Update 17: Orb!


We've got two paralogues to go through today, so let's go. First up: Sothis's paralogue.
♪ The Spirit Dais ♪



What's on your mind?
Oh, this is frustrating me to no end! I simply can't recall.


Zanado, the Red Canyon?
That's it! It was not long ago that we were there...


What about it?
Well... That place brought back some fragments of my memory.


Let's go.
Yes, you are right! For as the saying goes, there is no time like the present.

♪ No music ♪



I don't recall hearing of any such plans for our class. Perhaps we should follow.
Intrigued, are we? Yes, let's do just that. We will consider it...extra training.

♪ Dwellings of the Ancient Gods ♪


Oh, but it's as though my memories are clouded. The most important pieces are obscured.
But I once called this home. I have no doubt.
I seem to recall something...on the other side of that wall. I cannot see it, but I can still feel it... It is not my imagination. I know this to be true. We are already deep within this valley...

♪ No music ♪



♪ Dark Clouds Gather ♪


It was a terrible scream.
Yes. And that was not a normal beast, but a huge and terrifying one!
Look! There! At the entrance of the valley...a giant shadow!



♪ As Swift as Wind ♪


I suppose a peaceful expedition to Zanado was too much to ask for.

We're allowed 8 deployment slots, in addition to forced deployments of Abby and Edelgard.

I'm taking Ferdinand along for his general bulk and mobility, and Bernadetta plus Shamir because we're going to be encountering flying enemies here. Everyone else is basically just people I wanted to get EXP for. Which...ended up being mostly mages. That's not a great situation on this map, but I can manage.

Marianne is assigned as Ferdinand's adjutant, while Dorothea is assigned as Linhardt's adjutant.

Let's take a look at the map. Right off the bat, Abby is isolated from the rest of the group, and is near three monsters. It's not too hard to work quickly and get her reunited with the rest of the group, but failing to do so will quickly result in a defeat.

The wolf monsters are nasty.

Pass: Allows unit to pass through spaces occupied by foes.
Defiant Crit: Grants Crit +50 when HP is ≤ 25%.
Keen Intuition: Grants Avo +30 during combat with a foe 2 or more spaces away.
Defiant Avo: Grants Avo +30 when HP is ≤ 25%.

Units attacking wolves' barriers at range are going to suffer -30 Hit, wolves get +50 Crit any time they're at 25% HP or lower, and when they get to critical HP, they can add on +30 Avo too.

In terms of raw stats, wolves are basically old-school Myrmidons—decent damage, high AS, low defenses.

Birds are even nastier than wolves.

Avo +10: Increases Avo by 10.
Defiant Spd: Grants Spd +8 when HP is ≤ 25%.
Darting Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants AS +6 during combat.

The Giant Wings barrier ability gives +30 Avo when a barrier tile is attacked by a sword, lance, or axe user.

Birds are fliers, they're fast, they can still deal decent damage, and if you let them be on their last bubble of HP during the enemy phase, they're probably going to double anyone they hit. On the plus side, they have extremely low defenses, making them especially vulnerable to being shot out of the air by bow users. Hence me bringing Bernadetta and Shamir.

The boss is kind of a chump, honestly.

Poison: Chance to inflict poison on foe when dealing damage. Trigger % = Dex stat.
Poison Strike: If unit initiates combat and lands a hit, targeted foe loses up to 20% of max HP after combat.
Heartseeker: Adjacent foes suffer Avo -20 during combat.

Vital Defense prevents crits against barrier tiles.

Sure, it's got 30 Atk, but it's only got 9 AS.

No major inventory shuffling, beyond giving Silver Bows to Bernadetta and Shamir, so...

Let's begin.
♪ Dark Clouds Gather ♪




We have no choice but to fight our way out. Give it your all!


Wolves to the front, hawks to the rear, and what appears to be a Demonic Beast at the canyon's mouth...
A wild beast, at that. Or perhaps it's more fitting to call it a stray.
If we can't prevail over that Demonic Beast, we won't make it out of the Red Canyon alive.

♪ Dwellings of the Ancient Gods ♪




First order of business is to get Abby out of the danger zone.



Bernadetta shatters 3 of the nearest wolf's barriers.



And that's all of the barriers broken.

Wootz Steel is used to forge A rank weapons (notably, this includes Brave weapons), Longbows, and 1-2 range weapons in the tiers above Javelins and Hand Axes.


First HP bubble down.


There's a -5 Def debuff.


And there's the kill.



Oh fuck I forgot to equip Nosferatu on Abby before doing that.

Thank the fucking gods for that Prayer Ring.

Good timing.



Didn't want to use Blaze this early, but I don't have a choice. I need to stun this wolf, or I run a high chance of Abby dying.


It's Str, it's...okay. Hitting 15 Str also gives Ferdinand another point of Wt offset.

That's just bad, though.

Yay.





There's an HP bubble down.


No crit. Darn.


Whatever, later, loser wolf.



Hm. That might be close enough...

There's that Keen Intuition! Abby has a measly 55 Hit against this thing at range.

I hate Keen Intuition. Out of all the enemy-only abilities, it annoys me the most.

At least it didn't matter.


Dammit.

Well, as much as I hate to already burn all of Bernadetta's gambit uses, it's the easiest way to stun this wolf without risking painful counterattacks.


There.


Rally Strength lets Shamir finish off the rest of this HP bubble.


Feh. Four stats, all of them useless or tertiary.

Oh, for the record, Survival Instinct doesn't activate upon depleting a monster's HP bubble.


That's some nice damage. Too bad the Blessed Lance is way too heavy to use when facing enemies that can actually fight back.



Excellent!




Killing the wolves aggravates the boss and the birds, causing them to start moving forward.




Hey, no fair, you don't get to spawn reinforcements at the start of my phase!


I send Bernadetta in to draw the bird out. With Rally Speed and when using her Iron Bow+ or Silver Bow+, she can avoid being doubled by the bird, and Close Counter ensures she can counter no matter what.



Pow!






I break all of the bird's barriers in one swoop, earning a piece of Mythril. Mythril is used to forge and repair Blessed weapons, as well as the Regalia weapons. If the Regalia weapons sound familiar to you, don't worry, I'll explain them in due time.

Also, that's an excellent level.


I start marching Ferdinand over to the treasure chest—I really want what's in it.




Bernie is quickly turning her poor start around. More Str!


This isn't a great option, but I'm pretty sure Mercedes can survive a round against the bird.


Shamir should be fine too.

Crit, crit, crit.

I have no need of you.


C'est magnifique.

Well, uh... Crit, crit, crit.

I may as well win.



Well, uh, that's the birds taken care of, I guess.

That level is...eh.



Bahaha, the bird can't counter now, since it got its HP depleted.

It even caused its last barrier to be broken!

Ow. Could've been worse, though.

Ow.

Okay, this isn't that bad, I can easily get out of this.


Yowza.




No crit, darn.

Also, bad level.



Annette finishes off the left bird, and gets a mediocre level.


Revenge.



...Wow. I think that's the first single-stat level I've gotten in Three Houses.


Two barriers down.






And that is a stun on the wolf.


And a depleted HP bubble too.

Only the boss remains.
♪ Wrath Strike ♪



I have Ferdinand get the boss fight started as he goes to get the chest.



Good ol' Seraphim.

Lysithea, you're starting to worry me. Please get some Mag and Spd.





Ooh, neat Ferdinand mastered Cavalier.

Desperation: If unit initiates combat with HP ≤ 50%, unit's follow-up attack (if possible) occurs before foe's counterattack.

Too bad the reward is a bad ability that I'll never use.




Stop doing that! Ugh, hell, how am I gonna deal with both of these with just these four...


I don't have any effective damage against the wolf, so having Edelgard force it to attack her is probably the best I can do against it for now.


There's three of the hawk's barriers.



And there's the last one.


Allow me to demonstrate!


Unnecessary? Yes. Cool? Also yes.

Thaaaaat is not a good trade if Hubert can't get out of that spot.


Thankfully, Linhardt has Draw Back on hand, leaving the boss without any targets to hit since it can't move.


I can even plink at it with Shamir.



Good job, Edelgard.

Alright, we're near the end.

This is the real prize of the map. The Knowledge Gem is a bit of equipment that doubles the holder's base amount of skill experience and class experience gained in combat. What this means is that any skill experience gained before class and statue bonuses is doubled. If the skill in question is a character's weakness, they gain 2 skill experience per battle; if it's neutral, 4 skill experience; if it's a strength, 6 skill experience. Class and statue bonuses are then added after that. In addition, it doubles a character's base class experience gain from 1 to 2—effectively making it 4 after the Saint Cethleann bonus.

For Lysithea, the Knowledge Gem and her personal skill stack, granting her 4x her base skill experience gained, and 4 class experience per battle—6 with the Saint Cethleann statue bonus.




seraphiiiiiim

Fiendish Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants Mag +6 during combat.

Also, Lysithea now gets +6 damage during the player phase. Fear her.


Talk about packing a punch.


Go away.



Poison Tactic deals little damage, but it has the same area of effect as Blaze, which makes it still useful if you just want to damage a bunch of monster barriers, or rattle a bunch of enemies.



Wow, one Umbral Steel. Thanks.

C'mon, Hubie, gimme another crit.

Watch how weak you are!




...What a waste of a level.





This is gonna end next turn.

Huh?

Dorothea, somehow, managed to create a six-stat bad level. That's impressive.

I'm seriously getting worried about Dorothea now. I might need to feed her some Premium Magic Herbs to compensate for her Mag deficiency. She's only gained 3 Mag in 15 levels.

Let's finish this.






Much better.

(note to self: disable switch online notifications before recording next time)
♪ No music ♪


Let us return, before any more hawks or wolves join us. But what was that Demonic Beast doing within the Red Canyon...



♪ A Gentle Breeze ♪


I suppose we came out here without permission too. If we all wish to avoid punishment... Perhaps we can all agree that we came out here for an extra-curricular activity. Let's leave it at that.
Still, I would like to know what brought you to this valley in the first place...

♪ The Spirit Dais ♪


We are most fortunate that those delinquents followed us... You very nearly met your end!


I'm proud of us.



But that makes sense, as you have me to help you out.
How disappointing to have dived so deeply into danger, and yet to have nothing to show.


My memories... Do you feel them stirring?
How curious. You seem to have grown stronger! And all thanks to our journey to Zanado. It really was worth all that effort!


Huh? You found this?
I daresay you may find a use for that.
You should decide how best to use that thing. But wow! We got a lot out of this trip. It was a bother for a spell, but in the end, I feel we should think fondly of our little trip.
We actually had a delightful time, wouldn't you say?


If you say so, Sothis.

Next time: Felix's paralogue. I don't want to get a gigantic mega-update like the last time I combined two paralogues into one.

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