Oh wow, our generics outnumber theirs. Don't expect that to save us.
Ike is the commander. Not how I saw myself after Path of Radiance.
Not using Ike has paid off, but his high bases mean he's still not a commander to scoff at, especially if he decides to switch to Ragnell. Three authority stars, too. Micaiah could really use some right about now.
Oh yeah, Soren's here too. Soren will not move from that spot.
There's also some of these scattered around the enemy army. If they came in any numbers, the Dawn Brigade would be all sorts of screwed. As it is, the presence of one on any elevation higher than the lowest should be treated with the utmost concern.
Killer Ballistae on the top levels, Catapults on the bottom. We also have Fire mages. What was that about being unprepared for laguz, Ranulf?
Once preparations are complete and the battle begins, a Daein soldier presents one last gift to Micaiah.
The idea is that Micaiah won't be moving very far.
Free Light siege tome'll help out. Time to fight like a cornered rat!
Jill takes the west.
Fiona takes the east. Yes, this is an indoor map.
Meg prepares for the middle, leaving a space for laguz to climb up.
The catapults are firing!
And the Apostle's Army comes bearing down upon us!
Including these guys.
Those might be unpromoted armours blocking the first level, but they're holding against the cats. If they sent tigers, I'd be less sure.
Phoenicis sighted! Phoenicis sighted!
Jill can handle Phoenicis just fine.
Fiona, too. She's made quite the transition from 3-12. Beastfoe really isn't to make sure she wins.
Meg hits like a truck even with an Iron Axe.
Oh yeah, briefly forgot, Meg's Luna skill is new among our Tier 3 units. Well, I say 'new', but it's basically the Black Knight's Eclipse skill with a 3x damage multiplier instead of a 5x. With Meg's current Atk score, she oneshots everything we could ever encounter that doesn't possess Nihil. A Meg that has failed to gain Strength every single opportunity wielding a Slim Sword is theoretically capable of leaving things alive. Theoretically.
One thing you can do with this area is play fishing with the beast tribes below. Remember how, when we first saw ledges, I drew attention to the fact that melee units cannot contest them? 3-13 is won or lost on that. Control the ledges, and you control the beasts. Hawks can circumvent ledges entirely, which is why they're such a threat.
If you feel confident on your hawk game, one strategy is to deploy all your underlevelled units and have them sit atop the ledges. I intentionally forsook this strategy.
Laura shows off with her crits today.
Score, this guy had a spare. Can't get this one to the Greil Mercenaries in a timely manner, but it won't matter.
Micaiah attempted to climb down to assist, and got a scolding for her troubles.
I'm not sure who is more pathetic here- the Daeins for being such a nervous wreck that Micaiah being in the thick of combat would destroy the formation utterly, or Micaiah for just going "...well, all right." But yeah, Micaiah cannot cross the line.
She can Physic over it, at least.
And Paragon means she's not gaining any lean EXP for the job.
I think that's her Staff rank capped.
The Short Spear soldier joining Laura and Meg on this ledge does a lot of damage for a generic.
The catapult over here fires at the one untransformed laguz in the back.
...One of the knights on this chokepoint has abandoned position.
At least the catapult and other knight are covering for him. That's one of the cats down.
Physic Bishop heals up the knight.
Killer Ballistae getting their turn. The other cat on the east chokepoint is down.
And this knight gets a third.
Everyone bunching up in the chokepoint.
And the last hawk has transformed.
Enemy reinforcements!
Micaiah can also help by flinging Purges. I say "help", but realistically, she's helping herself to the EXP.
Meg starts with the weapon rank to throw Hand Axes, so at least she can still gain Axe WEXP while she's here.
Light rank!
Jill stands in front of this ledge. Those knights are about to let the cats in, and I need to make sure that no laguz makes it further than this level.
Fiona finishes up this guy.
And stands here, limiting the options of the hawk (standing on the top of the ledge was something she couldn't ride far enough away to do). With that said, though, this position had a consequence.
Short Spear guy can double tigers and still do plenty of damage.
The knights have run away.
This Short Spear guy will cover the slack!
Catapults are fired into the mess of warm bodies that is this chokepoint.
And the Physicians get started on these guys.
Another Killer Ballista bolt.
So yeah, I said something about Fiona's position?
...It's in range. Of the entire chokepoint.
No Skill, sadly. I'm a little worried about her odds of surviving the whole onslaught with no dodges.
And a few crits thrown into the bargain.
The knight who didn't get healed goes down.
And the catapult guy took a beating.
The hawk went up here, so Fiona's gambit was a little on the unsuccessful side. At least I accomplished something.
This guy is still alive.
And now there are more beasts over here. Although some of the cats are untransformed. They can still trigger the loss condition.
Oh, and one more cat appeared for Fiona to beat.
These other two decided they wanted no part in these shenanigans.
And some beasts have appeared behind our position. This could get ugly quickly, although I don't think they can climb two gaps in one turn.
Fiona took such a heavy beating that Imbue didn't fully recover her.
She withdraws to be on hand to finish the beasts, and Micaiah heals her for another few Support points. This will hopefully ensure they can get to A Rank when I get the chance. Fiona's next round of combat will promote her, incidentally.
Micaiah needs all the HP she can get. She still hasn't reached her Tier 1 HP cap!
Laura covers the bird.
For some reason, she seemed fond of this level today.
Jill chooses to delete this tiger.
Although it leaves her unable to continue covering the ledge. Meg has also moved over here for some EXP, for what it's worth.
The Daeins happily deal with the untransformed laguz.
And the catapult flings down on these guys.
Physic in melee! Physic in melee!
Critical hit from the Killer Ballista!
And this guy goes down to a tiger.
Tiger also gets this ballistician.
And another tiger gets up here.
These two laguz were in the middle last turn, and took advantage of this ledge being open. The cat didn't do any damage to the General, though.
The laguz on the east do take Fiona, and give her her promotion.
Like Meg, her promotion has her shed her helmet. She is also the cavalier that wears the Daein insignia on her barding.
Tier 3 Meg and Fiona. We'll need every stat point we can get.
And she doesn't even oneshot this guy with the Steel Lance. That would've been hilarious if she managed it, though.
Bird alert!
Micaiah takes out one of the beasts. Don't count her Purge out.
Magic, Luck, Defence capped. You never thought you'd see the day a Micaiah can claim that all in the same breath.
Meg takes out the other problem target. I think this tiger has enough Move to trigger the loss condition from this position. That's the margin of error we're working on.
"Master of the left hand side of the screen" is a less impressive accomplishment in Tellius compared to the GBA games. The way the stat screen is set up, Speed is on the left in that game, and a level up that looks like this is HP/Str/Skill/Spd.
And Jill takes out this tiger.
Yeah, I think Jill is never actually Stunning anything with Stun.
Fiona prepares to engage the bird.
And Laura cleans up the last problem.
What is it with her and crits today? Bishops aren't a particularly critty class.
Fiona is more than ready to take on birds in one round.
And, of course, can't forget that she is now a certified Sol user.
More reinforcements, on both sides, this turn, I believe.
Meg climbs down the ledge. There's only ever one set of reinforcements from that east pocket.
Jill prepares a gambit from this tile.
Although she also has some tricks up her sleeve while she's taking on the laguz.
Best to shore up that Speed, I guess.
Fiona is mostly just cleaning up on this side.
This is a Str/Skill/Spd level up in this game.
Micaiah continues to get EXP from healing generics.
And Laura gets to take on a few cats.
Some of which she doubles!
Strength cap. Told you she liked this level.
There's some more Lance EXP for Jill. I gave her the Steel Lance mostly because I wasn't going to use it seriously, and well, might as well shore up Jill's ranks.
These laguz in front of Ike transform.
Birds on both sides!
Jill decides to take out Soren this turn.
It's a good chance to take away 5 Ike Crit/Dodge. Although we'll have bigger problems when that's an issue.
Soren thought he was going to die somewhere more impressive than the winning side of the most intense siege in the entire continent.
He's not keen on leaving Ike's side.
There's actually a version of this conversation used in PoR, and possibly this game, to explain why Soren won't actually die if he bites the permadeath bullet as a blue unit. He's still needed as the army tactician.
Jill's plan is for that bird to attack her instead of rushing the objective.
Meg is going to stand here and work on her Axe rank.
So Laura can't double all cats. Annoying.
Tigers are no problem.
And that's her A Rank. Now she can use that Shine tome if she wants.
Silver Knights can use Bows, lest we forget. No Close Counter, though, so it's not the greatest idea in this position.
This is Micaiah's ultimate destination. For some reason, these three generics up here aren't actually covering the objective. Just because our numbers are bigger than theirs doesn't mean ours are deployed well.
The catapults fire again.
OI! I don't mind when you hit your own army with a catapult, but this is just rude!
Axe rank for Meg.
A tiger from over near Jill came to say hi to Meg. This one she can counterkill!
Bulking up!
Jill's still getting plenty of targets.
HEAR ME ROAR!
...Aside from being awesome, that's an HP cap.
And these three guys. These guys are dangerous.
Also, if I move up here, I can't actually Purge more of them, for some reason. Micaiah can Purge the tiger from the position she started this turn on.
Laura melees a cat to try and get into Resolve.
That is the most unnecessary Luna in the world.
But hey, first Luna, time to show off the fact that Meg roars before performing the attack. Sadly, there isn't a comical voice clip just for Meg, she uses the same non-descript sound as the other three Marshalls.
Jill handles the third tiger near Ike.
And Fiona gets the last cat. I think, Micaiah's problems aside, there are no more enemies that are not Ike.
Hi there, archer. That was not a necessary movement.
The sniper notices his ballista and fires a bolt down past his friend.
The tiger attacks the priest.
And the cats attack the archer.
Some reinforcements!
Meg opens up.
Oh hi, Support conversation. Moving on.
Laura sends Ike to sleep. Nighty night!
Now that shes capped Strength, Laura's levels seem to be annoyingly difficult to turn out well.
Sleep 6? I guess that does turn into 5 on "his turn".
Fiona continues shooting arrows at beasts.
Jill's got no real reason to be using lances.
One of these beasts down.
And a nice roundup of stats.
Three stats left to gain. This is an awesome Micaiah in waiting.
A Fire sage noticed he can help out the backup crew with the beast situation. Imagine how this map would play if we could actually use these guys.
Our archer friend chows on a Vulnerary for healing.
And the other sniper shoots the cat with ledge advantage.
And once again, the laguz go for the healer.
Ranulf has sensed that the player is currently on the opposite side.
That is not good on a number of levels.
Starting to get scared now.
...Apparently the modern definition of the word "edgy" came about in 2010? I still feel like this game is too recent.
When you think about it, this is actually fairly possible, especially if Nailah leaves the ground while running.
And the last of these interlopers is down.
This is OK with me.
Ranulf only has a B Rank with Ike right now, but that is 20 Avoid I'd rather he not possess.
...Well, OK, he's sleeping, but it's the principle!
Laura got Resolve off this cat.
And shows off her critting while she's at it.
Well, that's Ranulf accounted for. Glad to know the enemy is as inconvenienced by transformation spawning as us.
Woo hoo!
...It was a Steel Bow.
I'm sure the story of falling to Fiona would be hilarious, but very embarrassing.
Meg takes on the last opponent on the field.
Yeah, this is just a normal thing.
Finish that up, and...
...That would finish the mission on the spot. I think not.
Although yes, it was probably the smart thing to do. Say hello to the Greil Mercenaries. Unless you are playing the game really strangely, one of these units is going to tear you to pieces. This run, that will be Mia and Mist. Rolf gets scary when he's trained, though, and woe betide whoever was foolish enough to give Ike and Oscar an A Support.
(Also, if you've still got laguz alive, they can and will steal whatever Vulneraries/Concoctions you've got them carrying).
Nailah also walks here as a reinforcement. As in, yes, this is legitimately where she spawns. She transforms, picks up Rafiel, and walks here.
Oh hey, she is using her Authority Stars for once. Not that she will engage in any combat this mission.
So yeah, remember when I made a 1 use Steel Axe in 3-10? And benched Titania in 3-11? As long as she doesn't proc Sol on her one hit, she's the most useless reinforcement here. With that said, her one hit is going to be a big deal.
Mia got the Iron Sword Zihark used, in absence of a 1 use weapon. (That Wind Edge I didn't give Zihark? Yeah, the way I played 3-7, that would've got a second life here. Whoops.) Vantage and Astrum still make her a force to be reckoned with, as well as her obscene Speed stat. One failed run had her get the full combo on an Astrum against me to a kill.
It's strange to me that there are good odds I'll never get another chance to show this part of the combo.
Mist was used in 3-11, so she has some actual artillery as well as custom skills. I think we do have bigger problems if we're worried about Disarm and Cancel, though.
I know some people are going to be fond of these numbers. One or both of these guys is the 3-13 archer of legend, and their claim to fame is their uncanny ability to fight off those three laguz reinforcements with crits and not-dying. I feel like it's usually the Sniper, but I get a lot of luck with the Archer too. The Short Spear guy is nothing to sneeze at either in my experience, although one time I raised Leonardo, he turned out worse than the Sniper. Most people would take that as a sign they should be investing elsewhere. I am not most people.
Laura will not be doing much to the girls. She can't even damage Mist!
Well, this is concerning.
Also good to know, Jill will not attack Mist. Which is strange, because they have a conversation. I checked, it's not a Talk either.
Let's start by stationing Meg here and getting rid of Boyd.
Dad's not going to like that...
He might like this a little more, though. Maybe.
...Wait, is that your first point in Speed as a Marshall?
I wonder how Boyd is going to break the news to Brom.
Sleep staff is... an idea. I don't like these chances.
Jill challenges Titania to a game of chicken.
It's important Titania hit, because that's what breaks the axe. If she missed, she'd still have the axe and could try again.
But Titania is now useless. Well, she could Counter us.
Fiona had her choice in plans, but ultimately, I went with the "killing Rolf" plan. It turns out Rolf is quite the anklebiter even untrained.
Stop being melodramatic, kiddo, you just got outdone in archery.
...Actually, that's plenty dramatic.
Laura hides here and uses the Sleep staff on Oscar. It turns out that both Oscar and Rolf have an uncomfortably high hit chance on even Resolve Laura and both will oneshot her from her current health.
Her level ups continue to disappoint. She'll get BEXP next chance she gets.
Mist demonstrates the old adage about wounding enemy soldiers: "It takes another person out of the battle to tend to them." I didn't even intend for this, but this is loads better an outcome than Mist attempting to attack literally anyone.
Mia went for Fiona.
That smarts. Thankfully it was the second hit. Owowow.
Titania runs away. None of the Greil Mercenaries have enough time to cross the Line and Game Over you, they're just here to make life interesting.
Shinon, Gatrie and Rhys spawn on the last turn. Gatrie and Rhys are not scary at the best of times, and while Shinon is a budget Rolf, the fact he spawns on the last turn means he can't actually do any of Rolf's scary tricks.
Hahaha, I had hope.
Jill weakens Mia. She... can't actually survive a crit, but she strangely blocks most of Mia's insane crit rate.
I checked, and apparently, that's not thanks to her Bond with Mist, Jill is just that obscenely Lucky. Does Bond even give Dodge at all, or is that just a "Bonds only work as allies" thing?
Whatever the amount of Dodge Jill should or should not possess, she had enough of it to stuff Mia's crit and dodged Astrum. Mia's actually on a Biorhythm downer right now and her Astrum chance is only at 9%.
That's Jill with no need to hold a Lance again.
And Fiona lands the final blow.
That was almost anti-climactic for taking out the most dangerous unit on the field with no tricks.
This was the first attempted outcome of that battle. This even resulted in an awesome level, too. I just didn't keep track of my Battle Saves and reset the next outcome without realising I hadn't saved this one. That was the most disappointing thing ever. Thank goodness I can still show the duel.
The other level was HP/Mag/Spd/Luck/Def. That would be a Magic cap, but honestly, I think this level might ultimately have been the better one after all. Either way, I think 28 is her Defence cap.
Unfortunately, Mia is so close to her peak as a Trueblade that I can't say this will help much under the RD mechanics.
...Saying that, the fact Mia is so close to capping everything really sells just how powerful Mia was to the Dawn Brigade. Imagine if she still had her Wo Dao or Wind Edge!
Unfortunately, Micaiah wasn't close enough to Physic Fiona for some more EXP and Support points. I think if I had moved Micaiah last turn, but this spot is a bit of a stretch as it is.
Meg has a go at unseating Mist.
Well, sure, of course I can kill a Greil Merc if I get a Mastery skill. Honestly, finishing with Meg holding the Brave Sword might've been a bad plan in hindsight, but I made do.
"Now I see why you said the Black Knight fight was hard!
Laura has Resolve, I'm finishing the map.
(What actually happened to lose the Fiona combat was I forgot the "Resolve means Laura doubles here" and reset to permit Meg to take an action before Laura finished. I didn't savescum a Luna for the Mist kill.)
Ike actually starts moving on Turn 11, and unchecked, he goes directly north. He triggers this dialogue if he initiates on the Daein generics, too.
Ike and Micaiah as bosses trigger the unique pre-boss banter track The Goddess's Rebuke. I feel a non-zero amount of the rest of the bosses do the same, but can't name names despite having seen the Sigrun dialogue personally.
With that said, Ike, you're in no position to threaten us, sleeping as you are.
"I thought I could use this battle to catch a few zs."
Well, that's just gravy.
Micaiah had her units duel Mia, and you just now think to try and stop her acting rashly?
Despite this mission being a Defence mission, the ending dialogue just has us folding under the pressure anyway. If you let the Greil Mercenaries spawn, you either kill Ike on the spot or get the hell out of dodge. With that said, Fiona got Mia. I call that a win.
Well, I mean, what else could we do? Take some extra time to finish off the rest of the mercenaries?
Time to get pummelled!
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