Let's play Ogre Battle: This is the dawning of the age of Zeteginea

That's not entirely a coincidence! This is also where I tend to lose steam.

But I'm just wrapping up the next map, and I shouldn't take as long for the next one. In this case, I've mostly just been busy over the past week.

so, question

if a princess gives everyone an extra attack

is a squad of five princesses ogre battle's version of meteo

This effect only happens when the Princess LEADS the party. So...

oh

a shame

The actual Ogre Battle Meteo is a dark-element attack exclusive to a unique, optional character who locks you out of good endings

But as far as I know you can put that guy in a Princess-led team for W-Meteo

The class that character is not unique; the biggest hurdle is getting a level 20 Demon! Granted, Galf the Devil has extra stats that make theirs hurt the most...

- Eddie

10. In the Navy

Before we head off to war, I have some new Tyrant sightings to report:

• LUCAS the Wildman has been hanging out in Kahran's squad.
• ZEEBS is a Knight in Aisha's employ.
• Seems Gilbert was secretly VAERYN all along.
• Still no word on SENSE, but then we haven't figured out a way to create or recruit a Vampyre.

Counting Eddie's implicit vote, we're tied between Kastolatian Sea and Diaspola, so in the interest of keeping us in sync, we'll set sail. Someday, we'll probably break step with Eddie, but not today.



The "sea" in the name is not just for show. Anything that can't swim or fly is in for a rough time on this map (though recall that even a land-based unit can move slowly through the sea).

Moreover, most of this map's cities are hidden. This map has an unusually high city count, but you'll have to do some looking.

(♫ Viking Spirits)

This is the first new tune we've heard in quite some time, and only the third map theme in the game! Most of the maps so far have used Thunder, which I don't mind because it's really great. Next time we get a Thunder map (probably Diaspola), I'll throw up an arranged version of the song.



Gerad's crew liberates the town nearest our base. The townsfolk mock our inability to see the cities of the Kastolat Islands.



Vaeryn liberates one of the northwest hidden cities.

Many people have different opinions. What is black to one is white to another. Don't just believe everything everyone says. Be sure to think for yourself! If you don't, there's no way you can know the difference between good and evil.

That's just, like, your opinion, man.



Our naval unit, with Serephine the Octopus and led by Naval the Imp, liberates one of the inner hidden cities.

The leader of the mer-people, Porkyus, has been fooled by the Empire. Not that I blame her. We've harmed the mer-people for a long time now. But I'm sure that to the Empire the mer-people are just pawns to throw at the Rebels.

As the enemy approaches Naval, Ovelia liberates the southwest temple and pulls a World card. Time to savescum tarot pulls

The people of this town ask us to stop the coming war beween men and mermen. People and merpeople. Folk and merfolk.

You are truly walking with the gods. Let me give you this sword. This is the White Sword Brunhild! With this you can find the Chaos Gates and visit the Sky Islands!

Brunhild is STR+20 and, obviously, White-aligned. It's a really excellent sword! Also, as the monk tells us, this is a key item for the game's longest side quest, unlocking several optional maps. If that doesn't strike your fancy, then you can sell it for 350K, which is really refreshing if you're used to games like Final Fantasy Tactics where your Excaliburs sell for a single measly coin. Clearly, this is a very valuable sword.

As the dialogue also suggests, you can only get Brunhild with a good reputation. Ours looks to be around 70%.



Taeryn has the bad luck to run into an aquatic squad in their native terrain. The ocean takes on a nice pink hue under the twilight.

I equip him and his pets with elemental weapons, allowing them to outdamage the opposition despite a deficit of three levels. It certainly doesn't hurt that one of the Octopodes is in the wrong row, reducing it to two attacks rather than four.



Why yes, I will take an army-wide +1 LUK. I regret only that I haven't deployed more of my army.

This town tells us that eating mermaids will make us immortal, which is ridiculous. Everyone knows it's unicorns.



Hey, our very first Hierophant! Too bad it's a junk card.

The people of this hidden town tell us that the best way to find hidden towns is to send our units to anywhere that looks suspicious. That might be a more helpful thing to tell people in a town that isn't hidden.



Vaeryn has the further misfortune to run into a Kraken. "Maelstom" hits the enemy squad for about 30 damage, and a back row Kraken uses it twice. Our squad of three might have had a rougher time against four front-row Tentacle attacks. Certainly the front row isn't doing the Mermaids any favors.

The Kraken is unique in that it changes attacks at sea. On the land, it would have the same two Tentacles in the back row as the Octopus. No other unit changes its attacks circumstantially (outside of classes like Vampyre and Werewolf that change forms entirely).



The map's a real mess. There are two Mermaid squads stacked up in the north, and all of those enemies except the eastern Mage (who is healing after a rough encounter with Naval) are headed to Gerad's location. Fortunately, Serephine and Vaeryn are en route for backup.

The Mermaids, however, pass to the right of Gerad's island, while a flying squad comes from the rear to attack Kahran's city near the base. Probably the Mermaids are headed to assault the base as well.



Ovelia liberates one of the few non-hidden cities on the map.

The mer-people are hoping to run the humans out of Kastolat and create a country of their own. This used to be a peaceful place, but now there's constant fighting everywhere.

You'd think mermaids would have little interest in occupying terrestrial palaces.



Naval is positioned to clean up fleeing enemies, and in doing so, he liberates a Persuasion Spell, which is just about as busted as it sounds. It attempts to convert everyone in an enemy squad except the leader, allowing you to get rare and competitively-leveled characters. While it can fail completely, it can also add four new characters to your army.



Still pushing towards the trade city, Serephine liberates a temple. This one also asks us to prevent the brewing war.



Very nice!

The Kastolatian Sea isn't even ruled by people. Who do you think runs it? Mermaids! Why should we humans have to live under the rule of a bunch of fish?

This guy comes across like one of those lizardpeople conspiracy theorists.



Anyway, we're in a new era now that 7 League Boots are available for purchase. We had a pair of these as a random drop earlier, and we spent them to defend a town we'd neglected. Now we can do that, like, all the time!



Like, right now, for instance!



Gerad takes care of that city, and we get our income, restoring a chunk of the cash we just spent on miscellaneous consumables.



And this is our first Temperance. We've had strange tarot luck.

A witch named Mango lives in this town. She's over 150 years old! Really!

Mango? I haven't seen her for a while... She's probably somewhere hiding from the fighting.

This is a "please revisit after clearing the map" if I've ever heard one.



Ashe gets us another nice pull in the hidden town nestled in the mountains near the enemy base. If we tell the monk we've heard of the High Knights, he'll just tell us we need Brunhild to meet them, but we haven't actually heard of them so far, so we'll say no.

The 3 High Knights are probably in the heavens somewhere, watching this battle. If you stay on the Way of Kings, and follow the gods, you may meet them sometime. But I've heard that the Empire is searching for them, hoping to stop them from joining you! Please try to find the Knights! As strong as you are, I'm sure you can do it! If you want to meet the 3 High Knights, you'll need the sword Brunhild.

Oh hey! I know all about The Way of Kings. Apparently, the movie rights were acquired relatively recently? That's awesome.

I'm guessing this dialogue changes if you're a bad dude.



The people of this town are fully woke with respect to the mer-people, and they lament polluting the oceans and eating the mer-people's delicious, delicious tails.



Rounding out an excellent set of tarot pulls, Ovelia liberates the final hidden city on the map.

This ocean is said to be the location of the final battle in the Ogre Battle legend. If you want to hear about the Ogre Battle, you should meet with the witch Mango.

Sounds good, though we won't be able to do that today.



The sweet drops keep on coming! First a Crown, now a Stone of Dragos! I am hyped about this, because Lyon is having a really hard time understanding dragons.

To become a Beast Master, you need to be level 12 with ALI from 10 to 50. Taking stock of our Beastmans: Vaeryn is level 10 with 69 ALI, so unless he evils it up soon, he's fast-tracking to Samurai or Knight. Bert is level 12 with 52 ALI, which should be easy enough to fix against the angels in Diaspola. Lyon is level 10 with 41 ALI, and now I'm thinking that four-letter name is begging to be turned into Bert so JBear can enjoy the extra STR that comes with being a story unit.

In any case, I can't use the DRAGOS immediately, but I'm pleased to have it.



Kastolatian Sea has a large number of cities, and we've cleared it out very quickly, so I idle on the map until noon hits again. That's some nice income!

What did King Gran ever do to us? We've been hunted by humans until now! But Endora has promised a world where we will be safe. I can't allow you to stand in the way of that world!

Porkyus and her kin are the real tragedy of Ogre Battle. They got screwed under Gran's rule, Endora was almost certainly lying to them to get their support, and the rebellion is about to roll over them.



Porkyus is a Nixie, which is a promoted Mermaid. As such, her back row attack is Icestorm instead of Blizzard, hitting Ashe's party for 50 damage apiece.

The front-row Mermaids can't crack double digits with their attacks, so if you can muster Cold resistance or a World card, this boss is basically free.



Of course, like many bosses, Porkyus is actually free with a Fool card. Her physical resistance is particularly low for a boss, so a decent front line will have no problem chewing through her in one round.

Alternatively, she and her cohorts are also extremely weak to fire and lightning, so a strong Mage team can take them all out at once.



Porkyus gets no epilogue, and the mer-people get no justice.

Join us again next time, when we'll beat up some angels!

Over a decade later Yggdra Union would be another strategy game that would have you brutally slaughtering mermaids.

Welcome back! Today we're swimming into our next Scene. It may finally answer the question: is everything hotter under the water?





This is another map where you need to protect every town you liberate, as the enemy is almost entirely composed of flying and water-moving armies. The water-moving armies in particular are going to take what would otherwise be exaggerated moves around the map, and that will make it more likely they sneak off our of your site around the map to wrap around to liberated cities and your base (Fanning).

It goes without saying that most of the cities on this map are hidden. But well, I have a map.

Assuming most of your units don't glide through water, you'll push to the shop at Ma'Aksaz. You can then liberate cities at your leisure, again noting that you'll definitely want to protect them with a unit.

Ma'Aksaz is actually a pretty important shop, as we'll soon see.

If you're rocking a high Reputation (as I am), you will want to send a flying army to the temple in the upper left. If it's a good ALI army, you can use it to liberate Pittokyan and then have them sit there to fend off the occasional water unit. I send LANS to do this important task.



LANS encounters an Octopus on his way there. I recruit him because why not, but I don't think I'll use one. If you are looking to create a pretty decent water unit but didn't want to raise the initial Octopuses into Krakens at level 12, these Octopi are ok units to level.



MUSASHI, a low sky unit thanks to RASCAL the Imp, scouts ahead while the rest of my army slowly swims into position.



LANS liberates the temple in the top-left, meeting the Devil in the process (boo!).







If you've got a pretty good Reputation, you'll get the BRUNHILD Sword, a very important item. It's necessary for recruiting numerous characters and finding a bunch of secret maps.

The game is unusually kind here; if you do not meet the Reputation requirements, you can return at any time (even after beating the map) to see if Thou Are Worthy.

BRUNHILD is not a shabby weapon, conferring +20 STR and dealing White damage. It's got other properties too, although we won't see it on this map. For flavor I like to always give it to my Opinion Leader but that is not required (especially if you have your leader in the back row where they can't take full advantage of the STR boost).



Here we see an example of a sneaky Mermaid trying to loop around and attack your home base. I'm not in any position to intercept it, but that won't be an issue.





Slaughting some fellow dragons gets REEVES the Wizard to level 10, which is a really important level for Wizards in particular as it potentially lets them turn into Mages. REEVES has been keeping his ALI relatively high (for a Wizard at least) so has no problems meeting the requirements,



Of potential concern is AYGAYO the Red Dragon. Evolving to their final form requires that their ALI stick between 45 and 65. AYGAYO has been chomping too many higher level units so is dangerously above that. You can fix this by having a unit like this start power levelling, but that's a lot of trouble. I will probably end up simply disbanding this unit.



STING the Wizard (part of WARREN's crew) unfortunately has dropped in ALI too quickly.







That ALI (a consumable that gives +5-10 ALI to the chosen unit) that I found off a random enemy fixes that problem, letting me class change both Wizards into Mages.





With three Werewolves and two Mages, this is a *really* powerful unit, especially at night.



I get a replacement ALI for my troubles. Thank You!



We pull a nice ENGRAVED ring from one of the temples. This ring is pretty sweet, giving INT +11, Black Defense +19 and White Defense -11.



That Mermaid from earlier swings around to attack my Opinion Leader and then....



...runs away without engaging.



We've got a big ol' unit clustertruck going on here.

Welcome back! Before we jump into the next map, let's take a look to see if see if we're got some units that might be slightly behind the level curve. The average enemy level of the next map is about 11-12, so armies that have an average level of 9 or lower are due to get some more combat experience so they don't fall too far behind the rest.

For reference, MOGRI is level 10 at this point, and you generally (especially when going for the best ending) want to have your Opinion Leader's army be one of your lowest level.





PUTI and CANOPUS's squads are a little behind. They'll catch up quickly.



GUYLER's army however is dragging behind. For units like these, you'll want to send them to the front line backed with an evil ALI unit to either weaken enemies or to help defend whatever town or passage you're blocking. If you're looking for an army that you'll level into the late game, don't be afraid to use some Tarot cards to soften up enemy armies for them.



For flavour, we equip MOGRI with the BRUNHILD sword. This is not strictly necessary but especially for a front-line Opinion Leader you want a high STR anyway.

Let's get into it!





There are only a handful of flying units this map, so spreading out to protect cities is less necessary here. Push for Somyul and Raloshel early, and then once you're situated you can push to the temple southeast of the enemy base (Diaspola). This map is relatively straight-forward compared to the last couple.

I like to send a flying or mountain unit to catch any flying units. Note that one of the enemy units has Ghosts in it, so a unit with a cleric is helpful. I send LYON the Beast Man with his pair of doggos.



EARTH charm: still sucks (Fire/Cold/Lit +3 Defense).

At Somyul, because our Opinion Leader has a high ALI and Reputation we encounter a little girl.



Pasha: <i>My mommy got sick... She needs a 'Golden Beehive' to get better... They sell them at the store, but they're so expensive... So Daddy...<.i>

MOGRI: <i>He went to find one, right?</i>

Pasha: <i>Yep... But he hasn't come home yet. If he doesn't Mommy might...</i>



MOGRI: <i>OK, OK, I'll try to help you. I promise.</i>

Pasha: <i>Thank you!</i>

Note; having your Opinion Leader travel to this town is not required. MOGRI here would pop up no matter where he is on the map for this conversation.

Can purchase Beehive for 70,000 at the shop in Raloshel, but you can find one on this map so I wouldn't bother.





CANOPUS and his crew finally hit level 10 this map, earning some promotions.





As before, Eaglemans are high ALI versions of Hawkmans. Shamans are slightly better Clerics. moving on!



While skipping around the mountains, we encounter an Ice Giant. While better than regular ol' Giants, if you really want to use them you want Titans, not these frosty goobers.

(I take him anyway because I can't say no.)



Somyul is a very popular destinations for enemy units. I don't know why they just didn't take the road from the north here tho.



PUTI's army gets on board with the Shaman plan too once they hit level 10.



LYON changes from a Beast Man to a Beast Master. This is not a significant improvement but we can't all have DRAGOS stones dropping like rain.



Undead units can be pretty swell, but you do always have to watch out when you accidently get into a fight with a Cleric (I take the CHA hit and retreat).



Now HERE we go! The EUROS sword is a nice treasure, granting +15 STR, +3 INT and Cold element damage. The EUROS sword is also one of the four "sacred weapons" along with three other swords you can randomly find.



An enemy may not drop a CROWN for me, but a CHARM is pretty good. You can use them to steal powerful enemy units later in the game.



Despite starting at level 7, GUYLER manages to whack enough enemy units for his army to hit level 10. Horray!



LANS also find a nice find while faffing about the ocean: an Angel! You could have gotten one two maps ago on Island Avalon (the map with the Black Knight) but those ones are level 10, and these Angels are Level 12. This lets you evolve them straight away into Cherubims which are much better than Angels as they get two rear attacks this way instead of one.

I pick up another one so I have a pair.



We also pick up another ALI. This is less helpful as we already have promoted our Wizards to Mages, but we'll probably find a use for it in helping a Knight turn into a Paladin later in the game.

11. Angels and Demons



Welcome back to Let's Play Ogre Battle, where we are fooling around with yet another flirty witch.



If you tell her that you do want something, she gives some tantalizing options. Let's go for some girl talk.



Uh.

Let's just ask her about the Ogre Battle instead.

Long ago, humans and monsters were battling for ownership of the Earth. They fought for thousands of years... The humans sided with the gods, and the monsters with the demons. The humans were greatly outnumbered. Just as the humans were forced to retreat all the way to these islands, the 3 High Knights appeared. They led 12 wizards, and in a final great battle they managed to defeat the monsters. The 3 High Knights returned to the Sky Islands, and left only the sword Brunhild behind. And that's how the humans gained ownership of the earth.

And the Sky Islands:

You probably won't believe it, but they're islands which float in the sky. It's not just a legend. I went there once with my sisters. They were set into the sky by the gods, long before the Ogre Battle. They float through a power that I can't even dream of having. The power of the gods themselves! Somewhere among those islands live the 3 High Knights. To get there you'll have to find the Chaos Gates. But I don't know where they are now.

Mango has nothing else for us, so it's time to head to Diaspola. Clearing Kastolatian Sea opened up two more maps, but we'll save those for later.

"Diaspola" is very likely a mistranslation of "Diaspora," which is a word that refers to people living outside of their ancestral homelands, especially as applied to the Jews living outside of Palestine. Given that this stage is full of angels and the like, the religious allusion makes some sense. The PSX version still calls the stage Diaspola, though, so mayyybe it's intentional?



Diaspola is our largest map to date. It's pretty sparse, though, with an entire plateau devoid of features right in the middle of the map.

This is another map with Thunder as its theme, so, as promised, please enjoy the remixed Grand Repeat version:

♫ Revolt (Grand Repeat)

The entire Grand Repeat album is worth a listen, although most of it is Tactics Ogre, not Ogre Battle.



Naval promoted from Imp to Demon between maps. I'd like him to get more field time, but Octo-Serephine is a poor fit for this map, so she gets swapped for a Red Dragon, giving this squad the Mountain movement type.



Gerad liberates the map's first city, giving us only the finest of tarot pulls.

In the time of King Holai, this used to be a vital trade link between Zenobia and Malano. But now it's full of prisoners sent here by the Empire. A floating prison...

Is this dialogue mistranslated? There's nothing "floating" about Diaspola.



nosimpleway returns to the field after a map or two of inactivity. Determined to prove his worth, he gets a decent tarot pull and a random item. The Black Bow is STR+3, INT+2, and Black-aligned. Not spectacular, but it is our first Black weapon.

Norn rules both this area and the prison. I heard that she was expelled from the Empire. She once had the power of a Grand Monk, but now she's just an initiate. The actual ruling of the area is performed by someone else. She's just there for show.

Bert liberates a hidden city. Bert is already on par with the enemy as far as levels go, but we're hoping to lose him a few points of ALI in order to promote him.

Have you heard of the `Undead Staff`? It lets you change into a Necromancer. Necromancers can control the dead. You don't see too many of them around.

Yes, the Undead Staff is on my radar. The nice thing about item-based promotions is that there are no other prerequisites. If we had an Undead Staff and an Undead Ring, Destil could be a Lich right now.

Incidentally, the in-game name is Sorcerer, not Necromancer, and when this townsfellow says they control the dead, it means they can recruit undead units.



Buge liberates the eastern city and gets us another Death. This town tells us that the Diaspola Prison contains the Empire's prisoners. Makes sense.



Bert (temporarily giving the reins to his squad's Samurai) liberates a city near the enemy base.

Posha: My mommy got sick... She needs a `Golden Beehive` to get better... They sell them at the store but they're so expense... So Daddy...

OVELIA: He went to find one, right?

Posha: Yep... But he hasn't come home yet. If he doesn't Mommy might... Please! Find my Daddy and a Golden Beehive! (yes/no)

Refusing results in a huge loss of reputation. If you have no intention of following through on this quest, you might want to lie to Posha.



Ashe uncovers a really old sword. This one gives a crazy STR+24 and INT-16. It's Black-aligned, which is a mixed blessing, but I can't say no to 24 STR -- that's the biggest STR bonus in the game right there!



The enemy bears down on Bert's position. Bert racks up some kills, and finishing off a Cleric makes him evil enough to be a Master -- the very best, like no one ever was.

In practical terms, a Beastmaster isn't much different from a Beast Tamer. The principal difference is that he can recruit better units than before: a Cerberus, Cockatris, or Wyrm. We haven't seen the Cerberus yet -- it's the promoted Hellhound.



Ashe arrives to help Bert with the influx of enemies, and while they're fighting it out, Gerad liberates one of the northern cities.

The town tells us that Norn took control of the Imperial forces as soon as we arrived despite having ideals that are close to our own. But an earlier town said she had been expelled from the Empire.



Hey, we were just talking about you! This Undead Staff that Ashe pulled off an enemy's corpse is exactly what we need for our Mages. Because we're guaranteed at least one more in the near future, I'm going to pop this one on Destil.



Not only does a Sorcerer get an extra shot of Magic over a Mage, but he can also use it in the front row. I guess that's handy if you want to field a squad of five Sorcerers?



Buge and Turtle fight a "strange bedfellows" unit. Is Norn greenlighting these Imps? Not that I'm one to talk, but...



While the opposition is certainly upping their game, the presence of Amazons shows that the gloves haven't come all the way off. Another enemy formation on this map puts a Wizard in the back and front rows.

Samurai's eyes glow when they attack, and they're faceless otherwise. A creepy little detail.



Kahran and friends continue pushing towards the base.

I heard Norn the White was sent here for bad-mouthing Rashidi. Which means that I wouldn't be surprised if she were to help you out!

WINK WINK

NUDGE NUDGE



Gerad's squad will appreciate the extra STR!

Most of those in prison aren't there for any great crimes. Many were arrested just for speaking badly of Endora and Rashidi. We're locked up around here just for knocking the system. It's unbelievable.

We seem to have bottlenecked the enemy. There are pros and cons here, but at least we get to fight from the comfort of our city.



Meanwhile, Kahran liberates the northeast hidden city. Our reputation bar is starting to look like Eddie's!

The Chaos Road was created by the gods. It can't even be seen by humans. But I've heard that there's a sword which will let you see them. Be on the lookout for it.

tfw you're trying to overthrow the Empire but all the NPCs want you to find Chaos Gates



nosimpleway finally pushes through to this map's shop and pulls a World card. It's not completely meaningless -- there are a couple more pulls left -- but it's certainly not gamechanging. World is an excellent general-use card, though, so we won't complain.

This town repeats the earlier town dialogue about Norn taking control of the Imperial forces. That's probably a bug; this is the first time we've seen repeat dialogue.



Time to shop! Deneb was looking for a Golden Bough, and there's the Golden Beehive the kid wanted. We'll just buy the Bough for now.



Boo indeed! Despite the presence of Clerics on this map, Naval has little trouble keeping the enemy at bay with a Ghost taking the brunt of the attacks.

The Deva General Debonair and Norn the White were a beautiful couple. When Norn heard that Debonair was killed by the Rebels, she spent an entire night crying. I'm sure that she has taken control of the Imperial forces here just to get revenge.

Of course, Debonair is still alive, but Norn won't realize that until we beat her up.



Because we haven't yet had our fill of rare and awesome items, Naval pulls a Full Moon Stone from an enemy. Ovelia's squad is the only one with space for an extra unit, so she'll recruit our new friend.



Ignore the weird message. We definitely found a weretiger. Honma pinky-swears he'll be awesome at night, but during the day, he has a pathetic single attack regardless of row.



I'm late in realizing there are southern cities I have yet to liberate.

Recently we've seen a lot of people on the run passing through here. Like a lot of the people in the prison, they are wanted for speaking against the Empire.

Now that's more like it... at least, I assume so. I've never actually used a Tigerman.

Their attack is Black-elemental, which means we can't change it via equipment, and they get only two attacks to a Werewolf's three. Still, we'll give Honma a try.



I think this completes the map.

Monk: The other day, we found the body of a man near this temple. It seems he was trying to get a Golden Beehive, but instead he was killed by the bees. I don't have any use for the nest myself. Here, please take it.

but also, free Beehive



Well, yes and no.

Thank you! Now Mommy will get all better! From now on, I'll think of you as being just my big sister. Thank you! Oh, I know! I'll give you my lucky charm! Take care of it! It's a `Sentoul Demon`!

What is wrong with you, kid?!

I mean, we're super happy to have this for reasons that won't become apparent until the next update, but still



Anyway. Boss time? Boss time.

...was nothing like the Empire has become. Even as a servant of the gods, I couldn't see through Rashidi. If I had noticed sooner, I could've saved Kaus.

I had even considered joining the Rebellion. Like Rauny. But it's too late. I have nothing to live for in a world without Kaus! All I can do now is defeat you, and get revenge for Kaus Debonair! I'll take you with me to the Underworld!

Rauny who?



Norn is a Shaman (read: Cleric 2.0) accompanied by a pair of Titans (promoted Giants). Those Titans are inconvenient to us, so you know the drill.



Fool you once, shame on me.



Kahran's ragtag misfits spend half the battle whiffing their attacks.

There's an alternate way to approach this battle, though it's rather unexpected: an undead front row is invulnerable to the Titans' attacks, and Norn won't dispel them, since her squad is set to Weak tactics.

Whatever your approach, with three casts of Healing per battle and an annoying evade rate, Norn is surprisingly tricky to take down. Bring backup just in case.



Aisha's squad finishes the job, although MVP has to go to Naval.



About that...



Norn asks you for a swift death. If you acquiesce, she becomes surprisingly forgiving.

Of course, that's not really what we're going to do.



Could we not have had this conversation before fighting to the death?

He went back to the Highlands to find Endora and see the truth for himself.

Norn: Kaus is alive? Do you mean it?

OVELIA: Yes, it's true. He's alive. Norn, you don't need revenge. We aren't your enemy. Don't you see that?

Norn: Are you telling me to join you? (yes)

OVELIA: Of course. You must see Debonair again.

Norn: But... I... You're right, of course. Thank you!

If you tell her not to join you, you get the same response as if you'd killed her.



And that's a wrap! From here, we have three destinations open to us: the Kalbi Peninsula, the Balmorian Ruins, and the Valley of Kastro. Ordinarily, this is where I'd put it up to a vote, but for the sake of building up a backlog, I'm going to forego the vote this time.

NEXT TIME: Kommunism?

Translation notes of the update:

Mango's title in Japan was 大陸一の美人とウワサされる魔女, literally "the continent's most beautiful and rumored (?) witch".

Sorcerers are called Necromancers in Japan, hence that one guy's line.

I'm not sure if it was intentional, but the Japanese name of the Golden Beehive (きんのハチのす) seems kind of ambiguous as to whether "golden" refers to the bees or the hive - or even both.

I am so envious of DESTIL being one step away from being a lich while DEDMET's warming the bench until he can gain enough ALI to promote.

Also that chapter was seriously lacking in both angels and demons. Unless you count the little girl and the bafmodad she gives you for "finding" her dad.

I have big plans for DEDMET. His time will come.

And you're right about the angels, but not only did the girl give us a demon, but we have one in our army. Also, the enemy had Imps, which are very nearly Demons.

FWIW, the "demon" that the girl gave you was actually a statue of one.

That did seem likely to be the case, but does the game ever say that?

Hey man I asked for some angels in my unit but the place you get 'em was a couple of maps ago

TBH I have kept zero track of who's asked for what in their command* because the squads are half-full of Tyrants anyway. I can definitely swap a Raven Man somewhere for an Angel, though, and we'll have another chance to recruit Angels before too long if I don't grab one sooner.

*Except for Eddie, but I assume he only asked for a Golem in an attempt to make me suffer

According to MOBQ, it's described as "A statue of the demon Sentoul."

You were not the intended target of my punishment.




Welcome back! Before we jump into the next map, let's take a look to see if see if we're got some units that might be slightly behind the level curve. The average enemy level of the next map is about 11-12, so armies that have an average level of 9 or lower are due to get some more combat experience so they don't fall too far behind the rest.

For reference, MOGRI is level 10 at this point, and you generally (especially when going for the best ending) want to have your Opinion Leader's army be one of your lowest level.





PUTI and CANOPUS's squads are a little behind. They'll catch up quickly.



GUYLER's army however is dragging behind. For units like these, you'll want to send them to the front line backed with an evil ALI unit to either weaken enemies or to help defend whatever town or passage you're blocking. If you're looking for an army that you'll level into the late game, don't be afraid to use some Tarot cards to soften up enemy armies for them.



For flavour, we equip MOGRI with the BRUNHILD sword. This is not strictly necessary but especially for a front-line Opinion Leader you want a high STR anyway.

Let's get into it!





There are only a handful of flying units this map, so spreading out to protect cities is less necessary here. Push for Somyul and Raloshel early, and then once you're situated you can push to the temple southeast of the enemy base (Diaspola). This map is relatively straight-forward compared to the last couple.

I like to send a flying or mountain unit to catch any flying units. Note that one of the enemy units has Ghosts in it, so a unit with a cleric is helpful. I send LYON the Beast Man with his pair of doggos.



EARTH charm: still sucks (Fire/Cold/Lit +3 Defense).

At Somyul, because our Opinion Leader has a high ALI and Reputation we encounter a little girl.



Pasha: <i>My mommy got sick... She needs a 'Golden Beehive' to get better... They sell them at the store, but they're so expensive... So Daddy...<.i>

MOGRI: <i>He went to find one, right?</i>

Pasha: <i>Yep... But he hasn't come home yet. If he doesn't Mommy might...</i>



MOGRI: <i>OK, OK, I'll try to help you. I promise.</i>

Pasha: <i>Thank you!</i>

Note; having your Opinion Leader travel to this town is not required. MOGRI here would pop up no matter where he is on the map for this conversation.

Can purchase Beehive for 70,000 at the shop in Raloshel, but you can find one on this map so I wouldn't bother.





CANOPUS and his crew finally hit level 10 this map, earning some promotions.





As before, Eaglemans are high ALI versions of Hawkmans. Shamans are slightly better Clerics. moving on!



While skipping around the mountains, we encounter an Ice Giant. While better than regular ol' Giants, if you really want to use them you want Titans, not these frosty goobers.

(I take him anyway because I can't say no.)



Somyul is a very popular destinations for enemy units. I don't know why they just didn't take the road from the north here tho.



PUTI's army gets on board with the Shaman plan too once they hit level 10.



LYON changes from a Beast Man to a Beast Master. This is not a significant improvement but we can't all have DRAGOS stones dropping like rain.



Undead units can be pretty swell, but you do always have to watch out when you accidently get into a fight with a Cleric (I take the CHA hit and retreat).



Now HERE we go! The EUROS sword is a nice treasure, granting +15 STR, +3 INT and Cold element damage. The EUROS sword is also one of the four "sacred weapons" along with three other swords you can randomly find.



An enemy may not drop a CROWN for me, but a CHARM is pretty good. You can use them to steal powerful enemy units later in the game.



Despite starting at level 7, GUYLER manages to whack enough enemy units for his army to hit level 10. Horray!



LANS also find a nice find while faffing about the ocean: an Angel! You could have gotten one two maps ago on Island Avalon (the map with the Black Knight) but those ones are level 10, and these Angels are Level 12. This lets you evolve them straight away into Cherubims which are much better than Angels as they get two rear attacks this way instead of one.

I pick up another one so I have a pair.



We also pick up another ALI. This is less helpful as we already have promoted our Wizards to Mages, but we'll probably find a use for it in helping a Knight turn into a Paladin later in the game.

We get a DOWSER from another enemy unit. This items let you find hidden treasures. Since we have maps of where all the treasures are this is less useful but if you're playing blind you can use one of these (along with copious reloading) to find all the treasure on a map.

Exploring the temple east of Pelegue lets us find out what happened to PASHA's dad:



"... bees. I don't have any use for the nest myself. Here, please take it."



Oh man. How will we ever deliver the news to poor PASHA that her dad got killed by a swarm or bees?



Pasha: <i>Thank you! Now Mommy will get all better! When I grow up, I want to be just like you! Thanks! Oh, I know! I'll give you my lucky charm. Take care of it! It's a 'Sentoul Demon'!



Well, "finding" her daddy is one way of putting it. Can't complain about the result: this DEMON will let us trade for a STAFF that will turn one of our Mages into a Sorcerer, with double the deadly magical power. That's for after we liberate this area for the rebel army however...





LYON's doggos hit level 13, and become hot dogs. Cerberuses are decent large monsters with a unique attack in the back row. They will switch between a single-target fire blast and an attack called "charm" which (as you guess) temporarily gets a unit to side with you and attack their allies. I'm more interested in meat shields so I keep them up front.



The PRISTINE sword is pretty decent, giving +8 STR, +10 INT and White element damage. This makes it a very versatile weapon!



Let's wrap this map up tho.



OK.



(It does poorly for her.)





It goes without saying that if you want the best ending, you want to spare her so her and her Titans join you.

[img]https://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss297/Ashdate/Ogre%20Battle/ob10_
38.png[/img]

Horray!





After the fight we get NORN. She's (as you would expect) a very good Shaman. She can make an excellent Valkyrie/Muse as well should you choose it. The Titans make good front or back units. Their Gale attack hits all enemies which is pretty good as far as large monsters go.



REEVES's armysadly isn't working. The combination of a Mage, Silver Dragon and Red Dragon needs reworking. I disband the army.



REEVES is still a powerful Mage however. I replace one of the Skeletons in MUSASHI's army with him as the undead there aren't really pulling their weight as it is (save as mostly undamagable shields).



The Angels I pickup join ASHE's unit.

With a DEMON in hand, we head back into the stage and visit Anglem.



Why hello!

Borgnine will offer you one of three things for a DEMON:

• 10,000 gil (booo!)
• a stone of DRAGON (eeeeh.)
• an undead STAFF (!!!)

STAFFs are ridiculously so much better than the other two as they promote Mages to Sorcerers, giving them two (2!) back-row all-enemy attacks. Unless you have zero mages ready to take one, grab these whenever you pick up a DEMON.





We have a number of choices but as Warren has been with us since the beginning (and has the highest INT)...



And that's another update done!

Join us next time for: Thunderstorm, or, "Just Deserts!"


Maps without CROWNs: 10.

If ya'll manage to overthrow this empire then I really hope you do something about the inflation; these prices have really gotten out of control.

I mean the general idea was to zip around the map with a paladin and some angels to bump up reputation by liberating cities, but uh

that means I'm pulling cards and we've all seen how that's gone so far

*mad cackling intensifies*

12. Rumor Has It



Before we move to the next map, there's some business to take care of. First, Deneb:

Hang on a second, OK?

Presto! Look, look! I made it! The `Glass Pumpkin`! If you use this, you'll be able to recruit Pumpkins! But it will only work for beautiful witches like me! Good luck with it!

That's a pretty narrow range of applications, then. Let's visit her again.



And that's it. Deneb will only join you if your reputation is bad, and while ours was flagging for a while, it's impeccable these days. Just try to pec it. You can't.

I didn't realize there was a reputation requirement. I have very little interest in recruiting Pumpkins (they are not very good), so this was a waste of time and money. Let's move on.



Back in Diaspola, we run into Seven of Borgnine, a self-asserted Stupendous Wizard.



Are they... collectible?



Hey, we sure will. You take care now.

In exchange for the DEMON a little girl gave us, we get our choice of 10,000 Goth, an Undead Staff, or a Stone of Dragos. We've found a STAFF and a DRAGOS, so there's less urgency for either of them, but the 10,000 Goth is not a consideration, and we'd rather have an extra Sorcerer. That said, we won't be using this just yet.



One last item of business. Norn's squad is the same as when we fought her: Shaman and two Titans. The Titans are OK, but they're nothing special, and as large units, they're taking two slots. I swap one out for Lans and Honma. I'm still not sold on Honma, but we gotta give the guy a chance. Norn gets the same treatment as Aisha, class-changing to Valkyrie immediately to take advantage of that massive INT. For a high-ranking priestess, she's not very pious, is she?



We're headed to the Valley of Kastro now, where a storm is brewing. This is new content for me; I have definitely never played this map before.



(♫ Sandstorm - recommended)

The first thing you'll notice about this map is its shape. Don't adjust your picture -- it actually is quite a bit wider than usual.

The next notable feature is the new terrain type: deserts. There is no Desert movement type, but Mountain move type gets a bonus in the desert. With the huge river running through the desert (for some reason??), you have to wonder if you wouldn't just be better off with an Ocean unit.

Finally, this is the first map to have no hidden cities. I bet that drove a lot of players crazy back before you could just look this stuff up online!

Also, is that a misspelled Ys reference up north?



I start things off, as usual, with a flurry of deployments. Unfortunately, we have some pretty key units on the bench for this map: Bert and Olli, our only High Sky squad); Serephine and Turtle, our brute squad; and Aisha, Destil, and Zeebs, our nuke squad. They've all become too strong. It shouldn't be too much longer before we've got a fully promoted army, and at that point, we can afford to let some squads get out of control, but for now, we're still keeping a tight rein on their ALI and CHA.



Ovelia is the first to liberate, pulling Worst Card. The town tells us the valley was created by the river, then tells us how big the river is.



Gerad pulls a Sun card, reseting the clock.

In the true army of the Highlands, which guards the center of the Empire, there are many Paladins. As a matter of fact, just last year for the first time in the Highland's history a woman was promoted to Paladin. I think it was Rauny, the daughter of the house of Vinzalf.

A Paladin is a promoted Knight, which is a male-only job, so Ogre Battle is either getting suddenly progressive with its gender politics or lax with its translation. This isn't our first time hearing the name Rauny, but it's the first time we've had any context for the name.



Vaeryn finds something that the game informs us is a "Chaos Gate." No indication of how to use it just yet, but there it is!



Our evil unit gets +2 ALI, which isn't what I would term "LUCKY!!," but it's not a bad thing, either.

Please be careful! The assassin that was sent by the Empire is around here somewhere. He's killed 20 people while running away from the Empire. Watch out for him!

If he was sent by the Empire, why's he running from them??



Ashe digs up a Sword of Heroes, which is a Physical weapon that gives STR+11. Physical is often the least desirable attack type, but we also don't have many Physical weapons.



The tarot train keeps on rolling as Ashe liberates another town. This town tells us they hate the Empire but love the Paladins.



We have first contact with the enemy at this point, over halfway across the map from our base. The enemy doesn't deploy troops immediately, which is generous. The enemy unit is a Raven Man and two Cockatrices. With only Physical damage, they can't do much to a front row of Knights, but their superior AGI makes it hard for us to land many hits, so we only have a slight edge.



Naval squares off against a Ninja Master, whose Ninjutsu magic hits our entire team. They're generally less scary than Mages, who hit harder and whose Magic can access more elements than Ninjutsu, which lacks Black and Physical. With the Ghost up front, this is the only damage we take this fight.



Par for the course as Gerad liberates the northmost city.

Have you heard? There's some kind of monster in the valley! It looks like a beautiful woman, but it's actually a giant scorpion! It's killed 20 people already! Kinda' scary, huh?

A giant scorpion does not even slightly resemble a beautiful woman. But that number sure is familiar, huh?



Vaeryn goes behind enemy lines to dig up a Royal Crown, not to be confused with a Royal Crown. See, we equipped a Royal Crown on Serephine the Octopus, and we used a Royal Crown on Serephine the Princess. I hope that clears up any confusion!



You'd think I was rigging these pulls. By way of apology, perhaps, the game donates a second Thunder Whip.

The Empire is currently on the wrong road. Endora has fallen under Rashidi's black magic...

...and become his slave. The people of the Highland are now becoming slave to Endora. All of the honourable warriors are leaving the Empire. All who are left have lost their souls, (sic)

My father is one of those who has lost his soul. You of the rebellion are the only ones who can stop the Empire. Please help the people of the Highland. Can I ask this favor of you? (no)

Oh. I suppose the Highlands were doomed to this fate.

I am nothing if not committed to bringing you coverage of the dumb choices Ogre Battle allows you to make.



Rauny is a free get as long as you visit this particular temple with your opinion leader.

Which is to say that most uninformed players will probably miss Rauny.



But before we can take a look at Rauny, Buge liberates another city, showing the staggering tarot variety on display in this game.

I heard a beautiful dancing girl who escaped from the Empire is here. But rumour is...

...that she's actually the Empire's greatest assassin. I wonder if that's true?

I heard she's actually a giant scorpion. I wonder if that's true?



Here's Rauny: not actually a Paladin. But she is a Muse -- a promoted Valkyrie -- with above-average INT. After Norn and Aisha, it'll take a bit more than that to really impress us, but she's only a couple points worse. Decidedly less impressive are her Hellhound cohorts, who join at level 12, one shy of promoting to Cerberus.



I don't exactly have a huge surplus of usable characters on the benches, so I kick Honma out and sub Rauny into Norn's squad. Sorry, Honma! Today's not your day. Tomorrow's looking iffy as well.



The enemy is literally fielding their own Cerberus at this very moment (flying in the face of the actual level requirement). Rauny's starting squad is a literal slap in the face.



Gerad pulls from a dead enemy an item that promotes a class we won't be using into a slightly less bad class that we also won't be using. Charmingly, at least, a promoted Pumpkin is called a "Halloween."



Vaeryn proves other cards do exist. Sadly, Vaeryn's squad is a little too goody-two-shoes at the moment. We'll have to reduce their ALI before he or his Wyrms can promote, and the incoming Ninja squad is unlikely to be of any assistance in that regard.



No. Is that a beatiful woman and/or giant scorpion?

He's the head of the House of Vinzalf, and the person closest to Empress Endora. General Hikash is in charge of both the 4 Vedas and the entire Imperial Army. He is in the highest position a warrior could hope for, and has always been admired for his sense of honour. Don't you think it's strange that a man as noble as that is involved with Rashidi?

(if we say yes) The Overlord also has a beautiful daughter. Even though she's a woman, she became a warrior, and has become a Paladin in the service of Empress Endora.

This is a pretty clear case of not getting the whole picture unless you can see both sides of the conversation. It's also a very clear case of misspelling "Devas."



I suddenly remember that we haven't used this map's shop. This is the first time we've seen ALL HEAL for sale, and while they tend to be less cash-efficient than individual healing, that's not always the case, and they're way more convenient.



Norn and Rauny join the fray. Remember when I said it'd take more to impress us? This is Rauny impressing us. A second Thunder (yes, she gets two, why do you ask) clears out the enemy entirely. Muses don't have the flexibility of a Sorcerer, but they make up for it by being the best class in the game that doesn't require a rare item to access.



Ovelia liberates this temple, which tells us not to believe everything we hear, because most of it is lies. Does that mean there's no assassin and no giant scorpion?

Maybe the real assassin was the friend we made along the way (Rauny, that is).



We positioned Vaeryn to take the brunt of the attacks intended for Ovelia. It's worked for the most part, but some stragglers get in, and one of them drops a LUK. We're way ahead on promotion items, but Eddie has gotten more stat boosters. I think we got the better deal.



Wow. What a creep.

Rauny's path of destruction has led her to the boss somewhat prematurely: there's still a temple and a city on this map we haven't liberated. I guess that'll give us a reason to return.

Ares: No. I was sent by Baron Apros. Your fiance.

'I'm crazy about her... I can't live without her...' Please. I can't believe I got involved in this. But I've been promised millions of Goth just for finding you. Come on. It's time to go.

Rauny: You've got to be kidding! I'd rather die than go back there! But I'll take you with me, of course!

Ares: Quite the tomboy, aren't you? Well, let's see if you fight as well as you talk! The Baron did say 'dead or alive'! Hah, hah, hah!!!

Rauny sure picked a winner.



Ares himself is no slouch... but those are garden-variety Ninjas, and we've been fighting Ninja Masters all map. This fight isn't even worth a tarot card.



And so concludes the Valley of Kastro, full of disappointment and devoid of giant scorpions.



But what's this? Someone's been building castles in the sky! The power of the Chaos Gate we found has opened the way to the floating island Muspelm. That's a story for another day, though.

Next time, we'll definitely break step with Eddie, as there's something else I've been wanting to take care of. Please look forward to it!

Probably not. Each map has a theme for naming its towns, and the theme for this one is Central Asia, so it's more likely that both this town and the Ys region are named after Fergana, Uzbekistan.

I'm guessing that "Paladin" is a military rank in the Highlands, so it would be possible to have the rank of Paladin regardless of actual character class. Kind of like how Zalbag in Final Fantasy Tactics is referred to as a Holy Knight, but his actual character class is Arc Knight.

Welcome back once again! Like Mogri, we're taking our ball and heading towards the Valley of Kastro for our next Scene.





Our widest map to date, the enemy takes advantage of all this desert to deploy a number of "Mountain" moving units to help speed them along. There is some danger in spreading yourself too thin, as units will move to almost any liberated city to recapture it.

Staunch the flow at Shaf'Zahbs, Yangully and Geral Abad before capturing Almata or Gelgahnna so you don't spread yourself too thin.

As Mogri pointed out, this map has our first Chaos Gate! Whatever unit is wielding BRUNHILD (in our case, our Opinion Leader MOGRI) should visit it.



And away we go!





MOGRI quickly grabs the Chaos Gate. We will explore it next update.



He also finds a neutral Red Dragon on his way back in the mountains. There are Black Dragons on this stage too found in the Desert, and Wyrms around the edge of the map. None of them are particularly amazing but if you are looking to raise a dragon army...




IRON Gloves might be leading in "most worthless item yet" giving a measly +2 Physical defense. Blech.



LANS and his crew can use another level so I have him lead the charge.



An ICE Charm follows the list of disappointing items, giving a measly +5 Cold Defense.



"The Empire is currently on the wrong road. Endora has fallen under Rashidi's black magic... and become his slave. The people of the Highland are now becoming slave to Endora. All of the honourable warriors are leaving the Empire. All who are left have lost their souls.

My father is one of the those who has lost his soul. You of the Rebellion are the only ones who can stop the Empire. Please help the people of the Highland."



For a powerful Muse, we sure can!





RAUNY will be one of your strongest characters when you join (especially if you've not had a CROWN randomly drop for you). Her unit is two Hellhounds which are pretty lame.





I end up cobbling together a unit with NORN, one of NORN's Titans, and a spare Skeleton I found. A mish-mash of a unit, but the plan is for Skeleton to be a wall while RAUNY and the Titan clean up from the rear.

(NORN is probably not optimal in this unit but I wanted to make sure she got some EXP.)



CHA is, as you have probably guessed from similar items, an item that raises a unit's CHA by 5 to 10 points. Not nearly as useful as ALI items but handy to have if a unit is just out of range of promoting due to a low CHA score.





I have some trouble defending Geral Abad, but lukcily BOOTS allow me to bring reinforcements quickly.



ASHE's Angels hit level 11, letting them transform into Cherubims. One problem however...



Only one of my angels can upgrade!



LAURIE here has essentially managed to not kill anything during her time with ASHE, causing her CHA to stagnate at her starting value of 50. This is the problem sometimes when you've only got one attack.

Using that CHA I picked up is not really an option at this point; she needs 60 CHA and I would need to roll really well for that to work.



Instead I manipulate what my units attack to try and score her some kills.



It works well enough that no matter how bad the CHA rolls she'll qualify to class change.

(Not pictured: rolling a perfect 10 on the CHA boost anyway.)

While defending a town, JACK gets caught with me forgetting to REVIVE one of his Red Dragons. I use a Fool tarot to chase the enemy away to ensure he has a fighting chance of winning a combat against a Ninja Master.





JACK's unit is pretty weak for this point in the game so I use my best Judgement and give him a hand.







Ice BANDANA provides Cold Defense +7, Fire Defense -9.

Seriously not a good map for item drops this roll around.



I pull the customary "World Tarot at the end of the map from the last liberated city" card.







ARES: "No. I was sent by Baron Apros. Your fiance. 'I'm crazy about her... I can't live without her...' Please. I can't beleive I got involved with this. But I've been promised millions of Goth just for finding you. Come on. It's time to go."

RAUNY: "You've got to be joking! I'd rather die than go back there! But I'll take you with me, of course!"

ARES: "Quite the tomboy, aren't you? Well let's see if you fight like you talk!









ARES may not be much of a threat (especially with our Skeleton attracting all enemy attacks) but I use an Emperor card to try and make it quick.






Not so quick unfortunately.



I swap ISKYUS the Titan to the front row and give him the EUROS Sword I found on an earlier map, and give BUGSY the Skeleton a PRISTINE Sword.



No one makes a Fool out of me!



That does the trick.



Horray!



With the Chaos Gate discovered, it opens up passage to a floating continent. It's never discussed how we move a whole dang army up there, but I assume it's our High Flying units doing a lot of work.

I'm excited to know where Mogri goes, because I'm heading to the island!

Join us next time for "The Paladin," or, "THEY SHOULD REALLY INSTALL A FENCE!"

Maps without CROWNs: 11.

I mean, I think you just step into the gate once it's been opened?

Ooohhh, yeah.

How would that even work? Do you step in gates regularly and end up on floating islands? Come on Destil please be realistic

- Eddie