Part 11: BF10 – Verlaine Hills – Part B vs Roswell

Welcome to Battlefield 10. While the start of the map looked pretty typical, and didn't hold any surprises, the second half of the mission may as well be the end-game for a lot of players. Besides being against opponents that hold the advantage against us, this level also puts us on the receiving end of one of the most infuriating mechanics of the game, and a lot of players just won't proceed. It's definitely a spike in difficulty, but when we get past it we can breathe easier for a while.

I liken this mission to the end of the intro. We're nearly done Chapter 2, but this is the first time we're going to see nearly every mechanic in play, without giving us an advantage in return.

Going with the popular vote, Roswell is going to be our target. This is the easier of the two routes, and we'll see why. I'll be showing the alternate path off immediately after this one.



Luckily for us, Roswell's Skeletons fall asleep during Noon. Part A, liberating the town of Marvel, ended during the day, and so Part B starts the same. A sleeping unit can't do anything in battle, so you're guaranteed a victory with 100% surviving units.



Roswell isn't too imposing, at 3,2,3,2.

The Skeletons themselves are the same as last we saw them, 1,1,3,3. Roswell's Necromancers are a bit stronger, 1,2,3,3, but are only threatening due to their guaranteed weapon advantage. The bottom two skeletons are on roads, so they gain a 10% Geo bonus. Roswell himself is on a Fort, defending nearly half of all damage he takes. The rest of his troops are on grass, which is one of the reasons it's easier to attack Roswell.

This is the 14th turn of the map, and the Quick Clear MVP needs to be done by 23. Since Roswell and Rosary still get their turns, we get three turns after this one to succeed. First up, one of the difficulties in this level is how far we are from the action. Milanor is closest at 5 tiles away, and either Yggdra or Nietzsche could join his union with an additional 6 movement.

Roswell himself is 8 tiles away from Milanor.

A union is hardly needed against a sleeping Skeleton, but it shows how heavily we'll need to favour high movement cards if we want to put our numbers against Roswell in a timely manner. Added to this is the fact that two items are slightly out of the way.







Elder: Why are you dressed like that? We want no part of this battle...

Don't worry. We're not out to hurt you plain folks. One of those two “noble” jerks, however, has got to go.

Elder: But... Why would you do such a terrible thing!?

To prevent them from treating their people as cannon fodder!

Elder: But...

Either way, we'll be seeing some unhappy people. While the two leaders are not on good terms, they're well respected by their respective people.

Regardless, Milanor charges forward with Steal. Roswell doesn't have a high Luk, at 2, nor does his item grant him any abilities or stat increases. While a little on the weaker side, Steal will give us an easy kill against the Skeleton's 1670 morale.



This will be useful in forging weapons.

The last 7 Mov will be used to get Durant up here, to pick up this item. While he could attack from this angle, we'd much prefer him to use the roads on the east side.







When attacking a sleeping foe, you remain on their side freely attacking until you win. This Skeleton is gone for good.





Immediately after combat between the two factions, Roswell goes on the defensive. Sometimes it's better to stop beside an enemy, and wait for them to attack you, but we don't want to waste the Skeleton's nap.



Roswell picks Poison Breath on this map. While he can't use it, his Skeletons can. It's a simple status effect, with success of Tec >= Gen. With 3 Tec, there's not much the Skeletons can't hit.

Poison deals morale damage to you every turn, and I feel that it weakens you in battle as well, although I can't confirm that in certainty.



Ankh Cannon, fire!

Ankhs are bullshit.



Milanor and Durant both lose 25% of their current morale. Roswell will attack us with his Ankh on the start of every one of his turns..



At the start of our next turn, the Skeletons wake up, but they can't attack anyone.



Lord Roswell, prepare yourself!

I demand to know the logic behind this!

We can see the Ankh's area of effect here. There are a couple spaces behind Roswell that are safe, if we wanted to take our time and clear out the North.

Instead, Durant will charge through the enemy and settle on the road just south of Roswell. This will give Durant a strong enough bonus that he will be on even footing against the Necromancers and their Staves.



Milanor will use Shield Barrier's last Mov to get into Durant's union, which is targeting one of the nameless Necromancers. We have two worries here:
1 – Roswell holds the advantage against Milanor.
2 – Two skeletons which will be able to poison us. The first one will almost assuredly be at Max mode if we win our other fights.

1 won't be a huge issue with some use of Shield Barrier. To deal with 2, however, we need to make sure Durant starts with full Skill, meaning Milanor can only use about 50% of the Skill Gauge against Roswell. If we succeed with this, Durant will have enough skill to cast Shield Barrier as soon as he attacks the Skeleton, and block Poison Breath.



Durant slaughters the first Necromancer, thanks to Road and his 3 Atk.



Milanor uses Shield Barrier until 40%, which buys him the advantage he needs. Roswell is defeated, and goes down to 2588 morale. Since Durant has 3 Tec, he should gain 3Tec +1 / 6Mov = 2/3 of a bar when his encounter starts.






As planned, and expected, both Durant and his adversaries are ready to use their skill. We have brief window to cast, so mash the fuck out of the O button. We're successful in this case, and Poison Breath is quickly cast against our shield, and does nothing. With a brief second in Passive mode, we can rearm our shield and walk to an easy win.



Milanor waits for the right time, and then uses Shield Barrier for another easy win. That attack removed the Necromancer, and the both Skeletons.








Meanwhile Roswell continues his antics. Durant uses his Road advantage to defend successfully, bringing Roswell down to 1803. Milanor has some issues against a Max mode Necromancer, but wins anyways. Regardless, the Necromancer stays in with 199 morale.



Ugh...!





Ooh, what a pretty shell you have there.



Night falls, which means this Witch is working at her shop. If Nietzsche visits her, she'll make some armour out of the Pretty Shell. If anyone else visits, the Witch merely states that she was expecting the Undine to show up. Witches seem to have a thing for Undines.





Durant has no issues fighting Roswell this round. Although he doesn't qualify to use Mind Change, he still starts with 60% of the bar for a long time of Aggression.



And Milanor finishes up the last of the Necromancers.





Neither member has lost a battle this round, yet both are around 1500 morale – from 3000+. Fuck Ankhs.



Haha ha, holy fuck Durant. Pull it together.



Christ, 1248 damage. Critical hits are another annoyance, especially when you're being bombarded. With otherwise flawless play, that could have been a loss we'd have little control over. Thankfully Durant survives, with no small part due to his road Geo. While we wouldn't have lost if Durant fell, he's nearly at a level up and he'd lose all his Exp for the level when he retreats.





Milanor recruits some turn-coats, fleeing the sinking ship.



And takes care of Roswell.







The third character has been slain by the Royal Army, and this is probably the first one to feel bitter.

It's over, Princess.

….........

The war is off, and the general populace is safe and sound. Nice show of damage control... Feels a little hollow, though.

Yes... It does...

Milanor tries to justify it to himself, but even he has difficulty believing it.





Royal Messenger: It's the Astral Fencer Russell and his men!

What!?

I knew he had some kind of scheme in mind!

Princess! The White Rose Army is defenseless against Russell.

We must hurry and help Rosary!



All that remains is to deliver “it” to General Emilia...

There's no time to mourn or lament the decision though. The Royal Army can at least try to save one life from this whole mess.



Part B – Alternate Path



Attacking Rosary is generally considered the harder of the two choices. While we can see here that Durant is a mere 4 tiles away from the first encounter, he's 10 tiles away from Rosary. Milanor is a whopping 12 tiles away from the boss. Since Rosary is 2 tiles farther away on average than Roswell, it will take roughly 6 more movement per turn to get a 3 character union against her, compared to getting one against Roswell.

Other than that, we have a few options here. Bridges and roads lead to Rosary's capital from both sides, and a river runs through the area. Durant and Nietzsche can both put their GEO bonuses to use here.



Rosary is the stronger of the two lords, at 2,2,4,4.

The 3 Golems on the map are 2,2,1,1. Weak, but they're sturdier in combat than the Skeletons were. The witches are 1,1,3,3 – the same as the Skeletons – but have a 40% Geo bonus to keep them alive. The golems are actually a big problem, but it's not because of combat.

If any Golem is alowed to use Earthquake, it will rip our current unit numbers in half, and after battle it will destroy every bridge and town within 2 tiles. Since the near village contains the Shell Breastplate, and we need the bridges to get across, we can't allow a Golem to do that.



The most reliable way I've found of preventing Earthquake, is to enter combat with one person that has 3 Atk and Tec. Since the Golems are a little more sturdy than the Skeletons, it's a little more difficult to one-shot them. If we had two people in the union, the Golem would likely survive the first round, and use Earthquake quickly in the second.

Yggdra is also a natural choice against the Golems, and if you plan on using her against Rosary she can use the early turns to get into position.

Durant is my choice to lead the charge here. After the first Golem, there are multiple bridges and roads he can abuse. Bloody Claw has enough movement for everyone to get into position, and the Golem will kill himself on his attack turn.




As I thought, 3 Tec and 3 Atk will end the battle before the Golem can use his power. It survives with 182 morale, though.





Just like in the Black Rose Domain, as soon as any combat finishes, Rosary fires up her Ankh. Again we could wait for their turn, and let them attack us. This would buy us an Ankh-free turn in their territory, but we're on the clock.



Milanor ends the turn by moving a little closer, but out of firing range. Bloody Claw's 9 movement worked perfectly.



Fire the Ankh Cannon!

Durant is the only one to take Ankh damage. He's also attacked by the Golem, but Durant handles himself the same as last round.









Revolution has the perfect movement range for this turn. Durant claims a road, and prepares to attack a Golem. Milanor runs up behind him, and waits for his time. Nietzsche also moves up as far as she can, and avoids the Ankh's range.

If that Golem got an Earthquake off, Milanor would go down with that bridge, and we'd lose. Durant will have an easy time since he's on a road, so the battle shouldn't progress that far.



With his Road , Durant walks over this Golem. It's not enough to destroy the Golem, however, since it is on a town and gets a 30% defense bonus.

Two turns and 18 movement in, I was already damaging Roswell by this time.





Durant and Milanor feel the Ankh's power this round, and Durant mops up the Golem.



Ooh, what a pretty shell you have there. Let me see that, and I'll make you something lovely.

Nietzsche starts up her item collection duty. She has one more job before she can help out in the fight.





After Nietzsche picks up her new armour, Milanor runs up to the southern Witch. It's out of Ankh range, and gives him this union formation.

While Roswell's item didn't do jack, Rosary's increases both her Luk and Tec. That 4 Tec will cause a shitstorm on her charges and counters, so stealing the item is a priority. Because of Milanor's immense stat advantage over the regular Witch, he will have the opportunity to go passive and charge up to steal against Rosary. If Milanor went straight up against Rosary, and still had to go passive, there's a good chance he'd be toast before he could steal. Even if he could steal, all that time in passive would likely lead to a loss.





Milanor takes a commanding lead against the Witch. We'll go passive until 70%, which will allow him to Steal against Rosary. Milanor wins this round, but that Fort eats a ton of the damage.





Rosary and Milanor start combat even, and Milanor is ready to steal.



It's unbelievably close. Both sides, with their high Luk, were tossing Flash Attacks back and forth. As usual, Milanor's brute force with 3 Atk lead to victory, but barely.



Now that the stealing is out of the way, Durant reclaims the bridge. This puts him into Milanor's union, so when the Witch attacks Milanor, Rosary will fight Durant. With the Bridge , Durant should have no issues.



Ohhh... It's beautiful!

Nietzsche uses Steal's last 5 movement, and picks up the last item she needs, from the end of the river.







Even numbers, but 3 Atk vs 1 Atk. Milanor wins easily, but the Witch stays in the game with 91 morale.



At this point, Durant is strong enough to brute force it like Milanor. The bridge bonus is just gravy, and Rosary doesn't stand a chance. Even so, after the battle she's still looking fine with 1582 Morale.



Shield Barrier has enough Mov to finally bring Nietzsche into the fray. We can't abuse her water advantage, but she still has the Gungnir and its 2x Skill Time.



With this formation, Milanor will finally take out that first Witch. If he doesn't have to use any skill, Nietzsche will be able to use Shield Barrier immediately, and make short work of Rosary. With the first Witch defeated, Durant will come in to deal the finishing blow against Rosary.



It took three rounds, but we've finally broken that Fort Geo, and the Witch goes down.










Nietzsche continues with her critical hits. This is the major advantage of her 4 Luk.

While she doesn't deal much damage after the charge, Shield Barrier lasts for the entirety of the encounter, and Rosary is finished.

Just as a fun aside, if this wasn't a crit, I'd expect Rosary to deal 4 damage on her counter. Nietzsche would have won 4-0, dealing:
SU: 4x8 = 32
AD: 10
Bonuses: 40
GEO: 40
2244 * 82% * 60% = 539 damage, leaving her at 1040.
Durant would have had to win 3-0 to finish Rosary this turn, which isn't something I'd bet on, but could happen.

Ultimately I got lucky on this attack, but with Nietzsche's high Luk this wasn't unexpected.







It's over, Princess.

….........

The war is off, and the general populace is safe and sound. Nice show of damage control... Feels a little hollow, though.

Yes... It does...



This is the closest I've been to not qualifying the quick-clear, and I got it because of Nietzsche's critical hit.



Royal Messenger: It's the Black Knight Leon and his men!

What!?

I knew he has some kind of scheme in mind!

Princess! The Black Rose Army is defenseless against Leon.

We must hurry and help Roswell!



All that remains is to deliver “it” to General Emilia...

Loot – Actual Path


Berserk: The Atk Up can be nice before Milanor maxes out anyways, but it's a hard trade against Gen and Tec. With Infinite Aggressive, you automatically drain your skill bar. I believe you can go passive to counter the effect, but it's a hard sell, even for 1 map.


Headgear: There's a few parts of the game where ailments suck, and this hat lasts for 2 maps.


Obsidian: We'll be trading this out next map. The trade is only available if we defeat Roswell.


Shell Breastplate: Some slight stat boosts, and immunity to critical hits. There are a few maps where enemies have items that up their critical hit rate, so this is a natural counter. Lasts 2 maps.


Midnight Robe: Some slight stat ups, but grants Void Dark for 3 maps. There is a very annoying Dark damage card we'll encounter that this is good against, and it would even overwrite Yggdra's Dark weakness. Lasts for 3 maps.


The wanderer who fell to the venomous fumes... His curse shall take hold. - Baldack the Avenger
Might have a use if we're using Skeletons, and therefore Necromancers. We'll bring it along a few maps, if only for its 10 Movement.

Additional Loot – Alternate Path


Rune Crystal: Like the Obsidian, will be traded next map. The trade is only available if we defeat Rosary.


Frilly Lace: Having an instant charge can be the difference between victory and defeat in certain fights, so this might've come in handy.


O angry goliath, sentencing the earth... Shake Gaia with they hammer of destruction – Doekes, Lord of Rage
Using Earthquake it's apparently possible to destroy certain aggressive structures, that we haven't seen yet. I've never been successful at it, but I've killed enough of my own troops on bridges with it before. 10 Mov, so it still has uses.

Closing Notes

There's BF10, the big hump in the early game. Witches and Necromancers are annoying enough to fight as is, so the 25% damage you're taking each turn is really taxing. The Ankhs really are the big issue, as you have the tools to deal with combat. A good way to minimize morale damage is to clear the rabble with 1 or 2 units, and then charge the boss with more if you need more support. Of course, a random critical hit late in the game can end you, as we almost saw with Durant.

Vs. Black Rose: You have a plethora of options at your disposal if you attack Roswell. Yggdra's holy damage, and Banish, work to great effect. Milanor can use Mind Change. Skeletons are easy picking during the day, and a quick blitz against the undefended Necromancers quickly leave Roswell by himself, facing a 4-unit union. Roswell isn't threatening at all, especially since his item has no effect on him.

Against Roswell, Shield Barrier, Mind Change, and Banish are all excellent choices. And while stealing his item doesn't give you a stat advantage, it's worth 20% Morale damage if you pull it off. Ace Guard, Sanctuary, and Mirage are all viable cards too, depending on your style.

Vs. White Rose: Rosary is a little more difficult, and it's because of various little things adding up. The Witches are harder to kill, with their 40% Geo. Golems don't have a vulnerable state, and you have to be careful where they end up in the union. A bad Golem encounter can outright kill anyone on a bridge, or otherwise make the level unwinnable. Rosary is farther away, which likely gives her an extra Ankh shot against you. This also means it's harder to get in position with the lower move cards with the good abilities.

It's not all bad new, though. Yggdra and Nietzsche can both use Mind Change, although neither of their Tec's are naturally very high right now. There's even a little bit of Fort Yggdra can take, after you clear out a Witch, and a river for Nietzsche. Durant has plenty of terrain he can use as well. Yggdra can drill through the Golems, but I didn't have her in my long term plan, so I sat her out.

Rosary is mostly threatening with her 4 Tec and Luk. 4 Tec will likely overpower anyone's Gen, and Nietzsche has 4 Luk, and seems like she does a critical hit 25% of the time. You don't want to be on the receiving end of that. Even at 3 Tec, 3 Luk, Rosary can fight pretty well, but you should have more than a couple characters with 3 Atk right now to overpower her.

Either way, Yggdra, Durant and Nietzsche on their native terrains will be a match for Rosary, but you do need to watch out with Nietzsche's Fire weakness.

As usual, Steal, Shield Barrier, and Mind Change are excellent cards to use. Sanctuary, Ace Guard, and Mirage also have their uses against Rosary, depending on your play style.