FE4: Done With Chapter 9

[mark_asphodel]

So, Leaf owns Thracia now...

And we can get back to the main plotline of the game. You know, the part about Celice, his insane half-brother, and the dude who kidnapped his mom and murdered his dad. That plotline. I know, it's been a while...

 

Arion was the single most terrifying opponent this game has thrown at me to date, with the possible exception of Ishtar. He's immune to arrows, the Gungnir can and will one-hit-kill every unit I have save Leaf, and I misunderstood Awareness to mean that Arion was also immune to wind magic, so I didn't throw Holsety at him until I'd spent a couple of futile attemps on trying to Rezire him to death (Julia's accuracy wasn't so hot; she could have downed him in two hits but that second hit never connected). As it happened, yes, Arion is yet another problem that LOLSety can just walk in and resolve. That Sety, such a problem-solver.

Arion's peeps were annoying but not that bad; I prioritized killing the Sleep Sword ones because Lana and her Restore Staff were on the other side of the mountains. None of Arion's crew had ranged weapons so I didn't have to worry about Leen dying on enemy phase once I'd walled her off with Shanan, Faval, etc. Lex!Leen is a scrappy girl but these guys were more than she could handle.

 

-x-

 

Celice married Lana on turn 49 of this chapter, even though they'd been separated for most of the chapter. Long-distance love, man; I guess High Priest Lana could perform her own marriage ceremony by proxy, ha ha. She must've also officiated over the marriage between Oifaye and Fee, because that happened right when Fee showed up at Mease for her promotion. Leaf/Tinny and Aless/Nanna are still not happening, and last time I checked in on Leaf he was still fixated on Nanna even though Tinny was pasted to his side for 1.5 chapters. Poor Tinny's fallen in love with him, but I guess Leaf doesn't actually like moeblob princesses.

[I will say she comes off as perceptive and decently intelligent in her conversation with Celice-- the one about Julius and Ishtar, wherein we learn about the creepy charms Julius has to offer. Which is more than I can say for her mother, who is easily my least favorite Gen 1 character personality-wise aside from Dierdre, and DeeDee's more of a plot device than a character. I think Lehran's Medallion has better characterization than Dierdre.]

 

I also promoted Arthur and Julia after the battle with Arion. Nanna, Celice, Altenna, Lakche and Tinny all had to wait until the opening of Chapter 10 for their promotions because that last arena boss in Chapter 9 was a real shitwrecker.

Dew!Nanna has been the most marvelous surprise of this generation. I mean, I just wasn't expecting much, and she's surprisingly good and agile and useful. I think I'll finally be benching her brother, who is still an unacceptable Lvl 13ish, and I'll give Nanna the Pursuit Ring. Dew!Delmud improved after a miserable start, and maybe at Level 25-30 he'd be a fine endgame unit, but he just got too far behind to ever catch up. I had to treat him like glass in battle until halfway through Chapter 9 and he couldn't do jack in the arena. I will never be trying this pairing again unless I level up Dew, and I have so little patience with shota thieves that if I want magical sword!Delmud and Nanna, I'll just pair up Lachy with Azel. Hell, that way they both get Pursuit and I can use the ring on Levin!Arthur or a Jamka!Lester... or unpromoted Leaf, who can seriously use it.

 

The other delightful surprise was Lex!Leen, but she's not exactly rockin' the combat boots even at Lvl 21. That said, if you're not set on a Valkyrie Staff, Lex/Sylvia has something to offer. Frail non-combatant kids level up fast and have Sylvia's power of Prayer Miracle... which has a chance of kicking thanks to the DEF from their Neir blood stats (Miracle does squat if you're one-rounded). But Corple gets screwed on the stave inheritance unless you're planning on Lex/Sylvia and manage item drops accordingly, and unlike Sharlow he'll never get the 'Zerk staff...

I guess what I'm saying is, it's not necessarily great but you can do a lot worse.

 

-x-

 

So, I did get confirmation on the hypothesis for why Altenna's dragonknights refused to play ball with Arthur. If they can't get a hit on a unit, they really will avoid them-- even if it means going after a unit that can and will one-shot them to death. You can use Lana + Wind Tome as castle defense during the Three Headed Dragon assault because Arion's attack squad finds taking on Holsety!Sety a better bet than going after promoted Lana. Given enough dragonknights, this actually does not turn out so well for Sety, so I had him, Johalva, and Lester hide in the castle during enemy phase and pop out to do hit-and-run attacks until the squadron was eliminated. My dodge-machine Arthur was just something the Thracians didn't feel like dealing with, apparently.

ETA: Leaf and Nanna hooked up on the first turn of Chapter 10. Love conquers all, I guess.

Comments

[amielleon]

I also promoted Arthur and Julia after the battle with Arion. Nanna, Celice, Altenna, Lakche and Tinny all had to wait until the opening of Chapter 10 for their promotions because that last arena boss in Chapter 9 was a real shitwrecker.

Come on, four of these people can use swords! Just abuse the sleep sword!

-- Well, actually, I guess abusing the sleep sword is a less attractive option when you have to play it all at normal speed.

Jamka!Lester

Ew. Why.

[amielleon]

Oh, by the way, if you're rolling around in money by this point (which I often am), you can pass around the elite ring at the beginning of the chapter to anyone who has 40k to spare, before they go into the arena.

[mark_asphodel]

Oh, by the way, if you're rolling around in money by this point (which I often am), you can pass around the elite ring at the beginning of the chapter to anyone who has 40k to spare, before they go into the arena.

That's exactly what I did for Tinny and Lakche, yeah.

Re: Jamka!Lester-- I guess there are better ways to get some DEF and such onto Lester, but... STORYLINE! Cough.

[samuraiter]

Leaf: "Behold, Thracia! I have unified you! ... With the help of a lot of unwelcome foreign intervention!"