Part 26: Chapter 5C (3)
It's actually a close line between this or A Pronouncement of Hel for my favourite track so far.
If I don't remember wrong, this map is unique - this is the only battle in the game you'll use this map for. It's quite small (I think it's the second smallest in the game). The Sin quota is also quite generous, especially if you've got the Shackle of Sin.
Roienburg waits in the back of the map. As his stats tell, he's a very tough foe. Roienburg is a Lancer with lots of health and has the Body of Steel technique. His attacks and Soul Crush inflicts lots of hits and he'll likely KO any character that isn't a Guard Reinforced Vali's Awakening Wylfred. He also resists Lightning, Earth and Holy, and his Mercenary units resist Fire.
Langrey joins us as a 'Guest', a decently levelled Sorcerer with Dark Savior. Like escorts, he's completely autonomous, and he will move around and attack of his own free will. He will still steal your experience and Sin if you let him, and if he dies you can revive him with no worries. It doesn't really matter whether or not if Langrey survives this battle.
Now, we could do this battle legitimately, but...
I have people to burn and a starving feather.
Feather o'er the battlefield.. unto me thy power yield!
The enemies aren't anything we're not used to - we could use Sacred Javelin here if we were playing fairly, but Roienburg still resists Holy and he's more of a threat than any of the regular enemies here.
Langrey has his eyes set on an enemy. Due to Langrey being subject to the same rules as us, you'll never see his Soul Crush here.
Ye who will not kneel... shall fall.
The poor enemies, thinking they still have a chance.
Roienburg decides to move forward and tear Wylfred a new one.
By my hands shall wrongs be righted!
Roienburg hits hard. He also seems to always do his Soul Crush.
Roienburg Soul Crush
Let's fix that right up.
We could go around killing everything that moves first, but let's get right to the chase.
Roienburg is actually really hardy, and Body of Steel makes it even worse.
...Is what would matter if we didn't have an amped up lancer on our side.
Was the cause... already lost?
The boring rewards aside (Sage's Arcanums, Magic Mail), we have some really good stuff here. Omnichecks are the base reward, and an Accessory - they block all status effects, including Stun, which there isn't a check for. There's a new technique here for 150% Sin - Knockout Blow is the most expensive technique at 20 CP, and it grants all of a user's attacks a chance to Faze the opponent, and Archers can't learn it. Not a horrible technique, but I'd prefer finding a setup that gets reliable fazes instead of relying on Knockout Blow.
Two irreplaceable pieces of armour here for 200% Sin. The Mirror Plate is the best main-game armour for Swordsmen, Warriors and Lancers, and has 250 RDM, 20 AVD, 10 RST, and a 50% resistance to Light, at a cost of a 20% weakness to Darkness. Starguards are the best gauntlets for them as well, with 70 RDM, 5 HIT and a guard chance about as good as that of the Ether Gloves, though in some cases you might still want the elemental protection of the weaker gauntlets.
---
I see you are ill. It was unwise to leave your sickbed, and so you know death this day. Farewell, Roienburg. Lan...grey...
The next to receive his due shall be you, Kristoff.---
How could he...
The margrave watched over us as children. He did not deserve this betrayal.
They lay siege to the pass, blocking the way eastward to Crell Monferaigne, sir. Our reinforcements are cut off. Your Majesty! Prince Langrey leaves us no recourse but to answer his aggressions!
---
The castle where Kristoff as I played at kings... This day, we crown a victor once and for all.
---
Reinhilde comes back to fill Duwain's gap.
Lots of enemies but not a very difficult battle - ten enemies and a 370 (740) Sin quota), so pretty easy to fill. There are again a mix of Artolian and Crell soliders, so Sacred Javelin is out. Our goal is to take out an enemy Sorcerer at the back of the map, though again we want to get our Sin before then.
Reinhilde and Rosea whittle down the Warrior right in front of us.
Auguste then knees him in the face.
It's really not that hard to get maximum Sin anymore - the only time you risk not doing it is if you initiate Soul Crushes too late to max out the Gauge again, or enemies like the Living Armor block most of your attacks.
Enemies are starting to hit harder, and this is when techniques like First Aid really start to become handy.
Enemy spells are still harmless, if you mean '1000 damage' harmless'
Luckily we always have this. Rosea shuts up the Sorcerer on the roof.
We then take out the Archer.
Rosea also does manages to freeze the Lancer with Frigid Damsel.
We put him out of his misery right after, though.
With the Sorcerer neutralized, we move up and take out this Swordswoman.
I'm not really sure what else I can say for this fight besides 'old couple beat up things, nobody is shocked'.
There are two ways to the top - we can either take the stairs and go through an Archer, or hop up the roof and take out the Sorcerer instead. The Sorcerer is closer, so.
Mind and body are the weapons a man forges for himself.
Another Swordswoman comes along and attacks Auguste to little effect.
We're starting to break 10k experience on normal enemies, which is a nice number to see.
Another Lancer scratches Auguste.
The results of this encounter should be obvious enough.
Three more enemies - this Warrior, the Archer we bypassed, and the leader.
Here, have more shots of old people striking fear into enemies' hearts before they die a moment after.
Always satisfying to get maximum experience, too.
Before finishing off the Sorcerer, we detour to take out the Archer we missed for some experience.
I tried to use Vidar's Hush to try to test if the leader Sorcerer was susceptible to Silence. Sadly, he is not.
He then manages to Freeze Reinhilde. (The green number over Wylfred's head is First Aid activating.)
Well, it's his funeral.
Skipping past the repeats, Ether Greaves at 150% Sin are the best greaves for our mail-wearers - 50 RDM, 10 RST and a nice 40 AVD. Two nice feminine pieces of equipment for 200% Sin - the Empress Coronet is a tiara that has 70 RDM, 10 MAG and 15 RST. The Cloak of Britannia can be worn by Archeresses and Sorceresses and is their best main-game armour - 300 RDM, 10 AVD, 20 RST and a very nice 90% resistance to Holy.
---
We go from that battle straight into the next one, too. More filler.
A slight twist to the battle where our party is split into two at opposite ends of the map. We can either take the long way south to reunite without running into enemies, or just charge through and have one side revive the other when they die.
We swapped one purple murdering machine for another.
Feather o'er the battlefield.. unto me thy power yield!
The enemy starts ganging up on Auguste, who takes a chunk out of the Warrior's health in return.
Baldr's Pact doesn't immunize the user from magic, but a Plumed character has 100% resistance to elements anyway.
The real prize for the map, though, is the second Power Bangle from the Warrior on the right side. Now Reinhilde can join in the fun!
Meanwhile, Auguste.
And so far I have come... and yet...
This isn't Wylfred blocking the Archer's attacks, but Diminish Missile halving the damage.
In the meantime, Rosea brings Auguste back to the better side.
And we resume the murdertrain.
The Sorcerer goes down next.
Wylfred is actually doing a great job of surviving being gangbanged by four enemies, thanks to First Aid and Diminish Missile.
The last enemy on the right side tries to rough up Darius, to his dismay. I think he even got a crit.
One death of Wylfred and a revival later, and Darius has three targets all primed for the reaping.
One!
Two!
Thr- oh, that was the enemy leader, I didn't even realize. Well we missed out on a little experience but it's not a big deal.
Some great and irreplaceable rewards again. Starting from the lowest rank, the Goddess Tincture fully restores health to allies in range. Joining it is the Caliburn, a broadsword with 100 ATK and three attacks. I'm hesitant to say if the Elemental Edge is still better at this point, they're starting to catch up. Auguste's best weapon is in the 150% range - Demon Hands have 100 ATK, 20 lower than the Raptor Claws, but come with three attacks, which make up for it. The Basilisk's Gaze for 200% is the best lance (not that we have any use for it), with 120 ATK, three attacks and a chance to petrify enemies. Paired with it is Wylfred's first upgrade since Chapter IV - Helgi's Sword has a whopping 200 ATK, three attacks, randomly Curses enemies, and has a delicious 50% Darkness bonus. Goes onto Wylfred immediately.
---
Prince Kristoff, I've come for your surrender.
Next time: named character(s) die!