Part 14: Tutorials 1-4

I checked the tutorials a few days ago, wondering if there was anything worth covering. None of it is really going to tell you something I haven't, but there's some amusing moments, some weird ones, and some surprisingly large dick moves. It's a microcosm of the greater game that way.

Boring tutorials will get skimmed over, and most of the early ones are boring. I'm doing this in three chunks -- tutorials 1-4, 5-8, and 9-10. These aren't necessary updates, so feel free to skip them if you want.

Tutorials, Part 1



You access the tutorials through the appropriate button on the title screen. None of the tutorials are locked; you can start right at map 10 if you so desire.

Tutorial One: What's "Route Maneuver?"



No, I didn't skip her introduction. She just jumps right into it.

It's about the "Route Maneuver" system, and it's really important in this game. You don't walk up to people and attack. You run right through them! So you can't just hem in an enemy, see? Okay, let's give it a try!




There's only these three enemies. You die in two hits, but they die in one.



You have to actually run THROUGH the enemy. Got it!? Do it right next time! Okay... we'll stop here.

Then it boots you back to the tutorial selection screen.

This time, I do it right.



For the curious: Serdic's defense is tanked like that because of maxed Daredevil (+attack, -defense) and a South Medal (+10 Attack, -20 Defense). Due to attack formulas, the latter is actually an even trade (+20 damage done, +20 damage received). The versions of Serdic used in the tutorial use his normal stats and stat growths, they just auto-level and reskill him appropriately.



But I have a lot more to teach you, so let's get going!

End of the first tutorial. On to the second!

Tutorial Two: Don't forget Support skills!



This time I'll explain "Support." So... unlike enemies, when you pass through enemies, you get a boost. Oh, but not always. You have to pass through an ally who's learned a Support Skill. For now, just pass through Raine and attack the enemy!




Sounds easy enough.



For this tutorial, Igraine has the Aggressor skill, which maxes out at 15%, and Serdic has Valor Bonds, which is 10% boost to support per level. He must have skill level 4 for some reason? Odd.




Wait, what?



But you didn't say--



Yeah, that!




(There's footstep sounds and everything.)



The random civilians on the stage also have Aggressor, and the skill stacks.




You've got a good idea of how Support works now! Let's keep going and move on to the next topic.

Tutorial Three: Look out for counters!

This is a really misleading name.



Ummm... It's easiest to see for yourself, but there's something important called "Facing." So it's better to attack from the side than from the front, and best of all to attack from behind. The enemy has the same chance of counter-attacking, no matter what, so attack from behind if you can. Oh! Counter-attacks are based on percentages, so even if you attack from the front, you might be safe.





Come on, let's give it a try.




What was she saying? Ehh, must not have been important



Oh shit



...oh.

You kind of suck, man.







Sadly, this is when the tutorial changed writers or translators or something. You don't get any more lines like the above for the rest of the tutorial.

Okay, let's stop screwing around. Hit him from the back instead and he dies.

Okay! Well done! Let's keep it up and go to the next lesson.

Tutorial Four: What is an Active Skill?



Skills are... Umm...

Kind of useless?

Well, they're really useful! You can use them instead of moving or attacking to make yourself or your allies stronger. You've got to use your head in some battles insead of just bashing on the enemy. So give it a try!



The apparent change of writer also changed the win/lose condition boxes. I liked the way it was before; the ellipses made it sound like the lose condition box was answering a really dumb question.

"How do I win?" "Kill them in one turn." "How do I lose?" "Er... You... don't kill them in one turn?"

Anyway, the enemy with his hat poking out over the box has Megido Nova, the Fire-elemental ultimate spell. It attacks all targets in a square around you, starting at 5x5 and leveling up to 11x11, and is the most powerful spell in the game. But it also has friendly fire, so it's not very useful! That 11x11 square means that it only attacks five tiles directly out from you, enemies know your spell ranges, and the list of enemies who are 1) tough enough to merit the spell and 2) slow enough to not murder you first is quite small. You can make some use of it if you use ZOC and then move Margus the hell out of the way afterward, but that usually isn't worth it.

The enemy is tough enough to withstand one hit from Serdic, and his spell will kill in one. The failure dialogue isn't very interesting:

Hmm. Was that a little too hard? But if you give up now... it's the end of everything! You have to do your best!

Serdic has the skill Fire Cloak, which lowers enemy fire damage for one turn. Yes, one turn. There's a Cloak skill for Ice and Lightning too, and outside of this tutorial, you will never buy or use any of them.





Megido Nova.

The enemy is tough enough to survive one hit from Serdic, but they can't survive two, and he doesn't have the MP to cast Megido Nova level 5 twice.

Wow! You did it... Raine's so proud of you! Do your best on the next one, too!

That's it for now. Tomorrow, chapter 12, then tutorials 5-8.