The Let's Play Archive

TearRing Saga

by CVE

Part 2: Intermission - Arrival in Verje

Intermission - Arrival in Verje



Welcome back. Now it’s time to move towards Verje, but first let’s look at the overworld menu. “Move” allows you to move between the different locations.



Status gives you a quick overview over your current units.



“City” only pops up while you are on maps with shops. It let’s you visit those shops directly from the overworld.



And lastly “manage” lets you trade items and weapons among your units.



We take the wooden shields of Kate and Garo and place them on Arkis and Runan.



Anyway, time to head into Verje.





: Why didn’t you come to my aid? I barely escaped from the palace with my life trusting that you would be there for me, but no, you simply left me on my own!

What is with the change of personality?

: Forgive me, the report of your escape only came in late last night. I was not prepared for the sudden news, so my departure was delayed.

: How coldhearted! You don’t care at all about me, do you, Raffin? I thought I trusted you...

: My humblest apologies...

: ... Don’t worry Raffin, I’m kidding. I just wanted to tease you. I’m not mad at you at all.

: ...

Only sensible reaction short of slapping her...

: Oh, did I upset you? You’ve always been so imperturbable, as if nothing in heaven or earth could move you, so I just wanted to see you flustered, but I apoligize if I angered you. I’m sorry...

: ... Lady Sasha, would you mind introducing your friend to us?

: Oh, of course. This is...

: I am Raffin, son of Count Maron of Verje. Please, follow me. I must invite you inside before we can continue our conversation. My father has been waiting for you.



: I suspected it to be Lord Runan when I heard the report of the flag of the Blue Dragon. So you have come to reinforce your militia with our troops.

: That is correct. We Lazerian Knights are among the finest in Liebe, but our numbers have dwindled in the recent string of battles. With only a few dozen knights left, we have no hope to recapture our homeland. We decided to seek aid from the Kingdom of Wellt, our closest friend and mighty ally.

: Surely you must know by now the chaos our country is in. The court is run by a greedy pro-Empire chancellor and we do not even know about the safety of our own queen. Providing troops to you under our current circumstances would be difficult.

: Count Maron, what kind of person is Kodder?

: He is a member of a very powerful family which has its roots in the royal house of Sutherland itself. He is the lord of a vast area north of the royal capital. However, he is cunning, greedy and vile. He places harsh taxes on his people, takes their women as his own and executes all those who oppose him.

The good old irredeemable Fire Emblem villain. Shine on you crazy guy

: Why do you let a man like that run loose? Can you not expel him from the court?

: As you are aware, our country suffered a massive hit from the Balt War six months ago. Kodder and the majority of the nobles were against the dispatch, arguing that we should seek a path of peace with the Empire. However, the Empire has joined forces with the dark cultists from Gazel. King Ropharl declared that the Empire would lead the world to ruin unless something were done to stop them. Only the brave nobles loyal to the king accompanied him as he went off to battle.

: I see... And now only disgraceful nobles such as Kodder remain.

: It is true. I am ashamed to acknowledge that I, too, was one of those who survived...

: The king must have trusted you to keep watch in his place. Is there no way to stop Kodder?

: I tried many times to talk some sense into that man, but never once did he heed me. It seems that I am left with no choice but to evict him by force, but our army here in Verje lacks the sufficient manpower.

: Are Kodder’s forces that numerous?

: That is one issue, but the main problem is that the bulk of our troops left for Balt with my eldest son. Only a handful of knights under the command of my other son, raffin, remain. Additionally, bandits from Taurus have been taking advantage of our lack of troops to attack the nearest villages. It is our foremost duty to protect our people and we do not have enough men to spare to confront Kodder.

: ... I see. Then allow us to deal with the bandits. We will subdue them so that they will be inactive for a fair amount of time. Will you reconsider if we do this?

: I have no objection to this. However, are you sure you wish to involve yourselves in this?

: We would have it no other way.

: Very well. Then, Raffin, you may accompany them. You can serve as their guide in our lands.

: Yes...

: Father, I shall go as well!

: No, Esther. You will stay here.

: Wait, Raffin. As a knight, one must never run in the face of battle... Very well, Esther, go and prove yourself a worthy daugther of this house.

: Yes, Father!

: Lord Runan, I would be pleased to spare you one more of my best soldiers. Please, come this way.



: However, I ask that you only take one of them, as the rest will be necessary to guard the keep.



So here we are to choose one of those soldiers to accompany us. Let’s talk to them to get some information before deciding.





: I may not be handy with a blade, but I could still be useful to you.

: What do you think, Eugen?

: Let’s see... Bishop Lee specializes in magic for both healing and offense. He has the very abilities that our force currently lacks. On the contrary, we cannot expect him to stand on the frontlines with a sword in his hand.

Lee



Character stats

Bishop

code:
                               HP 	Str 	Mag 	Skl 	Agl 	Luk 	 Wlv 	Def 	Mov
Base stats                     25         0      13       9      11       3        3      12       5

Stat caps                      60        15      22      20      22      30       20      18      12

Growth Rates                   35% 	  0% 	15%  	 10% 	 10% 	 20% 	  10% 	  5% 	  0%
Skills

none

On the first glance you may think that Lee is awesome, but then you realize that he has no promotion, shit growths and not a single skill. Not only that, he also joins at lvl 15 meaning you have even less room to test your luck in case you really hate yourself. Do not choose him unless you really want a unit that can use staves and magic (he is the only one) or want the special wand he gives another character.






: What do you think, Eugen?

: Let’s see... Sir Ezekiel specializes in the axe. His attacks are powerful, albeit lacking in accuracy. He is strong and above all experienced. We can rely on him as an immediate asset.

Ezekiel



Character stats

Axe Knight -> Sergeant

code:
                               HP 	Str 	Mag 	Skl 	Agl 	Luk 	 Wlv 	Def 	Mov
Base stats                     27         8       0       6       7       3        7      8       5

Stat caps                      60        20      15      19      19      30       18     20      12

Promotion Gains                +2 	 +2 	 +0 	 +2 	 +2 	 +0 	  +1 	 +1 	 +1

Promotion Caps                 60        22      15      21      21      30       19     21      12

Growth Rates                   75% 	 25% 	 5%  	 25% 	 20% 	 25% 	  35% 	 28% 	  0%
Skills

Blazing Wind (starting), City Fighter (starting), Mountain Fighter (lvl 12), Plains Fighter (lvl 18), Frontier Fighter (lvl 24)

Ezekiel isn’t bad by any means unfortunately there are people who can do his job better than he. Still his caps are decent and his skill layout gives him a constant boost on almost every map. He is also necessary to recruit a rather mediocre character whom’s only benefit is that she comes with a silence staff.






: What do you think, Eugen?

: Let’s see... i appreciate Narron’s enthusiasm, but I do not see any particular skill worth noting. Still, maybe... Just maybe, he may be a diamond in the rough, who just needs the time to be uncovered.

Narron



Character stats

Cavalier -> Gold Knight

code:
                               HP 	Str 	Mag 	Skl 	Agl 	Luk 	 Wlv 	Def 	Mov
Base stats                     22         6       0       3       5       6        4      5       7

Stat caps                      60        19      15      18      18      30       16     18      12

Promotion Gains                +8 	 +6 	 +0 	 +7 	 +7 	 +0 	  +4 	 +5 	 +1

Promotion Caps                 60        25      15      25      25      30       20     23      12

Growth Rates                   60% 	 35% 	15%  	 25% 	 20% 	 25% 	  30% 	 22% 	  0%
Skills

Elite (starting), Blazing Wind (lvl 12 and promoted), Re-move (lvl 16), Continue (promoted), Big Shield (promoted)

Narron may start out weak, but holy crap look at those promotion gains. He promotes into possibly the best class in the game given its caps and gets these gains in addition. He also got Elite so leveling him will be a breeze as long as you are careful. His other skills aren’t bad nor are his growths. He can become an absolute beast as long as the RNG doesn’t hate you and even then he’ll probably turn out decently enough.






: I am merely a hunter, but please allow me to help you defeat the bandits.

: Lord Runan, we do not yet have a competent archer among our ranks. Ruka’s skill with the bow may be just what we need at the moment.

Ruka



Character stats

Bow Fighter -> Bow Master

code:
                               HP 	Str 	Mag 	Skl 	Agl 	Luk 	 Wlv 	Def 	Mov
Base stats                     19         4       0       5       8       1        2      6       4

Stat caps                      60        19      15      20      20      30       18     17      12

Promotion Gains                +4 	 +3 	 +0 	 +1 	 +1 	 +0 	  +1 	 +3 	 +1

Promotion Caps                 60        22      15      21      21      30       19     20      12

Growth Rates                   60% 	 25% 	 5%  	 50% 	 40% 	 40% 	  25% 	 15% 	  0%
Skills

Charge (lvl 15), Continue (lvl 30), City Fighter (promotion)

Ruka suffers from the same problem as all archers do in these games. He can only kill a single unit per turn due to his lack of counterattacks (unless the A.I. is moronic). He will get a unique Hand Bow granting +30 Crt and can be used (by sacrificing him) to make one mediocre character less sucky. On the bright side his stats caps aren’t too bad although his strength score is worrying. There are better archers in the game if they strike your fancy.



Thread Participation

So thread, what are you thinking? Who should accompany us? Vote for anyone out of Lee, Ezekiel, Narron or Ruka. Voting will be open for 24-48 hours.


In addition here are the informations for Esther and Raffin, who will be coming along anyway.

Esther



Character stats

Cavalier -> Paladin

code:
                               HP 	Str 	Mag 	Skl 	Agl 	Luk 	 Wlv 	Def 	Mov
Base stats                     21         4       0       4       4       5        4      3       7

Stat caps                      60        19      15      18      18      30       16     18      12

Promotion Gains                +3 	 +3 	 +0 	 +4 	 +4 	 +0 	  +3 	 +3 	 +1

Promotion Caps                 60        22      15      22      22      30       19     21      12

Growth Rates                   50% 	 30% 	15%  	 30% 	 35% 	 45% 	  25% 	 18% 	  0%
Skills

City Fighter (starting), Life or Death (lvl 14), Elite (lvl 20), Gale (lvl 28)

Esther can potentially be a really good character if you find the time to train her. Her caps are pretty decent and she gets Elite (although rather late but it should still help) so she will level decently. Her Skills are helpful as well and her growths are pretty good. However she is the 3rd (or 4th cavalier if Narron is selected) and isn’t that much better (or worse) than the others.

Raffin



Character stats

Commando Knight -> Dragon Knight

code:
                               HP 	Str 	Mag 	Skl 	Agl 	Luk 	 Wlv 	Def 	Mov
Base stats                     27         8       0       8       7       2        7      9       8

Stat caps                      60        21      15      20      19      30       19     20      12

Promotion Gains                +2 	 +2 	 +0 	 +0 	 +2 	 +0 	  +0 	 +2 	 +0

Promotion Caps                 60        23      15      20      21      30       19     22      12

Growth Rates                   55% 	 25% 	10%  	 35% 	 25% 	 25% 	  40% 	 18% 	  0%
Skills

Re-move (starting), Gale (lvl 17), Continue (lvl 24)

Raffin is a pre-promote and while this usually spells doom for the unit in question in terms of long term viability this is not the case for Raffin due to the way promotions work. In a change from Fire Emblem, promotions in TearRing Saga do not affect the exp gain of the unit. So a lvl 6 promoted earns the same experience points for actions like a lvl 6 unpromoted unit would. As an added bonus Raffin will promote again. His growths aren’t too bad nor are his caps. He can use both spears and swords while dismounted as well. Depending on how the RNG treats him he can surely last through the game.