Part 7: Chapter 2 [Hroethe Walk] (1)

Well, the people have spoken.







To further affirm his allegiance, he decrees that we, the men of the Second Imperial Order, attend to Your Highness' well-being.



In any case, our orders were to undertake any task Your Highness deems fit.

Is that so...

-Any- task, you say?

We are utterly at your disposal.

Let us discuss the matter further anon.

anon (əˈnɒn)

— adv
1. in a short time; soon

It doesn't mean anonymous! Which was my initial impression.

In the meantime, you shall dine upon our meat and mead. This evening, your men dine as my guests.

We are most grateful for your warm hospitality, Your Highness.



Hey, it's a younger Gandar from VP1! I think this is the only place he ever appears.

---



Pull yourself together, man. We've never lost anyone to a wee scratch such as this!

You say this to ease my mind?

I wouldn't go easing your mind just yet. Artolian tyranny won't end itself, you know.

Natalia, my angel, life is too short for regrets. When the war is won, I would make you my bride.



Natalia, I... I had no idea. You have borne a child?

Children actually - a daughter -and- a son. Is that "regret" I sense?

N-no! Not "regret"... merely surprise... My conviction is unshaken!

Well that is certainly encouraging. Let me think it over awhile.

Let's give a hand to Nameless Serf 2008 and his balls of steel, gents and ladies.



Sir Earnest! Always the charmer...

But when will that charm of yours bring my medicine, munitions and rations?

I dare say it already has. The supplies make their way here as we speak.

I dare say I've heard that before...

You should rest, Lady Natalia. For your unit's sake if not your own. Loyal men are loath to lie down before their leader.

We'll all rest easier once the supplies reach us.



No one faults your for the delays, Sir Earnest. If anyone is deserving of rest, surely you are.

Don't think I hadn't noticed you've been forgoing sleep for nights on end!

And here I'd fancied myself the watchman. I should've known nothing would escape your sleepless gaze.

And I've apparently nowhere to hide - I shall retire defeated to the seclusion of my chambers.

I am the one defeated. Vilnore's gallant knight won your heart before the gauntlet was even cast.

You have it all wrong. I would never poison my feelings for him with affection.



---



...

Trudging down mud-soaked trails to gods-knows-where in the middle of the night... A sodden pack of rats is all we are! You hear me, boy?

I am no boy, and I tire of your whining.

Hoho! Spoken like a real man now! Were you a man runnin' off while yer friend lay bleeding to death on the battlefield?

How dare you-



You know naught of what you speak.

What should I know of a measly milksop's plight! I only know what I saw - a blubberin', blatherin' backstabber!

You will guard that tongue!



Who's fightin'? The boy let his jaw flap, so I shut it for him is all.

Again, Gwendal?

If ya don't like it, ya can run yer damned supplies without me! I don't need this indignity.



Ya've got a death wish, don't ya, boy!?

Cease at once, both of you! A demon-infested trail under moonlight is no place to settle your petty squabbles.

We're shorthanded as it stands. Insubordination is tantamount to treason. Do I make myself clear?

Aye.

Clear as my conscience...

Good. We haven't time to waste. Our consignment is three days past promised.



Tell that to them, Captain.

Where did they come from?

That I can't say, but their timing couldn't be better. Just you stay out of my way, boy!

And you mine.



Battle time! First things first. Darius and Gwendal have been added as Guests, so let's see the characters everyone's been raving about.




Darius is a Swordsman. That means that if he were to join the party, he'd be getting mostly hand-me-downs from Wylfred. That's not too big a concern though, since Darius isn't really built for damage - indeed, his multipliers are the lowest among the Swordsmen.



Instead, Darius is the combo set up guy. This is the second way to Faze enemies - attacks which cast airborne enemies down will Faze them. And Darius has both. Ascender knocks enemies up, and Descender casts them back down, meaning he can effortlessly and easily set things up for the rest of the party to get gems upon gems. Darius only has two attacks and no Soul Crush, but that's more than just fine.



Darius also has a Technique unique to him in the storyline. Siege tactics are activated whenever the character in question (in this case Darius) initiates a Siege, and usually have one benefit to all those in the Siege and a penalty to members of that class. In this case, Razor's Edge increases the ATK of all those participating in the Siege, while lowering the RDM of all Swordsmen (including Darius himself and Wylfred). The advantages to this are obvious - bolster everybody's attack, kill them faster, and if Darius leaves the opponent fazed at the end the reduced RDM doesn't even matter. Just keep in mind Sorcerors like Lockswell get no benefit from it.




We had a brief chance to play with Gwendal in the tutorial battle, and he's mostly the same here - he's a Warrior, with all three attacks and his Soul Crush available. Gwendal is all pure damage - his natural ATK growth means he's already hitting hard enough, but overall he has the third best multipliers in the game. His unfortunate drawback is that Rising Rage is a launcher and he does few hits, so he really works best with weapons that only give him two attacks. Not much strategy to him - hit things hard, hit them harder.



We're doing some slight reshuffling of skills. Darius means Wylfred no longer needs a launcher, so he goes back to Guilt Rack > Double Cross. We also teach him First Aid.



Cheripha switches to Fusillade > Sharpshot, to help nullify the slight startup from Fusillade and allow her attacks to chain more easily.



Lockswell is going to sit this battle out - having only Fire Storm is not going to help matters and he can't get gems anyway, so we'll wait till we can pick up something better for him.





A pretty easy battle. 200 Sin quota, 400 Sin to get the best stuff, but with eight enemies to deal with and an easy time getting 100 Sin. This is more of a warmup to how good Darius/Gwendal are than anything, and letting you try out Cheripha and Lockswell. As always, enemies tend to stay put til we move closer.




Fishes are fliers - this means they can traverse over terrain walkers can't, like water and gaps in the battlefield like skies. Fish act pretty much like lancers - they have a movement of three and an attack range of two, and usually have a resistance of Ice.



*sigh* Don't make this difficult...

It's usually a good idea to always start with characters that can attack without retaliation, to chip away at the enemy's health.



Darius and Gwendal don't have the range to do anything, so they just move forward.



Skullfishes hit pretty hard.



Enemies will generally either go for squishy characters like Archers or Sorcerors, or those that have already been injured.




Bats are also fliers. They have a movement of 4 and an attack range of 2, basically being Swordsmen with better range. They usually aren't that interesting and give low exp - they have a soundwave attack that seems to trigger Faze uncommonly.



Alright, here we go.



If Cheripha didn't drill it into you, Darius is one character where you really want to know how to time - spamming attacks with him is a great way to get Descender to miss. Instead, pausing just a second after he knocks the enemy into the air allows him to land Descender easily. In sieges, you have to adjust because Descender starts up faster.



Wylfred Soul Crush

Provisional testing of linking to YT videos for Soul Crushes. Let me know if it's working out or if you guys prefer back to screenshots/gifs with audio linked separately.

Wylfred has one of the best Soul Crushes in the game. Top of the line damage and high hit count - there's almost nothing wrong with it really, and helps to make up for his mediocre ATK.



Skullfishes give great experience.



Oh, you're dead alright.



Mmm... nothing like the smell of fear.

Now that we have more than two characters, we can set up the Trinity Fork and Grand Cross sieges. Aside from the standard effects (increased attack speed, gauge increases, item drop rate), these sieges also cause attacks done on a Fazed enemy to produce Golden gems instead of Red ones. Golden gems replenish two attacks instead of one, meaning twice the damage returned. As you can imagine, the results are very painful for the enemy.



Gold gems. Pretty beautiful sight.



Gwendal Soul Crush

Yes, I'm aware of the slight audio distortion at the start and the mouse pointer. That'll teach me to be more careful in these recordings in the future.

Gwendal's Soul Crush is right on the cusp of average - average number of hits and multipliers - but his great ATK does help his case.





How long am I ta babysit this wretch?

Even without Darius, two Soul Crushes are more than enough for this battle. If Wylfred had his third attack he and Gwendal could fill the Battle Gauge all on their own.



Seriously, we've only cleared out half the map and we're almost done with the Sin quota. And it's only been three Ally Phases so far.



On his next turn, Wylfred wails on the Giant Bat a little...



And during his counterattack during the Enemy Phase he crits and kills it. Oh well, it's not like we're hurting for Sin anyway.



A couple of turns moving forward, the last Skullfish of the map moves to attack Wylfred.



While long-ranged characters like Cheripha are best for chipping, Darius can do a little of that himself with his combo leaving the enemy unable to counterattack.



I was a little worried I wouldn't get that 100 Sin with only Darius and Wylfred, but then Wylfred scored about 3-4 red games off the fazed Skullfish, raised the Gauge to 100, then carved the fish up.



When fliers are on the map like this, the only way to hit them is usually with a Sorceror or Archer.




The enemy leader comes down to play. Aelios are Harpies, one of the more annoying enemies of the game. Aside from obviously being able to fly, they have the mobility of a Swordsman, the attack range of a Sorceror, and the unable-to-hit enemies at close range properties of an Archer. They are all resistant to Lightning, and usually vulnerable to Earth. Higher level Harpies also have a whirlwind attack that can induce paralysis at a fairly high rate.



Also, they tend to hit pretty hard.



The upside is that it's usually quite easy to chip at them. Archers can outrange them, and every other class can get right in their faces, where they can't counterattack.



Know thy enemy, and never question it.





I could do with a swig after that!

Hey, a new Tactic. Rejuvenation costs a minor 20 AP, and increases maximum health by 20%. Problem is there aren't really that many reasons to use it over other skills or closing in on the enemy.




You know, I almost feel bad for it.



I think this is just a formality at this point.





Our basic rewards are another Elixir, and Guard Potions, which are like Might Potions but for RDM and RST. Mid-tier rewards are the Dwarf Tinctures and Apothecary Arcanums, nothing too special. Top tier rewards are the Fire Talismans, which give an ally a Fire resistance, and the Rune Helm, a nice helmet with decent RDM and RST and resistance to Silence (and with a boost to MAG that's useless). I don't think I've ever used the Talismans.



I should think you'd tell me, Captain - shakin' and shiverin' like ya seen a ghost.

Spare me your mockery, Gwendal. I'm responsible for the lives of you men.

What's a man or two lost matter? We'll all be joinin' them soon enough if we don't plough on.

Be that as it may-

Sound of footsteps in the distance.

Artolian infantry!

That's why you save the funerals 'til after the day's done, Captain - less graves to dig that way.

No one's digging any graves. Weary we may be, but we can still put up a fight.



Well, if that's the way ya feel...

What do you think you're doing?



GRUAAHHH!

Dastard! You would betray us at a time like this?

Betray you? I'm saving yer bloody lives!

By murdering your brother in arms?

Not -murder-, Captain, -sacrifice-. The scent of his blood will draw the undead...



...who'll extend a warm welcome to our Artolian friends.

What have you done!?

Sound of howling.

See fer yerself! The undead already come to feast. Now's our chance to escape.

You inhuman fiend! We've got to rescue him.

He's dead either way! That host would have us join share his fate.

This is no death for a man! Killed by his fellow and fed to demons - you dare think this just?

I merely did what you lacked the courage to. Fellowship? Ha! You value yer fellows' lives o'er your own?

...

We had best run. Against an army like that, we'll soon be fodder for the undead ourselves.

I suppose you're right. We have no choice.

...

If you've something to say, spit it out, boy.

It's nothing.

Lily-livered cravens, the both of you. Show a little respect when I save yer lives.



(What right have I to judge him?)



Age: 34
Gender: Male
Homeland: Gerebellum
Height: 179cm
Weight: 75kg

The soulless sellsword Gwendal scours the lands of Midgard, hoarding plunder at will and sparing nary a thought to those he wrongs. Thievery, extortion, murder - no deed is beneath this unsavory villian.





Gwendal offical render.