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Chapter 11: Rennac had the right idea
Chapter 11 brings my two favorite things together: Monsters and Fog of War. This map can be really nasty, and you have to move quickly enough to block the southeast door to stop L'Arachel from being horribly murdered.
And speaking of L'Arachel, the guest of the hour. Again, the hack boosting everything means her statistical problems are mostly sorted out, but she's still L3. Another one for the Tower brigade.
Raven Dolza has traded the way of the berserker for a hero's blade. This is now the second axe-wielding class we've been screwed out of, because we now have no one who can become a Warrior or Berserker.
Erk busts out the Torch staff and goes to town.
The skeletons aren't too dangerous, but things can get rough if they gang up on someone.
Josh, Nino, and Priscilla are heading down and around. This will prove to be potentially disastrous and completely save my ass at the same time.
There are a couple skeletons close enough to harass our NPC friends on the first few turns, but for the most part, Raven can handle himself. They don't really become a problem until they start going after L'Arachel instead.
Josh takes the oppportunity to demonstrate his new toy. It's really nice have a ~11% chance of instantly murdering anything that gets in his way, no matter what sword he's using.
Erk has been getting a lot of levels that don't really make him a better healer, but I'm not going to complain about all that speed.
Here's the real problem with Raven and L'Arachel. Raven has a hand axe, so he will never directly attack any enemies. Since the skeletons can come with swords, this means he's more likely than not going to miss, and let L'Arachel sit there and take a beating. This is most annoying when he can 2HKO them with the Steel Axe, but he insists on attacking from range (a 3HKO).
I would just like to point out that both of Eirika's attacks had 88% accuracy, and both of them missed. 
You can see the bottom-most revenant that spawned in the corner, they'll be chasing Priscilla and co to the south.
Erk fires another torch staff, and what do we have here?
...Oh, of course. How did I not see that coming? Meet the gargoyle, the wyvern riders of the monster ensemble. Strong, fast, and sturdy, these guys are perhaps the most dangerous of the bunch so far.
The mogalls have seen a slight tick up, but they're still not that bad.
Josh stumbles upon the boss down in the corner.
Wights are the upgraded skeletons, and functionally equivalent to monster heroes. They're not really much of a threat unless they're backed up with good weapons, which this one is decidedly not.
And boss dead. 
To add insult to injury, Nino crits.
Eh, not so hot.
Why are all of my favorite prepromotes being awful? 
Priscilla gets hit from the shadows, but after Josh gets fixed up, we're back in the clear for this turn.
I'm always torn over how early to promote when a unit's capped all their primary stats. On one hand, she keeps getting strength, and if she can go into promotion with all that shit capped, she's golden. On the other hand, I really need to get some more units that can break the 20 speed cap because it's by far the biggest stumbling block for me right now.
Nino and Priscilla hold the line against the revenants, and Josh starts heading east. He has a very, very important role to play here.
Just in time. Now, the hard part begins.
Forde takes the first skeleton and gets a good level from it.
Josh is in position. For what, you ask? You'll see in a second.
Next, Guy grabs Innes' Silver Bow from the convoy.
Why would I use the Shadowkiller against the gargoyle instead of the Fiendcleaver? Quite simply, it makes Gerik too good at killing monsters. The skeletons move before anyone else in the group, and with the Fiendcleaver eqipped, Gerik can one-round them all. Naturally, this leaves him with about 10 HP by the time the gargoyles move, and that just goes bad places.
That's what we're looking for.
21 AS, 37 Atk, good resistance, amazing defense. This guy will fuck your day up something fierce, and he's a bitch and a half to take down.
Tana almost picks off a skeleton and gets a pretty great level for it.
And that's the main design of switching to a sword. With Gerik blocked off, the Deathgoyle can't sweep in and murder him. The only unit he now has open to him is Josh off to the west.
Josh gets a crit, which makes my job a bit easier.
The second "thief" skeleton pops up in the southwest, but Nino is quick to deal with him.
Eirika recruits L'Arachel, L'Arachel recruits Raven.
So how do you kill a big, tough, flying monster? The same way you kill anything else flying - you stuff its ass full of arrows. Magic would work well too, but Nino is occupied at the moment.
Unfortunately, Innes missed. But here's a dirty little secret: the Deathgoyle would rather attack Josh than Innes, even when Innes can't counter (due to having the Silver Bow equipped). I have no idea why the AI is suddenly so predisposed to go after damage over avoiding counters, but Josh has just enough HP to survive the hit, and his counter will put the Deathgoyle into killing range for Innes.
Not so tough now, are you? 
Forde and Guy deal with some reinforcements from behind.
Eh...one one hand, it's only three levels and I'd really like to see some more magic. On the other, he's up to 20 speed now, I really should just give him the damn ring.
Oh hey wait a minute, where did you come from. This could be a problem.
Nino picks off the archer immediately, and Priscilla can survive a hit from one skeleton and one revenant. We should be okay.
Skeleton number one comes in and gives Priscilla more strength.
...And shit, he had a Javelin. That could have ended a lot worse.
Welp, time to make a break for it and hope I can get this back door open before they get trapped there.
Excellent. Now it's just a matter of killing off these last couple guys.
Most of them suicide right into Josh. He gets a pretty bad level out of it, but we're done with Chapter 11. Next time: A much easier chapter of the same variety.
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Level 3 Troubadour
Staves - D, Affinity - Light
Equipment - Mend Staff, Torch Staff, Elixir
HP: 18 (+5) (45%)
Magic: 6 (+4) (50%)
Skill: 6 (+4) (45%)
Speed: 10 (+4) (45%)
Luck: 12 (65%)
Defense: 5 (+4) (15%)
Resistance: 8 (+4) (50%)
Con: 5
Oh boy, L'Arachel. I hate her personality, but she's not a bad unit. Her bases aren't terrible, her growths are good where it counts, and she has a horse, which gives her quite a bit of extra utility. It'd be worth a lot more if she wasn't L3 when we're past the halfway point of the game and Moulder/Natasha are getting ready to promote, but if you're determined to use her, you generally won't be too disappointed.
Level 1 Hero
Swords - B, Axes - B, Affinity - Thunder
Equipment - Hand Axe, Steel Axe, Elixir
HP: 45 (85%)
Strength: 19 (50%)
Skill: 18 (35%)
Speed: 16 (40%)
Luck: 4 (30%)
Defense: 11 (30%)
Resistance: 10 (25%)
Con: 14
Let's not beat around the bush here. Raven is a bad unit as far the hack's concerned. He's tanky and reasonably strong, but that's about all he really has going for him. If I were to promote Gerik the second I got him, he'd be equal or better in every stat except HP/Def/Res, and he'd only be behind by a couple points at absolute most. Perhaps more damning, we now have absolutely no way to get a Berserker or Warrior. I'm sure everyone is having a moment of silence for missing a Warrior, but with no Ross to get the Rosszerker and no Dolza, Swordmasters stand alone as (arguably) the best physical class in the game. Which is a shame, really, because I'd really like to know what kind of crazy shit he'd come up with for a Berserker.