The minute we step into a town three days later, we see a brief chat between Amiah and the barkeep in Sprohm. He asks whether we've been busy with the clan wars.
Amiah: Huh, no kidding?
Depending on whether or not you've actually been busy with clan wars (I haven't, as Lutia and Sprohm are too close together for any random clan encounters to have spawned), this response makes sense; it's a nice touch.
This is the point in the game where I'll start to branch out and do sidequests, most of which are one-shots, and most of which are Dispatch missions.
When taking a dispatch mission, you simply send one of your clan members away to do the work and they come back after x days, you defeat y enemies, or you have z battles (you don't have to win, you can just run). Easy.
Elma gets sent on "Swords in Cyril", a 1-battle mission for Fencers only, and Eugene goes on "The Skypole", a 10-day mission. As a clan with only four members is not at all a threat in combat, I have Clan Euphoria wander around for a few days.
After 4 days, a red Soldier icon appears over Sprohm. These red soldier icons are clans wandering around for combat. Another one appears from Lutia Pass the next day.
RCE (random clan encounters) aren't all that random - each area will spawn the same one every time, with the same group of enemies scaled to your level. All that varies is when they appear.
I run headlong into battle with one of them; here's an RCE table.
- RCE: Sprohmknights -
- [Spawn Point: Sprohm]
- [Laws: Variable]
Summary: This clan focuses primarily on physical attacks - their only mage unit is a White Mage.
Enemy Setup:
- Human Fighter: A:Fighter Tech (Rush, Beatdown), A:None, R:Counter, S:None
- Nu-Mou White Mage: A:White Magic (Cure, Esuna), A: None, R:None, S:None
- Human Soldier: A:Battle Tech (First Aid, Magicbreak), A:None, R:None, S:None
- Bangaa Warrior: A:Battle Tech (Powerbreak*, Mindbreak, Body Slam), A:None, R:None, S:None
- Bangaa White Monk: A:Monk Tech (Whirlwind, Chakra), A:None, R:Counter, S:None
Ability Notes:
- Rush knocks the target back in addition to doing damage.
- Beatdown has half the accuracy, but double the damage of a normal attack.
- Powerbreak lowers Weapon Attack.
- Mindbreak lowers Magic Power.
- Body Slam deals extra damage, but also damages its user.
- Chakra is a souped-up First Aid that you don't get for quite a while.
However, I'm not interested in actually fighting these guys; I run away as soon as it's my turn (which is right off the bat, as all those classes are still fairly slow.)
With this, Elma clears her mission, netting us:
- 1800 Gil
- 50 AP (AP from dispatch missions goes exclusively to the unit that completed it.)
- Victor Sword
- Class I Item (Blaze Robe)
The Blaze Robe is also nice; it absorbs Fire and can't be bought in stores. Ever. Incidentally, Elma masters Swarmstrike.
I also have to intro a couple new jobs now that they've been seen or are available.
- Fighter (Human) [SLD:2A]: These guys hit hard. While not amazing, they get a good range of pure offensive skills such as Air Render and Beatdown. They also learn the R-Ability Strikeback, which autoblocks all incoming Fight attacks and launches a counter.
- Red Mage (Viera) [FEN:1A]: Red Mages are, as the trope they named implies, are very versatile, learning all three basic black spells, Cure, spells from even more esoteric jobs such as Sleep, and one that no other class learns (Barrier). But their real draw is Doublecast, which lets a unit cast two spells per turn, and also has a bizarre immunity to many laws that would otherwise affect it (or other magic).
The brackets after the race indicate the job requirements - [SLD:2A] means that any unit wishing to become a Fighter must know at least 2 A-Abilites from the SoLDier job. (Yes, every job has a three-letter tag, but they don't come up all that often).
As soon as Eugene gets back from The Skypole:
- 1000 Gil
- ? AP (I wasn't paying attention, but at least enough AP for him to learn First Aid)
- Ancient Medal
- Class I Item (Silver Rapier)
(The Silver Rapier is also unbuyable. Its Fencer skill, Shadowstick, is Speedbreak under a different name.)
I send Cliffor out to exchange the Ancient Medal for... homework?... by taking "The Last Day".
However, due to a little trick I'm using, I also dismiss Eugene and Alexey.
When you have less than 5 clan members, missions will appear in the pubs saying, in effect ,"Hey! We need more people in this clan, someone go out and find some!" but each mission will only get you recruits of one race (there are five of them - which ones are available depend on the month.)
But when the next month rolls around, they're still absent... (Oh, and Cliffor messed The Last Day up. He is so fired.)
And I accidentally move into another clan.
- RCE: Clan Marble -
- [Spawn Point: Giza Plains]
- [Laws: Variable]
Summary: This clan is rather balanced, but doesn't have any mages. They have no significant healing, so attack them in whatever order you choose.
Enemy Setup:
- Moogle Animist: A:Call (Sheep Count), A:None, R:Block Arrows, S:None
- Human Archer: A:Aim (Boost*, Aim:Legs, Take Aim), A: None, R:None, S:None
- Human Soldier: A:Battle Tech (First Aid, Speedbreak*, Mug), A:None, R:None, S:None
- Bangaa Warrior: A:Battle Tech (First Aid, Powerbreak*,Body Slam), A:None, R:None, S:None
- Viera Fencer: A:Lunge Tech (Swarmstrike), A:None, R:Reflex, S:None
Ability Notes:
- Sheep Count puts units to sleep in an area, and is a staple ability.
- Take Aim always hits, but does very little damage. You don't get this until later.
- Speedbreak lowers Speed. Duh.
- Mug damages the target and steals a small amount of gil. You don't get it until a lot later than this.
- Body Slam deals extra damage, but also damages its user.
- Reflex is downright evil for an enemy to have this early in the game; it makes anyone with it equipped immune to Fight. Strikeback will only work if you're being attacked from close up, but Reflex will also dodge arrows and guns. Needless to say, you don't get this until later.
RUN AWAAAAaAAAAY!
...and then when I go to the pub, there's the mission. Huh. Maybe you have to lose a battle or something to get 'em to show up. Elma goes on "Nu Mou Wanted".
(5 days later)
Complete!
- 20 AP
and we are approached by a new job.
- Alchemist (Nu Mou) [BLK:5A+WHT:3A]: Alchemists, first of all, get Item for free as a hidden third A-Ability slot. Alchemists' abilities include rather unusual spells like Poison, in addition to powerful ones like Flare and Death. On the whole, though, not too notable. Also, slow.
When the next month rolls around, Nu Mou Wanted reappears, and Viera Wanted also appears. Elma goes looking for another Nu Mou...
Cleared again.
- 20 AP
...with a different new job.
- Morpher (Nu Mou) [BST:5A]: Morphers copy the abilities and stats of monsters you capture. In this respect, they're a physical class and a not physical class at the same time. They take a lot of time to effectively build them up, but once you do...
He's not fast enough.
(To be continued once I get units that are actually worth getting.)
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