All-Girl Challenge - Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon - Part 2: A Healer, Finally!

Hello, it's Robin again, and we're continuing our challenge for Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon.

Chapter 3

 

To get to Aurelis, Marth's team needs to go through the Samsooth Mountains, which is better known as The Ghoul's Teeth. The area is a hideout for bandits, scary enough to be called the Samsooth Sires, or The Soothsires. Are they really that scary? We'll find out.

 

Julian helps Lena flee the hideout, but Lena left her Mend staff. She wants to help Julian by warping him away, but Julian refuses, and stays by her side.

At least we start with them being controllable, unlike in other games, where units move in the other phase. First we move them to the south, away from the enemies. Luckily, the hunter is stupid enough to be left behind, while Navarre and the bandits chase the escapees. Caeda was able to reach the hunter, while out of range of the other units, and ORKO.

Defeating the hunter led to the bandits moving back to pursue Caeda, leaving Navarre and the thieves only chasing Lena and Julian. Caeda flies to Navarre on the next turn, to recruit him, I mean to take his Killing Edge.

With enemies now attacking both sides, from the north and from the southwest, I have to use the wall blocking strategy on the right side of the map, on the mountains, since I only have two fighters. This way, only one enemy from each side can attack. This also gives Lena a chance to heal, without getting attacked.

This map does not really have a lot of enemies, so the battle ended quickly. Fighting the boss is easy one again as he also wields the Hand Axe, a weapon with low hit rate. I also do not have ranged units at the moment, so its range capability meant nothing.

Chapter 4

Marth reaches Aurelis, but enemies are waiting at the border, and attacks him.

Starting this point of the game, we get the preparation screen, meaning we can choose who to deploy, and reclass some units. We also get some generic units to fill in the roster to 15 (10 at this point of the game). This will be a chore to kill off all of them, as I only have 4 at the moment. And I have to do this every chapter! On the bright side, more free iron weapons for me.

I thought of making use of these units to distract the enemy. A note to self, reclass them into those with low defenses like mages and hunters. A lot of turns were wasted just feeding the knights.

The battle was pretty straightforward at the start. We recruit Matthis and Merric in the middle of the battle. I can't have anyone use Excalibur though, as the item description says for men only. I'll double check one Linde comes. 

 

I see what you did there, Matthis

 

The chapter gave a little challenge nearing the end of the chapter. The horsemen units gave a bit of trouble, as Caeda is one of my offensive units, and can't charge in, as there were two of them. I have to use both Rapier and Wing Spear to easily get rid of them.

The boss is not even difficult. He has Ridersbane, but there are no cavaliers in my team, so it's useless. Because of the weight of the lance, Bentheon was easily doubled by Marth. At least I am not doing actual damage, than just chip damage that can easily be healed off.

Bentheon falls. Marth gets information that his to-be-allies are defending the throne (I mean our weapon suppliers). The elder gives a Silver Sword, and tells Marth to give it to Hardin. Thanks for the weapon, old man.

All-Girl Challenge - Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon - Part 1: Two-unit army

Hey, it's Robin again.

After years of not creating new content for my gaming blog, I am now back, and will write about more All-Girl challenges in Fire Emblem games.

 

This time, I'm taking on Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. I've finished the game a lot of times already, but it's on the lowest difficulty. I set it that way since I want to get Frey, the best cavalier in the game by experience, and to train Marth to be strong enough upon reaching Chapter 1.

 

Now, I'm trying Hard 1*, and we have to note that without the Prologue chapter, we won't be getting Norne, so I already lost one unit, and an archer. But thanks to the reclassing system of the game, I can find the perfect unit to be the archer instead.

The maximum lineup per chapter from what I remember is 15, so we will list all the ladies, and see who we will be using.

Caeda
Lena
Athena
Maria
Minerva
Linde
Midia
Palla
Catria
Est
Tiki
Elice
Nagi

That's 13 in all. I did not expect the female roster to be that small. Looks like I will be using all of them. I will also be adding Julian to the roster since I need a thief unit to deal with locks. He's not bound for fighting anyway, even in my previous playthroughs. There are no female thieves in the game, so that is for consideration. Add Marth, and that makes 15 units.

What I always do in this game, is to let other units die, to be able to access the gaiden chapters. I will be doing it also in this game, but I will be keeping Bantu on the bench until the recruitment of Tiki, then I'll just let him die too.

 

Chapter 1 

 

 

 

Marth's homeland was invaded, and his sister Elice helps him escape, but she gets left behind. Marth flees to Talys, where Caeda lives. One day, pirates attack the castle. Caeda asks Marth for help to liberate the castle.

Ah, pirates, the recurring enemy in Fire Emblem. It's always pirates or bandits. In this game, they can't destroy villages. Only thieves can do that.

Checking my team, it's only Caeda and Marth that I am keeping from the units. The rest of them are guys. I let them deposit their items to the convoy, and charge to their deaths. I'll have them compiled on a separate post, as to not flood the playthrough posts with their death images.

Now, fighting an army with only two units at level 1 is difficult. All enemy units have axes, which means Caeda will have the weapon triangle disadvantage. Well, at least she can double enemies, resulting in her scoring more kills than Marth. Marth can't even double enemies. Worse, there's no stock of vulneraries at the beginning, so I have to rely on forts to heal.

Marth visits a village, and would you look at that, a free heal staff for Lena! I wonder who actually uses Wrys when Lena is there. (That line that he says is the same line in FEH, when he messes with your white summon orbs.)

Battling through the pirate mob is difficult, and now comes the harder challenge: fighting the pirate boss himself, who is on the castle tile, healing him every turn, increased defense, and increased dodge.

I have to waste some turns healing at the nearby fort. I have to plan this well.

Trying to bring down the boss is difficult without a healer, and the damage of Iron Sword and Iron Lance is too small, it will be healed off immediately. I have to rely on the critical attacks of Rapier and Wing Spear, and by luck, Caeda landed a crit. She can also double with Wing Spear, leaving Gazzak with 5 HP left. Marth finishes him off which finally ends Chapter 1.

 

 

Chapter 2

Marth gets help from Ogma and his three men. They free the port which was turned into a hideout for pirates. Marth begins his journey to go back to his home and free it from the invaders.

 

 

 

 

 

"Hooray for more troops!"

"But they are all guys."

"Hooray for more free weapons!"

The chapter was tough at the beginning because of the pirate mob, and there are also cavaliers which brings trouble, as they are bulkier than the pirates.

More units to feed to the enemies, and the duo is kinda surrounded too, as the pirates, hunters and cavaliers are on the west, and more enemies to the north. Blocking won't do much either, as the pirates can move a few tiles on the water.

To go through this level, I used the units to distract the units to the west, while clearing the units to the north. Darros is an instant recruit, which means another free weapon.

Fighting off the pirates is easy, but stopping the cavaliers is not, as they were able to breach through the bridge, so I have to rely on the defensive tiles. 

They're tough, so I have to rely on the Rapier and Wing Spear to fight them off. After defeating these two, we can now slowly march to the enemy base. Here comes the next obstacle: two hunters, and one of them is Castor.

Castor can be recruited by Castor, but there is another hunter who can one shot her. How will I recruit Castor for a free bow, and not get Caeda shot down?

I had Marth go attack the other hunter, take hits from both of them, and on the next turn, Caeda recruits Castor, while Marth finishes off the other hunter. Thankfully, they deal low damage to Marth. Another free bow!

That leaves the boss unit, Gomer, who wields a Hand Axe. An easier boss than the one in the previous chapter, as Hand Axe has a lower hit rate, and my units are already trained well for this chapter. That is one good thing in maintaining a small army.

Thanks to Caeda's nice speed stat, she can double everyone. Her attack is kinda low, but I hope she'll get better growths.

Here are their stats for the first two chapters of the game. I'm off to a great start, I'd say. I just hope Marth can start doubling even more enemies.

Marth liberates the port, and sets off. Along the way, he will be passing through a bandit hideout. That's where the next chapter will take us.

Next up, we'll start having another unit, and the best part, a healer!

See you in Part 2 of this challenge.

Fire Emblem Heroes - My Votes

Fire Emblem Heroes is already out for the mobile platform. It's a fun game to play, especially for people who really love Fire Emblem, and are not "babied" by the latest games. I've seen some people complaining about the game features, and saying FE13 and FE14 are the best.

With that aside, I'll go over who I voted for during the 13-day campaign.

1. Nowi
Nowi is my waifu for the game Fire Emblem Awakening. I like her, even though she has this childish personality. Aside from that, I really am fond of manaketes. Dragon loli please xD.

2. Zelgius (a.k.a. Black Knight)
Zelgius, for me, is the most badass villain in the whole Fire Emblem series. Even bad guys deserve a spot in the votes.

3. Ophelia Dusk
The daughter of Odin Dark, Ophelia is my waifu for Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. She's really adorable, and Odin (Owain) is my favorite guy. She inherits Owain's manner of speaking, the one I really liked.

4. Hana
Hana is my waifu for Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright. A tomboy samurai, but is still adorable. Many people don't like her though, because of her personality.

5. Nephenee
Nephenee is one of my personal favorites in the Tellius series. Although shy, and has a country accent, she is a great unit, both in PoR and RD. I'm also supporting my friend in voting for her.

6. Ilyana
Ilyana is my best girl for the Tellius series. She's just like me, who is always hungry (used to be). I chose her Path of Radiance version because she's more adorable in that version than in Radiant Dawn version.

7. Mia
I'm fond of myrmidons, and Mia is another of my favorites in the Tellius series. A great unit, and deserves my vote.

8. Owain
Another myrmidon, yes. Owain is my favorite guy in Awakening, because of his "cool" manner of speaking. Let's not forget some of his battle cries: Radiant Dawn! Sacred Stones!

9. Micaiah (yes, I'm pretty biased towards Tellius characters)
Micaiah is one of the protagonists of Radiant Dawn. A really cute lady, especially on her Light Sage form. It's painful that she has to do some horrible stuff in the war though.

10. Tiki
Tiki is the original dragon loli, I mean, female manakete. She also makes an appearance in Awakening. I voted for her Shadow Dragon version though, because she's much cuter in her younger form.

11. Nino
I just wanted to vote for some in the older games, and Nino is the first to come to my mind. Weak when recruited, but is a powerhouse when trained properly. Nino can outshine other mages.

12. Tana
Tana is my best girl for Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones. She is also the reason why I am pretty fond of pegasus knights in the older games. I did not like them that much in Awakening and Fates.

13. Anna
While we're all voting for our favorite characters, let's not forget the recurring character of the series, Anna. I just picked the Awakening version, because that's her first playable version.

All Girl Challenge - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn PART 4C - Preparations

Everyone arrived safely at the foot of the Tower of Guidance, but Ashera has sent her army to stop them from entering. After some battles, Yune finds that they are in serious trouble.

Of course, Ike is not just going to give up without a fight. One does not simply annoy the goddess of chaos.

Yune then decides to bring them into the tower, to stop Ashera herself. She gives Ike her orders.

Micaiah has finally achieved her highest class, raising her stat caps one more time!

Let's have a look at the units whom I've picked to be sent into the Tower of Guidance.

Ike is required, as he is the leader of the group, and he wields the legendary weapon Ragnell.

Micaiah is also required, as Yune needs her to be able to communicate, and do her miracles and stuff.

Sothe is required because Micaiah is required, but if given a chance, I would leave him behind. There are units who are more powerful than him. His defenses are pretty low, and he has low strength cap. Also add the fact that dagger weapons are not as powerful as the other weapons.

Sanaki is a required unit. She's a powerful unit, especially with her personal fire tome. Speed penalty may apply for the other tomes, because of her low strength to carry these.

Kurthnaga is a required unit, because of reports that the dragon king has joined Ashera.

Ena is also required, because of the dragon king. Yune knew that they should fight dragons with dragons.

Now we're done with the required units, let's go over the other units, and why I chose them.

Ilyana may not have the best growths in this playthrough, I still need her. She is the only one who can use Rexbolt, the most powerful thunder magic, which is needed against the dragon king.

Jill is chosen, because she's my best axe wielder, and has the mobility. Someone has to equip the best axe in the game anyway.

Why Mia? She's one of my favorite units since Path of Radiance, and I'm pretty fond of the myrmidon class. I also need someone to equip the Alondite, and I think she's the best for that weapon.

Nephenee is also one of my personal favorites. She is a semi-tank, and she dodges very well. Her skills will also be useful in the battles ahead. I'm also going to make her equip the best lance.

I need Astrid, because she is the only lady who can use the best bow. I also need her mobility. She also has Canto, so she can hit and run, which is nice for bow users.

Meg is disliked by many players, but I would like to give her a chance. She has good defenses, and she even dodges pretty well. She has no special weapon to wield though.

Fiona sucked big time during my first playthrough. This time, I'm also giving her a chance. Her stat growth is good, as long as she is well trained, as seen above.

Who would say no to a healer with great mobility? This is why Mist is one of the chosen ones. She can also help fight with her personal sword Florete.

Laura, another healer, and I need her because of her ability to wield the best staff (as if I would be using it). I also need another unit offensive in magic.

Another healer with great mobility, Elincia will be useful in the battle. She also has her Amiti, which enables her to strike at most four times. Her stats make her a good mage killer.

And for the last one, I think that's out of the question.

Leanne has average movement, but her galdr affects two adjacent units in a straight line. When she transforms into her heron form, she gains an addition in movement, although her galdr range does not change. Reyson would be better with the Laguz Gem, but since Leanne is the only lady heron, I have no choice.

Here are the other units which are not chosen for the tower:

Sigrun's strength is very low, and there's Elincia already.

Same reason, Elincia. And I don't think the maximum stats of a Seraph Knight can do much damage on the upcoming bosses.

I'm trying to keep the team limited to beorc only, although I could also consider her.

Lethe and Lyre. Cats are generally weak, and they can't even do much damage to enemies during Part 4, during the army split up.

She's good, but there's Jill for the axe wielding, and Fiona has far better stats.

Whisper's have low max strength, so I can't risk it. The only thing Heather is good at is Lethality skill, and I already have Sothe for that.

I picked Mia over Lucia, because of favoritism (lol). She could also be picked, but Mia has more strength than her.

I already used her during my first playthrough, so even when her stats are good, I would like to let the others have a chance (and I sort of regret not having her).

The only reason to use Calill is to wield Rexflame. What am I supposed to use Rexflame for? No one takes double damage from it, so I just left her. Sanaki can also wield it, but with a huge penalty to attack speed.

Having a lot of units to play with can be fun, until the point where you have to select only a number, from all of them. My decision making at this point is very tough.