Part 20: Chapter 4C (2)

We have two new party members to look at, so let's look.




A few admin things to take care of. We teach Rosea and Duwain Dash and Rosea Suspend Motion and Might/Spell Reinforce. We also pass her Lockswell's old Magic Bangle and acquaint her with the Holy Rod. Check out that MAG stat!



We can also now adjust Duwain's attacks, so we shift Sundering Strike (his knockdown) to the top of the list, and we can make use of his third attack - Blade Vortex. It deals less damage than his other hits, but it has good range and a solid nine hits, so it's a fantastic attack for both crystals and gems.

Oh, we also remove Caution because it's dumb. Now we can move onto the slightly less interesting of our two new Guests.




Reinhilde is an Archeress. We'll start with her flaws; like Cheripha, she uses a crossbow, so similarly her attacks are linear in nature and almost never hit airborne opponents. But while Cheripha used a smaller hand crossbow that was light enough to be fired fairly fast, Reinhilde's is bigger than her head and she's gotten quite a bit slow with age, and it shows - not only does Reinhilde have fewer hits than any other character (four hits over three attacks), but she also executes her attacks fairly slowly even during sieges. So don't expect a gem-generating machine here.

That out of the way? Good, because House Haughn's lady isn't one to be messed with. Like Wylfred, Reinhilde has a stat that differs from her class, but unlike him, Reinhilde actually has a stat that matters - a higher ATK growth than other Archers. It caps out to slightly less than a Swordsman's, but it's still a huge boon to have the class with the best range and can actually have an ATK stat worth something.



While her attacks may be slow, she makes up for it in spades; Reinhilde has the highest attack multipliers in the game. And yes, that includes post-game. So you have a unit with the best range in the game, an ATK stat that's actually decent, and the highest attack multipliers of all. When she does get gems? Watch your enemy's health zoom to zero. You do have to work around her a little, but suffice it to say once she gets going Reinhilde will support herself easily.



Auguste is our first character that's unique - Auguste is the only member of the Pugilist class. He has a movement of 5 and an attack range of 1 like any melee class, with one problem; Auguste can't hit diagonally. So he's fairly limited in his range and has difficulty in counterattacking, though good movement does help a little.

For the best part, Auguste's stats are amazing. He has slightly lower health than a Warrior, the best ATK growth in the main game (and third highest post-game), the best HIT and RDM as well as top-notch AVD. His only real flaw stat-wise is a low RST, but suffice to say that Auguste can be a killer with that stat growth.



His equipment selection, however, leaves a bit to be desired. Auguste wears light armour and shoes like an Archer. However, since he's a Pugilist and uses his fists to attack, he can't wear gloves of any sort. And as if to make up for his amazing ATK, Auguste has a terrible weapon selection. Claws are hard to come by and the few that do generally only have two attacks or aren't really that great in attack power.



Auguste has access to all three of his attacks but no Soul Crush. Unlike his wife, his multipliers are average at best, though aided by his solid ATK. Auguste favours multiple hits and juggling - Boxing Mantis and Kicking Crane deal four and three hits respectively and are good enough for gems, and the former is decent enough for crystals (though still hits a little low). While Auguste has a launcher, he does make up for it with the best launcher in the game; Soaring Phoenix has good damage, doesn't send the enemy very high or very fast (making it great for characters with low-profiling attacks), and deals six hits of its own, giving it a good chance of netting some crystals as it hits them upwards.



Finally, Auguste has his own unique siege tactic. Killer Instinct lowers Auguste's ATK, but boosts critical hit rate for all allies in the siege. Critical hits ignore an enemy's RDM, which can be a massive offense boost, especially over a long period of time and gems. It's still chance-based so it might not work out, but as far as tactics go there are certainly worse ones out there (like Caution).

Auguste is also one of the characters you might want to bring along if you want to have a go at Freya in the D ending, since Killer Instinct gives you a chance to ignore her 9999 RDM.

And to top it off, both Reinhilde and Auguste join at level 27 while Wylfred is still level 23. Dang.



Alright, enough tactics splurging. We have two new characters to play with and one newly customizable one, so that's our party.





A large Sin quota, but the enemies aren't too dangerous. We move everyone forward and that's the best we can do.




Brigands are upgraded members of the Rogue class, and we start to see non-Sorcerer humans throwing out spells; in this case, an annoying Sap Power on Reinhilde.

...Hey, why are there humans among the demons, anyway? Bandits?



Vampires are a new enemy; they have fairly high offenses, their attacks are Darkness in nature and they resist it, they're weak to Holy, and like Ghosts they can cast spells.




Our turn. Reinhilde gets a cheap potshot at the Swordsman at the foot of the stairs.



My name is Reinhilde; do not forget it!



That's a big crossbow, and some nice damage.



Wylfred and Duwain then set things up to attack the Brigand.



My patience is not to be tested!

Uhh... Wylfred? That's a new line.



I'm sure it doesn't mean anything, right?



If it is pain you seek, I shall show you it!

Auguste joins the fray! Hooray!



Reinhilde Soul Crush

Reinhilde's Soul Crush is just as strong as Wylfred's, and has the highest Attack Gauge rise in the main game at a whopping 56 (beating out Darius by three). Wylfred deals more hits, but otherwise Reinhilde's is just as strong.



Results are favourable.



I often forget what I'm capable of!

One upside to using Duwain instead of Rosea for knockdowns is you get lots more crystals. Lots of them. And we have Auguste in the party.



Enemy's turn, more cheap potshots at Reinhilde.



The Swordsman from earlier also runs away and Guard Reinforces the Living Armor.



It's getting a little crowded in here. We should fix that.





I'll take it.



Must be brave... must be brave!





Ten of you would not suffice to match me!

More crystals! More!



Here's an annoying feature of Vampires. While they have a standard physical attack that hits hard enough, they also have this red orb attack.



It drains its target's health and gives it back to the Vampire. Not enough to save it, but it's still annoying.



And it does it again...



And... again?

The orb attack is percentage-based, so it can't ever kill its target - Auguste got really lucky there.





I had a feeling it would fail...

From full health to that, that was too close. I got off Duwain's Soul Crush and it was near dead, but Duwain had one attack left that the game had to make it use, so I was bracing myself for no Sin... and it barely survived. Whew!



I suppose a man of my years ought to show more mercy.

He is not so lucky next round though. And Auguste is the best.



Annoying Vampire. Also notice we've barely moved past our initial position, enemies keep flooding in.





Lady... Rosea...



Oddly enough, the Vampire opts not to attack a defenseless Reinhilde or to get some health back but try throwing icicles at her.



So we repay him for his kindness by exorcising him.



A fitting death for a pitiful wretch!

Hmm guys, Wylfred seems... different.



Living Armor are just as annoying as ever, but here's Killer Instinct in action.



I'm going to be honest, I have no idea how Duwain survived that one. Look at his health bar! He must be in the single digits. Devil's luck, indeed.



Not that it quite matters though.



I think Living Armor might be my least favourite enemy in the game.



Lots of experience in this battle. I almost feel bad the other three are missing out.





The Holy Gauntlets are a drop from the Swordsmen here; they have 25 RDM, 5 HIT and 20 RST, as well as a 20% resistance to Darkness. Excellent gloves for Wylfred, with a spare pair for Darius, Gwendal or Duwain.



Urgh. Living Armor and their BLOCKBLOCKBLOCK.







And with that, there's only one enemy left.





The last Archer actually hangs back here for the entire fight for some reason. Not like it's going to save him.



But hey, I finally get to actually show combat in motion!



A basic combo chock full of gems and crystals. I mistime a couple of Reinhilde's shots but you can see how it works. Throw in three or four Soul Crushes and it's usually enough to kill all but bosses. For those you'd usually want to end it with a faze so they can't counterattack.



Mmm crystals. That's a 75% experience boost.



Work Boots have 22 RDM and 15 AVD. Not as good as Elfin boots really.



Two more copies of Regeneration as basic rewards, as well as Ether Gloves - they're the top-tier gloves for Archers and Sorcerers, but most notably they seem to have an absurd block rate - these will go on Rosea and never come off. Tactics are our mid-tier prizes. Magic Mail is a technique allows you to block magic attacks at the same rate as regular attacks. Potentially useful but it might be hard to spare the CP for it. Aura Flux is a Tactic for Sorcerors that increases their range by two for two rounds. You might usually want to use AP for other things, though - two rounds is a very short duration and they include the turn you spend even casting the spell.

Three weapons for 200% Sin. The Spear of Lugh has 85 ATK and three attacks, and a 10% Lightning boost. Better than Duwain's Partisan, but he does like his two attack combo so I'll see if it's worth using it. Vainslayer is a broadsword for Warriors that has 95 ATK, three attacks and a 50% Darkness element - which is really nice. However, Gwendal will likely keep the Elemental Edge because he really likes not having to use his launcher. Finally, the Gram is a longsword that has 107 ATK, three attacks, and a 10% Darkness boost. Wylfred will use it most of the time, but if Darius is in the party he'll use it and Wylfred can use the Estoc/Flame Pallasch instead.



The plume has driven you to this?

I shall lay it beside the Battle Maiden's corpse, as she laid it by my father's.

You are not alone in that sentiment...

We have all borne the gods a sacrifice too great.

All to appease a death goddess...



Voting time! Because I'm indecisive, we have three optional battles coming up and we can still afford to share some experience around. Pick three parties of three to do optional battles A, B and C, from Darius, Gwendal, Rosea, Duwain, Reinhilde, and Auguste. This isn't an incredibly important vote so don't worry too much if your favourite doesn't get in any of them, they might still have a chance to make our final party.

So an example vote:

A: Duwain, Rosea, Auguste
B: Rosea, Gwendal, Reinhilde
C: Darius, Auguste, Gwendal

Voting ends sometime over the weekend.

Age: 52
Gender: Female
Homeland: Artolia
Height: 163cm
Weight: 50kg
Bust/Waist/Hip: 86/60/85

Devoted wife of Auguste, former Lord of House Haughn. Reinhilde has stood by her husband in all matters, trusting in his vision over that of the house's current lord, her son Valmur. The sudden death of her son Nicolas, however, has called her faith in names and nobility into question. All she wishes for now are the survival and well-being of her children.





Reinhilde offical render.