Part 4: Move and Shoot Exercises

Update 4: Move and Shoot Exercises



What!? This never happened, why do I have these titles on my original file? I savescummed!


--

Music - Briefing

Anyways, back to another episode of How I Found My Brother, where we proceed to shoot dudes in the face because there was too much text last time.

The poll was answered and our main team members for this chapter are Marion, Mischlitt, Melissa, Helmut, Lotte, and Noel. They will always be the units I'm first to rely on in combat.


This is the full group I will be taking into this chapter, consisting of the non-removable protagonists, our main six, and the other units that were voted for. Magari and Alexis are present to fill in the remaining slots, chosen on personal preference.




First up, the Combat Exercise. This mission is an elimination mission, requiring me to take out all enemy units. It's very easy.


The only two units I'm putting down initially are Melissa and Marion. The game always gives you a warning about this, but the only downside to not filling all your deployment slots is having to spend CP if you're using someone for defense, but even that's minor as you'd need to move them anyways to have them be crouching

The primary reason I'm doing it is because of that enemy camp very close by. Calling in units from that base once captured will save me some AP and that's great.

With that, let's head on in.



Music: Exciting Battle


Tutorial: Morale-
Morale increases the chance of positive potentials activating. If it hits 0, you lose.
Morale is gained on taking out enemies and capturing bases while it is lost on having units go down or if your own bases are captured.



The first thing I do is move Marion up to take out this crouching scout and capture their base.

: "My pleasure, sir!"


: "Enemy sighted!"

The enemy in the distance is a crouched shocktrooper, and that's always a problem.


There's also a scout off to the side here. Marion's taking bullets from both sides, but you'll notice she hardly takes any damage from rifle shots thanks to being a shocktrooper.


Marion responds in kind by point-blanking this guy. She only needs 6 out of 20 shots to hit, and there's no doubting that at this distance.


He eats dirt, as expected.

: "A clean hit!"



I quickly follow up by capping the base.


She'll wait over here for now.

Melissa's up now.



: "Roger."


: "Hmhm! Even I can barely find me..."

She immediately triggers one of her potentials. I send her around to deal with that pesky scout off to the side.



: "Hey...!"


: "You asked for that."

It goes well.


I move her in sight of this shocktrooper for no reason. You'll note his icon is a bit different, and he has a CP point on it as well- he's a commander like Avan. If we take him down, the enemy loses 1 max CP.


Scanning the map, Marion's in sight of two more enemies- the last ones on the map, actually. A crouched shocktrooper and a standing scout.

Before I take action again, I wanted to show this screen off.


This ranks each character's participation in the current map, defining how many credits they get at the end of each map. The top two get more for being MVP and Runner Up. I'll explain what this all means later.


This just shows you how much each action is worth.

Anyways, back to the fight!


: "On my way."

Let's bring in Mischlitt so I can show off Armor Techs.


Techs don't have the best AP in the world, but their shield and armor makes up for that.


Their shields block about 95% of all projectile types in the game. However, they've only got melee attacks in a game about guns.

If that sounds dumb, that's because it kinda is, but wait until you see what ridiculous stuff they end up with later.


: "There are walls we cannot break."

Moving her forth and past the shocktrooper, you can see the kind of damage she takes when hit from behind.

Here she's also triggered a negative potential, Insular, which lowers her evasion...which doesn't really matter.



Aside from being able to destroy sandbags, Techs also have a huge swing on their weapons.



Case in point.


I end her turn right here. She'll be fine as we've got more than enough CP to beat this map in one round.


: "Engaging the enemy."

Well, actually, let's finish this guy off.




: "A perfect hit!"


I end with her blocking this guy's bullets so I can turn him around.

Techs end their turn by kicking at the ground a bit with their feet.


: "Noel here!"

Just to show off lancers, I give Noel some time to shine.


Valkyria Chronicles has spear shaped rocket launchers.


: "Please hit!"




...They're not as powerful against humans as you would think. Lancers are mostly for armored target slaying.

However, just like Armor Techs, their attacks have a knockdown effect that prevents enemies from counterattacking.


Girl lancers tap their foot against the ground a few times. Dudes just raise their lances kinda like a flag.

Oh, and all the lancers, Noel included, are probably ripped given how well they handle these things.


: "I'm ready to go!"

Noel needs a chance to get a few credits here, so I let her take out the commander.


: "I'm feeling good, really good!"



These shots were intentionally captured to be as obscured as possible.


I questioned the use of grenades, but doing this to a fellow student can't be legal. His face is smoking for crying out loud!


: "Hey, I got 'em!"

Commanders also have a little effect of a CP icon breaking apart when they're taken out.



(Avan says this for nearly every elimination mission-)

Music: Reward


Well, that one was easy enough. That wasn't done as optimally as possible, but I had fun, so I guess that counts.


These are just crafting materials for new weapons and stuff. We'll see some of that mechanic soon.


And here's the amount of credits everyone got! Their credit ranking just gives a character a placement, like 1st (MVP), 2nd (Runner Up), and then 3rd - 6th. Whichever place they're in determines how many credits they get, I think. I'm pretty sure the type of credit is RNG. I don't really know how this system works, just that it's grindy as hell.

We'll see what they're used for at the end of the update.



Music: Faint Youth


Well, we're back in our room, but we've got a few more options this time.

Stats lets us check various statistics about missions completed, unit types used, etc.

Yearbook lets us look at information we have on characters, as well as view any personal events we've already seen with them.

Class Notes is just all the tutorials we've seen so far.

Squad Name, well...


WE ARE TEAM ANIME

...Anyways, let's go to sleep.


Oh, look, it's raining.


Hey, we've got some new stuff available. I'll cover this at the end of the update.

--

Music: Briefing


Battle time, again!

This mission is all about getting from one point to the other, which is why we'll bring our other two scouts, Helmut and Lotte.

Not much else to this, so let's get to it then!



Music: Exciting Battle


Another line we'll be seeing often.


First thing we see is a standing shocktrooper not far ahead of us. We can't avoid him because they blocked off that side path on the map.


Across the large trench is a scout waiting at the base we're here to capture.


: "Underway."

We have to take action at some point, so I send in Helmut.


This is what I meant when I said the side path was blocked off. You can see these little steel barricades on the map, represented by brackets.


After ignoring a tutorial where the game tells us about grass, I crawl into the grass here.

Crawling is about as effective as crouching, but has the benefit of also concealing where you're at.


Going commando, Helmut crawls forth and triggers his Sighting potential after seeing another enemy.


It's not a big accuracy increase, but it's something.


: "I don't miss."

After promptly whiffing one into the wall behind the trooper, he proceeds to land the other four shots dead on.


: "Target destroyed."

Like so.


I have to end his move as his AP runs out just before he reaches the sandbags.


: "Sure, dude!"

Time to send in Netzel.


All the girls wear skirts in their combat outfits now, instead of that just being for captains.

It's mid-January and this is a terrible idea.


Do you see how Helmut's name is in the upper right corner? This means he'll join Lotte when she attacks for an Assist Attack.

For it to work, both units have to be standing somewhere close together and able to reasonably aim at the same target. It practically doubles damage, so be sure to do it often if you can.


: "I'll assist."

At this distance, Lotte probably wouldn't win this on her own. The likelihood of all headshots at this range is very low. Even though the AI controlling Helmut aims for the chest, it's still good damage.


: "Death toll skyrockets!"

With two headshots from Lotte and quite a couple bodyshots, this trooper didn't know what hit him.


To end, Lotte moves up...


: "I'm afraid I can't allow you to live."

...And Helmut starts moving up as well.


See that little block on the ground there? That's a land mine. You step on them, you go boom. The damage they deal is more than enough to one-shot most characters at this point in the game.

An armor tech can disable them, but we can easily sidestep these.


Around the corner, Helmut sights yet another trooper. Unfortunately, his AP ran out before he could approach a reasonable range.

Attacking from this distance is mostly pointless (thanks to counterattacks), so I end his turn where he stands.


...And I immediately move him again. He should have enough AP to reach the grass.


He sights a few more enemies while getting shot in the side. It's enough to dive for the grass, though.


Blue lines of sight mean they can't see him. Which is good, because they'll have a very low chance of ever dodging his attack.


I shimmy up through the grass and toss a grenade behind this guy.


: "You're in the way."

The exclamation mark means this attack is a surprise, therefore the enemy will not dodge it.



Did what I wanted it to!


Last CP for the round- I need to get Lotte to clear this guy off of Helmut.


: "Here goes, full throttle!"

Going well enough...


Aiming for the foot, just in case he tries to dodge...


Easy enough...


: "Death toll skyrockets!"

But I'm just stuck out in the open! Curses!

Ah well, she's got Helmut to back her up. His interception fire should be more than enough.



The scout from the flag moves up. If this looks odd, it's because the base flags actually have line of sight.



Somehow he gains an AP Use Up debuff? Either way, he goes to attack Helmut and whiffs completely.



It was a bad move on his part.



Lotte takes action first this time so we can even out their kill counts.


The game interrupts me to say that I can climb watchtowers and ladders. I'm skipping most tutorials at this point.


You know, that's a cool shot of Lanseal in the background. Really adds some immersion to the field.


: "Gallian girl attacks!"


Her voicelines are some of the best.


: "Got one!"

This dude eats grass, but it ends up the same as if he ate dirt.

Oh, and we hit morale level 4.




Lotte runs around the crate and prepares to take the flag on her next action.



...Which comes after Helmut takes out the last guy. Woo!


: "On it!"

*No commentary needed.



We'll also be seeing this line a lot, but even more than his other lines. Base capture maps are really common in this game.


Music: Reward




And Team Anime gets the spoils of victory. Helmut was ahead of Lotte by one point in terms of credit value. The weapon materials won't be used for a while.




We're not ending it here, just yet. We've got a story battle to do tomorrow, so why don't I rewind time a bit and show off R&D and the Drill Grounds?

--



Music: Everyday Life of the Class


Welcome to R&D. This lady right here is Lavinia Lane, and we'll get a proper introduction to her later.

For now, she'll work on improving our gear.



Field suits are the defensive gear worn by Scouts, Shocktroopers, and Engineers. The other classes have their own specialized versions.

We might've been able to afford this if I didn't continue the LP on the wrong save by accident, because it still has one mission listed as B-rank.


The only thing we can afford for the moment is an upgrade to the Gallian rifle, adding a measly 1 point to both of its damage stats and its accuracy.


Basic equipment like this gives you an option to auto-equip it to everyone in your squad. Choosing not to will only replace the guns of units still using the inferior model.


Some enemy Aces drop weapon plans that let us make specialized guns. These special guns are different from the main tree of guns and only produce 1 at a time. I'll cover it more when we actually get a chance to make one.

As a last note, the X-series of weapons typically inflict status effects on shot. Unfortunately most of them are inferior to straight firepower.

With that, let's hit the Drill Grounds.



Music: Royal Military Academy


Remember our ol' pal, the Drill Instructor? He takes care of leveling up our classes and allowing us to promote units.


Leveling up classes applies to all units of a specific type. This increases all stats at marginal levels, but affects every unit of that type. Every five levels we also get a new order.


I throw a level into scout and shocktrooper each because they're my most versatile units at the moment.


On to changing classes! We can do this for every unit, but I'm using Avan for an example as he has the power of free choice to be any unit type he wants.

The general rule for all promotions is that the left option maintains the base mechanics of the class and just does an overall stat improvement with maybe a few goodies. The right path always changes something about the mechanics of the class.

In this case, changing to sniper severely drops HP and AP, but gives them a powerful, long-range sniper rifle to use instead.


To promote into a different class, a unit needs a certain amount of credits from participation in combat. Only certain credits are handed out by each mission, and which ones your units get seem to be random- being MVP or Runner Up just gives you more of what RNG decided. This is where the big grind of the game is, and there's so many ways this system could have been done to make this better.

For now, we'll have to put up with it.

Now, have a montage of the details of every currently visible promotion!



(Very good at one shot, one kill, and can easily take out tough enemies from far away. Awful mobility, though.)



(Has special machine guns that have huge ammo capacities and are amazing at base defense.)



(Instead of rockets, has long range, high powered grenades. Ineffective against armored targets.)



(Drops their healing abilities to provide damage and defense boosts instead)



(Gets a high-damage sword instead of the winky pick, ridiculous defense. Can upgrade into something even more ridiculous.)

...And that's it!

But that's not all for the update, as I have more reader particpation for you all!

In the future we'll choose promotions for our units, but for now, we need to decide what class type will Avan be? I know I didn't use him in this update, but he will always have to be with us and he will be actively participating in missions.

Choose wisely, or...don't! I don't really mind what class he's put into, I'll manage to find a way to have him be usable.

_{Will this be the end of scout supremacy?}

Next time on A*N*I*M*E: things get real!