Part 20: BF16 – North Paltina

The Royal Army broke through North Paltina's defenses and made it past the northern gates through Rodney Road. They closed the northern gate behind them, thwarting the Valkyrie Aegina's pursuit, but the Scarlet Princess Emelia caught up with them by flying over the castle walls. Her forces began attacking the Royal Army from behind.

Although the Imperial Army had failed to stop the Fantasinians from entering the Capital, the Black Knight Leon was already on duty inside the castle walls. The Court Magician Eudy began preparing the cannons as well.

As Emelia bought more time, the Imperial Army steadily increased their efforts to destroy the Royal Army...







Scarlet Princess Emelia...! This could be troublesome.

Well, what's one more fight after all the ones we've had?

Princess Emelia is Emprorer Gulcasa'a sister, Milanor. She is also a Dragon General. If we can defeat her... It will greatly affect the Imperial Army's morale.

If that is your plan, then we shall take the North Gate. All troops, advance!



Whoa, whoa, whoa... I figured a Dragon General'd be pretty buff... She's just a kid!

D-Did you just cal me... a kid...? ... That's it! I've had it with being treated like a child! And I'm going to take it all out on YOU!





First of all, Durant will get this shiny new shield for his morale. It will top him up to full. I also wanted to give him an item to help his stats, but only if it lasted one map. Nothing quite fits the bill, so he'll have to deal with it.



However, Rosary can take the Black Brand. It ups her Tec without any full decrease to her other stats. It also increases Dark damage, but we can't use that right now.

Let us advance!

Let's go, everyone!



And... Emelia gets the first turn. Since we haven't had a chance to pick our card yet, it uses the last card we used at Framm Granary – Blizzard.



Durant gets targetted, which generally isn't a good idea against Griffon Riders. He does Ace Blizzard, though, so everyone else can put it to use.



As expected, Durant stands little chance. He manages to cast Blizzard, though, and its Fatal Damage brings it down to a 1 vs 1. Durant still loses, but it mitigates the damage. He ends up with 4608 morale.

Nietzsche would handle the fight better, and might even be able to pull off a victory. She wouldn't be able to pull Milanor into the union, though, and Durant has some important work only he can do later on.



Next encounter, Emelia vs. Rosary, goes smoothly. Rosary's 4 Tec gave her a nice counter attack, and all it took was downing one Griffon before she could fatally hit Emelia with Blizzard. Emelia still has a nice 3660 morale though.



During Milanor's fight, he goes passive for as long as possible. Milanor is used, with his high Gen, to tank a Gravity Chaos hit. If we had just burned down the Griffon, they'd have full power next fight – against Yggdra. Yggdra would take Fatal Damage from Gravity Chaos, as well as getting Cursed. Neither of these things are favourable outcomes.

Milanor and Yggdra both win their clashes, and bring their respective foes to 900 and 550 morale.



Durant finally reaches the wild world of 2 Luk. This includes the Luk MVP he got a while back...



Now that we have control, let's take a look at Emelia. Nothing exciting happening here. Just a standard Griffon Rider.



We move Durant out of this union, and move Milanor closer. Yggdra bring Milanor into the union, and Milanor links Rosary. This puts Milanor against Emelia, and he might be able to take her out in one shot.

Yggdra takes out her opponent no problem.





And Milanor's stats are just too high to deal with. Emelia has an ineffective counterattack, and Shield Barrier eats most of her damage. The large ability difference gives Milanor an additional 20% damage, for a whopping 124% * 3550, or 4402 damage.

The next two encounters, with Rosary and Yggdra again, go similar. The skies are clear.








Someone tell me the cannon is ready now!

Magister Eudy! The preparations are complete!

Finally! I'll give those worms a good scare!

I like the terminology here, since a good scare is all that needs to be done to be defeated. Units are defeated not when their life is gone, but when you can demoralize them enough to flee.



Now's our chance. Let's move in!

Something's weird... Does it seem quiet here to you...?



Eudy is unreachable at the moment. Even Nietzsche can't cross the moat to get to her. Until we can get to her, we have to deal with her Witches up along the northern road. The first one is just on a road, but the bottom two get Fort GEO. This is also where Eudy's cannon is pointed, so whoever goes up there gets that to deal with.



Rosary will go in first. Not only is she immune to their Fire damage, through Rage and their Flame card, she can Mind Change each one of them to great effect with her 4 Tec.



But while she doesn't take damage from Flame, she still gets the status ailment, and that does deal damage...



Rosary goes 3 for 3, and eliminates the first Witch.



On Eudy's turn, now, she opens up with a cannon shot. This is similar to the Ankh we've witnessed already, but it's weaker, and can't fire at night. This map is locked to noon, so no help there.



Argh!

Th-The enemy is firing on us!

So that's why it was so quiet... They were preparing a cannon!

Cripes, we're sitting ducks for that thing!

Right now Rosary is the only one to get hit, but to advance to the next part we need to take damage 6 times... In order to do this reasonably quick, we'll need more troops on the road to catch cannonballs.



And on our turn, Rosary takes burn damage. It isn't too bothersome, since she has to eat so many cannon shots anyways. She won't have much morale left regardless.



Uh... is this really safe to carry around?







Rosary and Milanor grab a couple items, Yggdra inches into the cannon blast range, and Durant runs far west to face the Knights. Rosary will finish off these two witches now.



And I hit one with a Golem. Because of the tight quarters, there's no place for the Golem to spawn. Otherwise, it would be a nice unit to eat a cannon for us.



Eudy does her thing.



And the two Knight attack Durant. The first one shares Durant's Road , and is a bit more of a threat. The second one is just on grass, but will have enough Rage to use Chariot.

We'll handle this like we handle Revolution – by keeping some skill ready to use for a quick burst of damage at the end of the fight.

Durant wins both, and takes them to about 75% morale.







Milanor and Rosary keep up with the item duty.



And Durant keeps the battle going.

We can't actually defeat these Knights yet, as they have morale protect, but there's nothing wrong with chipping down their defenses so we can roll through them when the time comes. There's not a whole hell of a lot else to do either.



Eudy's turn is this again, and Leon's Knights try to take Durant again. One is finally brought down to 1 morale, and the other has around 1200.



Resident 2: You're from the Royal Army, aren't you!?

Resident 3: Then, the Royal Army is still alive!

Resident 1: We must tell everyone that the Royal Army has returned!

Milanor checks out the southern town. We don't get anything from it, but it will position us for the future.



Milady, it's dangerous here. Please, evacuate immediately!

Mother: I'm sorry. My daughter is ill and can't be moved.



Mother: It's nothing, dear. There's nothing to worry about...



Nana: Wow... It's beautiful! Thank you, Mister.





Durant leaves the weakened two Knights, and makes a short stop to collect an item. He'll attack the bottom Knight this turn, and drop him to half morale.





Eudy fires again, and the Knight loses to Durant again.




Messenger: It's... It's Leon's Black Cavalry!

No... Not now...!

Dammit...! If we don't think of something, it's all over!

S-Sir, something's flying right toward us!

Their aerial forces!? We'll be fighting on three fronts...!

Wait, no... Hot damn! That's...

...Oh! That's the girl we saw at the Jaws of the Wolf!







Nice one, Kylier! Hey, could you take care of that cannon?

You got it!



Eudy's a little odd here. She has the Lady's Coat, which not only makes her unable to commit Critical Hits, it also lowers her Atk. It rasies her Gen, but the fight is easier if you just leave it on her, which is what I plan on doing.



Kylier is pretty balanced, and in general is a pretty good character. Her unique item, the Bloody Rose, also has a new power – Power 25% UP. We'll see that during the battle.

Sorry, but we're taking that cannon!

Crap! How did the Royal Army get its own aerial unit!?



Oh good, Rosary is finally rid of her burn status. She has like 600 morale left.



Time for Kylier and Milanor to attack Eudy. Even with her low Atk, her good Gen and Tec make for a difficult battle.





Kylier does manage to Shield Barrier herself to victory, though. And we see Power 25% UP take effect at the end. We then see an Equipment modifier in the Bonuses section. What Power 25% Up does, is multiplies our damage by an additional 25%, calculated after everything is added up.

Without it, we should have done:
32% + 40% * 3672 Pow = 2644 / 40% Geo = 1586 damage.

We multiply that by an additional 25% for 1982 damage, which rounding aside, is the damage we dealt this fight. It's a useful ability, and it helps mitigate the annoying GEO effects we run into.

Milanor has an easy enough time, and drops Eudy to 1331 morale.



While Kylier is almost a permanent character, she's also always a guest character. As such, she doesn't gain experience. She's incredibly useful at what she does, though, so it's worth some Exp loss to use her.

Take that!

Ugh!



Now that she doesn't control the cannon, Eudy can't fire at us. She does attack Kylier and Milanor though, so we should be able to take her out now.



Kylier totally screws up her counter attack, and will take a loss. It's only for a few hundred damage, though, and she still has 5116.

Milanor finishes her off, though.

No! M-My cannon...!





Esq. Milanor! What is happening...?

Ha! You don't have to worry about being shot at anymore. It's time to turn the tables with our new cannon!



Now is our chance! Let us drive out the enemy!

Kylier! Aim for the Black Knight!



Speaking of the Black Knight, he's loaded for bear this time. He matches Milanor's combat stats, and has plenty of Road tiles to abuse.

His pair of Necromancers are getting decent, too, at 2,2,3,3, and his Valkryies are 2,2,3,2.

Alright! Blast away!



It appears to be a map...

Durant was in the perfect position to do a quick smash and grab for that item. He'll grab it, and pull back out to the safety of the road.



And with Shield Barrier, will completely flatten that Necromancer. Between his Road , his stats, and Shield Barrier, he should be able to clear most of this place out by himself. It all depends on the kind of union he gets attacked by.



Leon rearranges his troops, and attacks with... a lone Valkrie. Who dies. I was hoping to get a bit more out of Shield Barrier that turn.





Kylier blasts the entire side with the cannon, though, and hits all the enemy forces for roughly 10% damage.





We'll need to get Milanor in there eventually, so he'll use all of Revolution's Mov to get closer. Durant finishes off the lone Knight with one morale...



Bleh. This is the kind of thing I wanted Shield Barrier for. Oh well, Durant still looks good on each fight, but may have trouble with the Necromancer.



More than a little trouble, I guess. If there's been one pattern this play through, it's Nietzsche scores critical hits, and Durant takes them.

Both of the Knights fall, and the Valkyrie takes a loss. Leon then advances towards Durant. It's a good thing he didn't push into the union.

Face me, Black Knight Leon!

Haw! With pleasure!



Kylier continues with her cannon barrages.



You can bet it'll be the last time, punk!

Durant gives Milanor some space, and Milanor rushes forward with Steal. Leon's Catastrophe raises all of his combat stats, so it will be nice to take.



Due to Steal's low starting skill and high charge time, we're attacking the Necromancer first. With a little bit of Passive, the extra fight will allow us to start full against Leon and use Steal right off the bat.









The Necromancer still goes down no problem, and we can steal from Leon before he uses Chariot. With both the stat and weapon advantages, Milanor deals with the numbers handicap and takes down Leon.



Leon presses against Milanor, but Milanor is victorious both clashes. The Necromancer is toast.



I hope it doesn't explode...

After Kylier's cannon fire, we move her a little closer to pick up an item. She doesn't need to be anywhere near the cannon for it to fire, so we can move her as we please.



Let's see here... Is this her room? Geez, even the furniture looks ritzy. I sure stick out here...



Hey... I wonder if it'd fit me?

…......... Ha! Hahahah... Ah, who am I kidding? Now's not the time. What am I doing, anyways? We're in the middle of a battle!



Durant will lead the charge, and take out the Valkryie. Milanor will take on Leon, but doesn't quite take him yet.



That'll happen on Leon's turn, when he attacks Milanor.

General Leon! We're being decimated by that cannon!





Leon's unit is retreating!

That's another one I owe Kylier...!

Princess, all that remains the to secure South Paltina. Let us regroup our men before the enemy recovers.

Hey, Milanor! Are you okay!? Did they hurt you?

Hey, Kylier! Nice timing, as always. We owe you again! You're looking well too, Al.



E-Excuse me...

…...!

...Thank you so much for helping us again.

….........

Oh, let me introduce you. This is my old friend Kylier. Kylier, this is Yggdra, the Princess of Fantasinia.

It's an honor to meet you, Kylier. You have my thanks.

Keep your thanks... I'm not fond of you Kingdom folks.

Huh...?

I'm not an ally. This and last time were both for Milanor.

Hey, come on, Kylier...

You come on! I can't believe you're letting her use you.

No one's being used here! She's helping me like I”m helping her. When this is all over, I get her castle. Not bad, eh?

See!? It's like like a princess to throw money at a problem! With all she's got, how could she know real life? Real pain? If you think she'll ever give you that castle, you're a fool.

Don't be this way, Kylier...

Uh... I-I...

I'll never forgive you if anything happens to Milanor! Come on, Al! I think I need some fresh air...

Al: Grrr...

….........

I don't know what's gotten into her, picking a fight like that... She's usually... well, nicer. *sigh* Don't let her get to you, Princess.

...Okay...



I was hoping Durant would claim one, as he did my first run. Milanor pretty much single handedly crushed each boss, though, so it adds up. Still, +2 Atk. If there's every a time for it, it's definitely now.

Loot


Teddybear: Shit.


Golden Spear: Not really good. I guess it would be usable if you use Thunderbolt, though, but why would you? Good morale recovery, though. 3 maps.


Ogre Blade: Lasts for one map, but it's pretty sweet. The Atk up should cover the Tec -6, which assuredly would lower your Tec. The Power 25% Up is good too. Lasts for one map.


Sweetberry: Luk up. It'll be good for Yggdra, for sure, and if we use Durant he's also a contender.


Nana's Candy: Not bad. It restores a small amount of morale every time you take a step, so it's good on long maps with lots of movement. Lasts for one map.


Treasure Map: This needs to be equipped on Milanor for one specific battle, and it allows you to find another item.


Princess Dress: Very shortly Yggdra will be high enough level to gain +1 of every stat from this thing. Added to the immunity to all elemental damage, and the fact it lasts for 3 maps, this is likely one of Yggdra's best items in the game.


Catastrophe: One of Durant's best items, easily. An easy increase to 2 or 3 stats, and Dark attack up. It will come in handy with Gravity Chaos, which we just picked up. Lasts one map. This could easily be a late game item for Durant, but he gets such a collection of awesome Durant-specific items we'll use this early.



Duds: There are various cannon ball duds we find, and will be traded in at a certain town later on. Depending on the number we find, the different reward we get.


O angel deprived of light and wings... Let they misery cage mine enemy. - Aymia the Fallen
Gravity Chaos: Starts with good power, and a nice 9 Mov. Deals the typical Tec+1 dark damage, so it's great vs. Aegina. The real benefit to Gravity Chaos is the Curse Status. While cursed, you can only move one tile, and you fight with maybe 50% strength. It's ridiculous how easy cursed enemies can be to fight, and it can be damn near a requirement against certain bosses. This is right up there with Shield Barrier in the trifecta of cards just better than anything else. The only thing even slightly holding it back is the Axe Ace, but with both Milanor and Kylier, we have options.

Notes

This and the next level are probably among my favourites in the game. All sorts of shit is thrown at you, from ambushes and cannons, to collecting awesome items and new characters. Between this and next, we fight 8 named characters, and see two new cards. It's also a climax in the story, and an arguable end to the first act.

Vs Emelia – the Griffon riders aren't much of a problem if you're prepared, but most of the time you aren't. Gravity Chaos is also terrible to get hit by, but with only 2 Tec, the regular riders can't hit very much. Emelia has 3, though, so is probably dangerous to everyone but Milanor, and maybe Durant.

Vs. Witches – the Witches up top can be annoying, but either caster or Mistel should be able to take them with some card help. Rosary is ideal, thanks to having Void Fire, and being able to use Mind Change. Depending on Yggdra, she should also be fine. The biggest problem is eating the cannon shots.

Vs. Eudy – Eudy is annoying, but with good cards Kylier should be able to handle her most of the time. A few losses on Kylier's end won't cause the end of the world, though. Milanor is probably the best pick to assist Kylier, just because everyone else will have trouble either fighting her, or breaking her Gen/Tec. If you don't have 4 Luk, you can use Kylier to Ace Steal for Milanor, but really, the item is pretty shitty, and she's less of a threat with it on.

Vs. Leon – Leon has the most important item to steal, even if you don't plan on using it. It ups his Gen, Atk, and Tec, so he's much weaker with it gone. Otherwise, he's a simple Knight. Try to keep him off the road, and bring in Kylier for support if you need it. She's stuck on the east side of the road, in the castle, but there are still many union formations that will bring her in.

Treasure Map: This can be a little awkward to get, especially if you're not using Durant. As soon as you start killing the Knights blocking the road, the other troops generally fill up the space behind them. You'll probably kill Leon before you can open the path to get it. With Durant you can just run through them. He can also handle himself in battle if you take the road tiles, so you can run him there early like I did.


Well, that took longer than expected. I had to rerun this map, as I overwrote some of the source videos before I could screen shot them. Went pretty similar, except Durant scored MVP. Oh well.