No, that title does not look ominous, not even a little.
Micaiah is received by her army as a glorious hero (somewhere deep down I'm sure they appreciate her tactician too). She's somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden burst of popularity, and wanders off for some quiet time.
Anyways, Base prep time
Two conversations to go:
1) Pelleas*** - It's like they're going out of their way to make sure that he's as weedy as possible. Sothe gets pretty pissed about this too. 10000G obtained
2) Jill*** - Jill goes up to Micaiah out of concern, and they end up chatting about an old friend of Jill's, back in Talrega. No points for guessing who that is. Pass Scroll obtained.
Well, I think we could stick that Pass on someone... maybe Nailah - Eh?
Where is everyone? Hello?
So, we've only got Micaiah at base now - that title is getting more and more scary by the second. On to the battle then. Oh, I do hope they come back soon. Your crush is in danger, Sothe! I think you should get here quickly!
So Micaiah is suddenly ambushed by Jarod. And no one is with her. Oh well, I guess we could pray for a miracle or something.
Map 1-9
Victory Condition: Defeat Boss
Defeat Condition: Micaiah dies
Roster: Micaiah
So, Jarod wants to take Micaiah with him when he goes down. Oh god. Let's hope for lots of criticals... HEY DIDN'T I KILL YOU IN THE LAST GAME?!
Yep, it's the Black Knight, and Micaiah's team's official saviour. That sentence sounds weird somehow. He's a bro on the other hand, and like Nailah, is godly amazing. This chapter is basically him killing things, and things dying on him, while Micaiah tries to grab some experience.
There are a few ranged weapon users, but they aren't going to hurt very much. Micaiah's retardedly high avoid helps in this respect.
Avoid is calculated as: Spd x 2 + Luck + Support bonus + Terrain Bonus + Biorhythm Bonus
As such, Micaiah, as she is right now, has 15 x 2 + 25 = 55 avoid without any bonuses. Seems meh-ish, but she gets 10 more avoid from terrain, making it 65, which is decent at any stage of the game, and gives her a good chance of dodging everything in this chapter (which she did).
The map is ridiculously easy thanks to the Black Knight, and unless you get unlucky, or haven't trained Micaiah, it's kind of cathartic. See, the title wasn't ominous at all. Except, you know, the Black Knight survived a castle falling on him.
When Jarod finally shows his mug to us, it's a practical strategy to wail on him with Micaiah for some extra experience. I did so, until he had 2 HP left, and then killed him with the BK, so that she'd be able to get to Level 20 using as little BEXP as possible (she ended the chapter on Level 19).
It took a pretty long time to complete, and Fog of War (or rather the Darkness of Night) didn't help very much, but a good result nonetheless.
Items:
1) Pass Scroll - Gives Pass skill to bearer. Allows unit to pass through enemy units.
2) Coin x 2 (missed) - on map somewhere
New units
The Black Knight (Level 20 Black Knight)
Base stats
70 HP
38 Str
18 Mag
40 Skl
30 Spd
20 Luck
35 Def
25 Res
13 Con
25 Wt
He doesn't have growths because the fuckin' Black Knight doesn't need growths to be amazing. Just don't abuse him, and you're set for the last chapter of Part 1. He also comes with a Mastery skill - Eclipse [5x Str; negates enemy defense; Skill% activation], which is hilarious.
Some theoretical numbers here. First off, he has a 40% activation rate, which can be boosted or lowered by biorhythm. 2 out of every 5 enemies is likely to die to an Eclipse.
Given that enemy defense is 0 if Eclipse activates, we're look at a (5 x 38) - 0 = 190 damage without a weapon. Add on his personal sword, Alondite [18mt, 1-2 range], and you have something beautiful on your hands. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing in this game that needs that much killing. And he does it anyway. Forty percent of the time.
Micaiah doesn't allow Jarod to die (and his subordinate takes the first blow anyway), and I can see this totally biting us in the ass later.
Post Battle musings:
- First time I played this game I nearly had a heart attack, especially with the incredibly shitty Micaiah I had that run. Sure, this time she could have soloed the map (probably... with a little luck), but back then... *shudder*
- Eclipse isn't even the highest damaging thing in the game. And not even the final boss has enough HP to resist Eclipse.
- I really like this chapter - it's a little gimmicky, but it's different, and pretty cathartic too, especially if the Dawn Brigade's been giving you a hard time.
Next time: We liberate things
