Support NeoGAF

[Levyne]

Haha, yeah I figured that out :v

Next part is going to teach the magic of Return and Warp. Saved my ass (I think)

 

[Barrylocke]

I think I know exactly how your ass got saved by Return and Warp. No shame at all using it here, especially on your first playthrough.

 

[Levyne]

Man, these chapters are long. Just finished chapter 2. Obviously haven't started, but I love the chapter 3 music.

 

[Barrylocke]

Yeah, when I was referring to having a song I liked more than Disturbance of Augustria, this is the one I was thinking of. Probably my favorite song of the first half of the game.

 

[Levyne]

Well I wasn't as far through Chapter 2 as I thought, there was a lot of stuff left to do! I had just gotten the Bard/Dancer pair last chapter, Mackily still around just starting to be aggressive, Eltshan still locked up, and bandits attacking the nearby villages. Lots of things for Sigurd to figure out how to deal with.

I notice a few conversations pop up. Cuan gives Fin a Brave Lance, which ends up being very useful because it helps him make up for his average-ness, otherwise. One thing I do sort of like about this game is the "semi-permanence" of the equipment since it can't be easily traded. I imagine the units with their specified load-outs, it's more personal in a way. It helps differentiate the units a bit more. Obviously, the freedom to trade thim could be nice, but now I see Fin as "having a Brave Lance", Cuan as having the Silver Lance, Deirdre has the Magic ring, etc. It's interesting in a way. Meanwhile the Mercenaries Voltz and Beowulf start moving their cavalry near where my units are, west of the various villages. A pegasus knight that we later learn is named Fury also appears, looking for Levin. I assume they are related..

Levin and Sylvia start taking out the bandits destroying the villages. Levin is actually pretty damn capable with Elwind, but Sylvia ends up being more useful giving him more turns rather than doing anything herself. It's neat that she can at least defend herself too. It also helps that these axemen are more interested in the villages rather than ganging up on the pair. I lose one village, which i think is alright. Meanwhile, Sigurd and Co. bait the Mercenaries into getting close before starting to clear them out.

I move Sigurd close to Beowulf to try to recruit him, and learn that he doesn't have enough money to pay him . However, I figure out that anyone can pay the fee, and I make Noish cough up the dough. I learn that a lot of the knights themselves are not too dangerous but I have to worry about Voltz. Jamka's Killer Bow is becoming quite the boss slayer, and he takes out mercenary leader. He gets a Paragon ring, which I'm unsure what it does (I forget that he even dropped it until I looked at my notes.)

Meanwhile, a combined effort from the rest of the troops start finishing off the "Freeknights". The armors from up north also join the fun, which made things a bit hectic. I appreciated the NPC knights that protected Lachesis for helping out here, for both helping take down the various units while also diverting attention away from mine. During all of these, Levin and Sylvia are finishing up taking out bandit axemen and visiting the villages.

I notice a symbol appear when a couple attacks when right next to each other, but I'm unsure what it did. Right now my only such pairs are Sigurd-Deirdre and Ethlin-Cuan. I notice that the various keeps have a fortune option for such romances but I haven't been able to initiate others yet. It doesn't bother me too much. One of the villages warns that the Bishop of Mackily (later learned to be Clement) has a Sleep staff to watch out for. Another village gifts an Iron Cutter, which I assume works like an Armorslayer.

Levin and Sylvia catch up to Sigurd, who thanks them for saving as many villages as they can. I finally have a chance to rest and heal up. I try to spend most of my effort forcing exp to Aideen since healing is the only way she can level up at the moment. While I have a free chance, I also cap out Sylvia by repeatedly dancing...it just took a little patience. It doesn't really help her out much in a fight, but it increased her overall survivability. I learn that she also can refresh all four adjacent units, which is badass. I gang up my magic units on Macbeth, I don't have any notes about him dropping anything.

Some confusing plot takes place here. We learn the Prince Kurth and Sigurd's father are participating in something called the Isaacian conflict. Kurth was in love with a duchess named Sigyn, who I think is Deirdres Mother, but also Lord Alvis's mother..who is Azels paternal half brother.....x_x. If I was smart I would have started a family tree but too late now, and I don't want to look it up. I also may have gotten one or two things confused, and it doesn't help that I haven't met most of these people in person. Clement finally decides to take action, and Fury's knights also take flight..

Alec Flirts with Sylvia who promises to show her "special dance". Beowulf also talks to Lachesis for some stat ups, and Sylvia and Sigurd don't seem to get along very well. Units start coming out of Mackily, I figure that I can just let them come to me, right? No point getting in range of those ballistae and making thing difficult...but

I learn that they are headed for the Evans keep! SHIT. Ardan doesn't stand a chance. Luckily, Ethlin has Return and Aideen has Warp, and I go ahead and start spamming those to send troops. I also make sure to send Sylvia, Levin, and Sigurd back because it doesn't take a genius to reason that one of those three will be able to recuit fury. Having the Dancer nearby will also be very useful, obviously. I'm also surprised that many of the Mackily units are also headed to Evans from the west, so I just send a couple extra troops to make sure things go okay.

So Levin recruits Fury, I end up taking out the rest of the attackers, and then after many many turns, I finally gather all of my troops outside Mackily castle right outside Ballistae range. We learn that Levin is a Silesian Prince, unsurprisingly. During all of this, I again manage to top everyone off, health wise, focusing on getting Aideen as much experience as possible. But I'm going to need to bait the enemies out unless I want to dance with them within the ballista fire. I learn that they aren't very accurate and that the steel sword wielding enemies and the mages are the bigger threat.

So I park some high defense units out in front to bait out the enemies, and then pull out away from balista fire. This ends up working really well. In fact, eventually I'm more or less free to gang up on the enemies completely outside of their firing range. I attack with my magic units on the swordsmen and my heavy hitting units on the mages to try to limit the damage.

Fin with his Brave Lance, Cuan with the SIlver Lance, Sigurd with the Silver Sword, and Deirdre with the Magic ring boosted Aura all continue to be the heavy hitters of my group. I'm able to take out the enemies without getting in range of Clements Sleep spell. I don't see a way to otherwise get to the balistae expect for potentially flying over to them with Fury, which would be exceedingly stupid. So I figure I will quickly sieze the keep in order to take care of them.

With the aid of Sylvia the Dancer, I move some heavy hitting units to take out Macbeth. Cuan ends up missing: I find out that the Bishop is unusually dodgy, but a Fin Brave Lance and a Alec Slim Sword end up taking care of him; I guess I will have to trade Sleep later. The rest of the enemies disappear, as expected.

King Shagal is losing his subordinates left and right, and sends out Zyne as a final resort. Manfloy meanwhile speaks to another mage (Sandima? Either him or just a replacement) and we learn that Prince Kurth is supposedly dead, having been assassinated. They mention Narga, a previous foe of theirs, as well as name-dropping Alvis.

I allow Zyne's troops to come to me; even Lachesis gets in on some of the action. Zyne's Horseslayer is a real problem for my typical boss killers like Cuan and Fin (I can never make up my mind on him) so I attack from range with magic attacks such as Ethlin's Light sword until Cuan can get a guaranteed kill with one blow. This works well since the Horseslayer ends up being a fitting weapon for him too.

I learn that the magic units, Levin espcially, work well for taking out the rest of the troops and the ballistae. Both he and Sylvia seem very evasive compare to something like Azel. I basically allow Sylvia and him to clear out the path to the last keep, Agusty. Shagal has absolutely no range capabilities, so I gather my various magic users around to attack him unheeded. I allow Deirdre to get the final blow so that she can get the Physic staff.

Shagal manages to survive and retreats further north into Agustra. Eltshan seems a little conflicted, but at the end of the day, remains friendly to Sigurd once he is promised that the pursuit of the king will stop. Months pass and we learn that Sigurd and Deirdre have a child. However, Shagal decides to retaliate, and sends a new force to retake Agusty. We're introduced to a new knight named Jacoban. He might be recruitable.

Pirates are also stirring up trouble. We learn of Dobarl and his boss and the fact that they don't see eye to eye. While I believe she has remained unnamed, she doesn't seem to command the respect of the various pirates, who decide to begin pillaging without her consent. She looks and sounds like a potential ally to me.

Deirdre can't sortie in the next chapter NOOOO. She had become one of my favorites, and was a heavy hitting magic user. Maybe I'll give her magic ring to Azel to compensate. Either that or be patient because I wouldn't be surprised if she become available to use soon after the chapter starts. Meanwhile Aideen ends up being my first promotion! She sees some nice boosts as she becomes a High Priest; maybe I'll give her the Magic ring.

Anyways, the new map seems very open and even a bit intimidating. As I mentioned, Chapter 3 has some awesome music, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Barrylocke]

Oh wow, you really DID go through with maxing out Sylvia's level. Interesting.

The Paragon (called Elite some of the older patch translations due to the Japanese name) Ring gives the wearer the Paragon skill, which doubles their EXP growth. Incidentally, Lex has this skill innately.

I agree with you on the weapons and items adding a layer of uniqueness to the characters (as do skills). I found myself trading weapons around as much as I probably should, and I know I'm not the only one. Ethlin's Light Sword and Fin's Brave/Hero Lance is generally seen as their signature weapons, for instance.

 

[Levyne]

Ah yeah. I'm currently doing arena stuff before chapter 3 and figured out the Paragon thing. I guess I assumed that you would use it like some consumable (which reminds me, no Vulneraries: ) so that the skill would then be applied. Neat that it's just passive. I didn't realize Lex had it. I haven't used him much. But he's my only Axe guy. Just bought him a silver axe.

 

[Barrylocke]

Lex is pretty baller, but unfortunately, you missed a hidden item from an earlier chapter that makes him MUCH more useful. I missed it as well, and he was still a useful member of the team, just not as useful. Besides Paragon, both he and Arden have the Ambush skill (probably called Vantage in your patch) that lets them attack first on enemy phases if their HP is below half.

Some confusing plot takes place here. We learn the Prince Kurth and Sigurd's father are participating in something called the Isaacian conflict. Kurth was in love with a duchess named Sigyn, who I think is Deirdres Mother, but also Lord Alvis's mother..who is Azels paternal half brother.....x_x. If I was smart I would have started a family tree but too late now, and I don't want to look it up. I also may have gotten one or two things confused, and it doesn't help that I haven't met most of these people in person.

Nope, you didn't get confused on anything you stated here. I'll add that the Issacian conflict is an ongoing war that began before the game started. If you rewatch the prologue opener at the start of the game, you'll see this get explained in a bit more detail, and it's the reason why Sigurd was in charge at his home region in Chalphy in the beginning despite his father being the actual ruler. Also, don't forget that Ira's brother is the King of Issac, and her nephew Shanan is the Prince. The war is part of why Ira was so hostile to Sigurd and co. back in Chapter 1.

FE4's world has a lot of backstory that sometimes gets dumped on you, but for fans of that sort of thing it's one of the better FE locals. There's actually even more stuff worth mentioning that the game doesn't always go into detail about (it's mentioned in supplementary works instead), but for the sake of time and to make sure I don't prematurely spoil anything, I'll save it till a later update.

 

[Levyne]

I'm glad at least one person is enjoying the write ups.

As for anyone else, are they obnoxious? Too many images?

 

[Barrylocke]

One more thing, I'd definitely hold off on looking at an already made family tree if you don't want to make your own. They tend to dive into spoiler territory.

 

[theprodigy]

Levyne pls stop spamming this thread

Spoiler

Kappa

seriously though, I think it's safe to say this now, but you missed the Hero Axe (aka Brave Axe) for Lex

 

[Levyne]

I see. Oh well. Not the last thing I'm going to miss.

The first part of chapter 3 was actually pretty dialogue-lite and straightforward. Had to manage fights on a few fronts..

and Return/Warp bailout my keep again, haha.

 

[Barrylocke]

Yeah, I was tempted to forwarn you about the Brave Axe, but I figured that you can handle it. If you're going blind, best to go all in, right?

 

[Levyne]

Alright, so Chapter 3. Just did a short bit at the start before I distracted by other stuff. I was surprised that the map didn't open with much in the way of cutscenes or setup. Just one look at the map and off I went!

The map is a bit more open to start out. The last couple have been large maps, sure, but I felt somewhat funneled in a certain direction. Now this is the first time where it really felt like the game said "go do your thing", which is kind of neat. Anyways. Jacoban is sitting in Madino keep up north, flanked by more ballistae. A conversation between the Myrmidons rewards Aira with a Brave Sword, which, of course, is awesome. There are enemies on all sides so I try to split up with some going north and some going east.

Not a whole lot going to be honest. A few enemies to the east, but they are actually pretty tough, individually. I end up having to use absolutely everyone in order to clear them out. Luckily the dancer is with them so I'm able to make use of that to be able to finish them off within the turn. Up north, I take a few of the enemies out, but I decide make a line of units up to in order to allow the red units to make the first move.

Once the east enemies are taken care of, I use Sylvia (so OP) to help get my eastern people to the north quickly. I want to save all of the villages, and the main force could use the help. Cuan heads to the villages while the rest head toward the rest of the blob. I find that mages are still some of my favorite units. The animations are just so flashy and interesting. Haha, I guess I'm a shallow person, but they are also so useful since it exploits the low resistance of most of the enemies. I had bought Azel an Elfire and gave his old Thunder spell to Aideen, so now she can wreck people as well.

I save the first village and get a Restore staff. Will have to trade that around later, along with the Sleep staff that I forgot I have and whoever has it. So far I don't really have a lot of use for those or the silence staff I'm still sitting on. At least Warp and Return are getting use (famous last words..) My two groups start to converge, just in time for the reinforcements from the west. So I place my units right outside their range in order to overwhelm them once they get closer.

Meanwhile Sigurd visits the second village and drinks some who knows what in order to get a strength boost. I guess the stat ups could have gone to someone worse so that's all right. Neat. However, the enemy units end up going for the keep and not for my units waiting for them DDD: . Time for this song and dance again! Cuan returns using his Return ring item (surprisingly useful) while Aideen and Ethlin get to work sending units back to the keep as before. Sylvia allows them to collectively send 4 in one turn.

I actually clear the enemies down south really easily. I even forget to screencap anything interesting. Up top though is a different story. Lots of enemies, and I really have to abuse Sylvia to get through. I wish Alec, Noish, and Beowulf weren't so average, but Beowulf's Cutter does end up being a little useful on the armors. At least the ones wielding bows that can't attack back

Luckily, Sigurd is pretty great and ends up killing the Fortify-ing Bishop and some of the stronger enemies. Meanwhile, Jamka promotes to Sniper (he had the aid of the Paragon item). He and a couple of the units down south detour into the nearby woods area to take out some mages that are mulling around. Meanwhile, Fury had been sent out to some of the other villages, where she acquire some Gold and nothing else so far. I then decide to send her north to a mysterious tower or another village.

The battle up top is winding down. The pirates just allow themselves to be picked off, and the balista units are also really weak. Fin and Levin and Jamka end up clearing out the remaining mages, and Dew is stealing up to 5000 Gold from some of the pirates. I haven't been using him much, but it could be really useful to make sure he gets a hit in every so often. At least against axe users. The other various mounted units end up clearing out everything else.

One of the villages up top gave me a Clipper sword for Noish. Nice because he had no special weapon to call his own. The other village only gave gold and no item but does mention that the female pirate leader is named Brigid. I remember that name from one of Aideens conversations earlier, which elucidates how you probably recruit her later. They do look like they could be related. I probably would have totally forgotten if I wasn't jotting down notes. (I would have anticipated recruiting her but now I know who should most likely talk to her). Meanwhile, Fury seems to be unable to visit everything useful up to. Seem I'm gated off before I'm allowed to explore up there.

In order to take out the Thunder sword weilding Jacoban, I set Holyn on him with a Silver sword. Kind of a neat symmetrical battle screen. The battle goes pretty easily if I make sure he's topped off health wise and allows the boss to make the first move. My swordman comes out on top, and gets the new fancy sword for himself. I spend the free time getting my units grouped up again and allowing Lachesis of all people to get some free exp by topping off people's health.

Once Sigurd seizes the keep, a man named Father Claude and a companion named Tiltyu appear. They don't join up or anything, but instead decide to provide some background plot. They share with Sigurd the news of Prince Kurth's assassination, and reveal that Lord Byron, Sigurd's father, is the person that most people suspect! Dun dun dun. Sigurd, of course, is determined to prove that his father is innocent, but has a few other things on his plate right now.

Meanwhile, Deirdre convinces Shanan (I had forgotten that he was even around) to look after their kid so that she can go out and help Sigurd. Yes! My Aura cannon is back! Wait a sec, she's greeted by NergalManfloy who confirms that she is the daughter of Sigyn that he seeks, and then steals her away. Well, she didn't really put up much of a fight...hopefully I can get the Magic ring and Physic back that she still has.

Eltshan is finally joining the battle on the other side. I don't want to fight him . He seems to come at a class and level above all of my units and also seems to have the Mistolin sword which gives him some really scary stat numbers. Becuase of this I doubt I can recruit him here, I'll probably try to avoid killing him since he seems like a such a bro ;_; . I also doubt I can fight him toe to toe so I assume there's at least some level of negotiation to come up. I also assume the various pirate leaders will also show their faces soon and have to be dealt with as well.

 

[Barrylocke]

Nice to see Chapter 3 coming along. Plus we get the first appearance of a Holy Weapon (well, I guess Eltshan used it briefly against Elliot and his men).

Also, since you hinted at the Weapon Triangle earlier, I should point out that in this game, the weapon triangle results in +/- 20 Accuracy depending on where you fall in the triangle, and no change to Attack. So it's important, but shouldn't completely gamechange tactics unless a character is mediocre with their hit rate.

 

[Levyne]

Hmm. I think I'm used to +/- 30 hit and 1 damage. But yeah, understandable that it changes from title to title.

 

[Lunar15]

These are great Levyne! I still can't wait for when you get to the heavy hitting stuff.

 

[Levyne]

Yeah, I know I'm going slow :v

Edit: I'm just happy some people find following my playthrough enjoyable

 

[Barrylocke]

Eh, you've done about 4 chapters in a little over 5 days. Considering how long the chapters are in this game, I'd say your pace is fine, especially with screenshots and commentary.

 

[RELAYER]

I guess I'm going to play FE6 again now that I'm finished throwing my temper tantrum.

Although I rage hard while playing, I think it might be my favorite FE that I've played so far.

The maps are a pain in the ass, the units suck, the hit percentages I feel sometimes straight up lie to you, the bosses are redonkulous, and the same-turn enemy reinforcements are cheap, but there's something about resetting a level over and over again 20 times for a week that makes it stand out in your memory.

I'm thinking of who I want on my team this time, and am looking for suggestions.

I was thinking something like this as my core group

Roy
Lilina
Lance
Alan
Dieck
Sue
Rutger
Fir (maybe. i really like myrmidons but Fir FAILED in my last playthrough)
Miledy
Percival
Thief
That chick who tutored Roy


I hate having only one flyer, but the pegasus knights in this game SUCK and Miledy's brother can fuck off.

I hear a lot of bad things about Sue, but I need a bow user. This game has tons of Wyvern dudes. And if given the choice, I'm gonna take a bow user who has a horse over a bow user who doesn't.

Speaking of dichtomies, a lot of people talk mad shit about Lilina, but in my last play through she was the MVP. I mean straight beasting constantly. Her magic is crazy high and although people complain about her speed in comparison to Lugh, my Lilina was doubling everything.

I can't decide if I want Lot or Ward or either of them. I'd want to promote them to use a bow, but I never had much love for pure axe users since paladins can use axes and I don't want to waste a Crest.

I'm not sure which thief to use. Cath sucks and obviously joins way too late, and Chad looks like an idiot, so I'm leaning towards Astol.

As for healers-
I like Clarine and she is apparently the Queen of Dodging, but she gets anima magic and I want a light user. Apparently Saul is the only light user in the game besides Yodel, but Saul doesn't have a horse.
I suppose I don't even really care for Clarine because her magic is garbage. I don't know why I use her.


If I go with Clarine and then use Yodel and the old hag you get who uses dark magic, pretty much half my team will be able to use staves anyways.

 

[Barrylocke]

Ellen in FE6 can also use Light magic, and she comes before all of the other healers. But honestly, I never bothered with light magic in FE6, Anima is generally better in that game, Light magic starts at E rank, and Clarine had my favorite stat paramaters.

For axe users, don't discount Geese or Gonzalaz, although neither can use Bows on promotion.

Ray/Lleu exists too for Dark Magic.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Is it generally better to level up 10 or so mains and ignore the rest, or use everyone and level everyone up?

 

[RELAYER]

Ellen in FE6 can also use Light magic, and she comes before all of the other healers. But honestly, I never bothered with light magic in FE, Anima is generally better in that game, Light magic starts at E rank, and Clarine had my favorite stat paramaters.

For axe users, don't discount Geese or Gonzalaz, although neither can use Bows on promotion.

Ray/Lleu exists too for Dark Magic.

Well my thing was that I wanted someone to wield each Divine Weapon.
I guess Yodel and Niime will do.

 

[Levyne]

I used to be way more of the first type of player regarding limited unit use, (though rarely as few as ten units). I would carefully calculate my whole playthrough, especially for a title that I had played multiple times before. I would designate a lance user, a sword user, light magic dark magic whatever other magic. I have to make sure every S (or SS or whatever) weapon is accounted for right? In a way it's a type of "power gaming" I suppose, or min-max-ing (with more emphasis on the "maxing" part, though later in a game played this way the effort needed does go out the window.) It's sort of similar to when you (general 'you') used to play a pokemon game by only leveling the starter and rolling over everyone. It's a tried and true strategy, why not do that?

Well, I guess at some point I found it boring.

It's a valid way to play though, for sure. Find a core group of units and see how many you can get to max level or get stats to cap. At some point you end up gathering characters simply from a collection standpoint. Your characters will easily outclass any individual enemy group so you can just park them in front on a large group of enemy soldiers and just watch them throw themselves at an overleveled player character. At least this is my experience with the games I've played (6 and up) and not accounting for thing like Hector Hard or Lunatic mode.

I really just find it more interesting (if not also more difficult) to use a greater variety of units. I'm not saying that I enjoy leveling up units absolutely evenly, that's just as compulsive as ensuring you don't waste exp when you designate a core team, only to the other extreme. I just find that it somehow feels more rewarding to at least use every unit within the map you're given them. To make that clear, I mean something like you recruit Devdan and don't plan to use him, but once you recruit him in whatever chapter he shows up, no point showing him into a corner just because you'd rather get Nephenee to level cap 1 or 2 battles sooner. That's why I'm loving being able to use every unit in FE4. Does it get tedious having to move absolutely everyone around the huge maps, sure, but it's neat to see everyone's battle sprite, not to mention that you have to be a little more tactical about unit placement since you don't clearly outlevel the enemies. Of course, I'm still early in that game so I don't want to speak too much like I know what I'm talking about there.

The happy medium that would be easy to implement would be to simply use the same units, limiting yourself based on the map allotment. If you decide to use Kent as your main paladin for instance, sure, go with that. But if you find a map that allows you some more units and you've already deployed your core team, might as well throw out Isadora just for some variety. At least, that's how I find myself enjoying these games now a days.

 

[Barrylocke]

And when it doubt, go Ironman run. That'll surely bring some variety to your team roster, heh.

 

[RiggyRob]

Is it generally better to level up 10 or so mains and ignore the rest, or use everyone and level everyone up?

Depends on the game - for example, in FE7 I usually stick with the characters I like, but in FE8 I switch it around, mainly cause I know I can level the others in the Tower of Valni / Lagdou Ruins. Then again, there are some characters I flat out refuse to use (I'm looking at you, Meg).

I think the recommendation is that you stick with a core group of characters and replace them with a better version as required e.g. if Erk isn't levelling up well, replace him with Pent

Spoiler

who is a fucking sick character anyway

.

 

[Levyne]

Haha, for sure. The only game I've done an ironman run was "FE7". I should revisit some of the others. When I want to change things up I typically go for things like "only mages" or "only sword users" or "only pre-promotes and lords". Man, that last one would so not work in Holy War x_x

 

[theprodigy]

Haha, for sure. The only game I've done an ironman run was "FE7". I should revisit some of the others. When I want to change things up I typically go for things like "only mages" or "only sword users" or "only pre-promotes and lords". Man, that last one would so not not work in Holy War x_x

a Sigurd solo would totally work though

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Cheers guys, 7 hours into Awakening, loving it. 2 of my guys are dead already though

One of them because I forgot I had a spell to rescue them from approaching enemies, and the other because I tooka stupid risk and put a low HP unit alone in the danger zone, where she got attacked 4 times in a row

 

[Levyne]

aaah

I might lose a character here in the end bits of 3. Stupid

Spoiler

pirates

 

[Gambit]

Cheers guys, 7 hours into Awakening, loving it. 2 of my guys are dead already though

One of them because I forgot I had a spell to rescue them from approaching enemies, and the other because I tooka stupid risk and put a low HP unit alone in the danger zone, where she got attacked 4 times in a row

and you left them for dead? you monster!

Spoiler

chance for a second playthrough!

 

[Levyne]

So much happens between chapters 3 and 4!

And units keep leaving, too good for me. Always some of my favorite ones too.

 

[Levyne]

So I finished off Chapter 3 and started Chapter 4. I had quite a bit left but finished it off without casualty. The plot is really starting to move now (well, at least it does in the back half.) I also got a lot of swag (that's "cool items") and each unit is starting to fall into their roles. Except Alec. He's useless.

So Eltshan and his crossknights are headed towards me. I had already deduced that he would be a tough cookie to take on, but his troops were nothing to sneeze at either. Also, I finally learn from experience and expect them to head to the keep to the south. I use the dancer (best FE dancer ever?) to help quickly move my units back from Midino down towards...whatever keep that is down there. I also make sure some of my tankier units are in range of the front few knights in order to bait the attacks. Meanwhile I also send Sigurd down to take on any that do decide to head to the keep. I figure he will be more or less okay on his own.

I quickly learn that Sigurd has no option to Talk to Eltshan. I'm sure they probably have special dialogue if they were to fight, but that doesn't seem like the best idea...the only other choice is to see if Lachesis can talk to her brother, and lo and behold she can! She's able to get him to turn back, where Shagaal immediately locks him up again. What a glutton for punishment. This does not get rid of the Crossknights, however, and now I find that I have to talk all or most of them out this turn because Lachesis is a weak sitting duck in the middle of most of them. Oops. Lachesis also gets the Earth Sword. Neato!

So I find myself using my absolutely best weapons in order to clear these guys. Silver weapons, Brave stuff, Slayer. Even still most of these people take a little bit of ganging up on in order to defeat. I try to surround weaker units like Lachesis in order to prevent them from dying but I'm actually not sure how much help that was seeing how the enemies have Javelins :v

Shagaal deploys Wyvern knights like Trabant and Papilon out to finish the job Eltshan started. I learn that they are from a place called Thracia. I know nothing about that expect that it's in the title of another Fire Emblem game. Anyways. they show up near the tower that I failed to send Fury to earlier. Well, Trabant isn't actually around yet. I assume I will run into him later.

The Wyverns slowly make their way over to Sigurd and Co. I notice that absolutely none of them had any sort of range damage option, nor any resistance, and iirc most or all of them were even outfitted with Iron weaponry. Feels like it's going to be an easier encounter than the Crossknights from earlier. Anyways, I move units into the treetops for the extra security and allow the wyvern knights to approach me. I try to see if the Thunder sword does any extra damage against them but it didn't seem to. Lame!

Using magic users and other ranged attack, the Wyverns go down easily. Even though they had high defense, it was easy for units like Lex to just chuck their Hand Axes or Javelins, while magic units easily dispatched the rest. Jamka, being the Slayer of Bosses that he is, easily kills Papilon. He gets the Renewal ring, which I assume is the item version of the skill Deirdre has. His pockets are getting a little full of all of his enemy spoils. He's going to need to share the wealth soon.

Even Noish gets in on the action with his Clipper weapon! Too bad his counterpart Alec has no claim to fame at the moment. Trabant's had it with this shit and bails, leaving Shagaal alone to defend the castle (forget the name). He's a Baron, interesting class, and seems to be formidable with magic or blades. The guards in front of the keep don't move and are easily bulldozed over.

I learn that Lachesis' Earth Sword has only 10 uses. Very lame! It does make her maginally more useful though, so I suppose it's all right. I set out Sigurd in front to bait all of the castle defense into getting closer. A lot of these units are armored swordmen or archers, so my magic units again get in on the action. Beowulfs Iron Cutter also gets some use, and I make sure to have some weaker units get hits on the archers from up close just for some exp. For healing, I make sure Lachesis sees most of the exp since Ethlin and Aideen are well ahead in terms of levels.

I'm somewhat desperate to redeem Alec for his terribleness. I send him over to the random village hoping for something awesome and he ends up getting a Def +1 boost. Better than nothing. I also see that Shagaal will drop an Silver Blade which Alec can't even wield. The poor guy is cursed. I allow my units like Levin and Jamka to talk retaliatory shots against Shagaal's (cool looking) magic. Aira gets the final blow so that she can swipe the blade.

Upon taking the castle, Shanan shows up and shares the news of Deirdre's abduction. Sigurd is understandably upset. Meanwhile, Dobarl and Pizarl end up finally initiating their mutiny against their former leader Brigid, who we learn is a sniper. She's lightly outnumbered and is going to need some help. The pirates also build a bridge over to where Jacoban used to reside, and the invisible walls blocking Fury's earlier progress are seemingly gone. Convenient!. I need to rush over and help Brigid out. Too bad I'm on the other side of the map.

Claude the High Priest and TIltyu finish doing whatever religious people do and have also obtained the Valkyrie staff, which I learn is a one use revival item. I'm surprised to learn that this is not a story or quest specific item, but actually an item in his inventory. Sounds useful! He also comes with the familiar Fortify, and Tiltyu is a Thunder Mage with Thoron. Unfortunately, neither can take many hits from the axemen all about. Things aren't looking good. At this point I'm worried not everyone will come out alive. I'm able to warp people to the closest castle, starting with Holyn and Aira. Sigurd and Beowulf are also sent on the next turn (using my Dancer to warp two per turn. Based dancer.) Also Brigid is a level 12 Sniper, which is weird to see. Hax. She just has a Steel Bow, but outclasses most of the enemies around her. Not being able to attack back actually saves her life..

I learn Aideen has become a couple with Azel. I ran into this when I noted that the Give command was an option between them. Cool to see that I initiated one. I'm making a small effort to keep Holyn and Aira together and well as Beowulf and Lachesis to see if I can pair those up, but I'm not really trying to be anal or compulsive about making sure absolutely everyone is paired. Tiltyu and Brigid (who is fleeing west) slowly start taking out some of the enemies, but I'm emphasizing survival at this point. Fury is almost there to help out while Claude spams Fortify. It would have been nice if he can come with a spell or would have been able to take Tiltyu's Thunder. He is rather evasive though, which is helpful in baiting enemies away from Tiltyu, who is more fragile.

This is where I luck out a bit. After rescuing a village that gives nothing but money (welp), Brigid ends up at a choke point between the village and the tower. Since she cannot attack back, this means she's limited to being attacked by one swordsman once per turn. While the pirates could slowly go around by water with that ability of theirs, they do not seem smart enough to attempt that. I did not read this strategy or otherwise know to do this. It literally fell into my lap. I wonder if the map was designed to have Brigid end up there from the village entrance if you exhaust her movement? Anyways, she's able to either attack the second enemy back or help take out the few pirates behind her. Tiltyu and Fury are able to also handle themselves. I top everyone off with Fortify between turns. The rest of my units are still racing up from the southern part of the map. Ethlin detours and becomes a Paladin. Happy day! Two of my 3 promoted units (Ethlin and Aideen) are people that just got exp from spamming heals :v

Sigurd finally gets close enough to bait out some of the enemies and help out. Beowulf is around too. Somewhere around here. Aira defeats Pizarl and ends up with the Leg ring item, which gives her +3 movement. One of the best swag items so far! Sigurd finally reaches Brigid, and everyone is finally out of danger, phew.

I start to gather everyone before finally taking on the pirate keep, where only 3 or 4 enemies remain, I've pretty much won. While looking in the menu to see all the interations Brigid has, I noticed Cuan and Ethlin could talk where she gives him the Gae Bolg. I dunno if this has to do with her promotion or what. They mention Deirdre's disappearance, so many it was just a timed event slated to occur after that. Midir confuses Brigid for Aideen, seems like they are twins. When Aideen speaks to the former pirate herself, she gives her the Ichival Bow. It comes with some really awesome stat bonuses. Are both of my snipers going to be beasts? Claude also talks to Sigurd, revealing the expected fact that Reptor and Langbart are behind Kurth's assassination, and now they are framing Sigurd as well as his father. Sigurd seemingly cannot make friends anywhere

Even though the weapon triangle isn't as pronounced in this one, I send some swordsmen east to mop up the rest of the foes. I can't help myself but adhere to it. The few axemen remaining easily fall, and Dobarl hits hard but isn't much of a threat. I end up allowing Holyn to finish him off, who then receives the Power ring, not wanting to be outdone by his Myrimidon comrade when it comes to bling. Sigurd comes over and seizes the castle.

Politics and drama! A LOT happens here. A bearded man (Reptor or Langbart?) leads a large force after Sigurd. These forces are Grandbellian! Sigurd is being chased by his own countrymen! Meanwhile, another old fogey (Langbart or Reptor? Hard to keep straight) has his eyes set on the throne, and is willing to kill anyone and everyone in order to obtain it. There's so many princes and kings in this world that you think you could simply just invent your own little kingdom but nope, this guy chooses to make Sigurd his enemy. Probably a bad move in the long run.

Sigurd, cornered, finds himself out of options until a Pegasus knight names Mahnya appears to often him safe retreat to Silesia. She looks like both Levin and Fury so I'm unsurprised. We learn that Silesia is the Switzerland of this world, largely neutral in any matters not concerning it. They are also home to many Pegasus knights. Sigurd is offered safe haven away from the increasing turmoil on his own continent. However, things are always greener on the other side I suppose. We learn that the late King (name redacted due to memory loss) has two brothers who seek after the throne and do not recognize the legitmacy of Levin's claim to the position. Both Daccar and Maios are upset to find Levin back in his homeland. Silesia has a pretty cool look to it, with the snow and all. The queen of Silesia is aware of the power feud but is seemingly not in a place where she can do anything about it. We also learn that a lot of time has passed since Deirdre's abduction, and that their son is about a year older, so maybe just under two years old at this point.

The queen plays coy and seems to lot have much love lost for Levin. Meanwhile Cuan, Fin, and Ethlin decide to pack up and go home.

Noooooo

Noooooooooooooooooo

I had just promoted Ethlin and never even got to use the Gae Bolg ( . Cuan was a great unit with his Slayer weapon and even Fin had found use. After Deirdre leaving in the previous map, it seems all my favorite units love to abandom me. Hopefully we see them again. At least I still have Jamka. Why can't Alec pack up and leave instead? We also learn that one of the brothers has called upon the services of Deetva and Cuvuli in order to poke the political nest SIgurd finds himself in. Deetva is also a Falconknight and looks like she could be recruited by one of the others I've met (Fury or Mahnya, who I assume joined me off screen but now I'm not actually so sure). I don't know much about this Wind mage at this point.

The map is cool looking, but I don't care for the chapter 4 music. I love that there are more mage units to change up the encounters a little bit. Lots of forests and rivers too. Will Sigurd be able to bring peace back to Silesia? Will Levin willingly take the throne?

 

[Levyne]

Bonus update. Started Chapter 4. Lots of Mages and Pegasus Knights! Tree cover and rivers as well. Have a bunch of new units like Claude, Brigid, and Tiltyu to make up for losing Cuan, Ethlin, and Fin I suppose. Deetva is leading a bunch of Pegasuses (Pegasi?) around the map and Cuvili is in charge of a bunch of wind mages, some with the long range Blizzard spell.

At the start of the level, Aira promotes to Swordmaster and Holyn to Hero. As I am sending units northeast, Sylvia and Fury have a conversation about Levin. I guess it was initiated by them ending a turn next to each other. I buy Sigurd a Return ring and Claude buys both a Wind spell and Recover staff, using some extra money from Dew to help fund those. Good that he can now help on offense and won't be forced to always heal with Fortify. I also notice in the Fortune teller place that Midir is fond with Aira. Interesting.

Azel and Aideen also have a conversation now that they are an item, and he gives her a Rescue staff. Very cool. I'm still not exactly sure how much agency the player has in these pairing, but it's nice that the game also tangibly rewards you with these items. Sigurd and Claude also have a short conversation which basically repeats Sigurd's determination to clear his father's name as well as his own.

Cuvili and his mages start marching towards Sailane once given orders from Maios, the brother siting in Thove castle. Some pirates are also irritating the various villages strewn about, what else is new!

Meanwhile, at Zaxon castle, the other brother Deccar introduces us to another person named Pamela. An Andre is also mentioned again. She definitely looks related to Deetva but we otherwise don't know anything about her. The nearby ally SIlestrian isn't very talkative and the enemy mages now approach my units. I place my guys in the forest cover and hope to survive the initial wave.

Things don't go all that badly mainly because I'm able to fortify between punches. However, even after working on the mages I can't afford to relax since Deetva's Pegasi are behind. I try to talk to her with Fury, Sigurd, and Levin (and maybe even Sylvia, I don't recall) but no one's able to do much. I also doubt this is a case where I have to take the keep out first. She must be bad news through and through. At the moment, I'll also assume that about Pamela I suppose. Sigurd works on the village to the north and Fury the one to the southeast. Both end up just giving some flavor text and gold.

Cuvili is annoying, and I didn't realize he has a Sleep staff. He ends up putting Jamka to sleep, which is annoying because he could have been useful against the pegasi. With copious healing I make it though.

Deetva introduces herself as "One of the four Angelic Knights". I dunno if the title is important or has been mentioned before, but I don't think I've seen it. I would assume that Mahnya is one and also Pamela. After also putting Holyn to sleep, Aira is sick of his shit and steps aside to take him out. Now only the flyers remain. Brigid sees plenty of action here, as well as Noish's clipper and basically anyone who can attack from range. I still think I might be able to recruit Deetva because of her Miracle item, which doesn't drop, but nobody can seem to sway her.

Brigid's uber-bow makes quick work of the Falconknight. The rest are significantly easier and the only scare that I have is that I needed to have Aideen bail out and then use the Rescue staff on Sylvia, who had already acted. Otherwise, these foes didn't do a lot of damage, and weren't as bad to deal with as the mages. I'm shortly able to visit more villages, which only give Gold again. I think it was 4 out of 4 giving only money.

As I approach the northest, Maios orders that the nearby bridge be withdrawn and mentions a key. Not a big deal, I think. I should have paid more attention. The last lines of defense are a couple of Blizzard wielding mages as well as a random one I see in the mountains. I lose the very last village, but since everything had only given money to that point, I hope it's all right.

I take out the random solo Blizzard mage with Fury, and move some lower level magic units (mainly Levin and Azel, I had forgotten about Tiltyu) into the woods in order to take out the trio near Thove castle. I back them up with Claude, who can heal them all at once if needed. Luckily, Blizzard is a very inaccurate spell and the captain unit (I forget his class) can't even defend himself, so he goes down easily once his help was dead.

So...I'm stuck at the water. However, I'm not done yet. I put a healer (in the case, Lachesis because she needs the experience) near Levin and Azel in order to act out my plan. I move Levin near the water's edge in order to bait the castle defense to attack. The mages and armored unit all have ranged options and take the bait. Levin is much more evasive than Azel and only needs heals a couple times. I also get Azel a couple levels as well in the same fashion. Meanwhile, the random allied unit still doesn't feel like talking and doesn't give any hints

I end up getting both mages to level 20! Lachesis is also really close, level 19 but absolutely no one left to heal. I take out the last enemies with Fury, but she's not strong enough to take on the boss by herself. I do notice that there is a bridge leading to nowhere that might be a clue but otherwise I'm very unsure of what to do. I also notice that Sylvia and Levin are a couple now as well. Seemed like an obvious one to get I suppose.

In my boredom, I warp back Levin and Azel to be promoted into a Mageknight and Sage respectively. I was half expecting Azel to be the Sage, but I'll take it. Now the quest is to figure out how to raise the drawbridge to take out Maios.

 

[Barrylocke]

Cool weapons are starting to come in and the plot is really starting to thicken.

Info time. First of all, the bearded guy that was chasing the group and is conspiring against Duke Vylon and Sigurd was Duke Langobalt of Dozel. He also happens to be Lex's father. His Co-conspirator aka the old guy with the monocle was Duke Reptor of Freege, who is also Tiltyu's father (not spoilers, they both mention it when they're introduced).

Second, these Dukes can be better thought of as lords of their territories in Grandbell. Prince Kurth, the guy that got assasinated, is the prince of the entire Kingdom of Grandbell. Incidentally, Prince Kurth is just a prince because his father King Azmur is still alive, but he's getting old and so most of the actual ruling was done by Kurth until his assassination.

And finally, since I'm not sure if you're aware from your post's wording, and its not a spoiler at this point, Eltshan was executed for disobeying King Chagall, unfortunately. Apparently it's also possible for him to die on the battlefield by your hand if you manage to kill him, but I've never done it because let's face it, that Mystletainn is pretty damn scary. Anyways, he won't give up the Earth Sword if you do it that way so it's really only good for a challenge or if Lachesis dies.

Looking forward to more soon!

 

[Levyne]

And finally, since I'm not sure if you're aware from your post's wording, and its not a spoiler at this point, Eltshan was executed for disobeying King Chagall, unfortunately.!

Ah. I did somehow miss that

 

[Barrylocke]

Yeah, he was quite the bro.

I see you updated while I was making my lengthy post. I don't have too much to say except a question. Do you want for me to tell you how you can get to the castle?

 

[Levyne]

Haha. To be honest I am a little bit (completely) baffled but I haven't had a lot of time to just roam around and check things out. I'll put an hour into it tomorrow and then come back for hints.

You think you're a pretty smart guy and then...

 

[Barrylocke]

No prob dude. Hopefully you'll figure it out on your own. It stumped me when I first played too so it's all good. I'll admit that Chapter 4 is probably my least favorite chapter musically. It's not a bad song exactly, but considering how much I enjoy the map themes in this game, it's definitely a low point of "generic snowy theme"

 

[The_Hitcher89]

and you left them for dead? you monster!

Spoiler

chance for a second playthrough!

I thought I'd have to essentially choose between them by leaving one closer to the enemies,(

Spoiler

Ricken and Maribelle)

and the latter seemed more relevant to the story. She didn;t even mention the fact that he died saving her. Snooty bitch.

Lost

Spoiler

Miriel

as well, so that's 2 of my 3 offensive Mages down and out.

That moment where you realise that the final enemy will kill your unit before you get a chance to take another turn is heartbreaking.

 

[theprodigy]

I thought I'd have to essentially choose between them by leaving one closer to the enemies,(

Spoiler

Ricken and Maribelle)

and the latter seemed more relevant to the story. She didn;t even mention the fact that he died saving her. Snooty bitch.

Lost

Spoiler

Miriel

as well, so that's 2 of my 3 offensive Mages down and out.

That moment where you realise that the final enemy will kill your unit before you get a chance to take another turn is heartbreaking.

HEY
Maribelle is a cool girl, don't hate

 

[Barrylocke]

Guess this really will be an Ironman Run then. My impressions of Awakening that I've gotten from others is that it might be the worst game to do that with simply due to the post-game and grinding that people love to do with it. But hey, I won't hate on a challenge mode.

 

[RiggyRob]

I thought I'd have to essentially choose between them by leaving one closer to the enemies,(

Spoiler

Ricken and Maribelle)

and the latter seemed more relevant to the story. She didn;t even mention the fact that he died saving her. Snooty bitch.

Lost

Spoiler

Miriel

as well, so that's 2 of my 3 offensive Mages down and out.

That moment where you realise that the final enemy will kill your unit before you get a chance to take another turn is heartbreaking.

Dat feel when you think you've planned out the turn perfectly and a same-turn reinforcement or an enemy you just plain missed appears and kills a member.

 

[Levyne]

Oh man, the images on my posts are much more obnoxious on my low res work monitor D: I'll try to cut back a bit. I'm sure mobile peeps will appreciate it too.

Dat feel when you think you've planned out the turn perfectly and a same-turn reinforcement or an enemy you just plain missed appears and kills a member.

http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/raining_david_tennant_nosedrip.gif[IMG][/QUOTE]

Yep, always get careless when a map is almost over and you've think you've already won.

 

[Levyne]

Finally completely Chapter 4 of Holy War. I had some trouble on this one. Especially Lamia and her knights. Brave Weapons and Killer Bows! Finally got through.

And so much happes afterward. I think there are like 8 names against Sigurd at this point, Langbart, Reptor, Ida, Vaha, Andre, whoever leads the axe unit, some others. x_x

 

[Barrylocke]

Shh, save it for the write-up.

Or wait, was that the write-up. You said you were going to hold back on your pictures.

 

[Levyne]

Shh, save it for the write-up.

Or wait, was that the write-up. You said you were going to hold back on your pictures.

Haha, I finally have time to sit down and put it together.

As for lightening up on pictures...nope! No one has complained so I see no reason to do that

 

[Lunar15]

I wonder if Awakening will get a direct sequel. Every single universe in the series has had more than one game.

Awakening is technically connected to 123, so that might rule it out. Plus it's kind of a special case since it's such a mishmosh/celebration of all the games.

 

[Levyne]

Only 25(?) days til we learn about FExSMT!

 

[Lunar15]

Only 25(?) days til we learn about FExSMT!

I'll post a picture of Mara as a different FE character every day until E3!

Spoiler

God no, I'd never do that.