Update 3: The First Actual Month

♪ Guardian of Starlight ♪


I did.
I am so happy to hear it. Nothing would please me more than if you used this coming year to grow closer still.
Of course, the mock battle was mere practice. The real fight is the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, which will take place during the Wyvern Moon. You are expected to properly train your students so as not to humiliate the academy during the long-held tradition that is the coming battle.
As for today, I have called you here to tell you of your mission for the month ahead.


Bandits?
Those affiliated with Garreg Mach Monastery have a moral obligation to help those in need, regardless of social standing. Students are no exception. Each month, before the newly birthed moon departs, each house of students must complete their assigned mission. You shall work to complete the task at hand alongside your students and report back to the archbishop before the deadline. Understood? I will soon provide you with the necessary details for your first mission. If I told you now, I expect you would only forget, and I despise repeating myself.
I can sense something special within your heart...I have high hopes for you.



?!
Do you recall when we first met? You shall not fall so shamelessly again, correct?
...
Have you no words for me? Do not tell me that you are shocked to hear from me!


Right.

♪ Mask of Fire ♪

No one said anything about the Knights of damned Seiros being on our trail!



Hey! This isn't what I agreed to!
Hiring a mercenary as a professor. What was that woman thinking...
Are you listening to me?! How do we finish this?!
You die.
Wh— What?!
Underestimating the knights was an amateur mistake. One you will pay for. The road to eternal torment awaits you all. Now I must locate your replacements...

















Our students have been learning about combat through study, but this is a precious opportunity to provide them with practical experience. The knights will support your mission and are prepared to offer their assistance if necessary. In short, this is no mock battle. You must be prepared for anything. You will receive a message from the knights when it is time to depart. Until then, use your time wisely.


Let's do our best.
The knights are well aware of our enemy's strength. We can count on them to keep the battlefield under control for us. It seems unlikely that we would lose. Still, let's do all we can to prepare.



I think so.
Oh? I didn't expect that answer. When we were mercenaries, I handled everything. Outside of battle, you didn't have much contact with people, did you? I thought being thrown into a swarm of noble brats to teach would be a bit much for you. But I guess I had nothing to worry about. By the way, I heard about those bandits. Your first assignment is to take them out, right? That's fairly routine for you by now, but don't forget it's the first real taste of battle for those brats. It'll be tougher to sleep at night if you let one of your little pupils die, so stay vigilant and lead them well.
I wish I could offer you my support, but Lady Rhea won't allow it.
For now, I'll try to figure out what she wants from you. I don't mind you settling into your life here, but don't let your guard down. Ever.








♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
We're forced into exploring today, again.
♪ Life at Garreg Mach Monastery ♪

That's enough, Leonie. If I don't know, how could my child know?
It's not normal to forget your own age, you know. It's kind of worrisome, actually.
By the time you're forgetting your own age, you're past the point of caring.
I guess if you put it that way, you've got a point...


We can start recruiting people now!

I know I'm in a different class, but you're the only other person here who's learned from Captain Jeralt.



Yeah, that was gonna happen. No-one will join your house immediately at the outset.

Well, there's one exception, but...we'll get to that.

Leonie's base requirements to be recruited are 15 Str and rank C in Lances. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 12 Str. At support rank B, they're reduced to 6 Str and rank D in Lances.

All we need to do here is grab an item from Jeralt's office.



Oh, yeah, we got here so quickly through fast-travel. You can hit the R button and just go to any area of the monastery. It's convenient.


I can often be found here, so if there is ever anything you need, please do not hesitate to pay me a visit.





Grabbing that item finishes the quest, and unlocks battalions.

Battalions are equipped to units like items, and provide passive benefits, in addition to the ability to use Gambits. Gambits are attacks with their own damage and hit formula. They can't double, but they can inflict damage on multiple opponents, and most importantly, cause the Rattled status, which prevents affected targets from moving for one turn, using Gambits, benefitting from their Gambits' bonuses, and debuff all of the target's stats by 10%.



This'll do.

And bearing the unknown Crest's power? Yes! I'm talking about you. Your talents are incredible, and Lady Rhea's insight as to your potential is doubly so.


Maybe he needs a few more strands?





You can learn so much from books.


Ignatz's base requirements to be recruited are 10 Dex and rank B in Authority. At support rank C, they're reduced to 8 Dex and rank C+ in Authority. At support rank B, they're reduced to 4 Dex and rank D+ in Authority.

It's absolute bliss.
How do the poor fools who spend their days sharpening swords and polishing armor find any joy in life?


Moving over to the Greenhouse, we can see that Dedue's seeds have bore fruit!

Well, vegetables, but you get what I mean.

We get 100 professor level experience for that.

We got seeds for doing the quest, so let's immediately plant one of them.

Um, if you'll excuse me...
Marianne's base requirements to be recruited are 10 Mag and rank C in Riding. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 8 Mag. At support rank B, they're reduced to 4 Mag and rank D in Riding.


There's books lying around various places of the monastery that give us professor level experience for finding them.

No. Sorry. Must be my imagination.
Meet Shamir. She's a mercenary employed by the Knights of Seiros, and one of the people we'll be recruiting once that becomes possible, starting with chapter 4.




Booooooks.

There's also just...a fish. Sitting at the fishkeeper's stall.


I very much prefer too cold weather in real life, but something tells me Petra dislikes that.
The cold.




Oh! Hi, Professor! Were you just eavesdropping on me?
Well...everyone knows a plateful of sweets is far preferred to a plateful of vegetables, regardless of age.
Lysithea's base requirements to be recruited are 15 Mag and rank B in Faith. At support rank C, they're reduced to 12 Mag and rank C+ in Faith. At support rank B, they're reduced to 6 Mag and rank D+ in Faith.

You'd best believe I'm going to grind the shit out of Faith as soon as I can.


Sweet.




Bonding Bites days amplify the support-boosting effects of dining for characters who are in your house.

Their identities are a closely guarded secret...
This is Tomas, the librarian at Garreg Mach.

Tomas is voiced by Joe Ochman, who's been in both live-action and dubbing work for a long, long time. The dude had a role in Lupin the 3rd dubs, for crying out loud. I also recognize him as Paul Hanbridge, Andrew's dad, in Little Witch Academia.

Oh, amiibo Gazebo items have started spawning.

Scanning amiibo figurines at the amiibo Gazebo result in random items being dropped around it. Scanning Fire Emblem ones can also result in something very secret...





Like the other night, I went on a date with a dashing, handsome, strong, young knight. Oh, I'm a bit weak just remembering him. Anyway...
Do you know what that no-good jerk said when we got back to my room? He said, "What a mess. I'm afraid to go in there!" Can you believe it?! You know who cares about keeping everything neat and tidy? Not me, that's who. "Afraid to go in there." Some knight he is!
Please clean your room, Manuela.







If you're busy, never mind.




Professor, you're the one taking out the bandits? Heh, that's one way to start your career at the academy. I didn't expect they'd order us to risk our lives here. Seems a bit extreme, doesn't it?
Sylvain does have a point.

Sylvain's base requirements to be recruited are 25 Cha and rank C in Reason. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 20 Cha. At support rank B, they're reduced to 10 Cha and rank D in Reason.

He's one of the more annoying recruits without raising his support rank. 25 Cha takes a while to build up...





Oh, do ya need me for something? Sorry, but I'm really busy right now.


It's important that they're mentally prepared.
As for me? Ha! Do I look green to you?


It is a rather different sort of mission. It makes me wonder what the archbishop is planning...


He is the very model of chivalry. Someday I'm going to be just like him.
Ashe's base requirements to be recruited are 15 Cha and rank C in Lances. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 12 Cha. At support rank B, they're reduced to 6 Cha and rank D in Lances.

Oh, I might've neglected to mention something about Sylvain.
I'd like to be in your class, if that's possible. I've been thinking maybe I oughta get serious about studying.


Sylvain's such a skirt chaser that he has absolutely no recruitment requirements when you're playing a feminine Byleth. You can just recruit him instantly.
Okay.
Wow, very decisive. I like it. I'll be there on time and in the front row and everything. You'll never have a better student.


Hey, be nice, Sylvain's no bandit.

Anyway, now we've got a person to fill the standard 10th deployment slot. Hooray!

Noble recruits come with Bullions, worth 1000 gold when sold, while commoner recruits come with +1 stat boosters. I'll let you figure out which one I prefer.

Sylvain's Crest is basically a carbon copy of Edelgard's: chance to add 5 damage to Combat Arts.

The Empire's power lies with six noble families, my family foremost among them.


I'm ready.
All right. I will list the six great noble families. There's Caspar's father, Count Bergliez, the Minister of Military Affairs. Then there's Linhardt's father, Count Hevring, the Minister of Domestic Affairs. Bernadetta's father, Count Varley, is the Minister of Religious Affairs. Hubert's father, Marquis Vestra, is the Minister of the Imperial Household. Finally we have Duke Gerth, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and my own father, Duke Aegir, the Prime Minister.
One day, I will take his place as the prime minister of the Empire.


I look forward to that.

♪ Garreg Mach Cathedral ♪








Another "find the item that's glowing on the minimap" quest.


That's right.


Mercedes's base requirements to be recruited are 15 Mag and rank C in Bows. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 12 Mag. At support rank B, they're reduced to 6 Mag and rank D in Bows.


Not exactly.
I'm well aware of how odd this sounds after the last answer.

Lorenz's base requirements to be recruited are 20 Cha and rank C in Reason. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 16 Cha. At support rank B, they're reduced to 8 Cha and rank D in Reason.

Lorenz is one of the most...grating, for lack of a better word, students, and even he has lower standards than Sylvain.

Saint Indech, Saint Macuil, Saint Cichol, and...
Saint Cethleann! Who is your favorite, Professor?
Now that you are a member of the church, be sure to familiarize yourself with our teachings and traditions.
All I know about these Saints is that Cethleann's Crest screwed me out of Persecution Complex for a bit.

Slightly different quest this time: talk to one particular student.
♪ Life at Garreg Mach Monastery ♪







Well, that's my two outstanding quests taken care of.


Let's search for it.


Gods know I'd rather have another woman, or a feminine nonbinary person, help me search for my undershirt than some random guy, or masculine nonbinary person.

No offense to anyone in either of those groups! It's just a comfort thing.

Hey, what's this cake doing out here?


Aww, sorry, Bernie.

I'm never going to use the kitchen, but there's no harm in unlocking it.


Good luck.







A duel?
What? I just wanted to spar...


Are you settled in here at the monastery yet? Make sure to have a good look around! There's much to see! Like fish! You do know about the pond behind the dining hall, right? You can fish there! Give it a try!


Anyway, we have access to shops now.

Got the money Sylvain came with.

I bought Ferdinand a new Iron Lance, since his current one is getting low on durability.

If you spend too much time around a man of Duscur, there will be rumors.
Fuck the rumors, I'll hang out with you all I want once we're playing Blue Lions.

Perhaps we could train together sometime. I would love to test myself against your sword skills again.


Sounds like you'll be fighting alongside the knights too. Don't let the monastery down, Teach.


Strength.


Good luck hitting anything with low Skl, though.

Raphael's base requirements to be recruited are 20 Str and rank C in Heavy Armor. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 16 Str. At support rank B, they're reduced to 8 Str and rank D in Heavy Armor.

Oh, that reminds me. I found this small cloth. It's kinda weird. Not really sure what it is, but it works great for wiping up sweat!
...
Caspar, please— Y'know what, never mind, keep it, I don't think Dorothea would want it back by this point...

After training, I love tending to the horses or burying myself in a good pile of books. Ahh, there's truly nothing better!
Ingrid's base requirements to be recruited are 15 Dex and rank D in Flying. At support rank C, the stat requirement is reduced to 12 Dex. At support rank B, the stat requirement is reduced to 6 Dex.

So let me give you some advice. Beneath all that princely polish, he's an animal, nothing more. He's strong and skilled, sure. But don't place your trust in him as a human being. Take care he doesn't chew you up and spit you out.
...Felix, are you alright?

Felix's base requirements to be recruited are 15 Spd and rank B+ in Swords. At support rank C, they're reduced to 12 Spd and rank B in Swords. At support rank B, they're reduced to 6 Spd and rank C in Swords.

Yeesh. I know that Adan/Abby have a natural inclination towards swords, but still. That's gonna take a bit.
♪ Garreg Mach Cathedral ♪




Choir Practice has the same dynamics of dining, but it only works well for a few select units (the ones with blue arrows), and doesn't increase motivation. Instead, it gives both selected characters Faith skill experience, and gives Adan/Abby Faith and Authority skill experience, in addition to the support points.
♪ Hope as a Melody ♪




Oh, you can also only do Choir Practice once a day.


For doing that basic quest, we get our first bit of equipment: a Leather Shield. It gives +1 Prt, but also has 1 Wt.



There's all the cookbooks gathered.


Now we can spend an activity point on a +1 or +2 buff for a given stat, and some support points with only one character. Bad trade.


I used my last activity point on dining with Linhardt and Lysithea.

Let's start instructing.
♪ Learning Lesson ♪

Instructing comes down to three basic tasks: one-on-one instruction, assigning a group task, and setting each unit's goals.

It probably goes without staying, but only instruct students who have max motivation, if you can help it.

Once you've selected a character, you get (Motivation * 0.25) chances to instruct them. Pick a skill...


And they'll gain a bit of skill experience for that skill.

There's four possible results for instructing, left up to pure random chance: Good, which results in 1x base skill experience,. Great, which results in 1.5x base skill experience, and some support points with that character. Perfect, which results in 2x base skill experience, support points with that character, and, if it is the first time a Perfect has popped up in that session, an extra instruction chance. Bad, which results in 0.5x base skill experience, and a prompt to Critique or Comfort. Choosing the right one, which is dependent on the character, results in the character being given another instruction chance.

The amount of skill experience gained by instructing someone is set to 4 at a base, and is affected by:

Strengths and Weaknesses. Strengths give +2 skill experience, Weaknesses give -2 skill experience given.

Professor Expertise. If Adan/Abby have a higher rank in the target skill than the unit, +2 skill experience is given. You can see a few icons of a hand pointing upward—that represents Professor Expertise.

Statue bonuses. We haven't seen those yet, but I'll explain them when we do.

I spend all of Linhardt's instruction sessions to get him close to Reason D.

Let's move onto Bernadetta. You'll notice that her riding skill has three stars next to it—this indicates an aptitude. Once those three stars have been filled up—I think you gain one star for every four instructions in that skill, but I'm not certain—that skill turns into a Strength, and the unit receives either an ability or Combat Art. These are set per-unit, and are not necessarily correlated with the aptitude. Bernadetta, for example, will get Pass when she fulfills her Riding aptitude.

Pass: Allows unit to pass through spaces occupied by foes.

Anyway, Bernadetta gets one star after four sessions, and one session towards her next star's progress.

Y'know how I said to only instruct units with max motivation? Yeah, my mind went blank and I forgot that Edelgard had max motivation. So, uh, time to instruct Caspar, I guess. What a waste of my limited instruction activity points...

At least he got a Perfect, so it was three sessions instead of two.

Group tasks are pretty simple: pick two units to do a thing, and they'll gain skill experience in either Riding, Heavy Armor, or Flying, depending on the task assigned. They'll also gain support points with each other.

You can see that Ferdinand will get a bonus to the skill experience from this group task. The "Expected Result" also goes up as the units involved depeen their support with each other.

Note that group tasks do not count for filling in aptitude stars, and neither does weeklong instruction. Only one-on-one instruction does.

Goals determine what units will gain skill experience in during weeklong instruction. You can have a unit either learn two skills, or focus on one skill. Doing the latter is not recommended, though, since that's effectively just leaving skill points on the table. Only do it if you're really pressed for time on getting a unit ready to change class.

I adjusted the goals. Sylvain is offscreen, but he's currently learning...Axes and Riding. I hadn't quite figured out what I was going to do with him at the time of recording, whoops.

Once a month, on the first instruction day of the month, one of the characters in your house will pose a question to you. Often, they're not necessarily looking for the right answer, but either one that appeals to them, or offers a way of looking at the problem that they hadn't considered.

In Linhardt's case...
No need to fight it. You can't help it.
I do believe you're right.


Answering correctly gives the character who asked the question +50 motivation, and a lot of professor level experience. It's not a static amount, but I'm not sure how it's determined beyond that.

Group tasks also result in gaining a small amount of funds, and some miscellaneous items.

Bernadetta also hit Riding E+. Yay.

The amount of skill experience characters receive from their goals depends on if that skill is a Weakness, a Strength, or neither.

Neutral skills give 28 skill experience, Strengths give 32 skill experience, and Weaknesses give 20 skill experience. Don't set a Weakness as a goal unless you're really sure about what you're doing.

Linhardt also hit Reason D, and got his first black magic spell as a result.


♪ A Guide for the Future ♪

Oh, come on.

Yeah, on 5/18, we're forced to partake in an auxiliary battle, to show how that system works.

I will not be showing auxiliary battles, but I will be showing level ups and items/gold gained from finishing them. With that in mind...

I'd like to see Str, but that's a perfectly decent level. Every point of Spd is valuable on an eventual Cavalier.

Bah, that's not great. Spd's valuable on magic users, but I'd also like other stats. Every point of Lck results in 0.5 Crit and 1 Crit Avo, which is...eh. Skl at least gives Hit in addition to 0.5 Crit.

Bernie...

Well, I was planning on using some magic with Abby, so I'll take it.

Good. Str is important with Petra.


Fading Blow: +6 Mt, +10 Hit, +0 Crit, 1 range, costs 3 durability. Avoid +30. After combat, user moves 1 space backwards.

Not an Art I'll use very often, but every skill rank is important.

Bad start, Dorothea.

And that's that.
♪ Learning Lesson ♪

Moving onto the next week of instruction, Edelgard gets a full five sessions of Reason instruction.

I start working Dorothea's Faith Weakness into a Strength. She only had 50 motivation, so only two sessions this week.

Petra hits Lance E+ after three sessions. I want to turn her into a flying class at some point, and Lances are a prerequisite for Pegasus Knight, so getting her ranks in that is important.




Certain days are Church of Seiros-recognized holidays, which will give you the chance to do either choir practice or a dining session for free.

The downside is that the characters brought in are random. Hubert hates choir practice, so he damages the professor level experience I gain from it.

Eh, whatever. Professor level D! We now have 3 activity points for exploration, 4 activity points for instruction, and we get 3000 gold from the Church of Seiros at the start of each month.



Lots of rank ups this week.




Axe Prowess Lv 2: Grants Hit +10, Avo +6, and Crit Avo +6 when using an axe.

Lance Prowess Lv 2: Grants Hit +8, Avo +8, and Crit Avo +6 when using a lance.

Bow Prowess Lv 2: Grants Hit +8, Avo +8, and Crit Avo +6 when using a bow.

Faith Lv 1: Grants Hit +5, Avo +7, and Crit Avo +5 when using white magic.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪



Annoyingly, this week, we're forced to either participate in a Seminar, or Rest.

Resting just ends the week and gives +50 motivation to all characters in your house. It also has an extra effect that I'll discuss when the time comes.

Seminars increase skill experience for Adan/Abby, plus five other attendees from their House. Attendees are selected primarily based on if at least one of their goals matches what's being taught. If Adan/Abby is giving the lecture, then the amount of attendees is increased to six. All attendees also get +50 motivation after the seminar.

Attendees get an amount of skill experience dependent on the difference between their skill level and the instructor's, and whether or not that skill is a Strength or Weakness for them.

Right now, our options for seminars are limited. Abby teaches Sword and Authority, Seteth teaches Lance and Authority, Hanneman teaches Bow and Reason, and Manuela teaches Sword and Faith. I do have a few people I want Lance experience on, so I start a seminar with Seteth.





Edelgard obtained Authority D+, Hubert obtained Authority D, Ferdinand obtained Authority E+, and Bernadetta obtained Lance D.

Authority Lv 2: Grants Mt +4 with gambits.

Rally Magic: Use Rally to grant Mag +4 to an ally.

Rally skills are interesting, and are simultaneously buffed and nerfed from their Awakening/Fates incarnation. They're buffed by the Str/Mag/Spd/Def/Res versions buffing the stat by 4, and the Dex/Lck/Cha versions buffing the stat by 8, but nerfed by only affecting one unit instead of units near the user.



Time to embark on our mission.

Next time. This update's pretty long.

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