♪ Scales of the Goddess ♪
Welcome back. I actually quite like Caspar and Mercedes's paralogue, so I'm excited to see what changes Maddening has for it, for once.
Compared to other paralogues, at least we're not pushed into some ridiculous time crunch.
No significant Maddening changes, just a handful of extra units.
This paralogue is notable for being the only time the Death Knight gets his stats buffed up based on his level, rather than by miniscule global amounts.
Our group.Looking at this group really makes me think about how many of Three Houses's good-to-best units are women.
Let's see how Adan performs while holding Blutgang, probably the least appreciated relic.
Constance also actually gets to equip Black Tomefaire. This is gonna be fun.
Let's teach the Death Knight this lesson again.
♪ Tempest of Seasons ♪
The Secret Transport Force are super invaluable, what with being the only flying battalion with Stride.
Hold these two in place, give myself a bit more space.
That was an easy first HP bar.
Fate turns against you...
And that was an even easier second HP bar.
Guess I've got to!
So that's where all my crits were, huh?
Stay away!
Yep, okay, that's where all the crits I should've gotten during Forgotten Hero went.
Caspar, sadly, is not much of a match for the Death Knight this time, owing to the Death Knight's massively increased stats.
No action on the enemy phase.
Some more Stride, to make pushing north go faster.
Those chumps never stood a chance.
Adan moves up, and uses the Sothis Shield to give himself some extra defense against the dark knights just up top.
"Hmph" indeed.
Adan is turning out super well.
First up, let's render these four enemies helpless.
High Def/Res is no match for effective damage.
Feels like that's the first okay level Dorothea's gotten in a while.
A certifiable flying terror.
Adan, who basically cannot be hit while he's got gauntlets, moves up to bait out the snipers.
Powerful.
Valkyrie is so nice, it's a shame that it doesn't have any innate Tomefaire.
On the other hand, Hapi's now got her own equippable Dark Tomefaire, so it balances out.
Sorry, but this is war!
Ah, Deadeye crits, the bread and butter of most of my strategies during my first run of the game.
Hapi hitting the monster with Banshee Θ last turn means it couldn't move and, therefore, couldn't attack—so, no action on the enemy phase.
It'd be nice if Death Γ could crit sometime.
Here is something to believe in!
Adan activated the counterattack nullification part of the Crest of Flames.
Time to move up.
Thank you for moving into a more convenient spot.
Might as well go for an armor break.
What?
It's over!
As an added benefit here, Adan hits Brawling A.
Felix moves to bait out the monster in the very northeast corner of the map.
First time in a while that I can remember Lysithea's major Crest of Gloucester making the difference in getting a kill.
Adan will bait out more snipers.
Oh hell yeah.
Guess I've got to!
That was easy.That level makes me very sad, though. Yuri is level 24 and neither of his damage stats have broken 20.
This paralogue is really, really easy, honestly—at least compared to some of the shit Maddening normally throws at me.
More baiting from Adan.
By the way, fun fact, the giant rock at the base of the northern cliff has a giant Crest of Flames crest stone in it.
Crest of Noa good.
I'll strike you down!
That was neat, but it probably won't happen again.
Time for your last dance!
That level does not reflect how cool Dorothea was just then.
No action on the enemy phase.
After moving Adan up to bait the enemies on the east end...
Reinforcements. In our case, they spawned because we hit turn 10. They can also spawn after any player unit ends their turn within three tiles of either Caspar or Mercedes. Dark knights, heroes, and snipers. On lower difficulties, there's only two of each. On Maddening, there are three.
They can also act on their spawn turn. Funky.
Even if I wasn't treating every death like a defeat, I'd still have to rewind here. It's probably easy to forget, but remember, when playing a character's paralogue, their defeat/death forces you to either rewind, or get a game over.
Time for a new plan.
Firstly, let's warp Adan near the enemies to the east, so he can proactively kill the bishop.
Let's then weaken this hero with Meteor.
Wait no that's not what I wanted to do!!
♪ The Dream is Over ♪
I'm pretty sure this is the first death of the LP to be caused not by a tactics error, or bad RNG, but just...me pressing the A button when I absolutely did not mean to.
Those reinforcements are putting me on an extremely strict time limit. I need to kill all of these units, plus the Death Knight, on this turn, or I'll have to redo the entire paralogue.
Here is something to believe in!
At least you went for the cool factor.
If this bishop activates Miracle, I'm going to get performatively angry through text.
No need for performative anger today, I see.I can't get mad at that level, really.
Okay, the Death Knight is the only one left.
I absolutely am not going to be able to kill him, however. Instead, I have Mercedes use Stride on Caspar so he can run the hell away, and have Constance rescue Mercedes down to lower ground.
The reinforcements spawn in.
The dark knights can't really do anything to me—they're cavalry stuck in forest tiles, their movement is basically null.
...Spoke too soon.
Not worth rewinding over.
Stride, please.
You two can wait here while I deal with your friend.
Adan acts as hero bait.
Is that all?!
You're fine for now, but you will need to be just a bit better for endgame.
That was way dangerous for no real reason, I should've gotten Caspar healed up before attempting that.
Literally just doing this, but before he attacked, would've removed any risk of him dying.
Please work.
Feh...
Whatever, let's just get a dance for Caspar so he can run out of the danger zone.
Rescue Annette to safety, too.
Well, safety, after one use of Draw Back.
Still one of the two best units in the game.
That guy can hold still.
Fuckin' Vantage.
The HP and Def that Felix has gained through his two level-ups on the map would've meant the difference between him living and dying, if that shot had connected.
You three have made a very big mistake.
Don't try and stop me!
Very Caspar.
♪ The Verge of Death ♪
Several turns of repositioning later, we're ready to end this.
That 6 damage is incredibly important.
Combined with a Rally Strength from Annette...
This gives Caspar the highest Hit and most Avo against the Death Knight.
Eat it, Emile. I am victorious.
...Oh, right, these three remain.
Constance masters Valkyrie from using Rescue, netting her Uncanny Blow. This thing is beyond useful for Bolting, given Bolting's low base Hit.
Lots of meandering around that I'm skipping over. You're not missing out on much.
Now we can finish this.
extremely Jeb! voiceIndech!
♪ No music ♪
Fini.
Took a bit of effort to get this thing, but it will prove invaluable as the game goes on.
I opted to advance time rather than do another auxiliary battle. I was tired at this point. Let's just do some supports before things are over.Bernadetta/Yuri A.
Calm, caaaalm. Just listen to me for a moment. There's something I need to tell you.
The reason I worked for House Varley, Bernadetta, was to kill you.
Aha! I knew it! I always knew you were out to kill me! Sink me into the deep, dark, freezing depths...
Hold on. House Varley? But...why? As you well know, theirs is one of the six great noble houses—the true rulers of the Empire. And you're the heir...with a Crest. There were tons of people who wanted you wiped out. Like people who want to eradicate House Varley. Or a relative who wants the glory for themselves. That particular breed of treacherous nobility...is the kind that'd hire a kid to do their dirty work. The first thing that kid would do? Get close to the target by befriending her, find an in through, say, an assistant gig. This kid you're mentioning sounds...real. That was you, wasn't it...
Yours truly. My biggest mistake? Getting to know you. I crept into your room one night and readied my blade.
The whole thing had been a breeze, up until that moment. I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Why are you telling me all this? I'm so confused... Because I want you to look at it objectively. I was hired to kill you. Your father protected you from me, a filthy assassin. He was looking out for you. You're lucky to have a father who cares for you enough to do that. Father...protected me? He...protected me... Yeah, why would I lie? At this point, I figure it's you who hates me, and not the other way around. I don't hate you, Yuri! But I mean, I do feel weird... But I don't know how to feel... I just... Can't we just be friends? Like back then?
You want to be friends? With...me? The reason you couldn't kill me was because we were friends. Right? Well... You were my first friend. My very first friend. The first person who played with me. The first person who went on adventures with me. The first— And you were the first friend I had to baby that much. What do you mean?! Well...even so... You were the first friend who cared for me! The whole thing was probably a sham anyway. Though, you know... Even if it was...I did have a lot of fun with you.
Heh! I knew it!
♪ Scales of the Goddess ♪
...Jesus christ, that was a lot.Honestly, I'm not super thrilled that the game gave Count Varley an out on the whole "traumatized Bernadetta by having her first friend maimed" thing. And yes, it's the game giving him an out, there's no doubt in my mind that Yuri as a character, let alone his past with Bernadetta, was probably not even thought of by the writers until the base game's script was finalized.
"The whole thing was probably a sham" also reads super weirdly to me. You'd think Yuri would remember how he felt back then, if he remembers the rest of it so clearly. I almost wonder if that's a mistranslation...
Okay, I'm back after consulting with friends who can actually read Japanese. It's not a mistranslation, just...the EN line is worded kind of awkwardly given the context, in my opinion; the JP equivalent, according to one of them, is something like "I might not have been as kind as you think," though Yuris being very shifty about it. Maybe I'm just getting hung up on something no-one else cares about, but the specific use of "probably" in the EN version strikes me as weird. If you wanna see the JP versions of the last few lines yourself, here you go:
ユーリスさんは、ベルの初めてなんですよ！ 初めての友達で、初めて一緒に遊んで、 初めて一緒に冒険して、初めて一緒に…… ……ふっ、俺もあそこまで世話を焼かされた 友達ってのは、初めてだったけどな。 何ですとー！？ あ、あたしだって世話を 焼いてくれた友達は初めてでしたもん！！ ……まあ、お前と過ごした時間は、 言ってしまえば偽物だったのかもしれない。 だが、たとえそうだったとしても、 お前と過ごした時間は……悪くはなかった。 ユーリスさああああああん！！ Besides that use of "probably" that I'm hung up on, I can easily tell that Bernadetta's final line is very different from the EN version. I dunno what emotion it's conveying (a burst of crying happiness? embarrassment?), but it's certainly different than her tone in the EN version.Man, this stuff is fascinating. Wish I had the time to learn how to read Japanese so I could do these kinds of comparisons on my own.
Miscellaneous trivia while it's relevant: notice how Yuri's name in katakana is "ユーリス," "Yuu-ri-su." Internally, he's called "Ulysse."
I don't really have much to comment on there, just an observation.
Oh, this oughta be good.Gilbert/Alois C.
Why, if it isn't Gilbert! Everything's splendid. I am fishing, as you can see.
Yet you were also raising your voice, which is not conducive to fishing.
Well, a fish escaped, so I started shouting. See, they're biting all right. I think I'm reeling them in too slowly...
Oho! Another! Grr, nothing, again? Why do these darn things elude me? I've been at it since yesterday. Every time I feel a pull on my line, the fish escapes. If I may, Alois, a bit of advice. You lifted the rod as soon as the fish bit.
Hm? Well, yes, of course I did. That way, the fish has less time to escape. No. It is the very reason the fish escapes. The fish in this moat know to nibble the bait first. They check if it is safe before biting in earnest. Allow the first pull of the line. Then, when the second pull comes, reel in your prey. Oh. I've been reeling too quickly? Maybe that's why the little flipper flappers have been getting away. You seem to know your stuff, Gilbert! Do you fancy yourself an angler? In fairness, I am more a theorist than fisherman. I just happen to know some things about this location. Ah, is that so? Well, I'm glad to have met a fellow enthusiast. I fish quite often! Although I catch fish quite rarely... Regardless, color me impressed! A master-of-arms, but also a master of the fishing rod. I am honored by your compliments, and I believe you could achieve mastery if you attend to the basics. With your permission, I might accompany you on a fishing expedition. Perhaps offer more pointers, if I may. Oho, splendid! You shall be my second fishing mentor. My rise in skill will be astronomical!
♪ Scales of the Goddess ♪
Wow, a Gilbert support where the man isn't intolerable.
Well, I guess Constance never got to use the Black Tomefaire provided by Warlock, ehehe. Regardless, she's now got four uses of Bolting, and six uses of Rescue.
Next time: hot times in Mt. Lavalava.
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