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inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!

Bloodly posted:

You REALLY don't like the two-range weapons, do you? I can't comprehend.

Snark aside, David suffers from the same problems that archers and mages have suffered in all other Shining Force games. In Shining Force 1 and 2, being able to attack at range didn't compensate enough for poor damage (mages had flat damage and archers had dumpy stats) when your knights could just equip spears that were barely worse than lances and do the same thing. Likewise, with how good mages and archers are in Shining Force 3, there's really no reason to keep around a "versatile" character when archers can do better at a distance and mages can do better at any range.

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Ardeem
Sep 16, 2010

There is no problem that cannot be solved through sufficient application of lasers and friendship.
If David wasn't made out of glass, I'd like him a lot more, because always having weapon advatage is amaizing. But, if you're going to be using the covered spot behind one of your characters with a white ring to attack from, do you use it for the guy who's going to do okay damage unless he crits, or just murder the target with a caster?

Secondary weapons are great for when you just can't reach a target or need to pile damage onto a boss and I keep one of them on anybody who can use them... Maybe you should just buy David an arrow axe and use him as archer number 4.

Losem
Jun 17, 2003
Slightly Angry Sheep

Ardeem posted:

If David wasn't made out of glass, I'd like him a lot more, because always having weapon advatage is amaizing. But, if you're going to be using the covered spot behind one of your characters with a white ring to attack from, do you use it for the guy who's going to do okay damage unless he crits, or just murder the target with a caster?

Secondary weapons are great for when you just can't reach a target or need to pile damage onto a boss and I keep one of them on anybody who can use them... Maybe you should just buy David an arrow axe and use him as archer number 4.

The only problem with that is that David would still fall behind because of his weapon level lagging behind the rest of the party. In someone like say Campbell or Medion, if you switched to a knife/spear when they couldn't reach they might get rank 1 in them by the 5 chapter or so, toss in a third one and it would take a lot of grinding to keep them up.

Really the only "hybrid" characters that were worth it for me were Ratchet and his counterparts in the other scenarios. Ratchet really does shine later in the levels but his equal in scenario 2 starts off pretty strong in scenario 2 and with Rock's defense sticking him with an anchor as a substitute for an axe is viable.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Part 56: beep boop



When we go back, a lot of the villager dialogue has changed. Turns out that no matter how we answered the last question, we get sent back to Elbesem anyway.




We have to check in here with the mayor to move on.

Don't worry. We understand. After what happened here, you were right to doubt us.

From the look of things, it appears Elbesem Temple is completely occupied.

:v: It is. The Bulzome Sect appeared in large numbers and surrounded the monks who headed for Barrand immediately after the explosion at the temple.

This wasn't foreseeable. The battle at the temple ended almost as soon as it began and since then, you've been without aid or reinforcements.

:v: Our only hope was the arrival of the Rogan army.

But I remember Gracia told me of a special device to defend the temple in case of such an emergency.

:v: You knew about that? Well, I was just about to tell you. A mechanical defender named Robby is in the temple treasury which is located in the front court of Elbesem Temple. He can be awakened by inserting his jewel eye. He's very strong and is said to be invincible.

What has become of this Robby? I hope he hasn't already been destroyed by the Bulzome Sect?

:v: Not that I know, but he has not yet been activated. Actually, those who went to activate him were taken hostage.

If that's the case, Robby should still be in the treasury. So, it's imperative we activate him, right?

:v: Yes. I had you come here to ask you to activate him.



Another false choice. Answering yes or no only alters one line of dialogue.

:v: I was sure you would agree.

What do we have to do?

:v: You must take the Robot Eye jewel and fit it into the opening on the statue in the Elbesem Temple treasury. If you do that, Robby should awaken. We can't stand against the Bulzome Sect to revive Robby on our own. Please, help us! There's a map of the treasury over there. Take it and please, activate Robby.

What about the jewel? Where can we find the Robot Eye?

:v: I gave it to the young man you saved. Please go ask him.

If you'll recall, one of the villagers was carrying strange looking item in the last update:



That's the robot eye we need. Since we saved all the villagers, it's as simple as talking to him in his house. Not that I remembered to take a screenshot of it. If that villager dies, the mayor implies there's a way to still pick up the item by searching the square where he died outside.




Little bit of drama from the rescue scenario we just completed. Turns out the thief isn't such a nice guy and is looting the old villager's house. If we let the thief die and save the old man, he'll give us a power wine here. However, I judged that 10 EXP to all my characters (for a whopping total of 120 EXP) was more important than a 2 – 4 ATT boost.



As somebody pointed out in the thread, Donhort will always join you regardless of whether or not he's actually in the fighting team. So, we can just throw Hera in and Donhort will accompany us for free.











Just as I surmised. After seeing the temple's pathetic defenses...

Gracia! Gracia! He doesn't respond! What have you done to him?!!

Don't worry. Gracia is just resting. He'll be alright, for now that is. More importantly, you... I take it you're the ones who defeated the Bulzome monks that were guarding this temple.



Let's just say no for shits and giggles. After all, Medion has a dad to rescue.

Oh? I'm surprised you're playing dumb. You have always acted contrary to us. Not the least of which was in the Elven Forest.

Anyone with a conscience who has witnessed your actions would surely resist you. We will not let you do what you please to our country!

It appears we have a difference of opinion.

Priest Fiale, we should hurry. Do you remember the group we saw heading our direction from the sky?

Prince Medion, I would like to discuss the future with you at our leisure. However, it appears meddlers are fast approaching. We will have another opportunity to talk. Shall we enter the temple?



Fiale and his pegasus entourage flap off.




Hmm, that fool! The core short circuited. He got too close and dug his own grave. You hope to save Gracia, Medion? We will not let you go any further. We'll show you how powerful we are!



Could it be the Seagate?

This isn't the time to be mulling it over. Even if they've come to help us, we must secure the staff or it will all be for naught!

It is as Sir Donhort says. We should pursue them immediately, Prince Medion.

Be careful, Prince Medion! Those structures seem to release energy in a specific pattern at specific intervals.








We've got some new enemies, but they're still not scaled up enough to deal with our promotion stat boosts. There's a big posse of monks in the back and then a few enemies scattered in the middle. This is one of those fights where the “threat” is an environmental hazard that doesn't actually matter much at all.



Basically, there's six of these pillars that create patterns of electricity every round. Anyone who's stuck in one of the lightning arcs takes a bit of lightning damage as so:




It's only 10 damage, so it's not a big deal. On higher difficulties, it's probably worth remembering how the lightning patterns work, but with how easy the game is currently, I have no problems with just walking through it and brushing the dirt off.



More importantly, in the lower-right corner of the map, there's our next bonus dungeon. As the mayor of Elbesem told us, there's a new character waiting for us there. We need to use this item to get that new character, so it's going to change hands from Medion to Zero.




The layout of the next ruin. Hazuki and Campbell go in due to their 7 MOV, Julian and Rock are in there to help clean up, and Zero goes in because he absolutely has to. I'm not kidding, Zero is 100% necessary to complete this bonus dungeon and there's no indication of it. It's quite annoying.



Basically, there's a room over here with two buttons that need to be pressed in order to pop open some doors. Zero is the only character who can get over those ledges to hit the buttons. Why Camelot put those in rather than letting anyone hit the buttons is a mystery.



There's also a new twist, where a few enemies actually pop out of the bonus dungeon and onto the main map.




Which is promptly taken care of before they get the chance to act.




Zero hits one of the buttons, and one of the doors leading into the treasure room goes down.



This is another point of annoyance with this dungeon: Zero can't reach one button to the other in a single turn. The thieves get an extra turn of looting but it doesn't matter.





The thieves have looted both chests, but Campbell promptly blocks their exit. Their AI is even programmed so they won't attack if you do this. They just stand around doing absolutely nothing.



This is a very early mithril tomahawk, which is the only redeeming feature to David. However, locking him into a single weapon type undoes his ability to maintain permanent weapon advantage. What I'm trying to say is that David is useless.




We take our time and bust open a few barrels for experience. Turns out one of them has a small mithril in it, which the Jumesyn guide doesn't actually know about! I discovered something in this game. :toot:




My sensors are detecting very negative powers, bzz... Give me your orders!



Sweet, we got a loving robot! Obviously, he's going to be a defensive powerhouse like Adam and Zy-



NOPE IT'S ANOTHER loving ARCHER

Robby is scenario 2's stand-in for Ratchet. He's got worse offense than the other archers but gains better defenses. However he also shares the same problem of using shells and anchors, meaning he will never pick up a high scaling weapon, which will leave his attack badly wanting. Also, he gets Defense Up as his support instead of Attack Up. None of this matters because holy gently caress we have way too many archers.



And with that, we pick up the other treasure in this dungeon. There's not much to this one other than Robby, who isn't exactly a great catch to begin with.



beep boop cannon arm activated



When we go back outside, there's loving lightning everywhere.



The easiest thing to do is to just run from corner to corner and heal inbetween. Since the lightning does only 10 damage, you have to try to get killed by it.



And then charge up the middle. The only threatening enemy is the masked mage with Spark 1, but the AI likes to fart itself and attack instead of casting a spell.



Holy lasers will never get old.



Once the bulk of the army moves up the middle, there's not much threat anymore. The two pillars creating that hallway can indeed form an arc of lightning, but it's not every turn, and it's pretty obvious where the area of effect for that is.




Campbell is just a pain magnet this playthrough. His stats aren't doing too stellar either. He is certainly no Dantares-clone this time.





All that's left is to mop up the enemies.



Syntesis also picked this up.



No supports and the enemy has high fire resist, though.



But Hazuki always has the back of her sister from another mister.



The structure must be restored to its proper form. However, to be honest, I'm unsure precisely what must be done to convert it.

A decisive battle awaits us inside the temple.



Well considering you're dead, Campbell, we're going to have to hike back and revive your rear end.

Not even I, no matter how many battles I may live through, can ignore the fear of combat. There is nothing to worry about.

If you answer yes instead, you actually get a nice big brother speech from Campbell:

Perhaps it is due to all the battles we have endured, but you have grown much since the beginning of our travels. I am proud of you.

Let us go, Prince Medion. As long as we have your determination, we shan't fall far behind them!

Anyways, since we finally have an excess of 12 characters, :siren: it's time to get voting! Vote for somebody to send to the bench. The only exceptions are Medion (obviously), David (already dead), and Donhort (refuses to sit out). :siren:

NEXT TIME: God dammit dad, you're an asshat

inthesto fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jun 8, 2014

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Also, good news! My script hookup has managed to compile the rest of the dialogue for scenario 2, so at the very least I will be finishing this disc. Hopefully, I can keep this LP going at a pace where I won't have to put this thread on hold!

Saxcat20
May 8, 2013

I'm going to be checking this one out, my Shining Force III disk got ruined in a move. Glad I have a chance to see it again.

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer
Interesting that the temple has running electricity. I wonder what's supplying all that power.

I vote to get rid of one of the archers that isn't Robby, because no matter how crappy it is you have to use the robot. I don't remember who the archers are though so just see it as a vote against one of them randomly.

Ardeem
Sep 16, 2010

There is no problem that cannot be solved through sufficient application of lasers and friendship.
I vote that the non-Robbie archer with the lowest stats goes away.

vibratingsheep
Nov 2, 2013

Fudou, Gunzou. The Face of the Franchise Killer. 2004.
beep boop I am a benchwarmer

Shadow Ninja 64
May 21, 2007

"I stood there, wondering why the puck was getting bigger...

and then it hit me."


Ardeem posted:

I vote that the non-Robbie archer with the lowest stats goes away.

I can get behind this.

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

vibratingsheep posted:

beep boop I am a benchwarmer

Voting for this. Adam wasn't that good either, but ROB here makes him look passable.

ChrisAsmadi
Apr 19, 2007
:D

Ardeem posted:

I vote that the non-Robbie archer with the lowest stats goes away.

Voting for this as well.

Alacron
Feb 15, 2007

-->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh
Fun Shoe
Someone, and I don't care who, needs to become soulmates with Robby :roboluv:

So basically my vote is this:

Ardeem posted:

I vote that the non-Robbie archer with the lowest stats goes away.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Ardeem posted:

I vote that the non-Robbie archer with the lowest stats goes away.

This, basically.

Bloodly
Nov 3, 2008

Not as strong as you'd expect.

Mehuyael posted:

Interesting that the temple has running electricity. I wonder what's supplying all that power.

I vote to get rid of one of the archers that isn't Robby, because no matter how crappy it is you have to use the robot. I don't remember who the archers are though so just see it as a vote against one of them randomly.

Innovator Magitech.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Wow, is he already a level 3 promoted unit?

Ardeem
Sep 16, 2010

There is no problem that cannot be solved through sufficient application of lasers and friendship.

Glazius posted:

Wow, is he already a level 3 promoted unit?

Nope, only a level 2.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Yep, we're past the halfway point of the game, so everyone we get from here on out is going to be a prepromote. Thankfully, being a propromote isn't nearly as damning as it is in previous Shining Forces or Fire Emblem games.

Kanos
Sep 6, 2006

was there a time when speedwagon didn't get trolled

inthesto posted:

Yep, we're past the halfway point of the game, so everyone we get from here on out is going to be a prepromote. Thankfully, being a propromote isn't nearly as damning as it is in previous Shining Forces or Fire Emblem games.

This is something I really like about SF3. The level 10 softcap on stats means that prepromotes are actually valid members of your team instead of lovely second string filler to be thrown in sparingly(in case of character death in FE) or not at all(in the case of Shining Force).

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

Kanos posted:

or not at all(in the case of Shining Force).

Lemon and Freyja are actually pretty drat good, and Gyan and Chaz are usable if not all that impressive. People just hear "prepromote" in terms of Shining Force and think about Higins, Sheena, Taya, Jaro and Skreech - the last two sufferering doubly from being prepromotes and gimped-rear end flying units. In a game where Peter exists, no less.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Jaro and Higins actually both have better stats than Chester. In fact, Chester finishes dead last in all knight stats except for ATT, where he's second-last with only Rick being worse. :ssh:

The reason why so many prepromotes in Shining Force 2 were bad was because they were poverty prepromotes. You got them as consolation prizes if you never found the items to get the special promotions. Also, I just realized that Shining Force 1 has almost no prepromotes. No idea how I never noticed that.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

KataraniSword posted:

Lemon and Freyja are actually pretty drat good, and Gyan and Chaz are usable if not all that impressive. People just hear "prepromote" in terms of Shining Force and think about Higins, Sheena, Taya, Jaro and Skreech - the last two sufferering doubly from being prepromotes and gimped-rear end flying units. In a game where Peter exists, no less.

Sheena was still useful by virtue of being in the most broken class in the drat game, though.

The rest I never used.

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

inthesto posted:

The reason why so many prepromotes in Shining Force 2 were bad was because they were poverty prepromotes. You got them as consolation prizes if you never found the items to get the special promotions. Also, I just realized that Shining Force 1 has almost no prepromotes. No idea how I never noticed that.

Domingo, Musashi and Hanzou are pretty much it, and that's only in the Genesis original. In RotDD, I think it's just Domingo. The difference is that most of the characters that come in after the Chapter 4 promotion point in Shining Force 1 are subpar unless you grind them to 20/1, and unlike with the rest of your crew who could do that against Seabats, your best options in Chapter 6 and 7 are the Kane battle and the Chaos battle, both of which are distinctly more dangerous and less controllable.

Meaning that, aside from arguably Alef and Torasu, most of them come out kind of bland anyway. I don't think I've ever used Lyle even though he's statistically better than both Diane and Hans (arguably combined), Adam is always permaglued to the bench, and even Bleu rarely sees action when Zylo already exists.

Serifina posted:

Sheena was still useful by virtue of being in the most broken class in the drat game, though.

I never knew you got a second PHNX in Shining Force 2. :v: But yeah, Boost 2 grinding and competency in melee at least made Sheena usable. Most of the poverty prepromotes (Lemon excepted) and a few of the normal prepromotes (HI, SKREECH) have no such saving grace, though.

KataraniSword fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Jun 9, 2014

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

KataraniSword posted:

I never knew you got a second PHNX in Shining Force 2. :v: But yeah, Boost 2 grinding and competency in melee at least made Sheena usable. Most of the poverty prepromotes (Lemon excepted) and a few of the normal prepromotes (HI, SKREECH) have no such saving grace, though.

Okay, most broken non-unique class. Most of the prepremotes are just worthless, though (especially Skreech - oh god so terrible, and yet when I was a kid I had an obsession with flyers so used him anyway.)

Hoss Corncave
Feb 13, 2012
That last battle was so annoying for me because while I had everyone cornered near the ruin entrance to avoid getting lightninged, Donhort of all people just had to go off on his own to fight the enemies, leaving me to send Uryudo after him to heal the daft old fart.

He annoyed me in the next battle as well, but fortunately he didn't do something suicidal...

(I really like that battle too.)

Oh, and lowest stat archer out unless it's Bernard, in which case second lowest stat archer out.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Part 57: JUST KILL THEM

First things first, the thread voted to kick the lowest stat archer in favor of Robby. Although Hazuki's shuriken counts as an arrow, you're out of your drat mind if you think I'll even consider benching her. Since, David doesn't exist in my mind that just leaves Waltz and Bernard:




For easier comparison, this is after removing their weapons. Being a level behind, we can safely add 2 to Waltz's ATT and DEF, which still puts her 3 points of ATT and 2 points of DEF behind Bernard (after docking Bernard's DEF by 2 for his silver ring). Add on top of that the fact that Bernard has his extended range weapon while Waltz won't get hers until next chapter, and this choice is a no-brainer.



Waltz hits the bench and Robby takes her place. Not that this is a good trade, but the will of the people has spoken.



It's been a while since our last meeting, Prince. You were lucky last time but this time no one will help you! I'll finish you here!

Do you think you'll have that opportunity now that we are here?

The Rainbloods! So Domaric's elite force is here.



It is Prince Medion and his army. -grumble- I don't know what brings you here, but you had better leave this to us and go away.

Haha... Do you truly believe it's alright to leave things to them, Prince Medion? Their aim is the Staff of Besem, Gracia, and total hegemony!

For high priests of Bulzome who have been running from us, you seem to be in high spirits. All the better. It will make striking you down that much more entertaining.

Their arrival is too early! We can't handle both the Medion army and the Rainbloods!

The Rainbloods are more formidable. We must leave the Medion army to our subordinates and direct all our power to fighting off the Rainbloods. We have no other choice.

But if the Medion army breaks our defensive lines, Fiale will have to contend with them alone.



He's right, Prince Medion. We have the best support we could have hoped for!

I disagree. They are Emperor Domaric's private assassins. They will not act as we desire.

It is as Grantack says. All who stand in the way of our mission, even the prince, will be deemed our enemies. Return home peacefully. Even if you should manage to save Gracia and seize the Staff of Besem, you will lose your lives. We guarantee this.

We understand all too well, Rainbloods. Their power is unfathomably great. We must not engage them in battle.












Small, straightforward map this time. Nothing new, just a few hell hounds, pegasus knights, and assassins. At the back, the entire Rainblood squad slowly advances towards the middle. The Rainbloods are each named after chess pieces, and they don't have full stat sheets, meaning they will wreck our poo poo if they look at us funny.



Basanda and Dessheren are the only things standing between us and the Rainbloods. Basanda has identical stats to when Synbios fought her at the end of scenario 1, and Dessheren is even tougher than that. In other words, we're not supposed to gently caress with them either. It's not particularly obvious what we're supposed to do here, but it's not too hard to figure out either.



At this point, I realize that Hedoba is so drat fragile, that it makes more sense to stick the white ring's +10 DEF on her. Hazuki will survive with only +4 DEF and 2 HP regen instead.



There's a small mithril to pick up here, which are infinitely more valuable than large mithrils.






And the Rainbloods start massacring their way through the Bulzome ranks. They one-shot all the knights, come close on the pegasi, and can still only take 2 or 3 turns to dismantle Basanda and Dessheren. If we dawdle around too long, the Rainbloods will come after Medion and company too.




Eventually, I'm going to have to start giving experience to my other characters. Or just beat the game with mages alone. Actually, that latter option doesn't sound too difficult.



The Rainbloods are nice and don't move their full range each turn. They like to only take one or two steps sometimes, which gives us extra time.



They also all have weapon advantage over all Bulzome units.




Basanda tries to fight back, but I'm pretty sure the Rainbloods are coded to have infinite HP.



With 63 ATT, Dessheren can barely scratch them.



They hit her back pretty hard.



Strangely enough, two of the water tiles are targetable. Also, the little pedestal with the blue ball hidden behind the Land Effect window holds a freeze ball, which casts Freeze 2 for free. Put two and two together, and it makes sense.





However, Basanda's AI gets cheeky. Moving somebody to get that freeze ball puts them exactly in range for her to cast Thanatos 2. Julian barely survives, but Rock's negative magic resistance does him no favors.



Dessheren's battle model looks pretty awful. Her design is pretty awkward to begin with.




You can even attack the water tiles, not that it accomplishes anything.



Another weapon upgrade for Syntesis!



Understood, Dessheren.

Wait until our next encounter, Rainbloods! You shan't best me one on one!

You have driven Dessheren back, and I don't know how long I will be able to hold out alone...

Well, this at least means that Basanda will be too busy tangling with the Rainbloods to drop Thanatos on my head anymore.



Anyways, this is the key to solving the puzzle.




It creates a frozen bridge for one turn. I already had two freeze balls stocked up from previously, but that pedestal will spawn them infinitely so the map doesn't become unbeatable. I supposed you could yank a shitload of them for a ton of free Freeze 2s, but that seems like it's more work than it's worth.



A couple of enemies come after us, but it's easy to clean them up. However, Julian can't stay on the ice tile, because it's going to despawn soon and then Julian will occupy an unoccupiable tile. Yes, the water has to be re-frozen every turn and it's annoying as hell.




I stuck Robby on shells, since the advantage against fliers is more useful than the anchor's advantage over spears for the time being. Being a different class, he will indeed get different criticals that archers get from shells and Ratchet gets from anchors. I won't lie, his rank 1 critical with shells is pretty drat cool.



Basanda's not in a good position, but who cares?



This turns out to be a really stupid thing to do, because Hedoba is carrying my other freeze ball, and she's also the only character who innately knows Freeze. :saddowns:



Gracia and the Staff of Besem... It's up to you, Fiale.



Since not everyone got across, Medion grabs another freeze ball for next turn.




You've arrived, Medion army. I won't hand Gracia over to you. Fight, Bulzome army! Defeat them!





There's a whole new map downstairs, go figure. More familiar enemies, but the monk in the back is an upgraded version of the melee monk. While he's guarded by a narrow hall surrounded by masked mages waiting to trap you, it's not going to matter.



At the critical moment of battling the Rainbloods, we were forced to divide our forces. We had no chance for victory...

Basanda gets her rear end kicked out of the fight and now the Rainbloods will slowly be coming for us.



Somehow, Robby is allowed to stand on the water. I don't know if this is a glitch or what, but I won't argue. However, I did realize my mistake: By giving Medion the freeze ball, he can't cross over. The ice will always melt at the start of the turn of the character who froze it, meaning somebody else needs to cross over with a freeze ball and use it to let Medion cross.



Or I could say gently caress it, run Medion to the back of the map where the Rainbloods won't catch him, and let everyone else take care of the basement.



While most of the army is cleaning up the boring mooks in the map, Robby hands Syntesis the Earth Rod we found. It kicks her ATT up to levels comparable with the rest of the crew and gives her a new spell.



Donhort's AI is not smart enough to run for the stairs, so he's more or less doomed to get swatted by the Rainbloods sooner or later.



Remember, the Rainbloods are Domaric's personal special forces squad and answer to only him. They more or less have orders to kill Domaric's own son if necessary. In other words, Domaric is a complete douchebag and Medion shouldn't be wasting his time trying to save him. But it's a 90s JRPG, so of course we're going to.



Fiale starts every turn by saying the same thing to Gracia. It's stupid and annoying.



Syntesis also picks up her third rank in rods. You can also see her extra spell at the bottom, which is a summon. Unfortunately, it's earth element, with which nobody has any affinity. Still, it's going to be the most powerful spell we have for a bit.





Otherwise, it's just a question of clearing out a path down the middle. The regular people thing to do would be to split the army in two and take out those masked mages so the middle is clear for somebody to take on the map boss.



Or I could just do this.





I probably should have used Golem 1, so Hedoba could have followed up with Zephyrus, but we'll have plenty of chances to run those shenanigans later.



Fiale, give up. Let Gracia go.

If you don't give yourself up soon and let him go, the Rainbloods are closing in. They'll be crossing the water soon.

Dessheren and Basanda do such sloppy work. They didn't manage to stop the Rainbloods.

The Rainbloods? The execution squad has been mobilized.

Yes, exactly. It's the Rainbloods. Facing them will be the end for everyone. What to do?

I see. It seems I will have to remove the seal.

But Gracia, that's what they want you to do. Are you going to go along with them?

Under the circumstances, that's the only option I have. After the seal is broken...




Fiale pushes Gracia into the force field, knocking Gracia over. Poor kid.

Don't try anything suspicious or it will be over for you. Understand? Now, remove the seal!





The Staff of Besem! The staff of domination!



I agree, Prince. It looks as if the ceremony can't be stopped anyway.

Exactly! We all shall witness...






Well god drat, Gracia.



Look! The Rainbloods and Fiale were knocked out. What the...

When the seal placed upon the Staff of Besem was removed, its holy power was spread throughout the temple.

So this is the mighty power of Elbesem and Gracia...



When the seal on the Staff of Besem was broken, those possessing evil hearts were knocked out by the holy energy.



Not that Medion is trying to sound tough, but when you have Syntesis, Hazuki, and Hedoba as bodyguards, nothing is difficult.

Those difficult experiences obviously weren't too much for you to overcome. You are certainly one who grows stronger with adversity, Prince Medion.

I'm glad to see you well, General Rogan! I escaped from Barrand prison and have since had a bit of an awakening.

So, you have at last had a change of heart, Sir Donhort. I've been waiting for the day you would once again display your strength to the world. Gracia, allow me to apologize. I wasn't able to make it in time to prevent the Bulzome Sect from invading the Holy Land of Elbesem.



Gracia, what do you mean?

From the beginning, it has been a journey in search of something difficult to grasp, and it remains unfound. Meanwhile, the core of Elbesem Temple was destroyed.

That was inevitable. How could you have known they were planning to destroy it?

If I had not been so far from Elbesem, I would have been able to detect the destruction of the Elbesem Statue in the north. Knowing that, I could have limited the power directed to the core, and the worst could have been avoided, but because of my imprudence, the Bulzome Sect was able to invade Elbesem!

Gracia, I understand your feelings. However, the course of action you took was certainly... at that time, the best available option.

You are responsible for leading people, and therefore you are demanding of yourself, and that is understandable. However, do not demand perfection of yourself.

Those who were struck down by the seal's power, are they dead?

It was a rather great shock. It was powerful enough to bring death to the weak, but those who are well trained should not have perished.

Then our enemies will awaken sooner or later. We shouldn't remain here.

The Rainbloods' power is incredible. We must prevent them from acquiring the Staff of Besem at all costs. Yet, our current strength would give us no chance against them in battle.

Here's an idea: Why not just execute them while they're out cold? Synbios and Dantares had no problems with attempting it on Fiale.

Let's go to the river on the east side of the island. My ship, the Seagate, is anchored there.




I know a shortcut which leads to the east side of the island. Let's go now before they awaken and make as much time as we can.



Let's go, Prince!

Well fine, I suppose taking Fiale as a prisoner does make more sense than just executing him.






NEXT TIME: Even more annoying gimmick fights!

Bloodly
Nov 3, 2008

Not as strong as you'd expect.

quote:

Here's an idea: Why not just execute them while they're out cold? Synbios and Dantares had no problems with attempting it on Fiale.

Impossible in the case of the Rainbloods. I saw a translation of the script many years back(A friend and I went through the scenarioes together with a downloaded translation for 2 and 3) and one of the lines of dialogue noted during the Basanda/Dessheren part that the Rainbloods are completely invincible when all together.

Ardeem
Sep 16, 2010

There is no problem that cannot be solved through sufficient application of lasers and friendship.
As gimmic maps go, this was pretty good. I think I kept Donhort from killing himself by using his follow Medion script to strand him on the center island where the Rainbloods couldn't reach.

Coming up next ship fights. :cry:

I think the only jrpg I've played where the ship fights weren't made out of suffering was Skies of Arcadia.

Hoss Corncave
Feb 13, 2012
I always loved the Rainbloods. They were just so strong and absolutely bitchslapped the Bulzome priestesses.

Donhort was an arse in this battle for me because he would refuse to go down the stairs. Fortunately, the Rainbloods stayed at the top and didn't come down, and Donhort didn't have a freeze ball to get back across the water (not that he would have been able to anyway since he'd have used his turn on freezing the water and everyone else was downstairs already).

Ardeem posted:

Coming up next ship fights. :cry:

I think the only jrpg I've played where the ship fights weren't made out of suffering was Skies of Arcadia.

Ship battles were great in SoA mainly because I always marked out for the eventual special cannon blast.

Hoss Corncave fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Jun 10, 2014

vibratingsheep
Nov 2, 2013

Fudou, Gunzou. The Face of the Franchise Killer. 2004.

Hoss Corncave posted:

I always loved the Rainbloods. They were just so strong and absolutely bitchslapped the Bulzome priestesses.

Don't forget the part where you can sand down the ridiculously pointy helmets and they'll be dead ringers for the Imperial Guard in Star Wars.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!

Bloodly posted:

Impossible in the case of the Rainbloods. I saw a translation of the script many years back(A friend and I went through the scenarioes together with a downloaded translation for 2 and 3) and one of the lines of dialogue noted during the Basanda/Dessheren part that the Rainbloods are completely invincible when all together.

This is mentioned in scenario 3, but the translation I'm using marks it more as "Their fighting styles are so complimentary that they're impossible to beat" rather than literal invincibility. We'd probably just need the original Japanese and the opinions of several translators to settle it. :shrug:

Also, ship fights in Suikoden 4 were just fine, because of how braindead easy they were.

Shitenshi
Mar 12, 2013
Scenario 2 is really starting to shine when it comes it its own story right now. Hope that it will last. Sure there's still some parallels to Scenario 1, but it's great to see some new locations that stand out on their own or new characters period.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
That freeze ball seems very problematic to manage. How could you even get everybody down to Fiale? Maybe if you gave it to a flier... do you even have one of those?

Ardeem
Sep 16, 2010

There is no problem that cannot be solved through sufficient application of lasers and friendship.

Glazius posted:

That freeze ball seems very problematic to manage. How could you even get everybody down to Fiale? Maybe if you gave it to a flier... do you even have one of those?

Yeah, Zero is currently in the party, and, unless you've been throwing them at enemies, you should have two ice balls to start with. Getting everybody across in two and a half turns is problematic, but there isn't much that's fightable upstairs anyway.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!

Glazius posted:

That freeze ball seems very problematic to manage. How could you even get everybody down to Fiale? Maybe if you gave it to a flier... do you even have one of those?

Zero is there to fly, there's two freeze balls you can find before this fight, the freeze ball on the map respawns infinitely, and Hedoba can also cast Freeze 1 or 2. If you've managed to goof up everything except for the infinitely respawning freeze balls on the map, then you just wait until you pick up two, have Carrier A freeze the path, get everyone across, and then have Carrier B freeze the path from the other side so Carrier A can get across. I could have done that with Medion, but it was more work than I felt like doing, especially since I was going to one-shot the boss anyway.

thetruegentleman
Feb 5, 2011

You call that potato a Trump avatar?

THIS is a Trump Avatar!

inthesto posted:

I could have done that with Medion, but it was more work than I felt like doing, especially since I was going to one-shot the boss anyway.

I like how even you don't treat the prince with any respect; telling him to go wait in a corner as his soldiers do all the actual work. At least he'll always be able to sit pretty in the most literal sense!

..even if that entails praying in a corner and hoping the empire's most elite soldiers don't feel up to regicide.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Part 58: Technically, this is two fights



If one believes the reason for the Bulzome Sect's invasion is the expansion of its area of rule, then it starts to make sense.

The actions of the Rainbloods... An invasion of the Holy Land of Elbesem by the special forces of the emperor himself. He has challenged all which is sacred.

It is possible Emperor Domaric's dream of hegemony extends as far as Elbesem, but who else is capable of commanding the Rainbloods?

If it is true the Rainbloods will only follow orders given by the emperor... Could the abduction have been a farce?

Knowing the emperor, it's possible. By painting the Republic as the guilty party with this abduction, he can legally hunt down the Republic's important officials.



Of course, Medion is going to believe in daddy dearest like the naïve idiot that he is.

I agree. I don't believe the emperor had anything to do with the abduction. What about the events in Saraband? The subversive tactics of the Bulzome Sect before and after the peace conference prove they were involved in the emperor's abduction.

You're right, General Rogan. There's something disturbing about them. It was the increase in dark energy and the Bulzome Sect's activity that prompted me to leave Elbesem.

It's obvious the Rainbloods and the Bulzome Sect were both after the Staff of Besem. But, if they were fighting for the same thing, they would've joined forces instead of battling one another.

General Rogan's notion makes sense. There’s no way they would've risked losing the Staff of Besem by fighting each other.

But then who is the high ranking Imperial leader who's working with the Bulzome Sect?

I suspect it may be Prince Arrawnt. He certainly possesses the ability. Furthermore, I had an encounter... After I heard about the abduction, I departed on the Seagate for Saraband. That's when we encountered a Bulzome Sect ship.

What? A Bulzome Sect ship? That was the ship on which they escaped with Emperor Domaric! You didn't pursue it?!

Of course we pursued it. We even cornered them. But just as we nearly had them, we were bombarded and in the confusion, they got away.

Bombarded? Is there a ship that doesn't fear the Seagate's retaliation?

Unfortunately, Gracia, there is one. The Executor, the newest Imperial vessel, is one of the few ships that can stand against the Seagate.

That's General Crewart's ship. It fired on an Imperial ship in order to allow a Bulzome ship to flee? Incredible...

We interrogated them afterward, but they insisted it was simply friendly fire due to misrecognition, and they didn't intentionally allow the Bulzome ship to escape.

Speaking of which, where are we currently headed?

We're headed to Saraband.

You're returning to Saraband? Why Saraband again?




Centaurs continue to have completely ridiculous names. Since Honesty doesn't show up anywhere in scenario 1, there isn't even a bare attempt to hide this one.

Did you say Headland?

Now that war has broken out between the Empire and Republic, why would Saraband, which holds profit above all, relocate to Headland, which suffers from poverty?

While the Republic is on the verge of fracturing, Headland is the most unwavering territory in the Aspinian Republic. Saraband's move to Headland immediately aroused the general's suspicion.

You suspected Saraband from the beginning, General Rogan? Do you think it has something to do with all of this?

The emperor's current whereabouts are unknown. Garvin, the governor of Saraband, is suspicious. I think we should investigate Saraband.

He sacrificed his own territory to increase his status in the world. Garvin would do anything for profit.

He has dealings with the Bulzome Sect and with the bandits. He's even on good terms with Prince Arrawnt. All are involved in the abduction.

General Rogan, you impress me yet again with your insightful deductions about the governor of Saraband.

Now that I have convinced you. there's still some time before we arrive in Saraband, so please feel free to explore the ship.

General, I would like to borrow a guest room. Due to all the cat and mouse with the Bulzome Sect, I didn't sleep at all last night.

It was a long and hard day. You're welcome to use my room if you like.

At this point, we're given free reign to check out the Seagate. However, if we had killed Stella, Produn's replacement would show up at this point. Since I have no intention of doing two full runs of this game, I'll use the script to demonstrate who it is (though if you've been paying attention, both the game and I have been dropping hints left and right as to who it is):

I forgot to introduce you... This is General Edmund. He's a renowned general of the Republic.

So it's really General Edmund! I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw him. It's unexpected to meet a Republican general on an Imperial warship.

Despite the danger posed to his person, General Edmund came to inform us about the Bulzome Sect's plot. He's very courageous.

So we meet again. I displayed such a disgraceful attitude during our first encounter. I'm disgraced by my actions. I hope you'll be able to forgive me.

What are you saying, General Edmund? Your views of the Republic were sincere. We hold no contempt for you.

I'm quite surprised to learn you've met before, but... What's this about, Sir Campbell? Disgraced?

General Edmund is a man of great pride. He blames himself, but he has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

Hmm, tut why would he have reason... What's this all about?

Aren't things fine as they are, Sir Donhort? Everyone has certain things they don't care to have known by others. Can't we just leave it at that?

I'm very grateful to you General Rogan, and to you, members of the Medion army.

And nice touch that Rogan is kind enough to spare Edmund the humiliation of having his betrayal be recounted to a fellow Republican soldier.

Where are you planning to go, General Edmund?

I have nothing left. If I do have a purpose, it's doing what I can to help quell this disturbance. I have decided in my heart to protect Gracia, who is irreplaceable. I want to serve at his side.

It will take a while to reach Headland. Please, take a rest on the ship.



While I'm gone, please feel free to have a look around the ship.

No Honesty, stay. We need you for this scenario. :(

We can head below the deck of the Seagate to talk chat around, revive dead characters, and grab some items. There's a few mithrils and a potion to get, a new lance for Campbell, and some amusing stuff to see.



Medion's been spending a bit too much time on the front lines. It's really starting to get to his head.



Unique sprite of Gracia sleeping.



And we haggle at the item shop to get an accessory for Robby. It's not a good choice, but the idea of tying a loincloth around an ancient robot is amusing, so I'm doing it anyway.

When we want to jumpstart the next portion of the plot, we head all the way to the bottom, where Fiale is sitting around in the holding cells.



Something must be happening!

They are here.



Unfortunately, no. The energy from the breaking of the seal caught me off guard and I lost consciousness.

So the power sealed within the Staff of Besem is truly that powerful?

I have certainly tasted the terror of its holy power enough to know.

When you awoke you said someone was here, but who were you talking about?

Can't you hear it? That sound... The sound of a steam engine approaching?

A steam engine on the sea... Could it be...?

It must be the Executor! Is General Crewart coming for us?

The Executor apparently fired on the Seagate previously because it was pursuing a Bulzome vessel.

Priest Fiale, is the Executor coming to rescue you?

Hmph. I don't know, but if they are coming to rescue me, I don't need their help.

What do you mean by that?

I mean I don't require their help.

This is one of those points where an editor is supposed to read it and say “Yeah, cut this.”

This door is secured with a steel lock. There's no way for you to open it without the key.

Yes, that's true. Therefore, I will escape by other means!




Fiale shrinks into a tiny man occupying a tiny hole and disappears.



What kind of form is he able to take that allows him to slip through the floor?

The emergency siren! The Executor is approaching!

It's unfortunate Fiale escaped, but we must find out what's happening with the siren. Let's ask General Rogan.





Our goals are to free the Bulzome priest they are holding, recover the Staff of Besem and capture Gracia unharmed. But that may be impossible with diplomacy alone.

Knowing how stubborn Rogan is, he won't answer our request, but... I don't want to result to force to stop him.

Look, Rogan! It is I, Arrawnt. I have business with people onboard the Seagate. Stop your vessel, and hand them over immediately!

Alright! Continue to move full speed ahead!

Do you intend to simply ignore Prince Arrawnt's entreaty, General Rogan?



Why have we not been able to reach the Seagate? What's the problem?!

:hist101: They are benefiting from the current tail wind... Our ship, with its heavy equipment and steam engine, is doing all it can...

So what of it?!

:hist101: If we keep this up, the engine may overheat and explode. Can we slow down for a moment...?

You fool! That is out of the question. Even if the engine should fail, do not reduce our speed!

It's unavoidable Crewart. We have no choice but to slow them down with our cannons, and then board their ship!

Everyone to their posts! Prepare to attack!



Oh no, General Rogan! They intend to bombard us!

They're firing on us. Evade the attack!

FIRE!




What's wrong? Our vessel's velocity is...

:hist101: If we continue to attempt drastic evasive moves at this speed, we could eventually capsize.



Fire! Fire! Let Rogan feel the terror of my Executor to the very marrow of his bones!

We must do something! The Seagate will be sunk unless we fight back.

I didn't think the Executor would use force, but now we have no choice! We must battle Crewart.



Our gunmen are down. We are at the Executor's mercy...

Cannons are weapons for cowards. As a warrior I don't want to use them, but it appears we have no choice.

The cannons are our only means of staying afloat, Prince Medion, if they intend to board us after disabling our firepower, we may yet be able to engage them honourably in battle! Aim for their cannons!

The area around the cannons is dangerous due to incoming attacks. Prince Medion, if you plan to fire a cannon, please stand behind it to fire! They are after Gracia and the Staff of Besem. Prince Medion. We must foil their plans!





So, this battle is a twofer. The first part is naval combat which is annoying, takes too long, and makes no sense. It's yet another in scenario 2's series of “let's try out new ideas but completely mess them up”.



The gist of it is that Rogan's ship, The Seagate, has two cannons while Crewart's ship, The Executor, has four. The ships fire on each other until one ship has no cannons left standing, and then the next section of the fight starts.




Of course, each cannon has a certain range that you can't really see. Every turn, the Seagate slows down and the gap between the two ships shortens, effectively allowing every cannon to hit more parts of the other ship.





When a cannon hits another cannon, anyone who happens to be standing behind it takes 10 damage. Since the cannoneers on the Executor have 40 HP each, each of those cannons is destroyed after 4 hits. The Seagate's cannons are sturdier and take 5 hits each to be destroyed regardless of how much HP its operator has, but that comes at the cost of the operator automatically dying if the cannon blows up.



The Executor's cannons can also fire onto the Seagate's deck in a large area of effect. It deals 20 damage to anyone at ground zero and 10 damage to all others caught in the radius. The fact that Executor cannons will shoot the deck instead of Seagate cannons is what affords you the opportunity to actually win this naval battle.



But you know what? Screw it. It's more trouble than it's worth, especially with the finnicky AI. The only reward you get for blasting apart the Seagate's cannons is 10 EXP per surviving cannon, which means at most 20 EXP for each member of the army. Across 13 characters, that's not chump change, but it's honestly so much simpler to just hide at the back of the boat and let Crewart's crew do its thing.



Occasionally a wing knight flies over, but those are taken out as soon as they show up without any risk.




Two cannons fire on Julian in a row, instantly wiping out his 39 HP. Oh well, he's gone at the end of this fight anyway.



It takes a drat long time as the Executor loves shooting at empty space, but this finally happens after a bit.



Good job, General Crewart. It's time to finish them. We will take advantage of our superior numbers and board the Seagate. Send the troops after them!

As you wish, my liege.

Hmm, they are moving to take advantage of our situation. The Executor is approaching! Proceed with caution, Prince Medion.










And here's part two. Since it's technically a different fight, you start with HP/MP refills. I think you are able to egress out and revive dead people without having to play the first part again, but I'm not about to tempt fate and find out. You may also notice that Arrawnt's stats are awfully suspect, which tells us that something's up with him.

The Seagate has taken a bit of damage, so there's a bunch of impassable tiles now. While the boats are connected by two planks, one of them ends in an impassable tile, so there's functionally only one path. There's also a completely new cast of enemies who can hit decently hard if you don't keep the right people at the front.



This is me not noticing the impassable terrain.



Crewart Soldiers and Wing Knights make up the bulk of the enemies on this map, so Rock's axe is going to be sent to deal with all those spears.



Ugh, why did we have to get a copy of Obright instead of Horst?



For once, I'm not going to have Syntesis, Hazuki, and Hedoba plow through everything, since everyone else is dragging behind in levels.




It's slow and dangerous going since I can only whack one enemy at a time, and both Rock and Zero have pretty flimsy defense. I should have stocked up on healing drops before this fight, but I didn't and Hera ends up drained of her MP before boarding the Executor as a result.




Wing knights go around the back, and this happens! A ranged counter, finally. Hazuki takes 6 damage and deals 22 back, a trade I'll gladly take.



After something like six turns, the boarding planks are finally cleared and we're free to advance.



What?! My army has yet to be defeated! Look, Prince Arrawnt!




This is pretty hilarious to see in action. A hole just pops open in the roof and soldiers shoot straight out of it.



It's only two mercenaries and two Crewart soldiers, which shouldn't be too hard.



Except they run straight for the unboarding point, creating another bottleneck. :argh:



Okay Donhort, why don't you show your stuff.



:crossarms:




Zero and Rock make quick work of one mercenary.



And Zero pays for it with his life, because he has crap defense and the weapon disadvantage is doing him no favors.



But it's enough to open up our options so we can get people into an open area and tear down the reinforcements.



This is all that's left for us to deal with, which is nothing terrible.



For the most part, I pack my characters close together and run them all in in a single turn, to kill as many as possible before they can react.



Medion, Hazuki, and Robby get nailed by a Freeze 3, but it's still weaker than Hedoba's Freeze 2.




Campbell and Bernard make sure there's no more magic coming out of him. With Crewart and Arrawnt's short aggro ranges, this fight is in the bag.



But the game is determined to make me suffer before letting me win. At least it's the end of the chapter, so revives are free.



Hazuki takes a pot shot at Arrawnt. drat, if only he were this weak as the endboss of scenario 1.



Since the situation has deteriorated this far, I shall have to finish it myself!



To think he was a masked monk. Prince Medion, it will be difficult to defeat him unless we first remove his magical barrier with the Elbesem Orb.



While there was no hinting that you'd need the Elbesem Orb for this fight, the masked monk isn't tough enough that it matters if you don't have it. This guy exists solely to sucker punch you with a single cast of Spark 2 and then do nothing.



And that's it. He proceeds to do next to nothing for the rest of the fight.



I decide to test to waters by shooting him with Bernard, which only did 12 damage. He normally probably would have done around 25, so I'm guessing the magical barrier halves incoming damage. With only 78 HP and mediocre defense, that's not an issue.



But I came prepared anyway.





And then we let Medion's Angels do their thing, vaporizing the monk in two hits and taking Crewart to critical levels in three.



Crewart desperately tries to do something, but I've blocked the staircase with Hedoba and her white ring. Even with his Full Swing critical, he can't kill her in one hit.



It's time to finally show off this spell which I got an entire chapter ago.





Isn't overkilling a chapter boss just the best feeling?



:getin:




Where are Prince Arrawnt and Honesty, the pegasus knight?

Wouldn't you like to know, Rogan... Wouldn't you like to know...

What has happened? Don't tell me they...

There's no need to worry... Honesty is locked up in the hold and Prince Arrawnt is...





The Executor has overheated and has begun to explode.

At times like these, technology is a pain. There's nothing we can do to halt its demise.

It's unavoidable, Prince Medion. We now know where Honesty is. We should hurry to save her.




The soldier who has the key hasn't been found yet?

I found the soldier carrying the key!






Honesty?! What are you doing?!

The people who oppose our plans will disappear with this ship like rubbish under the sea!





You're not Honesty!

Haha! It's about time you figured that out!

That voice! It's Priest Fiale!



Gah! You're a Bulzome priest! I fell right into a trap...



If a Bulzome High Priest were to go on the defensive, no matter how strong your force may be, you wouldn't win easily. Well, now that my purpose here is fulfilled, I shall take my leave.

Oh, running away, are you?!

When the power of the Staff of Besem was released, I took more damage than I imagined I would. Fighting in my current condition would be disadvantageous. Furthermore, the Executor, after suffering critical damage from an engine explosion, is no longer worth risking life and limb to defend.

Then, you knew that! You locked General Rogan in the brig to send him down with the Executor!



You monster! Where are you planning to spread your scourge now?!

To Flagard... to Lord Conrad... If you want the key, you'll have to follow me there.

This is very serious! Lord Conrad is the Bulzome Sect's next target!

We must pursue him to regain the key and save General Rogan before it's too late!

Medion, we have a problem!



What's wrong? Why does everyone look so... gloomy?



Bresby would not lie.

To inform you of the crisis in Destonia, I traveled across the sea and, guided by the smoke, found you. I myself would like to believe this hasn't happened, but it is true.

In order to save the imprisoned General Rogan, we too must pursue the high priest who fled with the key. We must depart for Flagard!

How horrible! High Priest Fiale is no doubt moving with the aid of flying regiments. If you deploy your army after him, they will not be able to catch up!

Then, what should we do? Is there no hope of saving General Rogan?



As usual, it doesn't really matter what we pick. Zero is leaving either way.

Certainly. Our army is incredibly grateful to you, Zero. The remaining problem, however...



Does green light emit from this flying object? Does it have the shape of a mushroom? Does its upper portion glow even brighter when it releases lightning to the surface, capable of destroying castle walls?

Who... Who is this boy?

He's a direct descendant of the ancient messiahs from the Holy Land of Elbesem. This is the Godchild of light, the Innovator Gracia.

Gracia, do you know of this flying object?

Yes. There's a description of it in the Ancient Scripture.



The lightning it releases will rend all asunder. This appears... to be my task. If the Walcuray's attacks would cease, Destonia Castle would be able to hold up. In order for me to approach the Walcuray, I will need some assistance...

I... will accept that duty. The battles of the Medion army here, and the battle they face in Saraband... from my perspective, appear to be little more than internal squabbling. Compared to that, the opponent Gracia is to challenge is a Vandal. I continue to fight, to defeat the Vandals all while remembering the sadness of waiting for my father, who never returned. So, I will go with Gracia. If I am to be caught up in these ideological conflicts, I would rather battle the Vandals!



I've ceaselessly fought for equality. Yet I had lost hope in everything and lost sight of my goals. Equality was perhaps an unrealizable ideal. However, after listening to Julian, I realize... there is a path for my life.

If Stella is dead, Edmund would interject here too.

Can I come along too? I have fought alongside the Empire and betrayed Aspinia, and have now lost my homeland... I always knew I would eventually find a cause I could believe in and be faithful to forever. Gracia, please take me with you. I pledge all my loyalty to Elbesem.



Thank you very much, Prince Medion. I knew you would agree.

The company of Julian and Donhort will be reassuring.

I agree! With Gracia and the aid of Julian and Donhort. We shall drive the Walcuray back!

I will find the priest and recover the key. I'll return tomorrow, in time to free General Rogan. I will not let him perish!

Zero, since the Synbios army will probably soon face Fiale, you should return the Elbesem Orb to them.






We should be going before Destonia Castle is conquered by the Walcuray.

I have only traveled with the Medion army for a short time, but I've become close friends with you, just as I have with the Synbios army. This might be the end of my time with you, but I won't forget all of you.

I'll be praying for everyone's safety on the rest of your journey from the depths of my heart.

Now, let us head for the Destonian capital!

Everyone has gone. It's a bit of a lonely feeling, isn't it Prince Medion?

-Tch- That Julian... certainly said some touching things.

What are you doing, getting all teary eyed... What's wrong...? Uryudo...

It's alright. We'll meet again... Surely, we'll meet again, Prince.

I do not wish to linger around any longer. Please, let us proceed to Saraband.

Absolutely, Prince Medion... And if we hope to fulfill our objective, we too must depart!

The chaos caused by the Rainbloods allowed the Medion army to rescue Gracia and the Staff of Besem. After escaping by sea, they bested General Crewart, but General Rogan's life is in peril. A diminished Medion army heads to Saraband.



NEXT TIME: Callbacks! Terrible ports!

Ardeem
Sep 16, 2010

There is no problem that cannot be solved through sufficient application of lasers and friendship.
This is another fight where trying to keep Donhort alive sucks as he will inevitably park himself someplace that makes the bottleneck on the bridges even worse.

inthesto
May 12, 2010

Pro is an amazing name!
Is there any point to keeping Donhort alive? Any time I get an AI controlled character in Shining Force, I just let them do whatever the gently caress as I keep playing my own game.

He's not even a good character in scenario 3.

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vibratingsheep
Nov 2, 2013

Fudou, Gunzou. The Face of the Franchise Killer. 2004.

inthesto posted:

Is there any point to keeping Donhort alive? Any time I get an AI controlled character in Shining Force, I just let them do whatever the gently caress as I keep playing my own game.

He's not even a good character in scenario 3.

You're blowing my mind with all of this "Centaurs aren't awesome" talk. Shining Force 3 is so confusing :psyduck:

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