Part 25: Chapter 5C (2)

What have we here?







Filler battle, heyhey!

I don't really enjoy this map - there is a lot of untravelable terrain, it's an awkward map structure, and all the enemies have either high movement and/or status effect causing. Luckily the Sin quota is fairly lax again as long as you know what you're doing (you should by now).



Lizard Lords are the only returning enemy here, so Rosea and Reinhilde soften it up a bit.





Then Wylfred joins them and finishes it off.





This is one of the annoying parts - another Lizard Lord approaches from the right, and a Kobold King is working its way from the left. Going to attack the Kobold King means a few more enemies are going to join us, so instead we'll duck down and take out the Lizard first.



First off, Rosea Reinforces Reinhilde.



She then whittles down the Kobold King with help of Rosea.



After a turn where we bunch our characters up and the two enemies mover closer, Auguste then gets in position to work on the Lizard Lord.



Did you guys know that Reinhilde says, 'Off with your head!' when she gets a critical? It's pretty neat. Also check out how she deals over 3,000 damage when she does so.





The Kobold King then joins it soon after. (Oh, it's just an upgraded Kobold Knight that still retains its annoying ability to inflict Stone.)



Everyone then moves up - it's a good idea not to get too close to the right edge here, since that'll draw in the harpy to attack from the air where we can't hit it.




Instead, the Skeletal Soldier comes down. Skeletal Soldiers are the upgraded Living Armor. They still have that annoying tendency to block almost everything. Luckily Reinhilde has an unblockable attack and spells still can't be blocked. Despite their name, they're not weak to Fire or Holy.





Seriously, annoying.



We'll just have to make do with this.



The Celaeno then moves down to attack Wylfred. One note is that both this feather barrage and their whirlwind attack are considered projectiles, so Diminish Missile halves the damage from both.



Rosea heals Wylfred right up...



And I don't want to deal with it any more than one round, so I'm going to make sure I get it right.




The strongest Harpies, with all their usual annoyances (inflicts Paralysis, attacks with Lightning, resistant to it).







How pathetic... a life wasted for nothing.



The Greater Daemon flies down from the top of the map. These have a Sorcerer's range rather than the Lancer's range most Daemons have.



And they still inflict Curse.



The other Skeletal Soldier walks across from the bridge to join it, and I'm suddenly glad I used Vali's Awakening.



Rosea once again heals Wylfred back up, since I'd apparently forgotten to buy Holy Water (I get some after this fight).



Auguste's limited range can be very troubling to work with at times, since I had to move Wylfred one space before he could join in the attack.



See ya, jerk.



Reinhilde then chucks a potion to make sure Wylfred doesn't croak.



I curse their 100% Curses.






Aside from the expanded range, Greater Daemons retain the Darkness-elemental attack and resistance as well as their weakness to Holy.





When you've already hit the Sin quota, it feels good knowing you don't have to waste time trying to whittle the enemy's health down before making a big attack.



Auguste finally gets a decent weapon; the Raptor Claws have 120 ATK, two attacks, and are SC enabled. They also deal increased damage to beasts, but go figure we're not going to face any more from here on out.





Noble Elixirs heal a character to full and restores status. Great if you need a strong recovery and you can spare the AP to use them. Aside from that, the Valiant Helm at 200% Sin has the most RDM of the helmets, but it's nothing too crucial. The real reward here though is at 150% Sin - the Power Bangle is the physical counterpart to the Magic Bangle. This immediately goes onto Auguste since Wylfred is still sticking to the Shackle of Sin.

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It is possible Margrave Roienburg has lured us into a trap, my liege.

The old codger has no lack of guile, but he is a man of the old ways, and would not deign to enlist foreign conspirators.

No, it is clear what has transpired. Kristoff has succumbed to the artifice of his counsel, and fallen in league with Crell Monferaigne.

He falls to see that once in their grasp, they will not release him till they have torn Artolia to shreds.



---



Before preparing for the next battle, we have a minor dilemma - we only have three pairs of Safety Boots. (There's a chance you might end up with four if you get lucky with drops.) I decide to give the last pair to Reinhilde - Auguste still has three movement without them on snow and mud, and still has Dash. Rosea and Reinhilde would just suffer greatly with a movement of one.





The Valkyrie is my lone true foe. This battle is merely a fire in which to forge my blade.



And yet Crown Prince Kristoff, beguiled by greedy thanes, grants our entitlement to the greedy hordes of Crell Monferaigne!

Fellow countrymen, I ask you - are we to crown a coward who would forfeit the kingdom of our ancestors? Never!

We will not suffer this treason! We storm the royal city to wrest our destiny from the hands of the corrupt!

Our troops occupy the pass and sever their lines of support - the foreign hordes shall not come to their rescue. The reckoning is nigh!

Brothers and sisters, justice be your sword! Fear not the dark night ahead, for you herald the dawn of a new Artolia!







We've had a good run, Sacred Javelin, but sadly this is where we part ways. All the maps from here on feature Holy-resistant enemies, so we're going to depend on Frigid Damsel now for knockdowns.







Lots of snow on this map, but thankfully the map isn't too big. Another easy Sin quota (eight enemies on the map). The enemies are a mix of Artolian troops and Crell soliders - the Crell units are resistant to Holy and weak to Darkness. Not enough for us to justify using Dark Savior, but Wylfred will enjoy the increased damage using Gram.




Rosea and Reinhilde weaken the Swordswoman...



Rosea then neuters the Sorcereress. The Sorceresses in this battle use Poison Blow and they will use the Maleficent Harm Soul Crush almost every time they attack, so Silencing them is a very good idea from here on out.



Auguste then decides to test out his new weapon on the Swordswoman.



Auguste Soul Crush

Standard Auguste fare - high hit count, average multipliers, backed up with great ATK. I love how instead of 'Finishing Strike' he goes 'ULTIMATE STRIKE' though.



It's also nice seeing Tidal Wave after an eternity of Phantom Destruction.





Isn't it nice when you block every single attack an enemy throws at you? Bless you Ether Gloves.



The Warrior is our target next turn.







The Archer actually has pretty high ATK and we don't want him wailing on Rosea too long, so we'll shut him up.





The first Sorceress, Silenced and weakened, tries to flee, while another one moves closer and we turn our attention to the Lancer.



Oh, one minor note - the Shackle of Sin's effect only works if Wylfred participates in the killing of the enemy.



Will I ever use some of these?



The Sorceress is getting too far away for me to devote my resources to surrounding it, so let's just have Reinhilde put her out of her misery.





Oh hey, I guess Auguste gets a headwear upgrade. Again I'm not really that concerned with Sin here, so I can afford to barely kill a few enemies.





The last Sorceress gets Silenced and gutted.



Having to resort to Frigid Damsel, as well as a character like Reinhilde or Cheripha, means timing has to be fine-tuned sometimes, especially when a character with a launcher gets gems.











All foes are brittle before my fists!

Only putting that in because it's been ages since we've had a Grand Cross formation.









Mostly terrible stuff. The Bronllavyn is a knife and so is useless to us. Junk, junk, junk.



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Dear Roienburg, what a pleasant surprise.

My, how you've grown, Langrey. I still recall the quarrelsome lad who played at king with his father's crown.

This is no game, old man! Can your aged eyes not see that time has passed?

I see all too well that it is not too late! Join hands and rule a united Artolia. Cross swords and the kingdom will be forever divided!

I grow weary of your rhetoric. You squander what little time you have left in this world.

If I cannot stop you with words, then I shall be forced to do it with arms.