Part 58: Lagdou Ruins 3: Two of Our Most Powerful Units Are a Sniper and a Valkyrie

Lagdou Ruins 3: Two of Our Most Powerful Units Are a Sniper and a Valkyrie

I'm not kidding. Feast your eyes!






Just look at those stats on Innes. He can only kill one dude per turn, but he is going to kill that dude. And it just gets better. Who's your guest for today?



Yes, I suppose that Ismaire's appearance gave this away a little, but Hayden's apparently good for more than just flinging money around, though judging by that White Gem, he's still putting that talent to good use. Well done, your highness. He's unlocked by defeating 200+ enemies, which, with the increased number of enemies per floor, roughly translates to beating Floor 5, right around the same time that you get Glen.

And since this is the archer chapter (minus Neimi, but she'd just get murdered out there), what better way to celebrate than with...



Ballistae! Aside from the usual ballista that you see every now and then in the actual game, there are two other versions in the game's code, both of which are holdovers from FE6, where ballistae actually counted for something. They had their own animations and everything.



On that note though, you'll want to turn off animations if you use them yourself. Unlike other occasions where weapons that don't have an animation coded to them just revert to using the map battle animations, the ballistae will actually attempt to enter the combat screen, at which point the game freezes and starts shrieking at you. So if you're like me and want to watch the silly over-the-top effects, you just toggle the archers off and move on with your day.



It's no coincidence that I wanted to introduce these ballistae on this map in particular, what with all the rooms full of Gorgons that ought to be handled at a distance. There's another gimmick that involves the ability to deal with enemies from far away, but we'll get to that.



Right from the start, we notice a few peculiar things with these ballistae. Since they're equipped directly to the character instead of the character riding them, these ones can actually be used by Hayden too. Normally, only archers and snipers can ride ballistae, as if they're these super weapons that need to be restricted to a particular class in order to lock in their immense power.

The other thing you might notice is that the targeting for the Iron Ballista is a little weird. It's pretty clear that the game never intended to use the 3-15 range modifier, since the red squares only appear a certain distance out. You can still shoot the enemies that aren't covered by the red squares, so it's just the effect that's off.



Anyway, let's get killing.



Already, I'm regretting my decision to field Duessel. He's supposed to be this great general, but his class type exposes him to harm from so many areas, not the least of which is every school of magic.



Fun thing about this map too: the Gorgons? Every one of them has Stone. Every one. In this narrow area where you're stuck between two rooms, the smartest move, in retrospect, would have been to go left, where there isn't a narrow bottleneck where somebody is guaranteed to be petrified.



It begins.



Needless to say, Cormag's wearing the Fili Shield. Far too many archers around here.



So here's the level's secondary gimmick.



I might have mentioned bonewalkers, but they're actually Wights with door keys. There's a reason why most of the enemies are in these tiny rooms, and that's because the creators wanted us to watch our demise slowly creep up on us, rather than spring it on us all of a sudden like they normally would.



What do you think I brought these for?



Hayden's not quite so good with these, which is putting it lightly, but he's good at softening up Gorgons for someone else to kill them.



One advantage that Duessel has is being able to use any weapon of the triangle he wants. Gives him a wide variety of potential loadouts.



Too bad that he's mostly just strength.



Like I said, lots of bows, and there are more wights coming out the top of the stage.



But hey, that speed and luck will help Cormag avoid them, right?



L'Arachel is going to be the tankiest of magic tanks.



Not that any kind of tankiness will matter when nothing touches her.



I wish that other people could follow her example.



There's no ill that L'Arachel can't cure.



Back to avoiding strength, are we, Marisa?



And Knoll? When did you decide that you needed luck?



To avoid getting Cormag killed, I'm flying him into the middle of these Wights.



What, you thought I was kidding?



Hooray. Two top-heavy axe guys, three if you count Garcia. Glad to see that we're breaking the mold, here.



Unfortunately, since Innes was occupied elsewhere, the room up door got unlocked. Time to hunker down, I guess.



Well done, rich dad.



At least we can stop this one so we only have to deal with one surge of foes.



Oh, come on! Does your son have to do everything for you?



I hate to use this, but it's not like we don't have 30000 gold right now.



One point away from so many things. Can she do it?



So many Stone gorgons. It's really hard to find a safe place to stand.



Strength and luck! Someone give this kid an axe.



This would be a bad idea if gorgons didn't go next to last in the enemy order.



You know, you could at least gain skill.



Still can't touch this, though they do make an effort of it.



I don't know how I'd resolve this chapter without 3+ range. You don't want to fight these gorgons on their own terms.



Case in point.



Good job actually killing someone, dad.



You shame the house of Frelia.



I'll be happy to see the last of these things.



By the way, this is an exhibition of just how scary petrification is. A mere wight archer has a very high chance of obliterating half of Duessel's health bar in a single shot. You can't let someone stay Stone for long.



That's not exactly what I'd expect from Cormag, but more resistance doesn't hurt.



We're making some headway here.







Inch by inch.



One nice thing about the high level of these enemies is that Marisa gets a load of experience from them.



And some defense. Thank freakin' goodness.



Knoll's stats are so hilariously lopsided. He's so powerful and yet so brittle.





...Crap.



Get out of here, gorgon. You don't belong in this world.



How very adequate, dad.



Right, fine, I'll shut up.



Now that the gorgons are gone, it's time to clean up and loot.



For instance, this guy's got a chest key, the only one in the map.



Hunting down stragglers is good for training, apparently.



That's luck capped for L'Arachel. Outstanding.



This chest is a consistent treasure. Not as easy for looting as the one in Valni.



Cormag's a tough dude, but even he's taking a good amount of damage from these ones.



And he refuses to get tougher.



Look at L'Arachel, for pete's sake. She just capped her magic AND got defense.



Elfire: 27%
Divine: 28%
Nosferatu: 28%
White Gem: 2%
Blue Gem: 5%
Red Gem: 10%

I would have preferred to get a Nosferatu, personally.



The mop-up continues.



Ugh.



Oh, did you know that the Phantom can rescue people?



I should have gotten stoned for this, but whatever.



Your brother would be revolted, Cormag.



Seriously, how does L'Arachel keep getting defense (and capping resistance) when a wyvern lord refuses to?



Look at this. She's so powerful that a pair of Swiftsoles hopped on her feet.



Steel Blade: 23%
Steel Lance: 20%
Steel Axe: 20%
Steel Bow: 20%
White Gem: 2%
Blue Gem: 5%
Red Gem: 10%

At least it's not an axe.



So, regarding the Ranger's melee animation...



I don't like it. I think it's the lack of smears, but it just looks really jerky and robotic compared to some of the other animations, especially the one that the Nomad Trooper had in the previous game.



By the way, the boss has a Blue Gem, so the payoff for this map is actually 8000. Really nice, eh?



This never gets old.



Just a little further, L'Arachel, and you'll be able to get speed capped too.



Too bad we don't have any more enemies to whack.

Next Time: A new enemy joins the ranks of team monster, and one of our favorite gimmicks returns from the Tower of Valni.

Extras



Hayden
Class: Ranger
Weapon Ranks: A in swords, A in bows
Affinity: Anima

HP: 37 (70%) Lck: 17 (40%)
Str: 17 (40%) Def: 12 (25%)
Skl: 14 (45%) Res: 12 (25%)
Spd: 15 (45%) Con: 10

I was a little hard on Hayden, but he's actually pretty good. He starts at Level 10, though, so if he doesn't get lucky, he's not going to match his son. Still, as a Ranger, he has swords and bows, so at least he can potentially kill more than one guy per turn. A more direct comparison would be made to Neimi, who pretty much blows him out of the park, but in this case, he's the only Ranger we've got.