow!
: Nobody really gives Gra credit, do they? Seems uncalled for.: They sent a bouquet of weeds to Marth’s wedding, remember?: Oh yeah. Never mind.
This is the problem Caeda can run into, somewhat frequently. She only has 6 Strength, and it’s starting to take its toll.
(Fun fact, that Stonehoist will one-shot Wrys if I don’t kill it immediately. He’s gotten like four empty levels.)
No Warp tricks this time, and Marth’s a little banged up from walking through Archer Alley there.
: I’m not sure why everyone keeps talking about these “Three” Pegasus Sisters, I only remember two.
: Our powerful army was nigh unstoppable. 
: We chose to attack King Jiol from afar.
: It didn’t work. We closed in!
: Also did not work.: You really should have hired a tactician.: Oh, because THAT always works out, doesn’t it?: ...Point taken.
: As we entered the cursed desert of Gharnef, we felt the life force seep from our bodies!: That’s called sweat, Sir Jagen.
Here are our new Generics for this update. Hepto here has some ridiculous HP, but only five defense to back it up.
Octu’s made of tissue paper.
Naunu has one more strength than Caeda. They all have Resistance, though! And...zero luck. Huh.
: Naturally, when encountering the watchful wizards of Khadein, we did our best to conceal ourselves.
: With disguises!: Give that back!
: Even my weapons were brilliant illusions.
Everyone is clearly very disguised here. Except Caeda, I mean, she didn’t get the memo. Julian only has the one outfit.
: Where did you get the dragon?
: Sir Jagen, that man doesn’t even have the right weapon.: There’s a reason you don’t learn the Legend Of Hepto in Altean schools.
: Well, two reasons.
I just wanted to show the cool part of Imhullu’s animation, where the giant purple face appears and barfs a laser.
: Behold, the famous Pegasus Triangle Attack!: That’s...not exactly how that works, I think.
The mages do a little less damage on this difficulty.. It took about three turns for these two to whittle down Naunu.
This is Merric’s incredibly unimpressive Crit animation.
: I was happy to return to my healing duties for Prince Marth’s sake.
: As well as a slight bribe.
Here’s the village we didn’t visit last time. Who could be waiting inside?
: 
: 
: but, things change, and I came to live here in this village. If you need warriors for the coming struggle, I would be honored to fight. Unfortunately, there has always been bad blood between this village and our neighbors. No doubt they closed their gates to you as soon as they saw you come here. You won’t be able to recruit the hero Samson now, I’m afraid.
Arran here is a little better than Samson, but that’s sadly not saying too much. His bases are awful for a unit his level, and he’s got very little room to grow. He’s pretty bad.
I wasn’t able to set up the defensive line this time.
Dealing with the reinforcements is much easier on this difficulty, because they don’t move on their first appearance. That means Caeda can get close with a Wing Spear.
: We embarked on a quest to get that Master Seal.
: We did, at least, get the Master Seal.I kind of wanted to see how viable it would be to play the rest of the game without a thief. The Master Keys/Door Keys should make the doors easy, and the chests won’t be an issue due to the Fire Emblem.
: He never even talked to Marth.
I neglected the usefulness of the Barrier Staff on this map last time around.
This time it provided a Warp/Horace bomb.
The mages are smart enough to come into a range where he can’t counterattack, though.
This is Barrier doing its work again.
Grinding Norne’s weapon levels paid off here, because wow, Morzas’ defenses and resistances are completely disgusting.
: Now then, where was I…: Retaking Altea Castle.
: an old fortress and key supply point during Dolhr and Grust’s occupation. There he meant to seize the last of the enemy’s gold and provisions, but Grust would not give up the castle without a fight… 
I went ahead and promoted almost everyone. Ran out of seals for Merric and Wrys.
The layout for this map is a little strange. We’re starting in the middle, and have to head up north and loop around.
Lots of locked doors and rooms of hidden foes. I...probably should have kept the Thief around. But those great generic names…
The enemies aren’t very threatening here, aside from a few nasty promoted foes skulking around.
There’s also this incredibly rude hallway full of mages and archers. Next time we’ll deal with that.
Bonus Content
Horace Is Boring
: Dame Steve. I must thank you for saving my life.: No, no. You should be thanking Prince Marth. He was the one who made the decision to help you, Lord Horace.: ...Haha, I see. You and Prince Marth are really alike.: ...Excuse me?: ...Oh, forgive me. I found it amusing how the liege and vassal told me more or less the same thing. Prince Marth told me that too that I should be thanking you, Steve.: R-really?: Yes. You two are really well-matched. I'd like to learn from you. And to do that, we must first...: Yes, Lord Horace. Assuredly, we shall FIRE EMBLEM 12 PLOT POINT: It's most reassuring to hear it coming from you, Dame Steve. I might not be strong, but I'll do my best for Prince Marth. I will be counting on you, Dame Steve.: Likewise, Lord Horace.