It may not seem it the way I'm posting these pictures, but the amount of time spent in conversations is miserably small compared to the bulk of the game, which is strategizing the most efficient mode of kicking my opponent's ass. That being said, the redundant backgrounds for the conversations aren't really a big deal.
LET US WAIL ON A GAME THAT I REMEMBER BEING CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT!
BEFORE THAT THOUGH, PIVOTAL CONVERSATION! HAVE LEX OR HOLYN TALK TO AIRA!
This will have Aira be given a hero sword as a gift! YES! That, and a mess load of love points, which isn't a big deal since I plan on having Lex and Holyn do the horizontal mambo anyway. Good thing for me, this catapults them over the edge into full-on relationship. Once two people are in a relationship, they are permanently in it. This means that I don't need to bother with having Lex and Aira stand next to eachother anymore.
Anyway, the hero sword is one of the best swords in the game, because like the hero axe and hero spear before it, it has the auto-continue skill attached to it. This attribute, combined with Aira's already absurd speed and abilities, means that she's going to be hitting people until they die, almost guaranteed.
This chapter will be a true test of your mettle. Feel free to have dispatch any combination of units to the west to handle the armours there. I had Azel, Fin, Lechesis, and Ardan take care of them.
These units are so slow and weak that you can pick at them until they die if you wish.
Anyway, then have everyone else except Lex and Fury move north to intercept the Bowknights and second armour platoon. This is very difficult if you fight on their terms, i.e. wait until they rush you. Instead, send a strong unit up their, like Sigurd, to antagonize an initial attack while everyone else sits patients some tiles behind him. They'll fall for the bait and rush forward stupidly (and in this instance, the armours reacted before the bowknights, so I only had half a force to deal with), and then you can have your units hit and run their asses into the ground. Rinse and repeat with the bowknights, who, in my case, only managed to get one attack in before I drove them to extinction.
Now, if you're a an observant and careful individual with a good memory, as I'm sure you are, you'll probably remember that there's a small group of lanceknights to the west. This is where Lex comes in and murders them all singlehandedly.
If there was ever a situation where anyone should go in alone with no support whatsoever, this is it. Lex is a tailor-made Lanceknight killer. You see, his axe already gives him accuracy and evasion bonuses against spears, but he has substantially higher attack and defense than the other units under your command due to his holy blood and job class, so even if he DOES get hit by those puny spears, he's only taking 3-4 damage a shot, a pittance.
Don't even worry about the mages in the forest, they're a non-issue. Attempting to attack them is a tricky proposition at best, because the tried and true tactic of "Rush them and kill them all in one turn" doesn't work that well due to everyone's movement being slogged down by the forest they're in. Fortunately, they're in the forest too, which means their advance towards you is slllloooooowww, making them relatively harmless.
Anyway, about Fury:
Have her take her own path, using her superior mobility to quickly zoom to the northwest, and apprehend the pirates attacking the nearby villages before they get burned to the ground. Be sure to have her equipped with a sword first though. I personally had Sylvia's starting sword, a slim sword, transferred over to her.
Alrighty:
Get crackin' by having whoever you sent to kill the eastern armours move directly north to apprehend the pirates that are pillaging the villages, and then meet back up with the main battalion. Then have your main battalion move northward to get right on antagonizing the armours that are defending Madino Castle.
This is a visual aid of what I mean by "antagonizing". See how that single unit of mine has moved JUST close enough to be in the attack radius of that one armour on the tip of the formation? Next turn, not only will that single armour move in to attack, but all his friends will follow him, but since they can't move far enough to attack themselves, they just sit around and do nothing. This gives you ample opportunity to kill them where they stand.
Also, you want to make sure you kill them quickly, due to the presence of a new unit:
This guy has a special "reserve" staff that will heal EVERY SINGLE unit within a 10 SQUARE radius. It's ridiculous, especially given that AI controlled units never have to worry about the number of 'charges' they have on their weapon, allowing them to use it forever without repair if need be.
Alright, now that the guards are mostly disposed of, now you must turn your focus onto Jacoban. He has a thunder sword that you can obtain, but first you have to kill him for it. This is complicated by the fact that he's a tad stronger than the units you've faced thus far, especially since he has high speed and pursuit, but he can be easily triumphed over if you don't foolishly have weak units attack him, and if you pick at his health with mounted units utilizing a hit-and-run style of attack. Also, be sure to kill the Longarches behind the castle, since there's an upgraded version called an Ironarch that's firing as well, which is a whole whopping 10 points stronger than the longarches before them.
I had Holyn snatch the sword, since it'll be fairly useful in his hand. BEFORE you seize the castle though, let us take a moment to grab some of the goodies that you can get from the villages we've saved.
In one just south of Madino, an old woman will give you a strength stat increase of a whole 3 points! I had Fury collect this one, because her strength is always a little lacking.
This village is just to the northeast of Madino, right above it. This old geezer gives the Wing Clipper, a special sword that always criticals flying units. I personally consider this the least useful of all the specialized anti-whatever weapons, which are already only tentatively useful to begin with. Feel free to carry it around as a souvenir, like I'm wanton to do, but don't hesitate to sell it for extra cash.
Lastly, in a village I forgot to take a picture of, which is the most eastern village on the entire map, just south-east of Madino, you can get the Restore Staff. It has the simple function of restoring any character that's asleep or berserked to normal status. It's the esuna of Fire Emblem 4, to simplify it's function.
Anywho, let's just seize this damn castle already. Brace yourself though, we're about to get hit with a tidal wave of conversations.
In this scene, we're introduced to visiting man-priest and mage, Claude and Tiltyu. They bring news that Prince Kurth of Isaac (basically, Shanan's older brother) was assassinated and now rumors are being spread all around that Lord Byron (Sigurd's Dad) and Sigurd himself are conspiring against the Kingdom of Isaac for some vague reason. Supposedly, it's Duke Reptor's and Duke Langobolt's evil doing.
Don't worry if you don't recognize or remember these names, they're not important yet. Heck, there's probably 10 or so characters that are mentioned off-handedly that never make an appearance in the game, yet are actually important to the story in some way.
Anyway, Claude then informs Sigurd that he's gonna head up north to Blagi Tower (remember that tower I showed you earlier? That one), and ask his god for guidance. He and Tiltyu then make like the million dollar man and leap straight over the body of water that's separating them from the tower.
Meanwhlie, back at Agustria Castle:
Here, Deirdre gets worried about her man-muffin and asks Shanan to look after her son Celice for her.
She officially makes it about five steps out of the castle before being tackled by Manfloy, who reveals that Deirdre is the lost daughter of Sigyn, and thus is of Loptousou descent. He then quickly puts the mind meld on her and they teleport away to an unknown location.
Oh no! Deirdre's been kidnapped! What happens next? Find out next time!
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Topic: Let's Play Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War! [COMPLETED!] (Read 69228 times)