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

Welcome back! Today we clear up the Balmorian Ruins, a map that Mogri has already been to.





Another large map, liberating and then holding Chinnchalta, Kannyate and Sel'Pasch and the temple in between are your top priorities until you've struck the last enemy unit down. Flying armies that beeline to your base at Allelta can (mostly) be caught then, although there is a water unit that can sneak past if you aren't careful.

The real challenge for this map (by at least, Ogre Battle's definition of "challenge") is that after doing the sky island maps our high ALI units are WAY overleveled for enemies that max out at level 15.

This makes it a map where my low ALI armies will have to take point, with high ALI armies trailing after them to do the liberating.



A number of my armies fly so we get a pretty good start.



Many of the enemy armies have no special movement capabilities so will hop islands to get to their destinations.



MUSASHI's army can melt through most of these armies...



... but has to be careful with their undead units with others. Luckily I'm swimming in Fool Tarots so I scare this group off and find another unit to take them on.



My units are all doing well with their promotions but it never hurts to have some of these just in case.



Two maps in a row baby



All deployed units: +1 INT



Apologies if some of these look like repeats! It's basically impossible (especially playing maps weeks apart) to remember if I've gotten some of these before.

DEMON Hammer's provide +12 STR, -4 INT and a Black attack.



All deployed units: +1 INT, +2 ALI



All deployed units: +2 INT, +2 ALI



FLAME Charms = +3 Fire Defense (...)



All deployed units: +2 INT, +1 LUK, +2 ALI



OK this item is noteworthy. RELIC Swords provide a massive +24 STR and Black Attack. They also provide -16 INT but you weren't realistically putting one of these on a caster anyway!

This is the most STR an item can give. It's really only held back because Black damage is the least useful damage type in most situations.



All deployed units: +2 INT, +1 LUK, +4 ALI



All deployed units: +1 HP, +2 INT, +1 LUK, +4 ALI




All deployed units: +1 HP, +2 INT, +1 LUK, +6 ALI

(We are getting pretty pious overall.)



Completely useless, but better than drawing a tarot card that inflicts a penalty right?



EARTH Charm is at least not a FLAME Charm, providing +3 Fire, Ice and Lightning Defense.



All deployed units: +3 HP, +2 INT, +1 LUK, +6 ALI



All deployed units: +4 HP, +2 INT, +1 LUK, +6 ALI

FIRE Staffs are kind of junk too, but I've got plenty of units that could use the +3 INT it provides (not the Fire attack tho).



All deployed units: +4 HP, +3 INT, +1 LUK, +6 ALI



Neutral recruits this map include level 10 Rock Golems, level 15 Wraiths, and level 10 Black Dragons. I have no idea why I take this one as I'm never going to use them.



You can do worse than the +5 Physical and +8 Thunder defense that a THUNDER Helmet provides.



All this low-level unit snacking has made GILBERT's Wyverns fat (and evil).



GILBERT meanwhile is... a saint?



HYDRA charms provide +4 STR, a Fire Attack, +6 Physical Defense and +8 Fire Defense. They also make you the enemy of Captain America!



Once again, this map provides huge benefits to our INT based classes over our STR based ones with a grand total of +4 HP, +5 INT, +1 LUK, +6 ALI for all our deployed units.







Like Mogri, we grab SARADIN. His unit sucks, so we disband him and team him with some RAVENMANs and a Demon we have lying around. Another flying low ALI unit is just what the doctor ordered!



We beef SARADIN's RAVENMANs up, including one that is the lucky recipient of that RELIC Sword we got earlier.



(I also find our that I missed last map that VENUS, the Shaman that got overleveled in Princess MILLEU's part can evolve into a Monk! Monks trade their single target heal for a party-wide heal. That makes them incredible against units that deal multi-unit damage.





Let's go old man!





ALBELEO hits luck a truck, but so does SARADINs army (backed by a use of an Emeperor Tarot).



Horray! We've got a little bit of cleanup left to do however!



First up is getting a MEDAL which sells for a nice 135,000 Goth.



We also grab the Chaos Gate here, even through we don't need it as it leads to the floating island of Organa (where we fought Fenril). As it turns out, Mogri is correct that BOWIE can find it even without having BRUNHILD equipped!



OK well this Ice BANDAN was a waste of time to get (+7 Cold Defense, -9 Fire Defense).



That's a wrap! Tune in next time for "Snow Field," or, "SNOW PROBLEM!"

We're going on another brief hiatus, but we'll take this time to vote on the ultimate fate of Ovelia.

There are 12 endings to Ogre Battle. Eddie is aiming for the World ending, and the Emperor, Hierophant, and Sun endings are male-only. Our remaining choices are:

• Empress: The female version of Emperor, obviously. It's the "good" ending that's not the "best" ending, which makes it a bit boring.
• Priestess: Female Hierophant. Ovelia finds love.
• Moon: Female Sun. Ovelia begins a new journey: this kingdom's not big enough for the two of us.
• Chariot: Ovelia keeps doing what she does best.
• Hanged Man: The others fear that Ovelia will keep doing what she does best.
• Death: Ovelia is the new Rashidi.
• Tower: Ovelia is the new Endora.
• Devil: Ovelia gives the Brunhild to a devil. Hijinks ensue.

Caveat: While I'll do my best to achieve our chosen ending, there's a non-negligible chance I'll screw it up and get a different one instead. Some of the endings are more finicky than others.

Give your sword to Satan.


*DRAMATIZATION*

Since Eddie's going for the absolute best, you might as well go for what's (probably) the worst ending in the game.

Moon!

I think I got the Emperor ending on my playthrough so I would like to see something other than this.

Hang that Man!

18. The Reign of Ovelia



Welcome back to Let's Play Ogre Battle, where we've made some slight modifications to Ovelia's squad.



Today, we're headed to the Kalbi Peninsula, which sounds delicious.



This is our first map with snow of any sort, and yet the snow manages to be almost totally inconsequential: there's an excellent system of roads through the snow fields. And here I was all set to bust out my Silver Dragons for that rare Snow move type!

Of note: there's only one hidden city and one temple on the map, so there's not a lot for your low-ALI units to liberate if you don't want to take a reputation hit.



Ovelia and the big guys are first to liberate. The men in front will appreciate the STR.

The temple asks us if we were able to find Brunhild. Yep, we're keeping it safe... for now



Then, we kick things up a notch with a World pull. I've deployed all our favorite squads: Kahran, DEDMET, Serephine, Norn, and Aisha are all here for killing times, and Gerad and Bert are here for moral support.

One of the 4 Devas, General Figaro, is in Kalbia Castle, on the south west tip of the peninsula. Ever since Zenobia Castle was liberated, the whole continent has been in turmoil. I'm sure that the Empire has sent him here to stop you once and for all.

He's welcome to try...



Bert locates a Chaos Gate. This is just another portal to Organa. In fact, I think we've located all the relevant Chaos Gates already.



HP for errybody!

I heard that General Figaro is the best swordsman of the 4 Devas. He's developed a special attack which is said to have cut a dragon in half with one blow! Not only that, but he's a Black Knight like Gares! You don't stand a chance!

If you were looking forward to rounding out your Deva collection, this is your first clue that's not going to happen.



Gerad nets us our first "bad" pull of the map, although it's inconsequential in the bigger scheme of things.

The townsfolk warn us that the Imperial forces here are "the real deal," and they point out that, hey, moron, it's cold on this map.



Kahran makes first contact with the enemy. The Gryphons land their Gales before we can act, and our physical attackers don't exactly pull their weight, but Kahran still wipes out the Valkyrie and one of the Gryphons.



Serephine snags us another disappointing pull. This town informs us that Rashidi is here! In Kalbia! That strikes me as unlikely!



This Black Armor is Physical +8, Black +4, White -3. You'd expect a bit more Black resistance from something with that name.

I can't find any of the other treasures shown on the map, so this is it for today.



DEDMET is casually destroying formations with multiple Clerics without losing the Ghost.



Oops. The plan was to have DEDMET camp the enemy base, but he got just a touch too close.

Looks like you're too late, though. Rashidi has already gone to the Sky Islands. He is as powerful as a god... No! More powerful than a god! With power as great as that, even the 3 High Knights don't stand a chance. Well, gentlemen, it's time for me to take revenge for Debonair!

Did I call that one or what?



Anyway, Figaro can't deal so much as a point of damage to me with his setup (Ghosts OP), and I can take him out in a single fight (Liches OP). I didn't want to finish this map just yet, though, so I run. It's a pretty embarrassing showing for the boss, though!



Ovelia's squad enters combat for the first time! I'm so excited about this that I don't stop to think about undeads. Gotta get some White weapons on the boys when this is over.

We still win, but only because they do about 15 total damage.



Gerad makes up for the Hanged Man and then some. A monk in this town gives us the Forest Pendant. The item you get here is dependent on your reputation, but they're all vendor trash.



Bert liberates the hidden city and pulls another meaningless card. They tell us the Empire has found a Chaos Gate, and that finding them without Brunhild would require no less than the Mage Rashidi himself. That or a walkthrough, in my experience.



Serephine pulls a second World card, which does nothing, but since it's arguably the best card in the game, we won't complain.

The town asks us if we want to know which monsters like the cold. If you say yes, they'll tell you Golems, Ice Giants, and Platinum Dragons, and do you have any? If you refuse, they'll tell you the monsters that hate heat... which leads to the same text box.



Hey Eddie

guess what

Man, what do I even do with this many Princesses?



I can't complain about tarot luck right after snagging a(nother) Crown, I guess. This town makes an oblique reference to the Chaos Gate up north.



Ovelia liberates the penultimate town. L-lucky!

This town tells us Rashidi came here to use the Chaos Gate. We hadn't been told this in so many words, but it was pretty clear.



Gerad, who has been doing a lot of walking today, snags the final town. They tell us they used to be a vital port between Malano and Zenobia, but now the ships sit unused.



Nothing left to do. Let's do this.

Debonair: It's been a long time, Figaro. I've come to meet you (sic)

Figaro: What are you doing with the Rebels? And what do you mean, you've come to meet me?

Debonair: Wake up, Figaro! The Empire is finished!

Figaro: What? Are you turning traitor? Are you betraying the Highlands?!

Debonair: Her highness is not who we knew before... Look at this country! The people don't even have food to put into their mouths! They're starving! And yet people like Apros stuff their bellies and destroy our honour! We of the Highlands do not follow the Way of Barbarians! We don't desire the evil power of black magic!

Figaro: Unsheathe your sword. Unsheathe it, Debonair!! I swore an oath to Endora. An oath of eternal service. I cannot break that oath! On my honour, on the honour of the 4 Devas, I must fight you!

From a certain perspective, Figaro is the most honorable of the Devas.



From another perspective, Figaro is about to get his butt handed to him.



I'll give him this, though: he nearly killed Fenril.

Live your life according to what you believe... Take this... sword...

Debonair: Don't speak! Just be still, Figaro!

Figaro: Take care of... Her... Highness for me...

Debonair: Figaro! Don't die... You can't die!...

That rings a little hollow coming from the guy who dealt the killing blow.



The Durandal is a Black-aligned sword with STR+12, and it's really the only indication that Figaro is any sort of Black Knight. We have a pretty extensive collection of Black swords at this point, so let's not have the pot call the kettle Black.

Anyway, that wraps things up for today. Join us next time as we crown a new Princess!

W... why do I even...

- Eddie

Welcome back to HARD MODE Ogre Battle where we make do without being incredibly lucky at getting powerful random drops!

We're doing the same map as Mogri, so I at least get to relax while I grind my teeth to the gums!





As Mogri mentioned, this is a pretty straight-forward map. The only consideration you need to watch out for are enemy units flying northeast towards your base. A good Mountain or flying unit should be able to intercept most.

Enemy units are capping at level 13 this scene, so if you're like me (and boasting level 15+ units) then your low ALI armies are going to be doing all the killing this map.



A FLAME Sword is certainly a weapon you can find (+6 STR, Fire attack).

I also find another HEROES Sword (+11 STR) and Ice BANDANA (+7 Cold Defense, -9 Fire Defense).





Your low ALI armies should only potentially have trouble with the smattering of undead enemies. White weapons work just as well on Wraiths and Werewolves as on any other unit.



I may not find a CROWN (*sob* I'll probably never find a CROWN) but I do get another MERCHANT (in case I want to buy some stat-boosting items a second time) along with a PROMOTE and a HP.



Like Mogri I get a Forest PENDANT to sell at my leisure from one of the temples.







With my high levels, this map gets tied up pretty quickly. I bring DEBONAIR (part of NORN's unit along with AISHA and my Dragoons) to the boss with some BOOTS to ensure I don't have to pay any upkeep (this unit costs about 10% of my total money to deploy!).





It's not much of a fight as you may expect.







There is so much power in this unit that Figaro is dead pretty quick like.



DURANDAL is... a somewhat underwhelming weapon! Not bad, not great. Like Mogri noted, it grants +12 STR and a Black attack.



Horray.



Well that's another map steam-rolled. Out next map is going to be bringing some powerful units to bear on us tho, so look forward to that!

Next time: Scene 18: Imprisonment, or TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL!

Maps since bitching that I have not found a random CROWN: 0.

19. Mage of Lowly Caliber



Welcome back to Let's Play Ogre Battle, where I've figured out what to do with my spare Crown. Aisha becomes the first Princess in our army to lead a Lich. Someday, I'm going to take the gloves off and create True Doom Murdersquads, losing the chaff like the Cerberus in Aisha's squad, but for today, I'm fine knowing that this is more than enough to kill anything that looks at me funny.



Today, we'll be sacking Antalia, which is a large, mostly-empty map:



The bluish areas are swamps. You can get Swamp move type from black dragons, I think, but then you'd have to have a black dragon on the squad. As always, you're better off flying. Of note: the enemy base is surrounded on three sides by walls and on all sides by cliffs. Anything that's not flying will arrive there very slowly.

The music for this stage and the last is ♫ Santa's Coming, and it comes highly recommended. I would've linked it in the last stage, but at the time I thought it was a misprint, because while this was played on a snowy stage, it really doesn't sound Santalike in the least.



Buge is first to liberate on this map. We're warned against fighting at night, but guess when DEDMET does his best killing.



Gerad pulls a Chariot card, which would be a nice bonus if he ever saw combat. The town tells us that Antalia is called the 'Land of Imprisonment,' even though they don't know what's imprisoned here. Then why would you call it that??



Bert and Olli discover another Chaos Gate. This is the first one in some time to head somewhere we haven't been.



DEDMET encounters the foe. This battle is pretty much a stalemate: the Mage dies before he can contribute, and the Ghosts attack our Ghost. Our Cockatris is equipped to kill undead, but it goes for the Mage first and whiffs the second attempt. The other enemy squad, led by a Demon, is not so lucky and dies ignominiously after failing to deal so much as a point of damage.



Monk is a female-only class.

Nevertheless, he began to dabble in necromancy, the summoning of the dead, and was relieved of his duties. He was commanded to come here and complete his research by Rashidi. If Omicron is not stopped, a whole army of undead will be created!

Necromancy is a fine hobby for a man of the cloth, I think. But are we to believe that Rashidi couldn't figure out how to summon the dead? Or is he just appreciative of someone who shares his interests? Maybe Rashidi was too busy to create an army of the undead? Yeah, we'll go with that.



Bert digs up Iron Gloves, which grant +2 Physical resistance. Is there a more underwhelming item in the game? I posit that there is not.



Gerad continues liberating up north.

There are many ghosts and skeletons in the wastes. Many of them due to the results of his experiments, I'm sure. Ugh. It makes me sick.

It's not clear what necromancy entails in the world of Ogre Battle, but this reaction suggests it's slightly more involved than casting a spell.



nosimpleway snags this town.

...heavens with them, but most of them were captured or killed by the Empire. As a matter of fact, the current Head Angel is also imprisoned here.

Well, that answers that!



Ovelia liberates the next city, which tells us where to find the hidden temple. It's a good thing we liberated them in this order, or this town's dialogue wouldn't make much sense!



Aisha discovers the hidden temple, snagging a good card and a bad item (Physical+5).

...back to the heavens, but I was captured by Rashidi. It is strictly forbidden that we deal with mortals unless a contract has been created. We have been granted a contract with the rebel forces, but... it is absolutely forbidden by the gods that we create a contract with Rashidi. Nonetheless, my sister Mizal fell in love with Rashidi. The contract they created between them is still in effect, and that is why we must come to the earth and fight. I can't believe that the angels are fighting each other. Please! Make a contract with me, and let me help her!

Not without reading the fine print!



Harsh. But accurate.



Yushis fact: If you keep her on the bench, she has violated her oath.



Yushis is the third-last special character in the game. She's a Cherubim (sic) with two Angels and a Falselogic. Cherubim is the first promotion for Angel; at level 22, Yushis can promote to Seraphim as long as she has sufficient CHA. Ironically, because she's not a human, she has no ALI requirement...



nosimpleway liberates the next one. This town tells us that Mizal has teamed up with Rashidi, which we already know.



And Gerad finishes up the map with this card. Omicron shows up to taunt us:

My, what a fine collection of fighters you have there... I could use them in my research... Please be sure not to get wounded, OK? That would ruin the spell. You'll like what I can do for you. I'll see you soon.

Sounds legit! Unrelatedly, did you know Liches can "promote" into Skeletons? It's a one-way process, though!



As we close in on the enemy base, Aisha encounters an interesting enemy unit. Three Honmas!

They all die.



Bert digs up an Ogre Shield (Physical+18, Black+21). Now we're talking!

...is what I'd say if I ever equipped armor. I guess I can stick this onto Zeebs, who's taking a beating in Aisha's front line.



Ovelia rounds out the map by digging up a duplicate Ice Axe.



Bert sees combat by accident, somehow coming out on top despite a level disadvantage. Ovelia cleans up this squad.



Gerad sees combat -- this time on purpose. His weak squad has no problem taking out the enemy, who has a severe vulnerability to Shamans.



And Aisha does battle on the elusive cliffside terrain.



After taking out several more "Mage plus undead" squads, Gerad and friends are ready to promote. Only the Shaman needs a few more levels to reach her final form.



It's go time. This is a weird opener, given that you could reach Omicron without destroying a single undead unit.

You'll pay for this with your lives!

Omicron is a man of few words.



Omicron is a Sorcerer flanked by four Evil Ones. The Evil Ones aren't worth getting worked up over, but Omicron himself is easily able to tear through a weaker squad, dealing about 80 damage to everyone with both of his attacks.



But what's that to a Princess and a Lich? Zeebs snags the killing blow on Omicron, and we take this one home.



Our end-of-map bonus amounts to almost exactly half of Eddie's entire treasury as of the time he faced down Figaro. This is less of a commentary on the amount of money we're getting than it is on how poor Eddie is.



The Chaos Gate in this map is the first one we've discovered that doesn't lead to a floating island. Seems like we could've gotten there ourselves! But we won't explore Antanjyl just yet. Join us next time for a quarrel between sisters!

Welcome back! We're doing the same map as Mogri, so this will be a pretty quick update.





This map is partially tricky as there is a literal giant swamp (And some lowlands) between the enemy base and civilization. There is also only one temple to revive units (for both you and the enemy) that is hidden in the mountains in the middle of the map.

Enemy flying units are pretty straightforward; it's the non-flying units that will move strangely. The terrain causes them to exit Kander Hall from the south and skirt along the south edge of the map until they hit the mountains. They'll then zig-zag through the swamp near staying close to the mountain. When they emerge (around the point halfway through the Chaos Gate and Dauo Dahl) they can head straight north to your base at Bahmyan, completely passing every other town.

We're still slightly ahead on enemy levels, so we're going to be sending our low ALI units to intercept as many enemy units as possible.

We'll want to go there to recruit our next required character for the best ending, the angel YUSHIS, from the temple, so it's a good place to defend on the map. Otherwise stick some defenders on Bil'Jand and Kelluman, and be prepared for a few units to sneak their way to your base at Bahmyan.



Omicron is a necromancer, so of course expect a lot of undead units. Pass out your White aligned weapons as required.



This is a unique Chaos Gate that leads to a new map, so make sure to grab it!



The MALACHITE Sword is a very sweet weapon, granting a whopping +17 STR (and a Cold attack).



! ! !



Not that we needed it, but I guess we'll use this CROWN, but only because we've got limited inventory spaces right?



I chose AISHA for two reasons. The first is that she has a naturally high INT. Secondly, her unit was underwhelming; Nixie's ain't all that once you're flooded with units that can multi-attack enemy armies, they merely become "OK." This will make the unit pretty good into the late game.

I also found a CHARM, a PROMOTE and a CHA because items were dropping everywhere.



WHITE Fang is not a good doggo, but a necklace that grants White Defense +5.



As per above, YUSHIS is one of the character's necessary for the "World" ending.



Cherubims are mediocre, but as Mogri mentioned they become quite good when they promote at level 22 to get an area-effect attack called, uh, JIHAD.

Her pair of Cherubim attendents have poor CHA and ALI, with only 50 in each. While YUSHIS has a CHA of 65 and an ALI of 75 (making her close to hitting the 70 CHA and 80 ALI needed to promote) her friends are too far away to likely hit those thresholds without a lot of help. You can do it (and this map is a good place to do it), but for me, they're heading back to heaven along with their golem friend as I don't want to spent the time to do so.



NEIL dropped his Armour again (Physical +7).



This map is a great place to spike a unit's CHA or ALI as there are level 21 Undead hanging around the swamp. If you want to encounter them, I recommend using a flying unit as units tend to automatically skirt around the swampy areas.



More armour, this time a THUNDER Helm (Physical defense + 5, Lightning defense + 8).



Anyway Omicron has to join his creations in death.



Like Mogri when I have problems that look like nails, using a hammer like a Lich is a good solution.



Horray!



I disband YUSHIS's unit, although I don't have a good place for her in one of my armies yet. Once I get some of my high ALI armies to level 18 I'll toss her in somewhere.



I go back for a random treasure I missed as well as a guarenteed item. The missed item is a fabulous EUROS Sword (STR + 15, INT + 3, Cold Attack).





We also get another STAFF to turn Saradin into a Sorcerer (finally).





I also take the time to hunt a Phantom so one of MOGRI's Knights who has been struggling slightly with his CHA and ALI to make sure all his units can upgrade when they collectively hit level 15.

We're now roughly halfway through the game, and this is a good place to take the temperature of how your game is going. If you're going for a "good" ending, your Reputation Bar should be more or less full. Your Opinion Leader should also be living with a high ALI and a realtively low level compared to your other units.

If things are going poorly, there is probably still time to course correct as long as you've managed to still recruit all the required special characters. This stage is a perfect place to spike your Opinion Leaders ALI as necessary, but if their level is quite high make sure to try and be more careful about how you use Tarot Cards that deal damage and keep them entirely out of combat. The Opinion Leader is not a particularly strong unit so it's not a big loss to keep them "benched."



And that's a wrap! Join us next time for "White Nights," or, "WHITE KNIGHTS!"

Maps since I totally haven't bitched about not finding a random CROWN: 18.

A crown! Huzzah!!

The crownless again shall be king queen princess.

Sic? What's so sic about that?
*check online*

Oh, so cherubim is the plural form of cherub (and likewise with seraphim* and seraph).

*tinkle�

�Also, is that incense?

Our long Crownless/Staffless night is now over. Joy!

20. Sister Act



Welcome back to Let's Play Ogre Battle, where we've either turned to bad puns or turned into a romance novel.



The map this time is Tundra. Which tundra? The Tundra, thank you very much. As the name suggests, it's really snowy here. Either you've been prepping a Silver Dragon for exactly this moment, or you're going to continue using your flying units. No points for guessing our approach.



The Cerberus on Aisha's squad gets the boot to make room for Yushis. Since that leaves room, I've also added in a level 14 Knight who was sitting on the bench. Yushis herself is Low Sky, but she can't carry the rest of the squad, so we have Plains movement. Luckily, this map has roads where Yushis and Aisha want to go.



Taeryn is first to liberate. We get an inconsequential card and inconsequential dialogue.



Büge is next. This town tells us what we already know about Mizal: she fell in love with Rashidi, and that's bad.



Bert and Olli unearth an Earth Charm: Fire+3, Cold+3, Lightning+3. It's underwhelming in three different flavors!



Serephine grabs the next city, which gives some background on why it's snowy in the middle of nowhere in particular.



Because this map's cities are so spread out, Bert pulls liberation duty. This temple also has nothing useful to say.



nosimpleway rewinds time for us. The town tells us that this land has been frozen for 25 years.



Büge grabs another town, and we see an enemy en route. The town gives us a Flame Sword and advice on how to use it.



Aisha meets the enemy. They die quickly and drop some TERMITES we'll never use.



Bert continues liberating, running across a Kinder Egg shill on the way. He gives us a free sample we'll never use.



Ovelia pulls a World card -- a little later than we might have preferred, but it's usually nice to see.

The town mentions that Mizal was the Head Angel, which we may or may not have known by now.



Taeryn is ambushed by a Silver Dragon while crossing the mountains. We could recruit it, but... nah. Instead, his Wyrm and Wyvern gain a level.



What a pull! Serephine costs our entire army 1 STR.

The town says that you need permission from the Head Angel to get angels to fight for you, which explains why Rashidi has them on tap.



Bert pulls a Fortune card (+2 Reputation) and gets a random Eskendale from the temple.

Do you know the legend of the Grail? After the Ogre Battle, the Hero Lexar used it to bring together the people of the continent. King Gran also used the Grail to rule the people of Zenobia. He who holds the Grail holds the blessings of the gods, and is truly a good King.

How do you use a grail to rule people??



Compensating for her last pull, Serephine gives everyone +2 INT. This town feels really sorry for Mizal even though she's doomed us all due to her incredibly poor taste in men. OK!!



Ovelia pulls another Fortune card and "learns" about Yushis.



That enemy Angel unit we saw when Büge first liberated this town? It's finally decided to attack her. Büge is about five levels below these guys, but she pulls it off because they have bonkers bad accuracy.



nosimpleway makes our army just a touch more evil. The town tells us that there are lots of thieves due to the turmoil in the area, and we should keep on walking if we see one. Ogre Battle teaches you important life lessons!



In round two, the Angels take out Büge, but her allies make her death count. A third skirmish sees Büge wipe them out.



Ovelia digs up the Musashi Blade, a Fire weapon that gives STR+12.



The INT train keeps rolling as Aisha liberates the city nearest the enemy base. They tell us that Mizal is waiting for Rashidi to come back.



Taeryn liberates the city in the mountains. Death is not the worst card to pull when you've got a World card active.

The town tells us Mizal gave Rashidi a magic stone of unknown provenance that is said to be as powerful as the Zodiac Stones. ("Wrong game," you say? Not so fast!) Rashidi only wanted Mizal for her magic stones, it seems.



Kahran takes a beating from the Angels' White attacks, but he gives as good as he gets.



Even so, with almost every enemy able to destroy the Skeleton up front, Kahran is seriously underperforming on this map.



DEDMET, deployed to defend against the enemy Büge ended up beating, encounters an Ice Giant, allowing us to test an important question: can you befriend a rock? Not only is the answer "yes," but the rock has a little hopping animation that the monsters don't use! GOTY



nosimpleway cancels out his earlier Tower pull. This town tells us about the 3 High Knights. We have two of the three (Slust and Fenril), and spoilers the third one is coming soon.



Taeryn is on a roll with these Death pulls. The temple dialogue sums up this chapter nicely.



Ovelia finds more buried junk! This gives Cold+5, which is not entirely useless on this map.



DEDMET, relegated to treasure hunting on this map, finds Golden Armor (Physical+12).

Please... Come back with me...

Mizal: You know that I can't! I've broken the laws of the gods and made a pact with Rashidi! Not only that, but I let him get that accursed Black Diamond... How can I be forgiven?

Yushis: Mizal... Please... Come back... If you don't, I'll be forced to stop you!

Mizal: That's exactly what you should do! That's your duty! Kill me now! Restore the gods' honor to them!

Yushis: Sister!...

Mizal is, in the end, a better angel than Yushis -- not only because she can fire holy laser beams, but also because Yushis is down to 2 ALI after being part of this map's murder squad.

Said murder squad plows right through Mizal.

If you don't... the world will fall into... the hands of the Ogres... Please... Stop him...

Yushis: Mizal! Hang on!!

Mizal: ...Now I can... return to the gods... Th...ank you... Yushis......

Yushis: Mizal! Sister!! Oh, Mizal!!

Angels, even sinful ones, get to go back to the gods when they die? This is some deep stuff.



Yushis is so broken up about killing her sister that she decides the only way to cheer up is with some fireworks.



What happens if we attack Mizal without Yushis?

Even though I know what I have done, I also know that there is no way I can atone for it. I have broken the laws of the gods. All I can do now is take my punishment. Do it now!

Is it just me, or does this come across as a little... suggestive?



Anyway, we get the same victory dialogue as before whether or not Yushis is on the map. If we delete her from our army, we get no closing dialogue at all! Talk about disappointing.

Next time, things get spicy for Ovelia and company. Please look forward to it!

Welcome back! We start this episode with my favourite part of Ogre Battle games:

Housekeeping!



We use the Staff of the Dead we picked up to turn SARADIN into a full-fledged Sorcerer.



We also take the opportunity to remove JACK from a position of leadership. His problem is really that he is too low-level for a "neutral" unit. He would easily become a Doll Master if I let him stay, but what I need from this unit is a high-ALI Doll Master, but a higher level Doll Master to help the front-line dragons. They're fine but not spectacular at murdering things, so they need the help.





Luckily I happen to have a Doll Master that is sitting with KAUTS. DAVIS becomes the new leader of the Red Dragon pair.



YUSHIS meanwhile joins KAUTS. It makes for a weaker army overall, but that will change once YUSHIS is able to promote.



Housekeeping done! Onto today's scene!

Let's rock Valhalla!





The Tundra is another fairly large map. As Mogri noted, your movement outside of the roads is going to be hindered for almost every unit that can't fly, but that's not a huge deal.

The only thing you really need to watch out for on this map is that almost all of the enemy units are high-ALI ones such angels and cleric-types, and they are all hovering around level 15. This means that it's very easy to tank high-ALI units here if you are not careful. Using low-ALI armies is once again the strategy, noting that your undead units will face a lot of enemy units that can murder them.

Basic strategy is to push for Balleny, Ells Wahs and Kotz. Flying units gunning for your base may try and slip around through the mountains, so having a unit there to intercept them is not a bad idea.

Otherwise, let your low-ALI units go nuts.



A friendly reminder however that many low-ALI units are going to get hit real hard by many of the Cheribums flying around. Just keep an eye on your HP and use items are necessary.



Pop culture!



We also snag a DRAGOS stone, which as Mogri mentioned a while ago allows you to turn a unit into a male unit into Dragoner. Dragoners are honestly kind of weak, although they give Dragon-type units a slight STR boost.

They can transform into Dragon Masters at level 20, which become OK units as they trade a pair of Physical attacks from the rear into a pair of single-target Ice magic attacks from the rear. This could be a good look for our new Doll Master leader DAVIS who is building his INT up (rather than STR), but we'll need to figure out if we can manage his ALI. Dragon Masters have a strict 40-60 ALI requirement which can be tough to meet. That is roughly where the Red Dragons need to be for ALI to promote, so we'll see what we can do.



We recruit Angels here, but they don't have the ALI and CHA to promote so it's probably not worth it.



We get another BEAST item. As the units you get from these items (Fairies, Golems or Imps) have a level based off your Opinion Leader's level, these are probably going to be "not worth the effort."



Talking about whether items are good or not is getting boring so now I'm going to lazily rate them!

MIKADO Sword = STR +8. Rating: 2/5.



Like Mogri, we pull a World Tarot about halfway into the map, so while good, will not allow for maximum impact.



DEMON Mask = Physical Defense +4, Black Defense +8, White Defense -6. Rating: 2/5



BLACK Katana = STR +3, Black attack. Rating: 1/5





Swings and misses with the World Tarot.



PERIDAT Sword = STR +11, Cold attack. Rating: 3/5



All units CHA +2. Would probably be more useful if most of my units didn't already have a high CHA but I'll still take it.





Whoosh! Well, at least this Tarot is actually somewhat useful to draw on this map due to all the high-ALI enemy units...



Like as the one Mogri got, FLAME Sword = STR +6, Fire attack. Rating: 2/5.

All units: +1 AGI, +2 CHA



DWARVEN Sword = STR +7, Lightning Attack. Rating: 2/5.



"After the Ogre Battle, the Hero Lexar used it to bring together the people of the continent. King Gran also used the Grail to rule the people of Zenobia. He who holds the Grail holds the blessings of the gods, and is truly a good King.

The Grail is one of three treasures that is required for the best ending. It's either based off the legends of King Arthur, which themselves derive from Christian folklore. Anyway, juuuuuust highlighting this as we'll need to get one for ourselves later.



BYAK Fang = INT +7, Cold Defense +12. Rating: 4/5 (because good + INT items are not that common)



Really putting this World Tarot to good use over here. Total gains: +1 AGI, +2 CHA.

Let's end this map.





"Even though I know what I have done, I also know that there is no way I can atone for it. I have broken the laws of the gods. All I can do now is take my punishment. Do it now!"





Look, JIHAD hurts like a motherfucker.



But SARADIN's job is only to weaken the unit so YUSHIS can finish the job, and his army does that job nicely.



Mogri already showed off this dialogue, but I just wanted to show how merciful I was in letting that one Muse live (honestly, I just wanted to end the map before I had to pay tribute again).



Not ideal, but KAUTS's army has high enough ALI to make murdering angels acceptable.



Horray!

I missed some items rushing to beat the stage, so here is the quick clean-up:



Visiting Valhalla again nets us a SNOW CAPE = Physical Defense +11, Cold Defense +6. Rating: 2/5.



DEMON Mask = Physical Defense +4, Black Defense +8, White Defense -6. Rating: 2/5.



MUSASHI Sword = STR +12, Fire Attack. Rating: 3/5.



And that's one more map in the bag. Join us next time for "Angel," or, "The DEVIL YOU SAY!"

21. Gemini Man



Welcome back to Let's Play Ogre Battle, where we're finally fighting The Empire!

I had originally thought this was going to be Ovelia's heel turn, but it occurred to me that there's one more character to recruit who needs high reputation.



So we're heading to Fort Allamoot, which is not where we'll recruit that character.

Allamoot is a sprawling map. The map designer remembered suddenly that sea units exist in this game, so here's a stage to take advantage of the units you've benched since the Kastolatian Sea because there's not much reason to keep them around otherwise.

So, once again, this map is all about your flying units. For us, that means Ovelia, DEDMET, Bert/Olli, and Taeryn.



But to spread out liberation duty, I've deployed a few of our traditional squads. nosimpleway is first to liberate, getting a geography lesson in the process, as is customary for the early liberations on most maps.



And Gerad gets an introduction to the boss, which is also customary. It's to be bosses -- plural -- in this case. The townsperson doesn't elaborate.



Taeryn digs up a Sword of Heroes, which is STR+11 and Physical. Serviceable but uninspiring.



Ovelia liberates next, hearing rumors of the superhuman strength of the local bosses.



Bert picks up a Black Bow: STR+3, INT+2, and the obvious element. Because INT-boosting equipment is so rare, this is better than the meager numbers might suggest. (But not that much better.)



nosimpleway gets the rundown on identifying which twin is which.



Taeryn, not usually on liberation duty, takes a city to spread out the responsibilities on this map. We're told that a Red Dragon would help us out. (It wouldn't.)



Bert, in the same situation, liberates a city named Stun Creek, which is great. We're warned against associating with thieves. This probably refers to a sidequest available on this map to players with low reputation. I'm given to understand it is on the esoteric side.



Ovelia receives a very similar warning.



DEDMET finally becomes the first to meet the enemy.



We petrify an enemy Muse, preventing a party-wide Thunder, but DEDMET gets petrified in kind after firing off a single Phantom. Still, a single volley from DEDMET is better than the entire enemy team can do, even if the Ghost weren't tanking.



Bert is told not to believe everything he hears, but I'm not sure if this advice is accurate.



Ovelia is given another geography lesson. This one is unusually terse; this is the entirety of the dialogue.



Taeryn is asked for a Star Fragment. I'm not sure if we have one; it appears we do not.



nosimpleway learns that the twins have a cute name for their attack, which supposedly can kill a dragon in one blow.

How much you wanna bet our Ghost is immune to everything they can throw at us?



Combat resumes amidst heavy liberation. We petrify an Iron Golem for the sake of redundancy.



Bert finds a Dragon's Ring: STR+6, Fire+14. This is a rare combination of offense and defense that I think might count as a weapon?



Someone was looking for Ovelia! That's all we get, though. They don't seem to have cared enough to come meet her.



Taeryn gets a hot tip about pirates, but we've already been warned off of pirates.

Matagalp is a city to the east, incidentally, which Gerad is en route to liberate.



Someone other than DEDMET finally sees action. The three generals struggle to pierce the defenses of the Giants. A different elemental weapon would go a long way here (they all have White weapons), but you know who doesn't have to hotswap equipment? Liches.



Is that a Star Fragment in your pocket, or are you happy to see Bert? Both?



Crossing the desert, Taeryn encounters a neutral dragon with a well-named but ineffectual attack. If it doesn't work well against our noncombatants, I'm sure not fielding it against actual enemies.



Gerad liberates Matagalp. There are no pirates to be found, merely warnings about avoiding them.



Hey, we were looking for that guy ages ago! Of course, our reputation was a lot lower then...



More importantly, the shocking revelation that "Goth" is short for "Gothlet." Best Gothlet picture in this thread wins a no-prize, go go go!



Gerad digs up the Sword of Freud, which is a STR+19 Lightning weapon. That's really good! They don't make weapons much better than this one.



Ovelia liberates a town, recovering some of our lost reputation. Bert and Taeryn are unpopular, and we've taken a hit on this map by parading their mugs around the place. We get a lead on some sidequest I'm not gonna bother with.



Taeryn finally gets what we came here for: a Chaos Gate! This might be the last relevant gate in the game.



I literally have no idea what this is referring to. Tauros is a Pokemon.



We get an Elder Sign, like the thing from the Cthulhu games. (I'm not making this up.) This thing is amazing: STR+11, INT+5, Black+16, White+14.



Naval highlights the importance of leaving someone to cover your base. He loses, but it was a good alarm system nonetheless.

Polydeuces: How could they have gotten this close?

Castor: Well, what should we do about this?

Polydeuces: Indeed, what should we do?

Castor: I suppose we should greet them as fellow warriors.

Polydeuces: Yes, an excellent idea, Brother Castor.

Castor: Well... Welcome, Rebel Heros, to our castle!

Polydeuces: We hate to waste lives, but we cannot allow insubordination!

Castor and Polydeuces: Prepare to meet your end!

Half-giant, all-stupid.

"Hey," you say, "do you really have such little respect for this boss that you're challenging them in broad daylight with your zero-ALI team?" Yeah. That's happening.



Regrets? Well, maybe. They end up having a number of attacks to harm the back row.



They also have the absolutely delightful Gemini Attack, which involves one of the brothers kicking the other into our team. No idea if this is all it's cracked up to be, because it targeted the Ghost. Apparently, this is an instant kill on anyone it actually hits.



We kill only one of the brothers, which gives us a losing ending to the battle before telling us we've won the map. It's a little wonky, but as always, you only have to kill the actual leader to win.



And that's a wrap, so show me your Gothlets and join us as we plunge through the Chaos Gate next time!

A Talos is basically an ancient Greek giant robot (mythological, of course).

The gothlet has been thrown down.

It's also the Japanese name for the Iron Golem class.

Which also doesn't use a sword!

"An iron golem has a high STR, so if you give it a STR-boosting equip like a sword, it'll be really effective. And their defenses are really high, except for Fire." parses okay

It's still factually wrong, golems are terrible, but all together it makes internal sense.

(Or maybe they're reminiscing about how good Tauros was in gen 1, trying to get one that learned Swords Dance.)

*insert pic of the Shining Force 2 Talos boss*

Behold the Gothlet:



PSA: Image searching "gothlet" just gets you a billion pictures of some goth model.

Also: I tried more along the lines of omelet but sadly came up short.

Welcome back!



In the hustle of LPing this game, I totally forgot I had a LEXICON burning a hole in my inventory. We head to the Borders of Sharom to trade it for another UNDEAD ring.



SARADIN is the obvious second choice for a Lich so we do that.



We're taking another detour from Mogri's playthrough, and are instead heading into Antanjyl to go fight ourselves a demon.





Save the first scene in the game, there is probably no more straight-forward map than this one. You've got Inohngo in the middle of a lake, Antangeel at the other side of the map, and a whole host of hidden towns and temples to the north.

The lore for this game suggests (mechanically) that the enemy armies can't cross into the north (past the snow I suppose) due to a barrier that exists. While it's relatively safe to send a flying army up to sweep through liberating everything, I would caution that enemy armies will (at least) head for the temples should they need to revive a unit. The vast majority of enemy armies are going to collide with yours near Inohngo.

Speaking of enemy armies, there are some real bruisers here. Enemy levels will be relatively high, and include Zombie Dragons, Werewolves and even enemy Liches (!). On top of that, the day cycle is the mirror opposite of the previous map, Tundra, with short days and very long nights.



"Thanks to the 3 High Knights, he lost his power and is imprisoned here. Our temple is dedicated to making sure that the seal is never broken!"



"Inongo is a town populated by those who formed a pact with a demon during the Ogre Battle. When Galf the Black was sealed into the earth, we were sent along! The seal runs along the mountains to the north, and we are not able to cross it! As a matter of fact, how did you get in here? Please get us out of here! We can't stand this place!"







This is (to my knowledge) the only map you'll fight enemy Vampyre units. They are basically ni-unkillable walls that can't attack during the day while they are protected in their coffins. During the night, they are fairly strong units that can take non-White damage punishment and can drain HP or charm your units.



They are not stronger than Sorcerers.



"But try not to attack him at night!"



You can recruit your own Vampyres, along with Werewolves and Tigermans on this map. Probably not worth it unless you're itching to create another low-ALI army.



"Rumour is that there are only ghosts and skeletons in the forests around the lake!"



"How could he possibly get the Black Diamond? It was hidden by the gods!"



WHITE Garb = Physical Defense + 4, White Defense + 3. Rating: 1/5.



"Galf has lost his power, and cannot get out of his prison."



"If you want to hear more about the Black Diamond, go to Kinshasha. Kinshasa (sp)? If you go west from here, you should find it."



Just in case you're throwing your own powerful low ALI armies at the enemy, watch out for the Mage/Sylph combo. The Sylph's Missle attack is fairly strong (luckily they only get one).



Liches are powerful enough, but the three you can fight here are guarded by a row of Wraiths, making them very difficult to kill. White weapons/attacks are of course needed, but don't be afraid to toss out a World Tarot to make you completely immune to the Lich's powerful spells.



"But if someone were to give him more power and make a pact..."

(What monster would do such a thing? Not MOGRI!)





We once again pull a very late World Tarot, so this one won't have any spectacular impact.



"His name was Dulude. Dulude was the most talented of the 12 White Mages. He had mastered the ways of white magic, and wanted greater power. Black magic. The other mages were afraid of his power, and sealed it into a gem. No one knows what happened to Dulude after he lost his power.

The High Knights replaced him with another Mage, and restored the number to 12. The gem which contains Dulude's power, the Black Diamond, not only gives its owner incredible power, but allows him to make pacts with demons."

Swing and a miss on the World Tarot.



"You won't be attacked by monsters and evil spirits on this side of the mountain!"



If you have any CHARM items, this can be a good map to use them. When used on a unit, you have a high chance of "recruiting" any non-leader unit in the army. This does mean that these delicious Liches aren't CHARMable, but...



...There is some Witch units running around with a pair of Zombie Dragons. These dragons evolve from Black Dragons/Tiamats with the help of an UNDEAD Ring. UNDEAD Rings, of course, create Liches, so you probably don't want to use them on what is a a fairly mid-tier unit. But Zombie Dragons are fun so I take em.



ANTIGONE (cool name) here sports high HP, STR and AGI compared to most dragons, albeit unlike other top-tier dragons she has single target, powerful attacks rather than multi-hit ones. They are strong in either row, although their ACID attack is probably slightly better as it deals Physical damage rather than Black damage.



All units, +1 ALI. Wooo.



HOULOU Sword = STR + 8, INT - 3, Black attack. Rating: 2/5.



"...in the castle with a bunch of Imperial troops and hordes of undead!"



KUKAI Staff = STR+ 8, White attack. Rating: 3/5.



Final tally for all units: +2 INT, +1 ALI.



"If that happens, then the world will be plunged into darkness! Please! Use your power to stop Galf!"

Oh I've got power.





"I owe nothing to Rashidi, but he promised me that stone if I kill you for him. With that, I can easily break the bonds that hold me here! Once I get out of here, regaining the power I once had will be easy... Even without the power I once had, defeating you will be child's play!"



GALF is a Devil, which means he slings a powerful multi-hit attack from the back row. If you remember Baron Apros (from the City of Malano) he could randomly use this attack to powerful effect up to three times. One Meteor attack is powerful, but not deadly.

The Phantoms are not a big deal except that you'll need to destroy them with White attacks. I have White weapons on my Wraiths so once they clear the way, them and MUSASHI cut GALF down pretty quickly.



"Don't think that this is the end! As long as there are people like Rashidi around, the power of the dark will remain! As long as there are people like Rashidi around, the wars will never end!"



Horray!

Revisiting the map, we visit Yaunde in the top right.



Uh? Not sure if this is an emulator bug...





The CHEST sells for 89,000 Goth (or Gothlet?)



"Only you have the incredible power of the MUSIC/ON spell! Use it."

Drow cigam drow?



The hint the townsfolk gives is to start a new game and enter MUSIC/ON as a name.



This allows you to hear classic Ogre Battle tunes like that holiday classic, SANTA,S COMING and the crooner of a romantic song, LOVE ME TONIGHT.

In seriousness, Ogre Battle has a banging soundtrack. Its music theatre is VERY bare bones tho.



That's it for Antanjyl, game MOGRI is chasing after real Mogri in our next update! Join me next time for "THE EMPIRE," or, "THERE IS TWO OF THEM!"