Part 16: Tutorials 5-8

Welcome back to the second part of the tutorials update! This is also the least interesting part, so this'll be a short one.

Tutorial Five: ZOC: the ultimate defense!



ZOC stands for Zone of Control. It's a skill, but it's pretty rare, and only a few people have it. ZOC is an incredible skill that prevents your opponents from passing through you. So it's not too smart to try to beat on people who have it. See if you can figure out how to beat someone that has it!

Igraine disappears, then reappears a moment later.

Oh! One other thing! It won't be Raine this time, but you do have a valuable ally to help you out!

Camera pans down.

He's an archer!



Keep their range in mind and try a few different things.



Between Serdic and Ansom is this guy.




Glass is really scary. I don't believe it wears off naturally, and the only effects that outright heal statuses are Holy Prayer (temporary, self only) and Soul Cleanse (AOE around user, restricted to third class Kay and a route-specific character). The only safeguard is that it's a rare status.

Serdic does 0 damage (despite the damage formulas saying he should do 90 -- hidden innate ability?), Ansom can't kill him in one round, he has enough range to attack Ansom afterward, and he's going to one-shot Ansom if he does attack.



Fortunately, that's what the pews are for. He won't aggro until you're in range.



If you don't get this, you lose and get a boring failure message.

Don't think you have to handle everything by yourself. Do your best!

If you do, you get an equally uninspiring success message.

Wow! That did it! Don't forget that you're not alone. You have your allies to help you out!

I miss quirky tutorial writer.

Tutorial Six: The wonderful power of Magic!



The topic this time is magic... Raine's specialty! It can cover long distances, hit big groups of enemies... It's really useful in lots of situations! But using it will take MP, and if you don't have enough to cast the spell, you can't use it. There are several ways to regain MP, but for now we'll focus on items! So keep your eye on Raine's MP, and do your best! Oh, and if you haven't figured it out yet, Raine will fight with you this time. You're a boy, Serdic, so you'd better protect Raine and give her a proper escort!




Igraine is in contention for the most useless OB in the game. Selmer makes her look durable, so you won't get much use out of Pain Transfer.

Luckily, Serdic has ZOC and a North Medal (+30 Defense, -25 Attack) this map. The conditions screen didn't say "Serdic dies" because Serdic can't die. He does and receives about zero damage this map, probably due to the invisible 0 damage skill from the last tutorial.

(Also, if anyone makes a gif of the swaying animation Igraine does in her status screen then you will be my new favorite person.)



For this map, Igraine has a level 5 Taion Raioh and nothing else. It's a lightning spell that attacks in a rectangle, initially 3x4 and leveling up to 3x5. You won't get much use out of it normally, but it's perfect for this map.




(vocal, no text) Darkness, defeat my enemy!






It's several barrages of the spark balls from Storm Rave -- four in all -- then a single giant lightning bolt. It's more impressive than the actual ultimate lightning spell; it feels kind of like they mixed up the animations.

Then you have to move Serdic directly in front of her. If you don't, the enemy will kill her and you'll lose the map.

(vocal, no text) This might be the end...



She is remarkably calm about you getting her killed.

On the second turn, you have to have Serdic use a Peach Nectar on her to restore her MP, because Taion Raioh costs 100 MP to use and she has no other spells.

Before that, though, she's hit level 3 OB. Let's look at Pain Transfer!



(vocal, no text) Leave it to Raine!



Yes, a random book (or Mahjong tile?) just falls from the sky and beans her on the head.







(That's the same blast wave effect as Ignite Lore and Megido Nova.)



Anyway!



This is also your tutorial on friendly fire on spells.

Wooooow! See? Isn't magic useful?



Stop violating my spoiler policy, tutorial!

Tutorial Seven: Go for the Overbreak!




All of your allies can use them, but you need to fill the OB gauge in combat first. The OB gauge is the thing that's swishing around in the lower-right corner of the top screen.



The number shows the strength from 1 to 3. The larger the number, the more powerful the effect! Once you use it, the gauge goes back to zero, so remember that. I guess it's okay to use it once it's filled a little bit. Give it a whirl!




Kill these two enemies and five enemies move down.



Use your OB on five lined-up enemies to win, or pass turn to see the failure text.

Don't worry! You'll get it next time!

Different writers.

Good work!



Inconsistency. OverBreak or Overbreak?

Tutorial eight: Maintaining your MC!

The first eight tutorials teach you, but the last three tutorials test you. I was a little torn as to which update this one should go with, but... I'll leave the last two in their own update.



You know how it says "Momentum Counter" on the top screen? If it's high, that character is doing well... but that means the enemy will attack you more often!




I actually did not remember this. Oops.

It's one of those... umm... "high risk, high return" things. This time, try using your Momentum Counter to win. Remember the hints from the other lectures, and try using what you've learned!




You start far away from the enemy, about twenty tiles. There's no way at all to reach them before the enemy does.



This is basically the one time you will ever use Knight Maxim. Serdic also has a Champion Gem in his inventory, the middle of three OB-increasing items; it adds just over a meter. I use it while the enemies are en route.

You see, this stage is actually fairly clever. Serdic isn't strong enough to kill any of the enemies in one turn, and they can kill you in four attacks. Unless you manage to attack all three of them both turns, you'll be hit four times and die.

Hmm... I'll give you a hint: Skills! Keep on fighting!

If you failed this from taking four attacks, this hint actually trolls you. You have Retributor in your skills list, which briefly boosts your counter attack rate. Unfortunately, Retributor only ever lasts one turn. Unless you counter all three enemies, using Retributor is either ineffective or actively detrimental.



Instead, you're supposed to lure the enemies down into your OB, take out two of them at once, then kill the last at your leisure.

*clap* *clap* I dunno if there's anything new for Raine to teach you! Just keep going onward to victory!

Chapter 13 tomorrow. The Ansom vote ends in a little over six hours.