Alright, since I feel like being lazy, let's take a look at the Headquarters tab that is now available for use to use in chapter 4.
Here is where you'll be spending most of your time outside of battles and cutscenes. At this point in time, we have access to four options: Squad Barracks, Command Room, Training Field, and the R&D Facility.
The R&D Facility is home to Leon and Kreis, the mechanics and the guys who do your upgrades. Upgrades in this game are rather simple: Use your acquired money to buy new guns, armor, and tank upgrades. Guns are simple choices until the later chapters, where Rifles, Machine Guns and Sniper Rifles branch out into different categories: Accuracy, Power, and Status Effect (Def down) for rifles, Power, Status Effect (Atk down), and Increased Clip (after the Shocktroopers reach level 11) for Machine Guns, and Accuracy, Power, and Status Effect (Aim Down) for Sniper Rifles. Armor comes into flavors: Blast Suits for the Lancers, and Combat Suits for everyone else. Tank upgrades are also in two groups: Body Enhancements, which are applied automatically, and every thing else, which are applied to the tank via a grid like system, where each upgreade is a certain size, and you have to make them fit in the grid.
Since you should have the money for it, always buy all the infantry upgrades first, then Body Enhancements for the Tank, and everything else lower on the priority list last.
The Training Field is where you spend Exp to upgrade and level your units. Each class has a certain milestones they reach to learn combat Potentials (Which I will explain in Chapter 4 proper) and Orders (Ditto). You should prioritize your Exp like so: Scouts or Shocktroopers (Whichever you se more, they will be doing most of the shooty stuff), Lancers (They bust the tanks), Snipers (You should know what they do), and Engineers (Since they don't really do much combat, and they things they do aren't effected by level)
The Command Room is where the fun really is. Here is where you pick your troops, remove the ones you don't want, and compare stats and Potentials. I'll give you a list of who's available at the end of the Interlude. But in the meantime, here's the low down on the classes:
Scouts are the guys who'll be running around harassing your enemy and capturing bases. They have the highest movement rate in the game, and can go farther than the other classes. They also have a greater interception firing range. The rifles they use are accurate, and can deal out headshots at an alright rate. However, unless it's against another scout, they won't be doing much damage else wise, and their defense is pretty low.
Shocktroopers are the guys who will be wrecking stuff for you. Their Machine Guns offer excellent firepower, and their defense is the second best of the classes. Though their movement is middle of the road, if your strategy calls for attacking relentlessly, these are your go to.
Lancers are the tankbusters of the squad. Often, these are the guys that will be getting most of the tank kills in the missions, by virtue of being able to get to places where your tank can't and flank the enemy. They also have a significant resistance to explosions, like hand grenades, mines, and tank mortars. However, they are sllllooooow and can't really fight back against infantry attacks.
Enginners are your support troops. They disarm mines refill ammo, repair the tank and busted sandbags, and heal your units. They also come with three grenades for clearing obstacles, like logs or tank barricades. However, they are weak in actual combat, and since they're armed with rifles, their only hope is to dole out headshots and hope they don't get counterattacked. Keep them away from dangerous situations.
Snipers snipe. Other than low mobility and horrendous defense, there isn't much you all don't already know about snipers.
The Squad Barracks is the last on the list for our tour of HQ. Here is where you arm you units with different weapons such as the different branches of Gallian weapons and Ace Weapon drops, check out in depth info on Potentials, and generally mess around. Speaking of Ace Weapons, let's check out the ZM Kar 1(g) we got.
ZM Kar 1(g): Aim: E/Range: 180/vs Personnel: 36/vs Armor: 46
For comparison, the Gallian-2's stats are Aim:C/Range:350/vs Personnel: 22/Vs Armor: 40
Now, while the ZM has the the Gallian beat in terms of firepower, it's aim is terrible, with E being the the worst possible rank. Add to the range the is lower than the Machine Guns, and you have a deal breaker. This is a reoccurring trend with the Ace Weapons: Awesome firepower, but terrible range and accuracy. Later in the game, they become more viable, but avoid them like the plague unless you want to see the soldiers you gave them to get dropped like bad habits.
Wait a minute, I also happen to have an additional weapon for Shocktroopers, I wonder what it-
Ruhm: Aim: A/Range: 540/vs Personnel: 35/vs Armor: 75
For comparison: Mags M2: Aim: D/Range: 200/vs Personnel:21/vs Armor: 40
The Ruhm is a special reward for people that completed the DLC mission Behind Her Blue Flame, which I'll be covering later in the blog. Now, if I was a lesser man, I'd throw the Ruhm on one of my troops and basically win the next ten chapters with little effort. But since I'm better then that, the Ruhm's only appearance will be when I cover the DLC, wielded by it's proper owner.
Now with that done, lets show off our troops!
Hermes Kissinger:
A self styled ladies man, Hermes is a pretty alright scout. And ladies, he's single~
Ted Ustinov: A guy who is always ready to crack a joke and cheer others up. He like to hang out with anybody, and His main goal seems to be making Marina Wulfstan laugh. It doesn't often work though...
Montley Leonard: Ever the hyper one, Montley's position as scout is very fitting.
Noce Wordsworth: A former member of the Bruhl Town Watch alongside Alicia, he enjoys writing songs about some girl we may or may not know. Also, he seems to dislike Welkin...
Nancy Dufour: A young farm girl who was somewhat sheltered, she is always full of pep. Though, she seems a bit clumsy at times...
Ramona Linton: A fashion model turned militiawomen, she is literally devoted to all things fashion.
Susie Evans: A hardcore pacifist stuck fighting in the war. According to the anime, Susie is Alicia's childhood friend, along with being a former member of the Bruhl Town Watch. In the game? Not so much. Add in the most useless Potential ever...
Freesia York: Born in the desert, she was a popular dancer before the war. Also, she really likes the menfolk. "Hunks to my left, hunks to my right~"
Aika Thompson: It's Akia from Skies Of Arcadia. There you go. Now go buy Skies of Arcadia!
Kevin Abbott: This poor guy is very skittish, and can;t make choices real well. The fact the he couldn't decide between sniper and engineer and got stuck with shocktrooper by default should tell alot.
Coby Caird: This sixty-five year old still has some pep in him, and has the experience to back it up.
Salinias Milton: Yet another ladies man, he's broken many hearts. But his true love lies elsewhere...
Mica Hawkins: A machinist and a perfectionist, he is extremely pessimistic.
Vyse Inglebard: It's Vyse, the main character from Skies Of Arcadia. Also has the dubious distinction of cameoing in the anime, only to run into a hail of bullets and die pretty much within moments.
Wendy Chenslock: Wendy is crazy. An explosives expert who blew up her house, she has a habit of giggling creepily and dragging out her words.
Edy Nelson: The game's most popular character in Japan. She is the focus of two of the game's DLC's, and has a heated (read: one sided) rivalry with Rosie.
Aisha Neumann: The youngest of the Sevens, clocking in at twelve years old, she requested to be put in the frontlines to fight for her home.
Nina Streiss: A workout fanatic, she thinks anyone in tanks or blast armor are total pussies.
Jann Walker: The campyest hard gay you will ever see, and has a massive crush on Largo. Also voiced by the guy who does Bender and Jake.
Nils Daerden: A former gangbanger, this man pulls no punches.
Walter Nash: Despite looking like a hardass, Walter loves to bake and cook, and is the most moody person ever.
Hector Calvey: Hector is a hero back in his town, and believes that numbers maybe important, but guts even more so.
Yoko Martens: Yoko is a widow who ran a eatery until the war started. She is the oldest woman in the game at thirty-seven.
Elysse Moore: She is always tired, and is a slow starter. Allllsoooo, she tallllks liiiiike thiiiis.
Karl Landzaat: Extremely meek, the man seems like a deer in headlight whenever faced with difficulty. Though I hear his wife is pretty protective of him...
Dallas Wyatt: Basically every yuri anime character ever, Dallas finds men unrefined and women much better company, especially Alicia.
Ramsy Clement: She's a weapons mechanic who is really lazy, to the point of not maintaining her weapons. Yeah...
Nadine: A collage educated Darcsen with a masters in Literature, she is fiercely protective every one in the squad. Also develops a crush on Cezary Regard, a notable Darcsen hater, in the manga.
Claudia Mann: Whereas Nancy is just clumsy, Claudia is pretty much unlucky in every way. Her house was the only place she felt safe, and then it was hit by a tank shell. Poor girl.
Cezary Regard: Quite possibly the most hated character in the game. He mocks you, he clearly doesn't want to be there, and he hates Darcsens. It's a shame the the manga didn't go longer, it turns out that Nadine's crush on him was going to change his opinion on Darcsens.
Marina Wulfstan: The best sniper in the game and the most popular character in America, Marina's antisocial habits and love of all things cute and small have endeared her to us. She also features in the Edy DLC's.
There we go, everyone available in the game so far. If you see someone you like, mention who it is in the comments section down there. I encourage anyone reading to do this, for it boosts my ego an makes me feel more important than I actually am. SELF ESTEEM, HOOOOO!
Next Time: The part where we shoot people.
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