Another level we should've done earlier. But hey, it's that or Debonair. And Debonair won out. Units cap at level 15. Again time for our evil doers to take the lead!
About Economics Each town you free gives us an income every 24 in game hour. Temples do not. Every unit has an upkeep cost payable every 24 hours. Because we are so over-leveled, the maps income (and last map's) do not match our upkeep cost, meaning I am bleeding money. Thankfully, there's a way to "cheat". Once all the enemy squads are destroyed, I return most of my units to the base. There I no longer need to pay them, I can spend a few days reaping some income! Doing this as the side effect of reducing the money we get for finishing the stage.
It's not cheating. It's efficient budgeting!
Scene 17: The Wizard
The map is full of annoying rivers◊ that will slow land units down. The enemy only has one type of flying unit, and one type of water units, so they will have equally a hard time.
This map may feature the most puzzling unit in the game so far: Three witches and two shaman. A witch and a shaman in the back row, and the remaining witches and shaman in the front... I honestly don't know what to say! Eitherway, not match for Warren the Lich.
The closest temple yields XIV: Temperance, and my deck is full, so no drawing cards from now on.
In Vaskallah:
In Wallas:
- "People are to be respected regardless of position or class. This should always be remembered."
- "All people have a responsibility to put into action their abilities and talents."
In Shik'Anhy
In the temple to the SW of Shik'Anhy we find a Demon Hammer, STR +12, Int -4, Black elemental. Our first enemy is an eagleman and two griffons. Mwah! Crummy units don't stand a chance even if they were under-leveled.
In the hidden city of Kalyao we hear:
In Kannyate we meet an apprentice of Balkas.
In the SW corner temple, I found another "Sword of Heroes". A unit composed of one Beastmaster and 4 skeletons is easily disposed when the skeletons meet a monk. Warren one shot kills two Golems who were being led by a mage. In Sel'Pasch we hear another bit of info.
Sahnfan gives us some background on the area.
Canopus intercepts a beast master and two cerberus. In Kolopuhn we hear...
The last temple gives us another statue trivia: [[quoteblock]]Did you see the statue at the entrance of this temple? I do not know who made it, but is looks great. Amazing details. It looks like it is about to move or take a breath.
Now remember all those towns who talk about their statues? Each time we enter them we will be shown an image of their statues of Saradin (A greyscale version of his portrait). However, being clever, we can figure which one is the real statue: It's not one of Balkas, so it falls between the Roshian temple one and Ayak'cho. We get unlimited uses of the bell, so we could just try both, but I will select the one with unnerving realism first (The temple one).
I tuned up Saradin's unit. He comes with two golems. Yuk! Saradin himself is a Mage, with the highest base intelligence in the game - higher than even Warren! The first treasure is yet another sword of heroes. So is the second! Last is a fire shield. +11 fire, +9 physical. Now I deploy him and send him to Albeleo's castle. We ignore the Chaos Gate as it leads to Organa. A few more weak enemies are dispatched by my overleveled evil armies.
Albeleo is a dollmaster, so he hits like a truck. The ghosts keep his escort useless. I use a few tarot cards to keep everyone alive, and Emperor to make sure he goes down on the second round.
Hrrrm 0 goths? Guess I abused the budget loophole a bit too much. If we return to the town of Sahnfan, the grateful locals give us a platinum medal we can sell for 135k.
Next time: We free a poor angel.