Update 6: But Why



♪ Untitled (BGM_0064) ♪


Thunderbrand?


A long, long time ago, the goddess bestowed divine weapons upon 10 heroes, which were passed down to their descendants. It's an honor to wield, but I'm afraid there won't be any chance for that today. Our mission is to help clean up the aftermath, not to fight.
One must wonder why Lord Lonato would incite such a reckless rebellion.


I don't know much about it.
Roughly four years ago, the king of Faerghus was murdered by the people of Duscur. I believe that about sums it up, correct?
To put it simply, yes. But there's more to that story. They had accomplices within the Kingdom as well.


...Why does a religious organization have the ability to enact the death penalty?
Speaking from the church's perspective, we simply passed judgment according to our doctrine in place of the Kingdom, which was in complete chaos. Whatever the truth behind that incident may be, Lord Lonato has harbored resentment toward the church ever since.
Well... To be more specific, his grudge isn't only against the church. It's also against the one who turned Christophe over to them...



It looks like our mission just changed, Professor. Everyone, prepare for battle!

♪ As Swift as Wind ♪


Of course our mission ended up being more than we expected...

I didn't really need to do much of anything during battle preparations, so...


♪ Fódlan Wind ♪


The enemy could be trying to surround us, but they shouldn't have enough soldiers to form a tight circle.
Take down anyone who breaks through the fog, and let's push through!






Catherine has two Church Soldiers following her. We get a reward for saving either one or both of them, with the latter giving higher bonuses.


To start off, let's use Stride, which gives everyone in its AOE (except for the caster) +5 Mv for one turn.

It kind of boosts our movement by a lot.

I move Abby out into the fog, and use a Torch, which...

Expands her fog of war sight range by four.

Fog of war is way more annoying in Three Houses than it was in past games. Characters can see all of two tiles in front of them, compared to the...it was either four or five in previous games, I forget.

Besides that, the same awful rules apply from previous games. If you move a unit into the fog and they collide with an enemy, they stop moving, and their turn immediately ends. Enemies also do not care about fog at all; they can and will attack you if they can, even if they were out of your sight.

Edelgard wasn't tagged by Stride, so I have her move towards the trees, so she can position herself to draw out the enemies that are hiding there, starting next turn.



Caspar softens up this guy a little. He's...not great early on, but give him time.




Well, uh, I wasn't expecting that. I'll take it, though.

Sylvain is a really heavy hitter early on.



It's chip damage.







Great.














Future leader of the Adrestian Empire.


It's over!



...Well then.

That's fine.






Please dn't kill too many enemies, Abby.






Let's patch Caspar up, first of all.





It's got Mag, it's fine.

Bernadetta could finish this guy off with a standard Steel Bow shot, thanks to the Mire Β debuff...




But I applied Curved Shot to get +30 Hit.







Edelgard weakens that Soldier, and Linhardt finishes him off.

Linhardt's doing really well for himself, so far. I hope he keeps these levels up.



I'm not sure if these archers are slow, or if Petra is fast. Either way, she can inflict some serious hurt on them.

I won't mind weakening these two...




Great success. -10% combat stats to those two unlucky saps.





Ferdinand finishes off the closest one.



And Caspar finishes off the Archer that Petra went after.






Wow, that was...uneventful. I guess we've thinned out most of the herd.

Either that, or there's a bunch of enemies waiting for me in the fog.







First order of business, wipe out that sap.

hm yes this is a good idea



Caspar can survive two rounds of this, he's good.

And now Edelgard and Linhardt are way behind everyone...



Alright, Caspar's—


—fiiiiIIIIIIIINNNNNEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAA—



Fucking fog.



Having Physic very early is so nice.



I could've put the Mire Β debuff on the boss, but killing that Fighter works too.





Softening up the boss with Bernadetta leaves him in kill range for Petra.


Easy.






















Well, uh. This isn't great.

Hopefully no-one gets dropped to 0 HP...






Nice job, Caspar.

I take back what I said.








Phew.



I don't know why that Archer attacked Bernadetta at 2 range, therefore letting her counter, but whatever.

Str's good, but please get some Spd too, Bernie.


















Ooh, more good utility magic. Banshee Θ reduces its target's Mv by...it's either 4 or 5, I can't remember, and the game doesn't specifically say. Basically, it completely locks down infantry, and severely restricts cavalry and fliers.




...Damn, Sylvain. Good start. Keep that up.






Str's fine.



With that Physic, Petra will be ready to attack again next turn.



And that's all of the immediate threats cleared.




It's free EXP.






Please get Spd, Hubert.







Edelgard's a big fan of very productive rounds of combat, I see.




Getting Caspar ready to take hits.

By the way, if Catherine gets in range of an enemy, she will kill them. She's going to hit them four times, since Thunderbrand has a Brave effect.

For those unfamiliar with prior FEs: Brave weapons hit twice per attack, meaning that not doubling someone results in two hits, and doubling someone results in four hits. Both hits occur sequentially, meaning the user gets in two attacks before the enemy counterattacks. In games up to and including Awakening, Brave weapons always gave their double-strike effect, but Fates severely nerfed them by giving them major Def/Res penalties and making the double-strike effect only activate when the user initiates combat. The effect of that is making Brave weapons amazing on the player phase, but a big liability on the enemy phase.

Three Houses gets rid of the stat penalties, since the balancing factor of those was offset by re-introducing weapon durability, but still keeps the Brave effect only activating when initiating combat.

Oh yeah, I haven't explained gauntlets yet. Gauntlets are the weapons associated with the Brawling skill. They all have low Mt, high Hit, low Wt, and a high amount of uses. They also all have a Brave effect. They're weapons for units that have high Str, basically. Low Spd units get the ability to strike twice with them, high Spd units get the ability to erase most any enemy they come across. The downside to gauntlets is that they're very offensively weak during the enemy phase—they don't have their Brave effect, they have low Mt, and they have no option for counterattacking at range. Gauntlets also cannot be used by cavalry or flying classes, unless they dismount.

There's also a hidden weakness for gauntlets on female units: they don't get access to any of the Brawling-focused classes. Brawler, Grappler, and War Master are all male-only, which means women don't get access to any class with inherent Fistfaire and a boost to Brawling skill experience gained in battle. These aren't dealbreakers, per se—there's a lot of women, such as Catherine here, who can make plenty fine use of gauntlets just off their stats alone. It just kinda sucks that there's no way for women to stack both class and standard versions of Fistfaire, get bonus Brawling skill experience during battle, or utilize both Crit +20 and Quick Riposte on War Master.

Phew, that sure was a mouthful.

Oh yeah, Catherine is also one of the few characters with a major Crest—the major Crest of Charon, which gives her a 70% chance of adding 5 damage to combat arts.

Foudroyant Strike: +6 Mt, +30 Hit, +30 Crit, 1 range, costs 3 durability. Effective against Armored and Dragon foes.

The Thunderbrand also allows characters with a Crest of Charon—so, Catherine and Lysithea—to use Foudroyant Strike.





Boy, Edelgard, you're a big fan of missing today.














Yep, this sure is happening.



Holy gods look at Catherine's combat forecast.




Hey, I've got a reason to show off a Rally skill! So, Hubert uses Rally Magic on Dorothea.

And hey presto, Dorothea can kill this guy! She was at 13 damage to this guy before the Rally.




Meh.





Yup. Sure. I'm resigned to this now.

This is scary, but Ferdinand can survive it.



...Or he could get hit by a 35% chance.

This is your introduction to the fact that enemies can use Gambits against you too. It's not that common on Hard, but it does happen.






Thank you, Edelgard.





As much as Catherine taking kills annoys me, it's also not that big a loss, as long as you don't let her take the entire map.



Took you long enough.




Ugh.




I wish Spd was in there too, but I can't complain about Str, Dex, and every defensive stat.









And that's the nearby threats taken out.


We'd best get Ferdinand patched up.





Let's get super-rushy, shall we?


Hubert softens up the bottom left guy...



And Sylvain takes the kill.




No, I didn't take a screenshot of the wrong frame. The Empire Warriors just don't get anything on their first level.



One left.







Aaaaaaaand that one lives because Dorothea's uses of Thunder are limited by her class.





At least this jerk can't one-round her.


♪ Wrath Strike ♪


Wait no Catherine what are you doing stop



Wait, 13, what?

Okay! I guess the scripting dictates that Catherine can't kill Lonato. How generous of it.


...This guy has no qualms about taking my kill, though.


And this one has no qualms about occupying the only other space I could melee Lonato from.

Fine, whatever, let Bernie take it.





Sparse, but exactly what she needs.

Well done, everyone. Let's gather our troops and go.




Saving one soldier gets us the Goddess Icon, which increases one character's Lck by 4 permanently, and saving both gets us the Secret Book, which increases one character's Dex by 2 permanently.

Who do you give these two? Well, the Goddess Icon can go to pretty much anyone. Lck's not that important. If you have units you absolutely want to make sure cannot be crit, then give it to them, since it gives +4 Crit Avo. It also affects Miracle, I guess.

The Secret Book can serve axe users well, since axes have lower Hit, or they can be good for people who will eventually make use of Pavise or Aegis, since those abilities' hit chances run off Dex.


♪ (No music; ambient wind noises) ♪


Forcing innocent citizens to risk their lives... That man was not a noble, but a monster.
What could have pushed Lord Lonato to this point?





That is the reality of battle.
If only everyone could face reality so unflinchingly. The commoners who allied themselves with Lord Lonato believed they were fighting for a just cause. It would be disrespectful to consider them simply victims when they died for what they believed in.

♪ Beyond the Crossroads ♪



Agreed.



Really, I'm just like Lonato. I, too, will be the sort of ruler who's willing to risk the lives of my citizens in service of a higher cause. It's not possible to change the world without sacrifice. Dying for the greater good is not a death in vain.

♪ Dark Clouds Gather ♪



We can't tell who sent it, so the source is suspect, but the content is too disturbing to ignore. We must report this to Lady Rhea right away. I hope that it's nothing...


Well, that's...bad.
♪ Guardian of Starlight ♪



I still have much to learn.
There is no need for modesty. I heard some of the students were...hesitant about fighting militia. However, we must punish any sinner who may inflict harm upon believers, even if those sinners are civilians. I pray the students learned a valuable lesson about the fate that awaits all who are foolish enough to point their blades towards the heavens.
Our real concern is what Catherine reported. The secret message that was in Lord Lonato's possession. It contained a deplorable plot to target the archbishop on the day of the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth. The plan seems unrealistic at best... But a threat is a threat. We must maintain constant vigilance.


You can count on us.
That is most reassuring. You have my gratitude.
The Rite of Rebirth is of paramount importance. It is when the Church of Seiros and its believers unite to pray for the return of the goddess. The archbishop and I will be confined to the Goddess Tower once the ritual begins. Of course, the knights will be on high alert as well, but there aren't enough of them to keep watch on every corner of the monastery. It is far from ideal to be forced to mobilize students, but the gravity of this situation requires that we all bend to avoid breaking.
While there is no need to fear for my safety, we cannot turn a blind eye to those who would blaspheme so heinously.
With any luck, this will all be for naught. Still, be on your guard.


Well... I've still got a bad taste in my mouth from all of that. This is as good a place as any to call it a day.

Next time: Blue Sea Moon. See you then.

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