Class Mayhem! Let's Hack Fire Emblem + Sword of Seals!

Wow, my BN4 update has been sitting half complete for over a week now. Oh well.



This map gives me a whopping 15 characters, but to be honest I only need 12. I decided to bring Bartre along for the hell of it, and Tate and Miledy because they’re decently close to promotion.



Anyways, here’s the thing about the Ilia chapters: there are a lot of aerial units. They’re pretty fragile too, so it’s not unlikely that your frontline units might get weakened by suicide rushes.



Still, the first problem is this dick. Thankfully he’s just using a normal Ballista, but he’s still pretty annoying since his stats are pretty damn ridiculous. Note this isn’t an isolated case; every unit on the map has stats like this.



Finally, this map has a lot of rivers with only one bridge.



Bartre doesn’t care though. His job is to get to the village on the other side of the map and kill anything that dares to attack him.



Anyways, moving Alan close to the Ballista successfully lured the Archer off. Alan took some damage, of course, but his Defense and HP are high enough that I don’t really care. Besides, I have two healers.



All of the enemy Wyvern Riders have near max Attack and over 14 Defense. Bartre and his trusty Iron Axe do not give a damn.





Ugh, this terrain. Forests have a movement penalty for all ground units (especially units on horses), so the only people really doing anything right now are Alan, Thany (Physic), Sue and Tate.





I wonder if I can clear the map before this chapter’s gimmick happens.

Guess not.



On Turn 8 all of the rivers will freeze over. The intent was to allow your units more space to travel, but all of those trees are still around so the freeze doesn’t really do anything but make crossing rivers less annoying.



These level ups seem bad, but considering Cath, Sue, and Thany have capped pretty much everything else, it doesn’t really matter.



Anyways, I’ve gotten everything so there’s no point to delay clearing this map.


Alright, time for our new character! Remember when I said Roy’s harem was complete? I lied.



The Princess of Bern herself can be unlocked for use on the Trial Maps if you beat the game seven times (and one of those times has to be on Hard mode). She’s notable for somehow messing up so hard at her studies that she mastered Light magic as a Sage. Anyways, since you get her at level 20 she doesn’t have any growth rates (or Supports for that matter), so when she levels up the game uses her class’ growth rates, something it usually only does for standard enemy units.

The reason why I waited so long to put Guinevere in my party is because if you have her before one of the chapters where she appears as a NPC unit, some really screwed up stuff can happen. Also, I needed a unit to sacrifice (Niime is obtained on both the Sacae and Ilia routes so she’s perfect). Guinevere is level 18 right now because that’s what Niime was at, but if you want I can lower her level to something more manageable.

Also, I'm debating over whether or not I should promote Cath into a Swordmaster or a Hero. Cecilia's taken a couple steps in usefulness lately, after all.

Are the standard growth rates any good? Because otherwise, I'd say just keep her at LV18.

I posted a link, you know...

Anyways, if I keep Guinevere at Level 18 she'll basically gain no experience at all, and would just be dead weight for the rest of the team.

Make her level one, so she gets enough levels to make up for all the playthroughs where she never joins the party.

I'm inclined to leave her class be, considering we'd never normally get to see her anyway.

Make Cath a Hero. You can never have too many heroes.

I'd say put Ms. Sage of Light a few levels lower than what most of your units are hovering around.

I think I might as well give Guinevere access to Dark Magic just so I can get someone to use Apocalypse.

Yes.

In my opinion this is the most annoying chapter in the game. Why? Well first, there’s a reason I chose to use the Serenes Forest map.



This is a Fog of War map. And if you look at the map, you’ll notice that the whole place is filled with mountains and forests that leave you with little space to advance. Worse, there are still Ballistae and Pegasus Knights everywhere to ruin your day.



Anyways, the votes are in and it’s been decided that Guinevere will be dropped to level 1 and have access to Dark magic.



Also, it’s time to promote Cath. First I need to change her into the placeholder female Mercenary class (interestingly, the class sprite seems to be a mix of Mercenary and Myrmidon. This is probably an error; the last time I used this class I got a recolored Fighter to appear.)



Since the female Mercenary is a placeholder, it doesn’t have a battle sprite so promotion is instant. But holy crap, look at those promotion gains! The female base classes seem to have been dummied out early in development, as their promotion gains are ridiculous compared to other classes. And I say this knowing that the average FE6 promotion is like +2 to everything; the female Cavalier gets +8 to Speed upon promotion.



There’s not much to say about this chapter. The aerial units will fly straight to the Ballistae to take them down with Thany‘s Physic for support, and the ground units will march forward and deal with the swarms of Pegasus/Falcon Knights with Sophia/Guinevere/Lilina for healing.



Since most of you will probably never see it otherwise, here’s Guinevere’s battle sprite. Yes, it’s just a recolor of Lilina’s.





Cath’s hair color has changed, but she is so overpowered I don‘t care. Honestly, I should probably just change Cecilia to a Swordmaster; Cath has completely eclipsed her.

Sue has capped Strength, Skill, and Speed, so there’s nowhere left for her to grow but HP and Luck.



Anyways, Turn 9 and the battle is almost over.



Thany and Tate have special dialogue when they battle Sigune. It’s nothing special, just Sigune recognizing and reminding them that she won’t go easy on them by the Ilian knights’ code.



Anyways, easy win.




(HP: 50%, Str: 20%, Skl: 35%, Spd: 30%, Lck: 45%, Def: 10%, Res: 10%)

The next new unit is Zealot’s wife. That pretty much says it all.

Anyways, should I change Cecilia to a Swordmaster? There is no way in hell she'll ever be able to reach the full potential of a Hero, and even though she has crap Skill her supports with Roy and Lilina should help her manage.

Make Yuno a Thief.

And sure, Cecilia can be a Swordsmaster if it'll make her better.

Refa, Yuno's a promoted unit... Wouldn't that cause problems? Or am I mistaken?

And sure, more Swordmasters with sweet Crit bonuses are never a bad thing.

Yuno doesn't have a single stat over 20, so it's okay.

Yunno and Zealot must have been promoted at level 10 after some serious RNG screwage. Following that, their growths dropped due to age. They're such nice people, how could they have (Prepare for understatement!) such terrible stats!?

Yuno has the excuse of having been retired for a couple of years. Zealot's got nothing, though, unless he usually just takes a management role.

At least Jeigan had his uses (although he was much worse).

AND THEN CECILIA WAS A SWORDMASTER. As you might notice, I’ve boosted her Skill and Speed significantly. It’s outright hacking but a Swordmaster without Skill and Speed is an oxymoron. Anyways, even with her new stats Cecilia sucks pretty hard; she’s a level 11 promoted unit and she hasn’t even capped anything yet.



Another huge map with lots of things to do and too many long range enemy units. Fun.



Anyways, there are two entrances. Both lead to the boss, but the one on the left has access to both treasure rooms and Yuno’s cell.



It’s also got a significantly larger chunk of enemies in it and is in the range of some enemy units with Sleep and Berserk.



Oh well, I’ll take it. I’ll still send a few units down the right path though.



Swordmaster Cecilia looks pretty good. Gotta love the purple sword.

You know what I really hate? Long range enemy spell casters. In that picture, Fir is both near death from a Purge and asleep, Sue is Berserked, and Fa is also asleep. Want to know how many uses I have left on my Restore stave? Two.



Sorry Fa, but these two are priority.



Since I know that Druid with a Berserk is going to try and target Fir to piss me off, I’ll have Roy rescue her.



Haha this game.

Kind of an odd way to end a Support.



Wow, I didn’t think I was actually going to use this Door Key. Oh well, best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.



Anyways, once you open the door to Yuno’s cell, the civilians will start to escape. Just hope that the Ballistae are empty at this point.



Yuno can be recruited by Thany, Tate, and Zealot. The first two are excited to be fighting along with their sister, but Zealot is much less enthusiastic about it. He agrees in the end though.

Yuno starts with no equipment by the way, so it seems the game is already trying to encourage the player not to use her.



There is some pretty good stuff in this room: a Wo Dao, an Axereaver, a Long Bow, and a Speedwing.





The boss is pretty damn tough.



More importantly, this enemy Archer is going to target the escaping civilians, so I’ll just waste a Warp to kill him.

I’m curious what’s in here, but I don’t think it’d be worth all the turns it would take.



My prize for keeping all of the civilians alive.




Another way too large map, another Divine Weapon chapter with an annoying gimmick.



Actually, no. This time there’s two gimmicks. First off, to get anywhere you have to break a ton of walls.



Second, your army is divided into three groups.



As normal, there are two assholes at the center of the map with status ailment staves. Since I don’t have any more Restores, there’s only one thing to do.



And that would be to warp Bartre to the center and have him kill everything there.



The reason I picked Bartre, by the way, is because of this jerk.



That shouldn’t even be possible.

Damn it.



Oh well, I expected thi-



WHAT. *loads save state*



The next couple of random numbers were complete bullshit, but eventually everyone got out of the enemy phase. The only person who got hit was Gonzales, and that’s because that Druid with the Sleep stave has some bullshit accuracy



The final victim of the Sleep stave was Lance.

And that’s how Hugh prevented Chad from becoming another Jaffar.



(I skipped the Sophia-Igrene B Support because it is way too heavy handed.)





Finally.



Man, why couldn’t the Falcon Knight Strength/Skill/Speed caps be higher?


No new units next chapter. Sorry!

Late update today because too many things happened IRL. Sorry.

After Roy captured Aquleia, other Etrurian powers gradually began to change their views and express their discontent for the Revolutionaries. Driven away from their palace, Roartz and Arcard fled to Sacae, which was still under Bern's control.

The vast Sacae plains lay in the center of the continent. Before Bern invaded, Sacae was inhabited by various nomadic clans.

The Etrurian army joined the Lycia Alliance Army to form a joint Etruria-Lycia Union Army. The decision was to head for Sacae to get rid of the remaining Revolutionaries, and also attack Bern, who was behind them. Thinking that some Etrurian knights would not approve of being seen as serving under the Lycia Alliance Army, Roy officially named the new Union the Etrurian Army and became its commander.

Roy led the division responsible for entering Sacae. The Sacaean people were wary of outsiders in the first place, but even worse, Brenya, another of the Three Dragon Lords, had gotten the largest clan in Sacae, the Djute, under submission. The warriors of the Djute clan and Brenya's elite troops stood in front of Roy as he set foot on Sacaean soil.

There’s only one real difference between the Ilian and Sacaen Roy-Yodel talk.



Another huge Fog of War map. Joy. I blitzed through this chapter, so the only thing I can really say about it is that I split my units up into two groups to get to the villages (which held a Tina Staff and an Eclipse.







Turn 6 and I’m already almost done.



There’s a river here to stall me, but I have aerial units so I really don’t care.





And that’s the end of this chapter. The dialogue afterwards is pretty much identical to the Ilian version, so I won’t transcribe it.


After defeating Arcard, Roy crossed the border and entered the land of Sacae.

After Bern invaded, the Djute clan, the most powerful clan in Sacae, became its servant. Most of the clans who stood up against the two joint forces had already been decimated. Although the “Silver Wolf” Dayan, the leader of the Kutolah clan, had been retaliating with guerilla tactics, the situation was dire. Sacae had basically become a territory of Bern.

Now, as Roy set foot on the plains of Sacae, the warriors of the Djute clan stood in his path.



This is a refreshingly simple map. The goal is to get to the center, and there’s an army of Nomads and a few squads of other units in my way.

(Incidentally, this chapter is one of the easiest to cheese with Warp, but where would be the fun in that?)



Oh, and in a rare display of mercy this Druid only has a Physic.

The ring of huts in the middle are for decoration; they‘re really enemy spawn points. The ones on the outskirts, however, you can visit. None of them give anything though; it’s just flavor text about Sacaen law.





Beginning of Turn 3.







End of Turn 4. Everything on the map is dead but the boss and three units in the middle.



The boss has a special conversation if you attacked him with either Sue or Shin. I didn’t, but here they are in case you wanted to see them.

Roy and Guinevere proceed to have the normal talk, though this time Merlinus’ interruption is different.


After defeating the Djute clan, Roy moved toward Bulgar, the largest city in Sacae. As a center of commerce between Etruria, Bern, and Ilia, Bulgar has had a history of being free city without a ruler. However, with Bern's invasion, Advisor Roartz now had control of the city under Bern's protection.

Roy approached Bulgar to liberate it and to gain some useful information on invading Bern.



This chapter is just as hard as it looks. Thankfully, I bought a spare Door Key last chapter so I don’t need to bring a Thief. I also bought a Restore last chapter, so I can deal with the long range magic units.

Oh, and all of the houses with red roofs give items. In total, I got a Wyrmslayer, a Long Bow, a Goddess Icon, and a Wo Dao.

Turns out you can’t open this door with a Door Key. Oh well, I’ll just break down the walls on the sides.



Also, for some reason Thany and Tate have the option to Talk, though selecting it causes nothing to happen. In any case, that is one huge list of things that can be done.





THIS DEFINITELY ISN‘T A BAD IDEA. (No, Alan didn’t die. In fact, he only got hit once. Probably the A Support with Lance and the capped Speed.)



On the seventh turn, the boss gives the player a warning.

It’s not a very good warning though; the reinforcements (who appear at the beginning of enemy Turn 8) don’t reach the gate until Turn 12, and the gates don’t open until Turn 13.





The boss had a Light Brand, so Lilina took him down even faster than normal.

The post-chapter dialogue is the same as it is when you beat The Frozen River.

Finally some new units.



(HP: 25%, Str: 15%, Skl: 15%, Spd: 15%, Lck: 5%, Def: 15%, Res: 20%)

Niime has some solid base stats (and hilariously low growths), but her high level doesn‘t make her very appealing to use.



(HP: 55%, Str: 20%, Skl: 20%, Spd: 15%, Lck: 20%, Def: 10%, Res: 10%)

Dayan is the Yuno of this route, just even worse. Seriously, with the exception of his HP growth (55 compared to 50), Yuno is better in every way.

IRL drama continues, but I think it's over now. Still, the update will be delayed until tomorrow. I guess that gives you guys more time to vote for Dayin and Niime (not that it matters; I'm not using them).

Oh, and I'll adding chapters 59, 59x, and 60 to the list of things for the next update to cover to make up for it.

Yeah, I know you aren't using them, but I feel like voting anyways.

Niime: Um... what's the polar opposite of a Druid? Make her that.
Dayan: I dunno, make him a Knight I guess.

Fair enough, Blitz. It's good to hear that whatever was going on settled down, at least.

Polar opposite of a Druid? Hmm... Since they're the magic users with the heaviest tomes, I guess that would be the lightest and most accurate of the weapon users.

After meeting Niime, the Hermit on the Mountain, the mysteries of Bern's Dragons were slowly beginning to unfold. With more unknowns still needing verification, Roy directed his troops toward a large manor on the outskirts of Bulgar. There, Advisor Roartz of Etruria was preparing his defenses against Roy…

The rest is the same conversation Roy and Niime have in The Bitter Cold.



why is this map fog of war that doesn’t even make sense

Anyways, this is another really simple map. My army will split into two groups; one will take the left path and smash Roartz, the other will take the right path and help Fir get all of those chests.

The only really annoying thing about this map are the large amount of long range magic units that you can‘t reach and stop for a while/at all. Fir also proved to still be completely unable to dodge anything, forcing me to have someone rescue her at all times.



At the end of Turn 2’s enemy phase, Dayan will pop up at the point where the player started.



You can recruit Dayan with either Roy, Sue, or Shin, but Roy’s chat is the most detailed.

Sue just assures her father that the Etrurian Army won’t occupy Sacae, and Shin… I have no idea and don’t care to find out. Oh, and if you have Roy recruit Dayan, Sue and Shin can still talk to him, though this time there’s no worry about Etrurian occupation.



Anyways, Dayan is going straight to the back of this map. If reinforcements pop up there… well, I hope they don’t.





You know what? Fuck it, I’m just going to Warp Roy to the boss





I had to have everyone sit around for two turns to let Fir opens all the chests. In total I got an Axereaver, a Guiding Ring, a Blue Gem, a Sleep, a Nosferatu, and a Dragonshield.

Surprisingly, there were no reinforcements.



Just for the hell of it, while I was waiting I rearranged my other units to see what Roy could do with a Support boost from his entire harem.

But I’ve wasted enough time already, so I just had Sophia and Lilina double team Roartz.


Roy headed towards the ruins in Sacae, after the Divine Weapon. However, the remaining forces of the Djute clan were waiting for Roy in the ruins…

Roy can actually talk to either Sue, Shin, or Elphin. He’ll talk to the former two if they were selected for the chapter (Shin has priority), and Elphin if neither were.

I think Dayan says something too, but I appear to have reached the maximum army size because he doesn’t show up on the unit select screen. That’s kind of odd though; I only have four characters that I shouldn’t have (Guinevere, Bartre, Elphin, and Yuno) and there’s a total of eight Trial Map characters that get added to the unit select screen.



Anyways, this is a Divine Weapon chapter so it’s time for another obnoxious map. The trick this time is that only one of those big huts is the real altar for Miurgre. The others are traps that will release enemies if you conquer them. I’m not sure if the correct hut is set or randomly determined, but since the last time I played through Sacae was last year, so if it’s the former I naturally have no idea which one is the correct one.

“But BlitzBlast, surely there’s an easy way to tell! Look for the one the boss is guarding!”

Yeah, about that…





I’m apparently up against sextuplets. And those Druids have status staves so fuck them.

Anyways, this chapter didn’t incorporate a very useful mechanic FE7 did. Namely, Roy is still the only person who can conquer places.



Nothing to do but just charge forward I guess. These rivers can get in the way, but again, aerial units.





Cath got Berserked, but she’s surrounded by enemies so it’s okay.



Gonzales, on the other hand… Thany had better get over to the west side fast.

This game.



Gah, I’ll just break my Warp to speed things up.



Speaking of breaking things, guess who has no weapons left at all?



In other news, Fa is taking advantage of her A Support with Sophia to kill her faster. That is just as morbid as it sounds and oh god why didn’t I give sophia a restore.



Finally, have I mentioned that these guys have ridiculous Avoid? Because they do.





Oh hey, Lilina (and Fa) are back to normal!



Too bad there’s only two enemies left! Have I mentioned how much I hate status staves? Because I hate them.

A lot.

In any case, the only thing left to do is ferry Roy around the map until I find the right hut.



Final level up of the chapter.

I killed the last enemy on Turn 9. I finished the chapter on Turn 11. Do you want to know which was the correct hut?



The one closest to where Roy started.




In a normal game that’s never happening, but my Roy is so overpowered (well, compared to the average Roy anyways) that I think I’ll actually do that.



Anyways, despite the fact that I entered this chapter from the Sacae route, Yodel came with the Miurge. Normally I’d hack it into something normal, but you know what? Lance could really use some extra firepower.