Let's Play Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

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"One thing could always be said about Galder Harbor, the mainland port nearest Talys: it never had much in the way of riches, but neither did it have much trouble. All that changed when a pirate crew fell upon the town and made it their hideout. Here, in Galder, history records Marth's first steps toward freeing his homeland."

Right off the bat, we get two of the best units in the game.


The king has bid me and my three men join your army. Cavalry has arrived from the west, flying Grust's standard. They mean to take your life, sire. Be careful.

So Ogma joins out group along with his 3 Fighter buddies. Let’s check them out quickly.




Ogma and Barst have great base stats and really good growths. They are counterparts to each other and both are really good.

Bord and Cord on the other hand are not that great. Both are usable but neither is stellar.



Ogma’s first battle and it’s already a critical hit. We also start visiting the homes.


Says he’s washed his hands of pillagin' and plunderin' and wants to fight for the good of all. Hah! Right... And I’m a farmer who’s been sworn off rain...

Now that sounds interesting.



Draug the courier!


I've had me fill o' the piratin' life, and now I be lookin' t'start anew.
What say ye? Make me yer matey, and I swear t'pull me load.


So yeah, leave the pirate at the top alone and he’ll head straight for Marth. Not to attack but to join us.



Darros is really bad. One of the worst speed growths in the game. And a horrible skill growth. such a shame because PIRATE ACCENT!



Ogma gets a great first level while Abel continues the tradition of great levels that he has had.



A named character that isn’t the boss? Well surely there’s someone here who can recruit him to our cause.



Caeda it is.

Castor?! It is you, isn't it? Must even good men like you betray Talys now?
Princess Caeda? Oh...I'm sorry, but me mother's sick, and the medicine don't buy itself, see...
So you agreed to fight for the pirates in exchange for coin...All right then. If it's gold you need, take mine. Here, this is all I have. Take it, and go to your mother's side.
But Princess...I betrayed you! ...Ach, I've been a fool! Forgive me,
Princess. Let me fight for you now. Me life is yours.

After recruiting Castor, he can talk to Marth too.

Prince Marth, I am Castor of Talys. I wish to add my bow to your strength.
Of course. Caeda told me about you.
You know, she's always been very kind to me, sire, even before I left Talys. And look how I've repaid her...
Castor, you can still show her your heart is true. Let the battles to come be what defines you!

So yeah, about Castor. He’s a decent unit. He’s a hunter, who are just flat out superior to archers in every way. They have more movement, higher attack power, a better promotion. Castor makes good hunter.

We deal with the remaining two homes.

Curates gain experience whenever they use their staves.

Now this should be obvious but in the original NES game, healers didn’t gain exp for healing. The only way for them to get exp was to get hit by or dodge an enemy attack upon which they get the same amount of experience they would have gained has they killed the enemy unit.

Hammers smash right through heavy armor. You should pick one up, when you get the chance.

Hammer’s gain 3x might against Knights and Generals.

And we visit the village.

Oh! Mighty prince of Altea! Please, will you save Sister Lena? She’s gone up into the Ghoul’s Teeth to tend to the sick there. We warned her, I swear we did... Lena is our angel. If something befell her, I- No, I won’t think of it. Take this gold: we’ve 5000 pieces. Just promise you’ll use it to bring her home to us unharmed.

Ogma and Caeda also share a special event. What are special events? Just simple character development conversations. The most important part is that they can be initiated any time and in any chapter with the only pre-requisite being that both characters have been recruited and are alive. There are few these throughout the game and they represent pretty much the only deviation from the main story made in the remake aside from the prologue. I guess they are supposed to be substitutes for Support Conversations and their removal from this game but there are not simply enough of these.

Anyway,

Ogma!
Princess...
I never got to thank you for coming along with us. There's no swordsman I trust more. I've seen your strength.
You don't need to thank me, Princess. I'm just doing my job. Speaking of which, your father would flay me if you came to any harm. Do me a favor, and leave the dangerous fighting to me and my men.
I don't need protecting, Ogma. ...I've got another job for you. Protect Marth for me.
But, Princess...
He's very important to me. And the world... But mostly to me.
So do as I ask, Ogma. Keep him safe. That's my first and last request.
Very well. How could I say no to you?
Thank you, Ogma. I knew you'd understand. All right, I have to go. But I hope we get to talk like this more. You're a good listener.
...Princess.
Yes?
You keep yourself safe, too. Marth would grieve if anything befell you.
Fair enough. Thank you, Ogma. You're very kind.

Ogma and Caeda have a long history together.

Ogma was once a slave. A gladiator made to fight in a place called Knorda in Archanea. Knorda is hellhole. Criminals pretty much own the place even though it’s only a stone throws distance from the Archanean capital. Eventually, he and a few fellow slave gladiators planned their escape. Everything went almost as planned. All of the gladiators escaped but Ogma stayed behind to buy time for one his friends to escape. Ogma was captured and faced the brunt of the slave traders’ wrath. He was punished by whipping him in the town square.

On that day, the King of Talys happened be returning from a visit to the capital with his guard as well as his daughter, Caeda who was only a little child. Caeda was extremely distressed by the punishment that was being given to Ogma and rushed forward to save him. King Talys rescued Ogma from Knorda and eventually drafted him in the service of Talys. Ogma was, naturally, very grateful to both Caeda and her father and swore his allegiance to Talys but Caeda in particular. He became one of her most trusted bodyguards and a close friend.

And we finally go up against the boss.



He doesn’t last long.



Stiil no strength people. We might be in trouble. Caeda needs that strength if she ever wants to deal damage without the Wing Spear.



YOU’RE WINNER!


Now, as I hear it, you plan to march on to Aurelis...That'll take you right up through the Ghoul's Teeth.
With all due respect, sire, you're taking a great risk crossin' those mountains that's Soothsire territory. The Soothsires are fearsome bandits, always raidin' the villages and harryin' what travelers dare pass by.
And the swordsman with 'em- goes by the name o' Navarre- he's a terror with a blade, so they say. If you go up there, keep your wits about you- or you won't come back down.

Navarre eh? Never heard him. Nope. Never.

So that’s it for Chapter 2. On with new character time.

Ogma:



Statistics:
Class: Mercernary
HP: 22 (90%)
Str: 6 (40%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 11 (40%)
Spd: 12 (30%)
Lck: 3 (40%)
Def: 6 (20%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 7
Ranks: Swords C

Ogma is one of the best characters in the game. He has great base stats and great growths and he has an interesting backstory too. His speed might be something to watch out for since his growth there isn’t very high but he has a high base speed to make up for it. Use him.

He’s also my favourite character in the game. BIAS!

Barst:



Statistics:
Class: Fighter
HP: 24 (85%)
Str: 10 (70%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 6 (40%)
Spd: 9 (30%)
Lck: 5 (40%)
Def: 6 (15%)
Res:0 (0%)
Mov: 6
Ranks: Axes D

Barst is very similar to Ogma but is just slightly better in almost every regard. He does great almost every time. Like Ogma, he could have speed issues and his base isn’t high like Ogma’s to make up for it so there’s that. That’s his only real flaw though.

Bord:



Statistics:
Class: Fighter
HP: 20 (90%)
Str: 9 (55%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 4 (45%)
Spd: 7 (10%)
Lck: 1 (35%)
Def: 5 (10%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 6
Ranks: Axes C

Bord is… not very good. That 10% speed growth is what kills him. It’s simply atrocious. He has a C rank in Axes so he’s the only one who can wield a hammer making him useful early on agaist knights but even them he still sucks.

Cord:



Statistics:
Class: Fighter
HP: 20 (80%)
Str: 7 (50%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 5 (20%)
Spd: 9 (40%)
Lck: 5 (40%)
Def: 5 (10%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 6
Ranks: Axes E

Cord is also really bad. While he has a decent speed growth, he has a really bad skill growth. Axes are the least accurate of the main 3 weapon types so he needs all the skill he can get, which won’t be much unfortunately. He also has only and E rank in Axes meaning he doesn’t even have Hammer utility unlike Bord. He can’t even throw Hand Axes. Inferior to Barst in just about every way possible.

Darros:



Statistics:
Class: Pirate
HP: 21 (90%)
Str: 6 (60%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 2 (20%)
Spd: 7 (10%)
Lck: 3 (40%)
Def: 5 (30%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 6
Ranks: Axes D

You thought Bord and Cord were bad? Think again because Darros is in the house! You remember Bord’s abysmal 10% speed growth and Cord’s terrifying 20% skill growth? Darros has inherited both. So basically, he’s going be doubled by everything and won’t even be able to hit anything. Stay away from him. Don’t go near him. Recruit him for completion’s sake and let him warm the bench. Unless you like causing your self mental pain in which case Darros is your guy.

Castor:



Statistics:
Class: Hunter
HP: 21 (40%)
Str: 7 (40%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 3 (40%)
Spd: 6 (40%)
Lck: 3 (40%)
Def: 4 (20%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 6
Ranks: Bows D

Castor is hurt by the fact that he usually can’t counterattack on Enemy Phase but unlike Gordin and Norne, he is a Hunter, which is flat out better class than Archers. He has alright base stats and decent growths. He is perfectly serviceable though he isn’t without flaws. He also promotes to Horseman who have Horses (duh!) and Swords as well so he can eventually be useful on enemy phase as well. Recommended but take some care. He can turn out good or really bad.

That’s a lot of characters to get in one chapter alone and the game keeps doing this for a while.

[Deleted]

Ogma is a pedophile.

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^NOOOOOO! Ogma is best!

[Deleted]

Teehee. Well, he does have some good stats, plus his backstory seems cool as well.

[Yoh]

His huge ass sword is awesome, well, from his battle model anyway

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Now even Imgur is fucking with me. It has suddenly refused to allow me to upload more than 1 picture at a time. And since we're talking about 50 or so images for each episode, well...

[praise luke]

Castor looks like the type of guy I want to punch in the face.

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And he would deserve it.

As hinted at in the FE12 bonus chapters, his mother really is ill but he starts using the "Me mother is ill, I need the money" routine and becomes a conman.

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"When journeying in from the borderlands, one particular peril would spring to mind: the Samsooth Mountains, whose gashing peaks rose up and divided the peninsula. Since before anyone could remember, the mountains had belonged to bandits, blights on the land whose acts of plunder, kidnapping, and arson knew no bounds.
Out of fear, their victims gave these peaks another name: the Ghoul's Teeth; while the bandits who ruled atop the Teeth's craggy crowns took a name as well: the Samsooth Sires, or Soothsires..."

First we see 2 people making their way down from the Samsooth Mountains. They seem to be a hurry.


Rumor has it the knights of Altea are at the foot of the mountain. We won't get a better chance. It's just a little bit farther. Stick with me.
Julian, I'm sorry...but I left my Mend staff back there. It's very precious to me...You go on ahead...Save yourself! Here, I could use this Warp staff to send you someplace safe-
Uh-uh, honey. No can do. I didn't betray my boys back there so you could zap me on out of here alone. Forget the staff; I'll come back later and get it for you myself. All right? Right now though, I need you to RUN. Tick-tock, now move that frock!

“Tick-tock, now move that frock!” Goddamn I love this localization. FE13’s is very good too but I like this just a bit more.

Julian and Lena are being chased by the bandits. Among them is…



Interesting…

And we begin the chapter.

Julian and Lena start out as units that we can control rather than allied units that they would have been had this been a different game. Let’s take a look:



Lena is a healer but like she mentioned just now, she doesn’t have any type of healing staff. What she does have is a Warp staff which allows her to teleport an adjacent unit to anywhere on the map. In other games, Warp and other long range staves have limited range depending on the user’s magic stats but in this game and the next, they have unlimited range. Which is totally broken.

Lena is a better healer than Wrys you should always drop Wrys for her once you get a lot of characters and no longer need 2 healers.

Julian may seem pretty bad due to his stats but he is thief. He can open any door or treasure chest making him very useful even without considering his combat. Julian has great growths. He is hard to train but is well worth the result.



And we have Navarre. He comes with a Killing Edge, which is nasty. Recruit him quickly or he’ll rip apart anyone he comes across. Since I did the Archanean Chronicles Bonus maps first, you might think that to recruit Navarre you need to talk to him with Lena or even Castor. Nope. They can’t recruit him. Instead, Caeda recruits him.



So we send her flying up to him.



Our other units go left to our objective. Marth moves towards Lena and Julian since they share a talk with him.



Navarre! Since when does a swordsman of your caliber fall in with thieves and cutthroats?
What? Who are you? Fly away, girl, before someone decides to swat you.
Please, Navarre. Why fight for nothing when you can fight for something? Leave this rabble. Lend your sword to our cause. Or, if you will not, then turn it on me now instead.
...Nay, I'll turn no blade of mine on a women. If you're willing to pay for my services with your life, then consider yourself the high bidder. My sword is yours.

Lena talks to Marth.

Good day, Sister. Are you all right?
Yes... Thank you.
These mountains are dangerous. My forces will draw the enemy away; use that time to escape.
No, I wish to help.
But...you... What?
Please, sire. I am a cleric. I cannot bear to watch others come to harm when I have the power to help.
Well...all right... But I don’t wish to see you come to harm, either.
I will be careful. Thank you, sire.

And Julian talks too.

Stop! Whoa! I'm...I'm not your enemy!
Huh?
I’m Julian! One of the bad guys! A Soothsire. Oh! Well, except I’m not anymore. See, now I’m a good guy! Lena gave me a reason to- well, let’s just say I’ve had a change of heart.
......
Hm, not explainin' myself very well, am I? OK OK, what I’m trying to say is-
Yes. You can come with us.
Oh...Well...well, good.
I’m inclined to trust you. If you’ve truly had a change of heart, you deserve the chance to prove it. Show me you’re ready to help people, and then I’ll know I’ve picked a man of character.
Wow. That’s.... Thanks! I couldn’t ask for a better deal!

Even Navarre talks to Marth but he’s not much for words.
......
Um, aren’t you-
Navarre.
The great swordsman they speak of... Will you fight with us, then?
You need only name your target.



Ogma kills stuff. He’ll be doing a lot of this. Favourite character bias at work, feeding all the kills to Ogma.



Caeda! What are you doing? Caeda! GAIN STRENGTH! PLEASE!



Figures this would happen. Scream for a particular stat and the next level will be a 1 or 2 stat level with the particular stat.



Now that’s more like it. You show ‘em Frey!



Noooo! Stop it game. It’s not funny.

We visit all the homes and villages.

Units with high skill deal more frequent critical hits. Units with high speed have an easier time avoiding enemy attack.
Hunters are stronger than archers, but they also have weaker defenses. Keep them out of close-range combat.
Take care around mercenaries. They’re quite skilful; if you’re unlucky, they may drop you at stroke.
Oh, ho ho! Don’t you look young and full of life! Such a warm smile here deserves a nice reward. Here, take this axe- this EVIL abonimation of an axe! Beware! Its blade drinks blood and devours flesh. I’d hate to see you come to any harm!

He gives a Devil Axe. The Devil Axe is really powerful but it comes with a drawback. It has a small chance of damaging you instead of the enemy. The formula is (31 – User’s luck stat)%. Since the stat cap for Luck is 30 for every unit, there is a minimum 1 % chance that the Devil Axe will backfire. Careful with it!



Our units surround the boss. Jagen starts by trying to weaken him.



Har. You must really want to die, comin' into the Soothsires' palace unbidden!

However, instead of weakening him, Jagen gets a critical hit. The MANLY OLD MAN won’t be denied his rightful kill. No killstealing allowed! I didn’t get a screencap because my body wasn’t ready for the epicness of a 5% Crit. : |

Arrgh...One day it'll be you!

Ugh. Jagen, why? Why crit? That experience is wasted on you.

Character Spotlight:

Julian:


Statistics:
HP: 17 (80%)
Str: 4 (50%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 8 (50%)
Spd: 12 (50%)
Lck: 7 (80%)
Def: 4 (30%)
Res: 0 (2%)
Mov: 7
Ranks: Swords E

Julian has a lot of utility as a thief. He can open any treasure chest or door. That alone would make him very useful but there’s even more to him than that. Julian doesn’t have great base stats so throwing him into combat is a bad idea. But he has some great growth rates that allow him to hold his own after a while and then truly shine in combat. This requires some kill-feeding but I think it is definitely worth it.

Lena:



Statistics:
HP: 16 (15%)
Str: 0 (0%)
Mag: 2 (25%)
Skl: 7 (25%)
Spd: 8 (20%)
Lck: 8 (60%)
Def: 3 (0%)
Res: 7 (50%)
Mov: 5
Ranks: Staves C

Lena is your second healer and the better one of the two. That isn’t saying much since Lena herself isn’t all that better than Wrys. A healer’s only job is to heal and she has a better growth in Magic than Wrys which automatically makes her better than him. Also, she is the only unit able to use a staff that we’ll be getting much later. Said staff is very handy so that’s another point in her favour.

Navarre:



Statistics:
HP: 19 (90%)
Str: 5 (30%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 9 (40%)
Spd: 11 (50%)
Lck: 8 (40%)
Def: 6 (10%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 7
Ranks: Swords C

Navarre is a myrmidon, a class that specializes in Speed and Skill. In the original game, he was a Mercenary with good skill and speed and the Myrmidon class didn’t exist yet. Each later game made a bigger distinction and Myrmidon eventually became its own class. Navarre was appropriately made into a Myrmidon, the class that he inspired, in Shadow Dragon. His strength is a bit shaky but he comes with a Killing Edge, weapon that boosts the user’s critical rate by 20%. He’s also my other favourite character from this game. More bias.

And that’s all folks!

[Deleted]

Jagen was a boss for killing the boss and Lena, you're so damn boring. Caeda... when the HELL will you gain strength? You're needed here!

[Yoh]

I actually used Lena's staff to teleport Julian into the fights, and he did relatively well in them.

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The quicker you start to train him, the easier it will be. If you wait for even 4 chapters or so, you're gonna have a bad time.

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"After a hard battle, Marth's Altean Army- for it had grown to be called such- set foot at last in the kingdom of Aurelis. However, joining his might to that of the Aurelians would have to wait.
As Marth descended into the vast green lea separating his troops from theirs, he heard a terrible sound: the galloping of enemy destriers, far away...then closer...Then far too close."

The enemy will have sent their forces to meet us.
Grust, Dolhr, Gra..We're up against their standing armies, and we must brace ourselves for it.
Sire, I believe it prudent that we start taking time to prepare our troops before each battle. We should select the warriors best suited for the situation and outfit them with the right weapons and items accordingly.
All right, that's sound advice- I believe I'll take it.



We finally get access to the Battle Preparations screen. As the name implies, we can do all sorts of stuff to prepare for the battle before we actually start.

The options available are:

Pick Units: Here, we get to pick which units to use in the coming battle. Each chapter has a set number of maximum units that you can deploy. You can choose to deploy less than the maximum number but never more. If the total number of units you have alive is less than the maximum that you can deploy, you are provided with a few generic units to match the maximum number.

View Map: Here you can view the map and look at the opposition you are facing and plan your strategy accordingly. You can also reposition your units. What it means is that you can switch the starting positions of your units. You can’t alter Marth’s starting position.

Inventory: Here you can trade around items, use statboosting or promotion items, etc.

Reclass: A new feature introduced in Shadow Dragon is the ability to reclass your units into a different class. Reclassing alters the base stats and growths of the character. Reclassing is not permanent and a reclassed unit can immediately change again.

There are few limits to reclassing however. Firstly, there are 3 class sets: Male A, Male B and Female. Each set has its own classes and a character can only reclass to a class in its Class set. The classes in each set (including their promotions) are:

Male A:
Tier 1: Cavalier, Archer, Mage, Curate, Myrmidon.
Tier 2: Paladin, Sniper, Sage, Bishop, Swordmaster, Dracoknight

Male B:
Tier 1: Mercenary, Fighter, Pirate, Hunter, Knight, Dark Mage
Tier 2: Hero, Warrior, Berserker, Horseman, General, Sorcerer

Female:
Tier 1: Myrmidon, Mage, Pegasus Knight, Archer, Cleric
Tier 2: Swordmaster, Sage, Pegasus Knight, Falcon Knight, Dracoknight, Sniper, Bishop

Additionally, you may only have one additional unit of a particular class than the total number of units of that class that you could have at that point. For example, at this point in the game, we can only have 1 Knight. So after reclassing, we are allowed to have (1 + 1) Knights.

Also, some units may not reclass at all. This includes Lord, Thieves and Ballisticians. Units may nt reclass to these classes either.

I decide to reclass a few of our units.

Firstly, Jagen is reclassed to Dracoknight. This gives him additional movement. This one is mostly unnecessary since I won’t be using Jagen.

Secondly, Barst is reclassed to Pirate. This give him more slightly more defense at the cost of some speed.

That’s it for reclassing.

Armory: In the Armoury, you are presented with 3 options: Buy, Sell and Forge.

The items you can buy are E ranked weapons of each type. You can buy Iron Swords, Iron Lances, Iron Axes, Iron Bows, Fire Tomes and Heal Staves.

You can sell items you have at half price. Some items may not be sold and the amount you sell itesm for depends on how many uses they have left.

Forging allows you to improve your weapons. Almost all weapons can be forged. You can improve a weapon’s Might, its Hit Rate or its Critical Rate. Forging costs scale as you keep improving a weapon. For example, the cost of forging goes up as you increase a weapon’s might. You can also rename the weapon you forged to give a personal touch.

Options: You can change various game settings here.

Save: Save your game. You can make your preparations and then save them so should anything go wrong and you’re forced to restart the chapter, you don’t have to make the preparations all over again.

Fight: Start the fight. You can also do this by pressing the start button at any time. It asks you to confirm whether you really want to start or not.

Let’s do just that.



We start at the bottom right corner.



Hey look! Named character that isn’t a boss.



The boss is carrying a Ridersbane. Keep your horse riding units away from him.



This place looks interesting.



One thing I haven’t explained yet are Battle Saves. Scattered across maps are Save Points. You can save their once and only once to serve as a check point.

Let’s start already, shall we?

An unknown army to the south? That must be the Altean princeling and his band of lickspittles. If they think we'll sit by and let them join forces with the Aurelians, then they have another think coming. With this ridersbane, I'll litter the lea with their cavalry!



Ogma getting all dem kills. With a nice level to boot.



Dividing up our forces to meet the incoming two way threat.



Navarre and Julian in action. Julian gets a good level.




We wait out and let the enemy cavaliers come to us.



We surround the cavalier and Lena heads towards him. Lena is the named Cavalier’s sister. Due to how the AI works, Mathis will not hesitate to kill his sister.



He may be surrounded but he can still attack Castor. His battle quote gives unaware players a clue on how to recruit him.



Lena talks to him.

Matthis? Is that you?
Matthis? Is that you?
I was attacked by bandits in the Teeth while tending to the sick there, and these people saved me. The real question is, what are YOU doing on a battlefield- least of all this one!
I'm not here by choice, sister of mine. Since you left, Macedon has only gotten worse and worse. They forced me to enlist- you know I hate warfare, but it was into the army or onto the chopping block.
Shame on you, Matthis. If you're going to fight, then at least fight for something you believe in. Macedon has done terrible things: marrying their might to Dolhr, helping them torment people...Brother, it's not too late. You could join Altea's forces. They're good people you know. Prince Marth would welcome you. They all would.
...All right, then. If I'm gonna to die, I'd rather die as one of the dashing than one of the dastardly. You know, Lena, you always were the reliable one and now you're all grown up...I thought for sure you'd have already settled down with your one true love.
T-true love? I've...I've met no such man, Matthis.
Hmm, is that so? I'll bet you haven't... Well, you just be careful. There are plenty of thieves out there who would steal a girl's heart.

Implying Julian’s status as Lena’s canon love interest.

And Mathis talks to Marth.

You must be Matthis, Sister Lena’s-
ACK! Y-you’re Prince Marth! Aieee! S-s-stay your rapier, I beg you!
...What has gotten into you?
You mean...you haven’t come to stick me like a pig for fighting under the Macedonian standard?
Er, no...
Really?
Really and truly.
Oh! Uh, right then... Sorry about that little display. I guess Lena was right. Just goes to show not all princes are cut from the same cloth!
What do you mean?
Oh, well, our prince- Prince Michalis of Macedon, that is- he’s strong, and proud...and an utter tyrant. They say he put the soldiers who look the most scared in the front lines on purpose.
Hmm... Prince Michalis of Macedon...
Don't worry, sire, I won’t mistake you for him again! Altean princes I can trust!



That’s Prince Michalis of Macedon. Learn to hate this douchebag and we’ll get along nicely.

Marth visits one of the villages.

Aha! Prince Marth. We meet again.
...Huh? Merric?! Merric, is that you?
Well, yes, sire, last I looked. Whilst studying magic in Khadein, I caught wind of a war brewing and decided to seek you out.
I see... Thank you, then. I need friends like you on the battlefield. You will fight with us, of course?
Of course! ‘Twould be a passing shame if you didn’t get to see me flex a little magic muscle. Wait till I show you my latest:: Excalibur!

And Merric joins us. Our first mage and he’s by far the best one we get. He comes with the Exaclibur Tome. Excalibur is exclusive to males only and Merric is even more special in that he can wield it at E rank unlike other male magic users. Excalibur is powerful does super effective damage against flying units.



Excalibur in action.



Julian and Merric get some good levels.

It’s time to go up against the boss.



Thankfully, Jagen doesn’t killsteal this time around and Merric gets the kill. Now time to visit all the houses and villages.

Weapons can be crafted of iron, steel, or silver, each metal more powerful than the last. You’’l need to raise your weapon level accordingly, though, before you can use them.
When facing armored knights or generals, you’ll want to arm yourself with a sword they call an armorslayer. Then there’s the ridersbane, which makes short work of cavaliers and paladins- but only knights and cavalry can wield it. The rapier is effective against armored units AND cavalry. But you need to be a prince to wield that one! Also, keep in mind that weapons wear down with use and eventually break.
General Bentheon who guards the castle was carrying a ridersbane last I saw. Keep your cavaliers away, or that weapon could spell the end of ‘em.
Did you know you can use keys to unlock doors and lower bridges? ...You did? Ahem! Right, of course you did.
There’s no terror like the dracoknight. One false move when they’re flyin' about, and you can kiss your life goodbye.

And the one village left.

Kind Altean, this kingdom is in dire need of a savior. We’ve saved up 5,000 gold and poured our prayers into every coin. Please, use this money to answer them.

Another special place on this map is the Arena. In the Arena, you can gamble money and grind for experience.

The way it works is that you bet a certain amount of money (generally ranging from 500 to 1200 gold) and use a unit to battle an enemy unit until one of them dies. If you win, you get double the amount you bet as returns.

Note that characters who die do count as dying forever.

Here is a special trick to grind easily:

1) Enter the Arena and look at the amount of money you are asked to bet
2) If the asked bet is less than ~750 and more than 600, bet away since the threat level of the enemy you face is based on the money that you were asked to bet
3) If it is not within the above limit, exit the arena. This does not end our character’s turn.
4) Re-enter the arena and you’ll find that the bet has changed.
5) Keep entering and exiting until you get a favourable bet.

If you win, you are asked if you want to bet again. This does not heal your character before every match so this is a bad idea. You can’t alter your bet this time either.



This is what an Arena battle looks like. Nice background.

So I’m gonna grind a bit. Not too much. Both Navarre and Ogma will be grinded to level 10 and that’s it. Lena will have to heal them every time so she’ll get some levels too. The final result is:



Which is pretty damn good.



Finish!

Prince Marth, you have our thanks for liberating the south castle. You'll find Captain Hardin protecting the king and the lady Nyna at the Northern Fortress, located in Aurelis. When you find him, please be sure to give him this silver sword.

This little exchange shows just how much care they put into the game. In the original game, weapon ranks worked differently and you could give this Silver Sword to Hardin and he could use it just fine. In this game however, Hardin doesn’t start with a B rank in Swords and he can’t use this Silver Sword. He can, however, use a Silver Lance. They didn’t even change the dialogue here nor did they change the item you get here to a Silver Lance. Lazyness!

Anyway, Character Spotlight time!

Mathis



Statistics:
Class: Cavalier
HP: 20 (90%)
Str: 5 (40%)
Mag: 0 (0%)
Skl: 2 (30%)
Spd: 6 (20%)
Lck: 0 (30%)
Def: 7 (30%)
Res: 0 (0%)
Mov: 9
Ranks: Swords E, Lances D

Mathis is really bad. He has worse growths than all of your other cavaliers and his base stats are horrible too. He can throw Javelins right away but that’s it for him. Even his personality and appearance is unappealing. Avoid him.

Merric



Statistics:
Class: Mage
HP: 20 (60%)
Str: 0 (0%)
Mag: 3 (40%)
Skl: 3 (50%)
Spd: 6 (40%)
Lck: 3 (45%)
Def: 4 (5%)
Res: 3 (20%)
Mov: 6
Ranks: Tomes D (can wield Excalibur)

Merric is our first mage and better than any of the later ones we get. Since it is effective against flying units, it is very useful. Merric has decent stats (for a mage) and good growths. Merric will not disappoint.

That’s it for now!

[Deleted]

Nice progression, it's good to see Marth with a trusty friend who knows magic. Is this really the first time we're seeing a magic user?

[┌༼ຈل͜ຈ༽┘]

First time on our side anwyay.