Part 2: Type Advantage

Ransei



Oh, that's right! I was going to teach you how to make new allies. Well, it's pretty easy... Not all Warriors are part of an army, you see. There are plenty of free Warriors around as well, ones that are unattached. For example... Um... Ah, I know! Go and have a look in that Cave!



Hm? Me? Nah. I'm a bit of a free spirit, so I'm not keen on staying in one place for too long. And anyway, I've got some things I need to buy in the Shop. See you later, Azai!

...He's gone. Where did he tell us to go again? The Cave, was it?



In such a case, they will not use up their turn.



Let's send in Oichi and see what sweet deals we can get. Depending on the location we enter, our 3 stats can affect how successful they are and give us larger benefits.



Let's get some use out of the portraits I've so wonderfully made.

Here at the Shop, you can buy and sell all sorts of different items! The prices are different for every customer, but items are always cheaper for those who are a little charismatic. Got all that? Great! Have fun shopping!




In the main series items are an absolute necessity, but in this game? Ehhhhhhh? Some of them are really useful, especially ones that give you loads of healing, but most of them have pretty meh effects that won't matter that much in battle and a good chunk are consumable, whereas Skills aren't. Also, there's much better things to spend your gold on, uh, much later. So look forward to that!

The items from the main series are exactly the same, but we'll go over new ones as we come across them (even though I won't be visiting the shop, like, ever). We won't be seeing most of them, however, as there are 99 unique Conquest items. The Crimson Grace recovers HP when standing on lava for 3 turns, while the Burn Block blocks, uh, Burn for 3 turns. Meh. Equipment, meanwhile, is something that a Pokemon can hold, though some of them break. The Strategy Tome increases a Warrior's Wisdom slightly, the Padded Cloak prevents Burns and Freeze and the Harmony Flute boosts link growth slightly.



Elements aren't found in Shops, but instead dropped by wild Pokemon, which we can use later. If I remember. The final category is Other which can be found by wild Pokemon or other means and are usually just stuff to sell. Finally, if your Warrior has over 60 Charisma, then shop's buy/sell rate is improved by 10% and up to 30% for 100 Charisma. Only one Warrior can enter the Shop at once.

"Ponigiri Shop?"

Hit me.

The Ponigiri Shop is a place where you can buy ponigiri to feed to your Pokemon to restore their Energy. Hmm? What exactly is this Energy, you ask? Well, it's kind of a measure of your Pokemon's enthusiasm, I suppose. The higher it is, the more powerful they are!



That's why you should be sure to drop by for some ponigiri if you've got a big battle coming up. In fact, how about I serve one up right now?

Which do you like the look of, Jigglypuff?



We don't have much in the way of options right now, but hey, I'm not gonna say no to free food.



Energy is something you don't really need to keep too much of a track of, since it's not hugely detrimental. Sure, higher Energy Pokemon will have slightly higher stats and gain more Link after battle, but is it worth using up their monthly turn? I dunno. Because the facilities in kingdoms use up a turn that could be better spent elsewhere, usually I find I don't bother much with all the nitty gritty. I'm sure our Pokemon will be fine. Probably.



Oh whoops, I thought the Ponigiri was a freebie, so we'll have to skip a month for Oichi to get her turn back. It's not going to change anything, you're free to take as much time as you need in most cases.

Cave



So you want me to join you, eh? Well, you're going to have to show me what you can do first!




Takatora is our first standard Warrior we can recruit. I suppose I should bring up the distinction between Warriors and Warlords. All Warlords have a unique sprite, a golden background and have higher stats (for the most part), as well as another feature exclusive to them that you may have noticed in the Gallery. Warriors and Warlords alike can be recruited in these small dungeons and for now we just have to beat him in 4 turns. Seems easy enough.

Takatora is based on Tōdō Takatora, a daimyō that is well known for allying himself with those who he believes are winners, such as Hideyoshi's half brother and Tokugawa Ieyasu (get used to seeing this name a lot).



Being the first recruit and that it's a 2 on 1 battle, it shouldn't be tough to take him down.



As easy as that. You can tell if you've recruited a Warrior (since all Warlords are Warriors, but not all Warriors are Warlords) by their dialogue when we defeat them.

Victory!





Now we have a third Warrior in our army!

Ransei



Defeating them in 4 turns, defeating them using a supereffective move, or defeating them without any of your allies suffering damage. There are, however, some free Warriors who can only be recruited by fulfilling certain other special conditions.

Whimsical Time



Oh! You again...

I hope you're not resting on your laurels just because you've conquered Ignis!

...!

Because Aurora is surrounded by other kingdoms... And there's still Greenleaf and Fontaine to go.

You know, the Warriors of Ignis... They mostly use Fire-type Pokemon, right? Strong against Grass, weak against Water... Heh. Everybody knows that, of course.

Anyway, I hear that the Warlord of Greenleaf uses Grass-type Pokemon.



You know, I don't think the Warlords of either Greenleaf or Fontaine have any interest in trying to conquer other kingdoms. I reckon now's your chance to make a move.

Come on. We don't have time to stand around here chatting. We've got to get to the Ponigiri Shop and increase our Pokemon's Energy.

... It sounds like there's just no way of avoiding battle...

Ransei



The more kingdoms you conquer, the more places you'll be able to travel to. You'll meet new Pokemon too. And each kingdom will have all sorts of interesting new locations to visit. Select a castle belonging to Azai's army to command your Warriors to move. You won't send me off on my own anywhere, will you? I'd like to stay with you, Lord Azai, if that's all right.



Two new kingdoms are available for us to take down. You can probably guess which one we'll be going for first. But first, let's have a look at what we might be facing.




Doesn't seem too tough, especially if we get some more Warriors with Fire types going.



Not much else to do except battle again. I won't be doing every single battle I can, especially against wild Pokemon. But I will recruit any Warrior I see (unless I fuck up).

Cave



Uh, hmm, I suppose it's still early days for our army.



Opponents drop boxes when they faint, which anyone can pick up. If it's an item, you can equip it if you want, otherwise it goes to your inventory. If an opponent picks up the box then it's lost forever.



Knock out more things in future instead of leaving them on 1 health, please.



Takatora's now been added to the Gallery, meaning we don't need to worry about him for the rest of the game. Yay! Also when you get past certain Link thresholds a Pokemon's overall strength will increase.



Finally, some new Warriors to recruit. If we can knock them out in 4 turns we'll be golden. We especially want the guy with the Darumaka.



Eevee's range with the Warrior Skill is so good. Also here's some elevation. If a Pokemon is higher than 1 elevation, then it can't be hit by attacks. Pokemon at 1 elevation also have an accuracy bonus. It's usually pretty obvious when a Pokemon is higher than you, but those bonuses don't apply to half or quarter elevations. We'll see those more of that type of terrain later.



Darumaka already has really good Attack, but Run Up makes it a monster.



Holy moley, that's double Jigglypuff's Attack. If you can use Run Up to its full potential then we could start seeing big numbers. Rikyū is based on Sen Rikyū, a tea master under Hideyoshi and one of most influential on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea", more specifically in Wabi-cha, which emphasises simplicity.



We've already seen Tepig, so here's its trainer. Hideaki is based on Kobayakawa Hideaki, a nephew of Hideyoshi. He was a spear fighter instrumental in the Battle of Keicho, despite how reckless he was and was thus deprived of his domain by Hideyoshi. He was also know to attack women and children.



NICE, expect to see this guy a lot.



Eevee is just real good.



By having Pokemon with different move ranges you can attack one Pokemon multiple times no matter its positioning, so long as your Pokemon are free to stand in the required spaces.




Easy enough.



You might be wondering why Jigglypuff has so much strength. A Pokemon's strength takes all stats into account, so Jigglypuff's monstrous HP gives it a slight edge.

Ransei



And then there were 5. I think we can take on Greenleaf now.



That means our Fire-types should shine! Water-types will be in for a long, hard battle, though...



You tell them.

Invasion




I've heard a lot about you... But I didn't expect you to be this young. I suppose you need a bit of youthful energy in this rough old world. Maybe it's time for my generation to call it a day...



Whew... No rest for the wicked, eh? I suppose I'd better do what's expected of me...

VS Greenleaf



Should be more challenging than the last battle, but we'll be just fine.



Now this is a bit different.



You're thinking...strength, right? But strength alone is not enough. Do you understand what I'm saying? Doing battle is not just about defeating your enemies.



Not every battle is an all out slugfest, some kingdom battles have certain objectives to complete to win. You can still knock out all the opposing Pokemon, but that won't automatically win you the battle.



We'll split up to cover more ground. Also every turn the vine in the middle grows to create a bridge and shrinks back the next turn. There's a lot of cool things in this map to go over.



All right, Lord Azai! We won't let you down!



On these maps the AI is very predictable: rush towards the closest banner, do nothing except get to the banner, unless you're blocked or you feel like attacking.



Oh cool, hidden pitfalls you won't know are there unless you memorize their locations from previous playthroughs, that's not an annoying mechanic that continues to pop up over and over again.



Once the AI is on a banner, that's it, they're not moving unless you beat them up and get them off. Which makes them super easy to attack if they can't reach you with their attacks.



The different coloured grass patches are literally map warps that are more useful for the opponent than for you.




A refresher on our Warlord. Mōri Motonari was a prominent daimyō that began as a small jizamurai that took over a large part of the western mainland through marriage, adoption and assassination. He controlled a very large region and was known for his cunning and stratregic excellence.



Kikkawa Motoharu was the second son of Motonari and fought in many prominent battles of the Mōri clan with his brother, Takakage, both becoming known as the Mōri Ryōkawa, or Mōri's Two Rivers. He served under Hideyoshi in his later years.



Kobayakawa Takakage was the youngest son of Motonari and was a samurai and daimyō and fought in many battles to expand the Mōri clan's domain. He opposed Hideyoshi, but later became his retainer and swore loyalty, eventually becoming one of the Five Elders. He died before being able to make full use of this role, however.



Takamoto is the other Sewaddle trainer and is based on Mōri Takamoto, Motonari's eldest son. He had the opportunity to wield great power, being appointed a shugo by the current Shogun and had timely deaths of his neighbouring enemies. When seizing the Ōuchi territory, he died of food poisoning caused by a local samurai, who may have been forced to commit seppuku along with other accused samurai.




Grass Cloak makes Sewaddle a bit of a pain, so we'll send a bit of backup, since Charmander is trapped for 2 turns. Also we're gonna be seeing a fair amount of Bug Bite use over the next few updates, so there's no point in buying items since they'll just get eaten. And they will get eaten.



Oh god we're gonna be here forever.



The grass bridge grows back. Seriously, you see the animation at the end of every turn.



Ah finally, now we can get rid of this thing.



Or Jigglypuff does as little damage as possible. Sigh.



Now THIS is the power of Darumaka. None of our Pokemon have even really reached 20 damage in one attack up until now.



Ah goddammit, okay we'll bring Eevee back to make sure Snivy doesn't get the banner, since it will ignore Tepig and go straight for it.



Okay good, the AI is as dumb as I am, very helpful.



Occasionally one of the Warriors will perk up for a quote mid battle depending on how things are going.



Convenient. Now we can ignore Sewaddle completely and take on the Pansage.




Bloody hell, never mind Jigglypuff you're amazing. Five hits and two criticals? That's that guy recruited at the end of this.



A crit burn, very nice Tepig.



Unfortunately Eevee leaves it on 1HP, a bit of a shame, but it's past 4 turns anyway. Even then, I don't think you can recruit Motonari. Either he's impossible to recruit, or there's no way to reach and defeat him that quickly, since to recruit a Warlord you need to defeat them with a Warlord.



There's a lot of incidental dialogue that can occur during battle, such as with each different status effect. Motonari would say something different if we had defeated him normally. He also has very interesting incidental dialogue (as well as his regular defeat dialogue):

Your Pokemon, Eevee... It looks like you two have grown fairly close... Hey, by the way, I read that there's some faraway world where people put Pokemon into these little balls and carry them around! Pretty strange, no? Now where did I read that...? I guess the peaceful days where I can just focus on my Pokemon research are still a long way away...

Oh dear. Looks like you were too good for us.



And the vine bridge grows again, long after anyone would use it. Thankfully if you stand a Pokemon on it it stops moving for the rest of the battle, but it's still annoying. Oh yeah, let's talk about the other unique features of this map. Standing on the tall flowers will chuck you onto a nearby space, while standing next to the pink tree will restore your status.



Now that we've crawled out of the trap, it won't work again, so we're free to smack Sewaddle in the face. Run Up doesn't activate if you attack without moving.



By defeating the opponents with super effective damage we're able to easily recruit them. It's the most consistent way to obtain new Warriors if you don't reach them within 4 turns. Very rarely you'll recruit someone if you took no damage the entire battle up to that point. Also that slope Sewaddle was on is a good example of different elevations. The block next to Charmander is only 0.5, while the other two are only 0.25, resulting in +1 elevation to go up the whole thing. Get it? The basic rule of thumb is if your Pokemon has to jump up then it's +1 elevation all in one go, otherwise it'll walk up the slowly rising slope. I don't believe there's something that's 0.75 elevation high unless you go from 0.5 to 0.75. Man I'm talking a lot about this, huh?



Let's finish up this battle in one turn.

Victory!




A very fun battle that hopefully shows why this game is pretty cool. Lots of ups and downs, some neat tactics and a lot of vine growing.

Intrigue



Surely now I can be left in peace? You are a more worthy Warlord for Greenleaf than I, Azai. I ask only that you take good care of my beloved kingdom.

Ransei



You can place Warriors anywhere you have space, so let's make our other two kingdoms a bit less completely empty.



With 3 new Warriors we should be good to take on Fontaine... this update! Conquest updates are gonna be a bit longer than usual since if I split them by kingdom they'd vary in size too much, so let's continue on!



New month and a new kingdom! What we got?



Swapping Warriors is pretty easy, but you can't select an amount from the first kingdom and then more than that amount from the second one. Bit annoying, but eh whatever, let's use our new Grass guys.



Am I gonna say yes? Of course I will, yay tutorials!!!

This location here is a place where you can dig for gold! Be sure to dig powerfully to unearth as much as you can! What can be done with gold, you ask? Well, you can exchange it for goods at the Shop for a start. All right, it's time to start digging for gold!




Motoharu can spare his turn this month. The Gold Mine is pretty great as a way of getting free monthly gold with not much of a catch. Obviously the more Warriors you bring with higher Power the more gold you'll get, but we don't need it much right now, so I'll do it if I remember.



Let's go recruit that guy.

Ravine



Murakami Takeyoshi was a prominent navel officer of the Mōri clan, fighting with Kobayakawa Takakage in the First Battle of Kizugawaguchi and successfully thwarting a blockade.



Om nom :3 You might think the Carnivine is trapped, buuuuuuuuuut



Carnivine levitates, basically giving it as much mobility as a Flying type, meaning it can float above any terrain as well as over enemies. They still activate map events, such as switches, however. Very useful, which is why we want one. Stealth is also pretty cool to have a chance of just dodging an attack (when you're on grass).




Simple enough, but Stealth is annoying to fight since it'll always bloody activate. Darumaka is definitely making its worth in gold.



Oh just die already.

Ransei




Ooh, a Meowth, if you bring a Meowth with you to a Gold Mine then you get 50% extra Gold, free of charge. The game never tells you this and it's SUPER nice, so we'll be definitely taking advantage of that when we get a guy with a Meowth. One day.



I'll be cutting out the small minutia of moving Warriors around and that, but once we get properly started on a month to month basis I'll be detailing all the small things you won't be seeing for your sanity and mine.



We'll be going after Fontaine this month, so since we don't need our Fire Warriors to attack them let's recruit some peeps.



Ankokuji Ekei was a Mōri diplomat and a Rinzai (one of three sects) Buddhist monk, who eventually served under Hideyoshi.



Mōri Terumoto is Motonari's grandson through Takamoto. He worked under Hideyoshi and essentially founded Hiroshima by building its castle.

Ravine



Fuckin first turn kill, I love Darumaka.



Ah that barely hurt! Oh yeah, wild Pokemon have a purple aura around them so you know who the Warriors are at a glance.




Super effective damage is basically the crux of this game. To not use it is just giving yourself a disservice and in a game like this, you'll want to speed it up when you can.



Good job, trainees, we'll make Warriors of you yet. Or leave you in the dust as the power curve increases, who knows.

Ransei



We won't be using these guys next month against Fontaine cause we're doing that right now!



Fire-type Pokemon might find it hard... But Grass-type and Electric-type Pokemon should be real useful!

The heck is an Electric type?




Thankfully you don't need all the Warriors you want to use in one kingdom, you can bring them in from one other adjacent kingdom, very useful.



Onward!

Invasion



So you are Azai...? I'd heard that Aurora had a new Warlord... But I always thought that we would meet on the battlefield in Aurora, not here. Well, never mind. A battle is a battle, no matter where it takes place.

VS Fontaine



I don't think we have much to worry about, seeing that Strength difference.




What's your plan, Azai? Defeat is only a matter of time unless you do something.



Okay, looks like we'll have to overwhelm him quickly if they're putting so much focus on turn timers and brute strength.



Oh, uh, never mind. Guess we'll just take our time. Since we have super effective damage we don't have to give a shit about the 4 turn limit for recruitment.



It's a wave... A crushing black wave... But it will not sweep me away. I will continue to fight, continue to cry out...



The Flood Gates aren't really a mechanic since they're easy to manipulate. By closing the left one you can stand on the left side of the map without worrying about the water surprising you. You take a bit of Water typed damage (funny that) and then get shoved back onto land if you're caught in it, but that's all. The fountain deals a bit of Water damage if you stand next to it and will probably do more than the river... for some reason. Yeah, this map doesn't have much.[/i]



It is time to prove that I am worthy to stand on the field of battle!

Chatty lot aren't they? Let's see who we're up against.



Chōsokabe Motochika was a daimyō and not as prominent as Motonari. He gained control of Shikoku Island (the one to the right of the bottom left one) and spread his power and influence throughout the area. Then Hideyoshi came with 100,000 men, so he surrendered the island and served under him. He participated in many battles under him in Japan and Korea.



Chōsokabe Nobuchika was the eldest son of Motochika and served under Hideyoshi. While attempting to take over Kyushu with Hideyoshi and Motochika, he was caught in an ambush during the Battle of Hetsugigawa and was killed. Woo.



Chōsokabe Morichika was the second son of Motochika and was a samurai and vassal of Hideyoshi. Once the ruler of his father's old domain, he was turfed out by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara. He and his sons were beheaded after his defeat at the Battle of Tennoji after failing to defend Osaka Castle.



Fukudome Chikamasa was Motochika's vassal and has a JP wikipedia page, so I don't know anything else about him!



We've crossed the river and have become beset by foes! Oh heaven forbid!!!



We'll float over and give that Wooper a big smack, easy recruitment.




I, uh, don't think we're in much trouble here. Funnily enough in this battle where I purposefully entered overpowered... I end up overpowered!



Another one.



You might have already figured that friendly fire is definitely a thing, so watch out for that. Though I think Panpour will have a bigger problem than Sewaddle.



All that's left is the big guy. Will he be a dangerous threat?




Nope! Cause teaming up on your opponents 3 at a time makes this game laughably easy.

Victory!



Yeah, using 6 Pokemon against the opponent is just unfair, since the AI cannot strategize at your level. Oh well.



Remember, you need to take out a Warlord with another Warlord to be able to recruit them regardless of other circumstances. We didn't really have that option, so it's not a big deal.

Long Day



But even though my castle is lost, my Pokemon will never leave me. Together, we will continue to resist the tides of fate.




Our fourth kingdom and three more Warriors. We actually have something resembling an army here!

Stars



... You've heard the stories too, haven't you, Lord Azai? The legendary Pokemon who is said to appear before the one who conquers all the kingdoms... The truth is that...right now... Ransei is on the brink of destruction...

Looming



A certain Warlord had set out on the road to conquest.



His name was Nobunaga... His stated aim was to conquer all of the kingdoms and destroy Ransei.

Stars



So... I think we should find this legenday Pokemon before Nobunaga does! That way, we can save Ransei! ...Luckily, Nobunaga's reach doesn't extend this far south yet.



Each of their Warlords is famed far and wide for their courage and strength. If we could get them to join us, our army would be truly formidable...

Ransei



We're up against some pretty fearsome opponents this time... Pugilis, especially, is full of Fighting-type Pokemon. They might be too strong for Normal-type Pokemon like Eevee and Jigglypuff... And I have a feeling these Warlords might try invading our kingdoms, too... If we don't station Warriors to defend our castles, we could be in trouble...



Oh how hard could these guys be? We easily beat Motonari and Morichika.




O-Okay, maybe we shouldn't go for Pugilis juuuuuuust yet...



We don't have much in the way of supereffective damage for Violight, which have 2 Warlords we'll have to face down.



...And I don't even wanna know what's going on up there. Seems like we've got our work cut out for us.