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LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
I'm afraid there are no artists capable of depicting No Pants Marth in Heroes, because then his damaged picture would somehow require even less pants.

Still, if anyone figures this out I'd love to have him and I'd trade all my 5 Stars but my Ike and Jagen for him.

AweStriker posted:

I like how the anime cover actually says "based on the hot video game" at the bottom. Despite no American at the time knowing that there was a video game.

I love everything about that cover. I think my favorite bit is Lena slowly sliding to her death in the bottom right. I think that's Lena, anyway.


Camel Pimp posted:

I suppose this is as good a time as any to post this dumb photoshop I made a while back



Not quite the same as having pantless Marth in Heroes, but close as we'll get.

I hate that I know exactly which Heroes art you took for the base for this. Poor, poor Catria :smith:.

This is hilarious though and I love it.

vilkacis posted:

Hirohiko Araki :colbert:

Fun fact, I would not have understood this joke until literally like an hour ago, when I finished Diamond is Unbreakable and finally had to start looking for the manga versions of the rest.

I started watching Jojo's because everyone made jokes in my threads about it I didn't get, joke's on y'all, now I probably get like half of them!


Rabbi Raccoon posted:

That art makes me think of the Lunar games

I'm not sure



What you mean



apologies to camel pimp

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Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.

LordHippoman posted:

I'm not sure



What you mean



apologies to camel pimp

don't apologize for beauty

RareAcumen
Dec 28, 2012




AradoBalanga posted:

The only question now is which artist should get the honor of drawing Pants-Free Marth for Heroes.

Yusuke Murata

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
Chapter 21: Nothing Title-Worthy Happens (Battle)

I’m gonna level with you right off the bat. This chapter is really straightforward. This might not be riveting stuff, sorry. It’s a big flat field full of guys.

Also, I definitely did not miss anything in this map.



: Are you certain you wish to join the battle? If you’ve any reservations about fighting your own countrymen-

She’s done it a few times now. Like in the chapter where you recruited her.

: If I did, Prince Marth, I would not have offered you my axe.


: But surely-

: You have the wrong idea. Perhaps you think I wish to spare my brother and former vassals, forgive them for seeing things differently?

: ...Don’t you?

: I would be lying if I said I did not wish it were that simple.




: Even if it means your own brother may die?

: Since I was little, I followed in Michalis’s footsteps. Whatever books he read, I read; whenever he practiced the sword, I was close by, watching, learning…He was always a step ahead: my hero, something to aspire to. Even now, some part of me loves him.




(not with those stats)




Anyway, there’s something viscerally satisfying about getting to do this myself.




The enemies are actually pretty tough on this map, especially if you’re just coming from Ymir’s gaiden. I had to be pretty careful with most of my units.




After the first turn, two of the Paladins charge, and you can see how quick this can turn ugly.




Our heavy hitters need to down those Paladins quick, since they’re exceptionally dangerous to the backline mages.




Choosing a good three unit team for this far left position is a pretty good idea, since you’ll be eating some Dracoknight charges. One has a Ridersbane too.




Tiki and Caesar can put out good damage. Lorenz is...uh...he’s there.




There’s a lot of scattered damage going out, so Fortify’s not a bad idea. I’m starting to get a bit more liberal using it as we hit end game.




I was afraid of this guy, because Killer Weapons, but then Wolf happened. :allears:




Yikes. It’s a good thing Cord’s so fast. Never underestimate how far a Paladin will move just to ruin your day.




He’s got 20 dang speed.




Lorenz isn’t great by any means, but he can soak hits well and do a little damage in return, which is more than you can say for half the random prepromotes Shadow Dragon hurls at you.




Here’s Pachyderm in action. It’s pretty good!





I’m using Caesar to weaken these enemies so Tiki can finish them with the Firestone. It conserves uses on the Divinestone that way.




Also, Tiki’s level ups are fast, since she’s technically at a very low level, so the game weights her kills really heavily.





Well, that’s that dealt with.




The side with Barst is doing just fine, as you might imagine.




A-OK over here!





C’mon, Caesar.




At this point, all the physical units are dealt with, so I have an excuse to pretend I’m planning ahead again with Barrier.




Still, I’m trying to hang back just a bit and take this slow.




Even unpromoted Mages with pretty basic Tomes hurt bad in Shadow Dragon.




Tiki gets levels like she’s from another game, though. That’s some Awakening poo poo.




Here’s a Convoy shot because I forgot to bring a single target, non-Physic Staff on Maria. Oops.




Nothing to see here, move along.




Wendell gets better level ups than Caesar. Here’s photo evidence.




On Turn 5, the map takes its claws out. We’ve got seven reinforcements! Two Cavaliers, two pegasus knights, and three Dracos, one in each “section”.




The forests are a double-edged sword, since they’ll slow you and the Cavs down, but the flying Dragoons don’t care. That’s what Beck’s for.




It’s nice that he doesn’t need many levels to just kinda do his job.




I won’t show me getting rid of all these guys, since it would take way too long and it’s basically the same thing we just did.





It’s a lot of experience, though. Anyway, top left Dracoknight is the worst.




Extremely rude, sir.




Also, after Fortify patching, Tiki can’t even down him for free experience! Now I have to make Marth or Abel do it.




Maria has some kind of complete aversion to gaining Magic. I won’t complain about a four-stat level, but I will sulk slightly.




On turn 10, the reinforcements repeat. You probably won’t see this unless you’re specifically stalling for it. Hell, you can probably skip the first set of them if you’re really quick.




It’s the same thing again, so, uh, here’s Wolf getting another Lance level. That reminds me, we haven’t put Gradivus or Mercurius to use yet.




Linde’s speed issues seem to be evening out a bit, which is a welcome sight.




So is this. Wolfffff.





This took both of our blue haired fliers, but it was worth it. gently caress that Ridersbane guy.




And that’s the last of ‘em.




No more Fortify. :colbert:




The boss, uh, exists.




I mean, I got a good blink-shot of him. That’s worth something.





See ya, Orridyon.




I guess Ogma can finally promote now.







The two stores back here don’t have anything of particularly great interest, though I did grab a Bolganone, since Cord burns through them quick, and a Killer Axe, because I love Barst.



:toot:





: I see you have made it to Macedon. You will find me in a village north of the Macedon aerie, their castle. If you possess the Lightsphere and Starsphere, have them in hand when you visit me here. …Ah, yes. I also have good news. Your sister Elice is unharmed.

This is a good thing to note! Not the thing about Elise, that’s whatever, but the other stuff.

: What?! You are certain? Where is she now?

: Thabes, city of illusion. Gharnef took her with him when he fled. I pray you rescue her soon.

: I will!

: But first, bring me the two orbs.




Also very good to know.




Next time Regicide happens.


The Old School Fire Emblem Art Gallery, Installment II

Welcome back. Last time we looked at the many faces and bare legs of Prince Marth, today we’ll move onto his motley band of friends.



There’s not much I can add to this picture of Cain and Abel other than noting that yep, it certainly does exist!



Speaking of Abel, he betrayed Marth to join Michalis in the manga version of this game for...uh, some reason, I haven’t read it. Here he is doing that.



Here are Cain and Gordin’s TCG arts, as well as Draug’s FE3 one, but only the face, because I know that’s what people want. I like how Cain is dual wielding here. I’m sorry, you can’t do that in this game.



Here’s a compilation of Jagens through the years. If you look closely, you’ll notice he grew an extra shoulder spike between FE3’s release and the TCG coming out. He also bought a cape, and between TCG and Heroes, spent all those years making his armor as overcomplicated as possible. He also swapped to swords, apparently.



We also have Jagen’s appearance in the Fire Emblem Anime, where he had kind of a “very shiny Clint Eastwood” thing going. Oh, also that part in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE where he turned into a motorcycle. I haven’t played far enough in that game for context, but I don’t think it matters.

I was going to do Caeda here but nothing’s beating Motorcycle Jagen so I’ll save that for next time or something.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Jagen still uses lances in Heroes. He just has a sword on his waistband in his artwork because...:shrug:.

Cattail Prophet
Apr 12, 2014

I like how you've grown so complacent with your inventory management that Marth and Maria are still holding onto Hammerne and the Starsphere three chapters later.

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.
I can't believe you missed the best Gordin art



And the best Abel art

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.

AradoBalanga posted:

Jagen still uses lances in Heroes. He just has a sword on his waistband in his artwork because...:shrug:.

I guess swords are just easier to draw, considering Caeda also for some reason got made into a sword user. (Also, looking this up gave me a bunch of information on the Heroes Metagame and wow.)

Cattail Prophet posted:

I like how you've grown so complacent with your inventory management that Marth and Maria are still holding onto Hammerne and the Starsphere three chapters later.

I'm playing Echoes right now and I just remembered to take the Sweet Cookie off of Mae. I'm in Part 4.


Camel Pimp posted:

I can't believe you missed the best Gordin art



And the best Abel art



I couldn't really get a clean transparent rip of the Gordin one. I have no excuse for Abel's, though, that's amazing. I feel like he and the horse swapped expressions.

vilkacis
Feb 16, 2011

LordHippoman posted:

Fun fact, I would not have understood this joke until literally like an hour ago, when I finished Diamond is Unbreakable and finally had to start looking for the manga versions of the rest.

I started watching Jojo's because everyone made jokes in my threads about it I didn't get, joke's on y'all, now I probably get like half of them!

Jojokes functioning exactly as intended. :)



:allears:

Also, Extremely Anime Jeigan looks absolutely amazing.

LordHippoman posted:

I feel like he and the horse swapped expressions.

Blue Labrador
Feb 17, 2011



I like this Abel. I not only trust him as a vassal, but also as the neighbor most likely to help me fix my Mower.

ungulateman
Apr 18, 2012

pretentious fuckwit who isn't half as literate or insightful or clever as he thinks he is
Here's a fun fact about Shadow Dragon that you'd never know about without data mining:

When a character levels up and doesn't get a point in a stat, it increases that stat's growth rate by 1.1x, stacking until they gain that stat - so a character with a 50% speed growth goes to 55%, then 60.5%, and so on.

Since everyone's growths are terrible this bonus is almost unnoticeable. If I remember correctly, it was only found due to somebody getting 2 points of a non-HP stat on Wolf/Sedgar (because it went 90%, 99%, 108.9%, and they rolled that last 9% for the second point).

vilkacis
Feb 16, 2011

That's interesting! And I like the increasing chance mechanic, it's a neat way to try and combat units getting too terribly screwed, small though it may be.

Does New Mystery do the same thing?

Alxprit
Feb 7, 2015

<click> <click> What is it with this dancing?! Bouncing around like fools... I would have thought my own kind at least would understand the seriousness of our Adventurer's Guild!

That just means Maria's due for that Magic point any day now.

Mysticblade
Oct 22, 2012

FE12 doesn't do dynamic growths, no.

Neat thing about those is that if you get a level in Priest and then reclass to a class that would normally leave you at 0 res growth, you can still get a point of Res. Not useful but it's possible.

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

LordHippoman posted:

I guess swords are just easier to draw, considering Caeda also for some reason got made into a sword user. (Also, looking this up gave me a bunch of information on the Heroes Metagame and wow.)
Caeda (and Palla as well) is primarily a sword user just to balance out the current crop of fliers since right now it's 7 lance users (Hinoka, Subaki, Clair, Est, Florina, Shanna, and Catria), 4 axe users* (Minerva, Cherche, Beruka, and Camilla), with Caeda and Palla filling in as the sword users.


*=Michalis makes it 5, but he was a Grand Hero Battle and is not a permanent hero as of this posting.

Tae
Oct 24, 2010

Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!
Are you missing narcian on purpose

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Tae posted:

Are you missing narcian on purpose
No, I legit forgot about him. But then again, he falls under the same section as Michalis, so he's not a permanent fixture.

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
Chapter 22: Long Live The King (Prep)

Right, time for the actual reason we came to Macedon. Surprisingly, no, it was not Orridyon.



I didn’t even attempt a title pun because I’m not beating this.




: Michalis, the fiend, would often surf upon his mount, arms crossed, like a real piece of poo poo.




: But then their brother, Prince Michalis, succumbed to his lust for power. Despite his sisters’ adamant opposition, he sworn allegiance to Dolhr; and when Macedon’s Dragoons took flight, the world suffered. Even now that the tides had turned, Michalis took position for one last stand. Dracoknights filled the sky end to end, eager to pluck Marth from the earth.




This map is actually pretty cool, and I think it’s one of the more memorable ones in this game.




We all start at the foot of Michalis’ fortress. I could send fliers to challenge him directly, but, uh.




He’s got friends. As you’d expect, they’ll filter out and charge for you. Be extra careful with healers on this map, since the Dracoknights and Pegasus Knights are out for blood.




To get to the northern steps and climb the tower, your units can either go right or left (Or both, if you want to split Michalis’ forces.

To the right is this pretty important village! This is where Gotoh’s been hanging out.




On the left, some more shops. These are some of the last in the game, so if you’re running low on high quality weapons, it might be a good idea to hit them up.




Most of the Forts are near Michalis himself, but there’s this one too. Reinforcements don’t come out of it or anything, it’s just...there. I dunno.




The enemies in this map specialize in movement, and a lot of them have fairly powerful weapons. Ridersbanes are frequent as well, so it’s a good idea to check weapons before sending in one of your Paladins or Horsemen.




The boss himself is Michalis, as you’d expect, and he’s got some pretty bulky stats. He doesn’t move, however, so he’s not quite as big a threat as Camus. He’s also kinda slow and somehow has Zero Luck, so he’s extra susceptible to getting crit. If we're being totally real here, he's a bit of a chump for a major story boss. The item he’s carrying, Iote’s Shield, prevents the extra damage from bows that fliers usually take. Caeda wants her hands on it, but for now, it’s just a bit of a way for the game to say “No, you can’t just one-shot him with Parthia that easily.”




This is going to be the last promotion. We’re all grown up now.




Marth’s got to deliver some Orbs to Gotoh. I don’t know if you NEED them in your inventory when you visit him, but it’s better safe than sorry.




I’m rich.




Since we’re almost at the end, I figured I’d give our consistent MVP’s favorite weapon a slight tune-up.




I also couldn’t think of any joke names.






Also, since I mentioned it last time, I remembered we have these legendary weapons I’m not using.

Abel gets Gradivus, and Caesar snags Mercurius after a quick Arms Scroll to bump him up to an A in swords. Nobody on the team can use Parthia, sadly.




As a weird note, the Longbow is, in fact, class-locked to snipers. Generals and Horsemen can’t wield it because uh, balance reasons, maybe?

Next time we confront Michalis.

The Old-School Fire Emblem Art Gallery: Installment III

Let’s talk about Caeda!



I like Shadow Dragon’s depiction of Caeda the best, personally. Not that there’s a big change between her outfit there and the New Mystery one, but the darker colors look better, I think. Although I have to wonder what happened to both the bird and the bulky-rear end leather shoulderpads she had in FE3.



Like her future husband, she also had a helpful game show posing phase. What are they pointing at? That’s up to your imagination.



Here she is with her dad in the Fire Emblem anime. I...uh…



I love him.

LordHippoman fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Jun 2, 2017

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
Chapter 22: Long Live The King (Battle)



This map actually starts with a cutscene as an enemy Dracoknight flies towards a village. No points for guessing who that might be.




: I wish for you to move someplace safe until the fighting has ended.

: Why not just end this folly now, Michalis?

: Folly? What folly?

: You loved your younger sister so much. It pains me to see you quarrel. If you and Minerva had worked as one, Macedon might have become a great kingdom- greater even than Archanea, perhaps. But instead, you let Gharnef trick you into destroying your family, and your kingdom with it.

I love that Gotoh seems to just assume Gharnef is the cause for everything going wrong. It can’t be that Michalis is just a dick. It was that evil wizard!




Pictured: projecting

: And Macedon has not been destroyed, not yet. So long as I carry Iote’s Shield, the League’s arrows cannot fell me.


: Very well. And if you win? What then?

: If I win, I will tell you. Right now, my only goal is to gut that Altean prince who leads the League. My pride as Macedonian king rests upon it.

: I see… Then we’ve nothing more to discuss, have we?







Right, so, I was wrong on the Prep preview, my bad. These castle tiles are Walls, meaning that neither your fliers nor the enemy’s can pass through. So they won’t come at you from that angle, and you can’t just fly up and challenge Michalis.

Without the Warp Staff, I mean, but that’s already pretty unfair.




Ballisticians can still fire on them, though, so I could see this being a good chapter to bring both Beck and Jake, if you wanted. The way the map is designed makes it difficult for the enemy to reach your starting point unless you let them through, and you can harass pretty effectively with Arrowspate.




The way I’ve decided to do this map is by splitting into two groups. The only thing that’s important is that Marth goes with the right team, to hit up the village.




A lot of Michalis’ cronies start their movement on Turn 1, so be prepared to deal with them as you approach.




As much as I do like this map, these first few turns are dull. It’s no New Mystery Chapter 3 Hell Spiral, though, and I played that map just before this one, so it might have just looked good by comparison.




The Dracoknight Beck shot moved, so now he’s just picking on the Curates.




Of course, his buddy will Fortify him back up…





But it’s still not enough. That’s also an awesome Beck level.



So, my strategy might not have gone exactly as planned, because there are a fuckton of fliers bearing down from slightly offscreen to the northwest there. I arranged my units like this so it’s tougher for them to be surrounded. Lorenz, despite his great Defense, is honestly the weakest link here due to his awful speed. That’s why I’ve got two of his sides covered.




Catria’s also going to try and draw away whatever units she can. You could probably avoid this situation entirely by only going up one half of the map, but then you’ll be dealing with a bigger group of defenders.




Javelins are a bit annoying (my precious setup), but they also barely do damage.




Neither do Killer Lances, evidently. That’s the power of Mercurius.




Thankfully some of the enemies also took Catria’s bait.




If the enemies had all focused on Lorenz, they might have been able to kill him, but apparently Michalis was REALLY serious about that whole “gutting the Altean prince” thing.




Anyway, hello!




Well, let’s deal with these problems as they come. Wendell still doing some damage warms my heart.




While Lorenz certainly isn’t good, I’ve seen a lot of people call him one of the worst units in the game, which I think is pretty silly. He’s got B-Rank bow utility just before you enter Flier Land, and he doesn’t collapse like a wet noodle in combat. Certainly beats the heck out of Boah.




The cleanup goes pretty drat smoothly.




I had Marth rush out in front of everyone else because I need to hurry to the village. The crit is just a nice bonus.




:eyepop:




Here’s a rare battle background. I think I’ve only seen it on these mountain-esque tiles on this map.




Just in time!




: Now I can create Starlight for you.

There’s a little screen flash here.

: …There. It is finished. Take this with you; it is the only magic capable of breaking through Imhullu. Use it to stop that fiend Gharnef once and for all.

Marth doesn’t say a word in that whole exchange. It’s weird that, in the game where only Marth can visit villages, Marth doesn’t get any dialogue in villages. It happens in the Gaidens sometimes, so that’s probably just some leftover NES jank.




Starlight is the Legendary Tome. It’s real good.




We did, however, lose both the Light and Starspheres. Don’t worry, they grow back.

No, really, they do.





That thief should not have come to work this morning.





Beck also finishes off the Fortify curates, leaving the Macedonians with no healing legs left to stand on.




I just wanted to note the extremely obnoxious position of this Pegasus Knight. Had to waste Catria on her dumb hiding spot.




Dragon>Dragoon




Tiki levels really fast, since she’s technically unpromoted. That’s pretty useful, and goes a long way in making her more usable than, like, Est.




Nothing much interesting in any of the shops, unfortunately. Just your basics, if you need to stock up before the endgame starts. You probably don’t, this game is extremely generous with weapon drops.




Now then, time to start pulling Michalis’ guards out of their hidey-hole.




Hey, wrong lure!



You deserved that tenth of my Gradivus, rear end in a top hat.




Abel please. You haven’t capped anything yet.




Beck even manages to score another pickoff.




I skipped the slaying of like, three Dracoknights because it wasn’t even a contest. We’ve got Michalis on the ropes now.




However...I’m getting this ominous feeling...about Forts.




Aha! This would have been two Paladins, by the way, had I not stopped that other one up with Caeda.




They carry Silver Lances, as you can see in this (poorly timed) shot, and can be a pain if you aren’t expecting them or they rush a squishy unit. This means it’s time for the most honorable tactic.




I’m gonna plug all the forts.




Hey! No slipping through!




Stop that.




It’s a little cheap, and it denies me some experience, but I’m ready to just be done with Macedon at this point. End of LP fatigue, what can I say?

: Ah! I know this part! Lady Minerva told me! She rode up to her brother, and he said:


: Minerva, I have missed you, Sister. Let us embrace one last time.

: Michalis…

: Well? Strike! A moment’s hesitation spells death on the battlefield. I know I taught you better.

: You will not lay down your lance and walk the right path?

: Don’t be a child. There are no right paths; just mine and yours, two that will never cross.

: Very well. Then you leave me no choice. Embrace you I shall, Brother!


: So she drove her lance through his black heart, and-

: Nope.

: Wha-

: That’s a mistranslation.

: ...It’s in our language…

: Minerva was there, yes, but it was her weapon that signaled Michalis’ defeat!

: What do you mean?





: ...oh.



: Oh!




: My Dragoons and I still rule these skies!





: You know, that actually makes a lot more sense.





This is a nice piece of loot to get. We’ll hopefully put it to better use than he did.




:toot:




: Had the times been different, the two might have led illustrious lives.

: Yes, Prince Michalis was a brilliant man with great things ahead of him. But in the end, the rashness of youth did him in.

Oh yeah, Malledus is in this game, kinda.

: Only because Gharnef found his weakness and exploited it. Until we stop that fiend, this spiral of misery will never cease.

: Then shall we go to Thabes? Lord Gotoh said the city lies someplace far to the north of Khadein.

: Yes, in the heart of the desert…

: Thabes is an old city… None in recent memory have gone there and returned alive.




I know you’re hoping for magic robots, but this game is not that good, I’m sorry.

: Lord Gotoh believes Gharnef is harnessing their power, and that is why he wields such influence over the continent.

: And he has Imhullu as well... this will be a struggle. Still, Gharnef’s reign must end. The world was so much more beautiful before he painted it red…




Before we jump into the Art, it’s worth noting that Michalis, for whatever reason, has a lot of enemy-specific boss quotes! Unlike...roughly everyone else in the game. His most involved is with Minerva, which I already showed, but there are some others.

Vs. Maria: : M-Maria? What are you doing here?

Vs. Pegasus Sisters: : The Whitewings? Ha! Come to try and slay your king?

Vs. Marth: : I’ve been waiting for you, Altean whelp. I swear on my crown, you will die!

So that’s neat. Anyway.

Art Gallery, Installment IV

Let’s focus on the Macedon characters.



That’s the best quality I could get Maria’s FE1 Manual art in. I’m sorry. The Minerva looks pretty good, though, that’s from FE3.



Minerva’s Shadow Dragon art is really good, but it’s also huge. This is after a ton of downsizing, and it’s still big.



Michalis also went through quite an upgrade. In the original trading card game he looks like that guy you want to avoid at the mall, and also a vampire, but in Cipher he’s got a rad dragon and Iote’s Shield!



Here are Lena, Matthis, and Julian in their FE3 portrayals. I think Lena made off best here. Really, though, I just posted this so I could post this other Julian.



This pose has LAYERS. Try this out in real life. The one knee isn’t bad, right? Then try bending that knee back, pop the foot out. Then straighten your back out and puff out your chest. Then try and sit like that for a while.

I’m calling this pose the “Crouching Julian” and I’m going to make thousands in yoga deals and never LP again.

(PS: If you're reading this as it goes live, another Shadow Dragon related event is up in Heroes! This time it's the Grand Hero Battle against Camus. I'm awful at these, but if you beat it, you get that guy we beat a few chapters ago.)

vilkacis
Feb 16, 2011

I'm going to miss crazy old Jagen when this is over :allears:

LordHippoman posted:



I like Shadow Dragon’s depiction of Caeda the best, personally. Not that there’s a big change between her outfit there and the New Mystery one, but the darker colors look better, I think.

It's the pose that does it for me. It is the pose of someone who can and will stab you through the everything if you don't get with the times and paint yourself blue.

Although the bird is nice, too.

e:



fixed it :downs:

vilkacis fucked around with this message at 12:57 on Jun 2, 2017

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
Minerva's Shadow Dragon art may be huge, but it's really gorgeous.

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.
Speaking of Minerva in the BS Archanea saga... thing she looks so rad.




I have no real point in bringing this up other than she looks rad and I'm mad that her design didn't keep those fins (although I guess they later moved to Cherche)

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
Minerva is just kinda cool as hell in general, and it's a shame the games she's in don't give her much time to shine. That's one reason I'm really glad they seem to be pushing her pretty hard in the newer games, with Cherche's Wyvern being named after her and being Japan only DLC in Fates.

I'd like to see her playable in Warriors, especially since they seem to be focusing on Shadow Dragon, but this thread will probably be done by the time we get much concrete info on that.


The best Caeda.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Torrannor posted:

Minerva's Shadow Dragon art may be huge, but it's really gorgeous.
Say what you will about modern-day Shirow Masamune, but the artwork he did for Shadow Dragon is definitely a stronger showing for him. Yes, there are some questionable choices (Linde's "3 seconds from being transparent" outfit, Merric's robe and hat being twice the size of himself), but he did some good work there. Minerva's art is probably the best of the lot he did, with Gharnef's art being a close second, in my opinion.

Silver Falcon
Dec 5, 2005

Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and barbecue your own drumsticks!

Minerva's Shadow Dragon art gets massive points for having Actual Pants, or at least not having that dumb thing the vast majority of fliers have where they have thigh-high boots and a miniskirt with the upper thigh exposed to doubtless massive chafing from their mount. Bad enough if they're a Pegasus rider, 10 times worse if they're riding a scaly-rear end wyvern.

Actually looking at Caeda's art, she has pants too, or at least tights or leggings?

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.

Silver Falcon posted:

Minerva's Shadow Dragon art gets massive points for having Actual Pants, or at least not having that dumb thing the vast majority of fliers have where they have thigh-high boots and a miniskirt with the upper thigh exposed to doubtless massive chafing from their mount. Bad enough if they're a Pegasus rider, 10 times worse if they're riding a scaly-rear end wyvern.

Actually looking at Caeda's art, she has pants too, or at least tights or leggings?

If you look at other art for her, no, she's not wearing pants or leggings. It's just very, very high boots.

cheetah7071
Oct 20, 2010

honk honk
College Slice
In Heroes Caeda switched to a more standard anime thigh highs and skirt combo. Minerva either has relatively thin pants or relatively thick tights, it's hard to tell.

vilkacis
Feb 16, 2011

Oh goddammit :psyduck:

I looked at the Shirow art and decided she was probably wearing some kind of shorts and leggings combo, but nope. Boots with shoes on top. Fire Emblem!

On the plus side, at least that version is wearing something above the... boots. But that also made me notice that she lost the whatever-it-was in time for New Mystery.

:doh:

On the plus side, Minerva does indeed look rad in general.

vilkacis fucked around with this message at 13:31 on Jun 3, 2017

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.

AradoBalanga posted:

(Linde's "3 seconds from being transparent" outfit)



(I agree, it's silly, but I happened to get this line like, right after reading your post.)

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
Chapter 23: Throwdown At Thabes (Prep)



We’re so close to the end now, no sense in slowing down. Fresh off Michalis, let’s deal with Gharnef and get our Falchion back!




Instead of walking on the map, Marth teleports this time. That’s handy.





: Once, Thabes was an advanced civilization; but only its decay advanced now. The League traced the lifeless streets to the temple at the city’s heart, somewhere within its walls Gharnef was waiting, and now, Marth must wrest Falchion and his sister, Elice, from the fiend’s grip.

: Who?

: Elice. Marth’s sister.

: ...Oh! I, uh...I forgot she...existed.

: Didn’t she let you in?

: :(




This map is Mage heavy, so if that concerns you, pack your...high resistance units. I say that like you might have them.




I think I promised Linde would avenge her dad’s death when we recruited her? If not, whoops, I’m doing it now. While Cord is certainly a talented Sorcerer (with 1 more Mag), I’m a sucker for a climactic ending. If people REALLY want Cord to get the kill, I’ll do it, but :shrug:.




Oh, don’t mind this, this is for shenanigans. If you’re familiar with this map you probably already know what I’m doing here.




Oh, yeah, give someone your shopping gear for this map, there’s a Secret Shop.




We’re gonna climb something again. Seems to be a trend lately.




The only reason to go off the normal path here is this pair of chests and a door. A thief, or Marth with a Door Key, can handle this.




Speaking of thieves, there are a few crawling around, but most of our enemies are of the magical variety.




Some a bit more...obnoxious than others.




Still, the tower has a few outliers, so Maria sadly cannot tank this entire map. Also, assume every Curate here is holding Physic or Fortify.




The very top, in particular, wants someone who can deal with both types of foes! Or some careful luring. By the way, expect reinforcements from up here.




The boss is unnamed, and, bizarrely, has a Master Seal in, uh, Chapter 23. We’ve got two maps left, but if you’re still using someone unpromoted, I guess now’s your chance?




Anyway, here’s Gharnef. Remember that only Starlight can harm him. Send your best mage, and maybe a Pure Water or Barrier staff to buff them up. Luckily he’s just over here, so we can deal with him quickly.




Anyway, here’s Gharnef. Remember that only Starlight can harm him. Send your best mage, and maybe a Pure Water or Barrier staff to buff them up. Unfortunately, he’s all the way at the top of the tower, but near the stairs, so there’s a saving grace.




Anyway, here’s Gharnef. Remember that only Starlight can harm him. Send your best mage, and maybe a Pure Water or Barrier staff to buff them up. Obnoxiously, he’s in the middle of nowhere for some dumb reason.

Next time, the tower.

Art Gallery V

Only one today, sorry, but it’s our friend Gharnef!



Like AradoBalanga mentioned, Gharnef’s got some really good official art for Shadow Dragon. Check out that Darksphere (I assume), that’s attention to detail.


Only one today, sorry, but it’s our friend Gharnef!



Here’s Gharnef in the anime adaptation. He looks pretty good, I think. Pretty simple design, he didn’t get the gray, cracked skin until SD, although it is a nice addition. Oddly enough, Gharnef doesn’t have a Cipher card, despite his major villain status.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

I forgot that Shirow Masamune gave Gharnef quasi-platform shoes for his artwork. I guess Gharnef is a lot shorter than he lets on.

Space Kablooey
May 6, 2009


I got confused there for a moment. :psyduck:

vilkacis
Feb 16, 2011

AradoBalanga posted:

I forgot that Shirow Masamune gave Gharnef quasi-platform shoes for his artwork. I guess Gharnef is a lot shorter than he lets on.

The artwork definitely makes him look like a dwarf. He's only like... 5-6 heads tall, as opposed to more typical anime proportions around 7-8.

Nice coat, though.


LordHippoman posted:



Anyway, here’s Gharnef. Remember that only Starlight can harm him. Send your best mage, and maybe a Pure Water or Barrier staff to buff them up. Luckily he’s just over here, so we can deal with him quickly.




Anyway, here’s Gharnef. Remember that only Starlight can harm him. Send your best mage, and maybe a Pure Water or Barrier staff to buff them up. Unfortunately, he’s all the way at the top of the tower, but near the stairs, so there’s a saving grace.




Anyway, here’s Gharnef. Remember that only Starlight can harm him. Send your best mage, and maybe a Pure Water or Barrier staff to buff them up. Obnoxiously, he’s in the middle of nowhere for some dumb reason.

:haw:

It's a pretty neat "Wait, what?" moment the first time you see it. If only Marth could triple-wield those falchions...

biosterous
Feb 23, 2013




Does Gharnef show up on this map? We're getting close to the end, I think he's about due.

LordHippoman
May 30, 2013

I, frankly, want this smug Jagen to be my avatar on all forms of social media immediately.
Chapter 23: Throwdown at Thabes (Battle)

Right, then. This map is a little tricky, since it mixes Magical and Physical enemies, meaning high HP is about the only way to tank them.






You will never guess who this is.




Surprise.

: Waiting?

: Oh yes. For you to dance around the continent, collecting powerful weapons and killing off my competition. Thanks to you, Camus and Michalis will trouble me no more. You have my gratitude, diligent prince.

: You...monster!

Marth’s comebacks need work. That’s at least worth a “dastard”.

: Tsk, tsk, don’t spoil the moment, now. You’re about to do me one last favor… Die, Prince. Heh heh heh!

: That’s what you think. I have something else in mind.

: Heh, is that a threat? If you mean to harm me, first you’ll have to find me, boy.

: And what is that supposed to mean?




Malledus actually runs onscreen for this scene, for some reason. He’s the Bishop below Tiki on the right there.

: Heh heh! Fight, boy, fight! Wear yourself thin fighting puppets and shadows! But the only way you’ll claim Falchion is by defeating the real me. Heh heh, ha ha ha ha!

And with that, Gharnef teleports out, and the map starts.




So, normally, you’d need to test all three Gharnefs to find the real one, the one who only takes damage from Starlight. The true Imhullu, and the true Falchion, are only on the real thing. However, you can speed this up quite a bit with the help of the otherwise little-used Geosphere.




When you use the Geosphere, the screen flashes and shakes. It’s not an effect that comes across well in screenshot form, sorry.




Well...MOST units…




A quick survey of the map shows me that the only unit who took no damage was this Gharnef on the far right. That’s our man.





And that clears up the damage to my team pretty cleanly. Unfortunately, just dispelling Gharnef’s illusion doesn’t mean I’ve won the map already.




The start here isn’t too complex, it’s just a matter of heading to the right, towards both the stairs and the group of spellcasters with Gharnef.




Oh, unlike most Swarm Bishops, the ones on this map move. They’re pretty obnoxious, but this guy’s not much to worry about.




Unfortunately, using that Geosphere doesn’t do much for me aside from discovering the real Gharnef, since they’ve also got a Fortify user. Multiple, in fact.




On the second turn, Malledus speaks up.

: Where?

: The Tower of Thabes atop this very temple.

: Then we don’t need to fight Gharnef…If we find that apparatus...

: Gharnef’s power- a great deal of power- will be sealed forever.

: Then let’s hurry and seize the entrance to the tower!

: A word of caution, sir. Stopping the apparatus will not undo Imhullu’s power- only Gharnef’s.




So, much like Camus, Gharnef is completely skippable. He’s got a better reason for it too, if you didn’t get the Light/Starspheres for Starlight, didn’t get Starlight itself, or don’t have a tome user strong enough to use it, he can be an impossible foe.

Still, it’s much better to take him down, since he’s got Marth’s ultimate weapon, the Falchion, on hand.




Marth’s already reached his destination, thanks to the magic of Boots.





I’m not sure what this Thief thinks he’s doing, to be honest. An Iron Sword in Chapter 23? C’mon, man.




Well, that could be useful if you forgot to bring your own.




Not letting that Devil Sword get close.




I dropped some of my characters who actually have a couple resistance points to toss Javelins at the oncoming casters.




Some things, are unavoidable.




Yikes. This is why enemy mages suck in the DS Fire Emblems. You’re always going to eat close to full damage with most of your units.




Oh, hey, a counter to that very specific problem. I didn’t plan this, by the way, I’m not good enough at LP for that.





Okay, no more of that poo poo.



This first treasure is, uh, a little bit disappointing.





Thankfully, I’m able to clean up the rest of the enemies outside Gharnef’s range. That Bishop shares his attack range. We’ll need someone else to deal with them.



In the meantime, though, I should clear the steps, since they’re our only way up.




I also gave Linde the Pure Water that just dropped, since it’ll help her Resistance against Gharnef.




Speaking of Resistance, (i actually did plan this one.), the Talisman is a nice find, especially in Shadow Dragon of all games.




Oh, also, meet the most annoying part of this map.




This bishop just stands on the roof and pelts your units with Swarm. There’s no way to reach him yet without Warp, so we’re just walking through the barrage. This is even worse than it looks, because there are TWO of them.





For now, however, it’s time to take on Gharnef.



: Cower before the might of the dark magic Imhullu!




Thankfully, Imhullu’s not the mightiest magic here with Starlight around.




Would be nice if she had just a little more Magic or Speed though. This is going to take slightly longer than I’d hoped.




This guy basically just burns two uses of the tome.




Well, thankfully, this should be the end.




Really?




Alright, got him that time. Look at that victory shine.




: Still, you are a fool …Your power is not enough to defeat Medeus…I shall be waiting in the pits of the inferno…for when he sends you to join me… Heh heh, ha ha ha!




Could have used that Magic earlier!




It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve finally got Marth’s signature weapon.




Compared to some other Lord Swords in the series (Ragnell, Siegfried, Ryoma’s “gently caress you” Katana), the Falchion really isn’t much to look at. It has no durability and it’s effective against Manaketes, and most importantly, the final boss...but otherwise it’s just a Silver Sword.




Now then, as Linde was fighting Gharnef, the rest of the team was climbing the tower, and Abel, naturally, takes the lead and downs this curate.




This mostly just reminds me that I forgot to bring one of my own Barriers.




I might burn Gradivus up before the final map even starts.




It will also be entirely worth it.




So this is what the combat forecast looks like against one of the fake Gharnefs, without Starlight. It’ll still tell you that you can’t damage them until you start combat…




However, it’s lying.




Unfortunately, the Falchion was also lying. You only get one, the rest just have these.




Abel really is the MVP here, but what you aren’t seeing is that the Swarm Bishops just will not stop casting their magic at Wolf. Which is okay with me, since it’s not on Abel that way!




I just talked you up, you rear end in a top hat, and you do this to me.





This is all you’re missing in the shots I’m not taking, by the way.





Okay, no more of this.




So, with that done, everyone managed to reach the tower’s summit, and I prepared for the reinforcements.




About 10 turns later I stopped waiting for the reinforcements. I think they only show up if Real Gharnef is alive.

They’re Bishops and Mages, if you were wondering. This is also another reinforcement of how lucky I was getting the closest Gharnef to be the real one. Shades of Roro, there…




Anyway, I had Marth solo the rest of the map. He could use the experience, since we’re almost done and he hasn’t capped level yet. The next map should be GREAT for him, though.




This is also a very welcome prize.




Somehow, throughout all of this…




Although I can’t get a good shot of Imhullu…




And the first level isn’t great…




He never got hit once. I’m calling it, this is good luck for the rest of the run. Good omen.




Better omen.




:toot:




: Sire! We found Princess Elice up in the Tower of Thabes! She’s on her way to see you right- Ah, here she is!

Malledus wasn’t even important enough to show up for this, it is a faceless goon.

: Elice!!!




: Sister, I was so worried. None had seen you since the castle fell. I...I feared the worst.

: I was prepared for the worst, if that was what it took to ensure your safety. But they did not kill me. Gharnef spared my life.

: Why would he spare you?

: Marth, have you heard of the staff of Aum?


: The staff that brings back the dead? It was lost to the world long ago, or so the legend goes.

: Yes, but Gharnef found it…in the Resurrectory.

: None could believe the Resurection Staff was in the Resurrectory. It was the discovery of the century.

: The Resurrectory? What was it doing in a temple in the middle of Dolhr?

: I could not say. But that was why Gharnef kept me alive: he wished me to wield it.

Who did Gharnef want to revive? Why was he after the Staff?

This game will never mention it again. That’s Shadow Dragon!

: The staff of Aum’s power can only be channeled by women of royal blood. Marth, you are going to Dolhr, are you not?


: Yes, I must settle things with Medeus.

: Then take me to the Resurrectory along the way to claim the staff. Aum works but once, but I will use it to revive a lost comrade.

With Elice now in our party, we can move on to the penultimate map.




Next time, the Reinforcement Zone.

Art Gallery VI

We just got Elice, and she’s...technically a character?



Elice’s Cipher Card doesn’t really do her any favors in not looking like a generic damsel in distress. Her artwork in the Complete art book is a little...odd too. Not just because of my bad cropping.



She was briefly an 80’s pop star in the anime adaptation.



I like her Fire Emblem 3 artwork a lot, however.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
It's a shame you can't use the Aum staff to bring back the person you sacrificed in the prologue, though it's subtle foreshadowing of the revelation in New Mystery that Frey (the canon choice) managed to survive.

Miacis
Oct 9, 2012

Get off my lawn!!

LordHippoman posted:

Who did Gharnef want to revive? Why was he after the Staff?
I forget if it's mentioned in the side materials, or if it's just a fan theory, but Gharnef might have kept Aum and the Falchion with him as insurance against Medeus. Backstabbing the guy who has both the best way to kill you, and the best way to revive you is a bit of a hard sell, after all.

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.
Elice's art for the original manual was pretty damned amazing, though



(Sorry, I just really love old Fire Emblem art)

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hopeandjoy
Nov 28, 2014



Camel Pimp posted:

Elice's art for the original manual was pretty damned amazing, though



(Sorry, I just really love old Fire Emblem art)

I have many questions.

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