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Well everyone, here we are again. The start of the new year, and the next episode of Let's Play Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War!





Next up, on Turn 1...





We got Celice fixin' up his gear and selling his Elite Ring. He's the last guy that's ever gonna need help maxing his levels, and that's because...





He's got his promotion!





It always amuses me that this game has so many crazy strats, like the "Wrath + Ambush" one; and yet, the best units are always the ones that are the simplest to use. That's what Celice and Sigurd are, despite their "no frills" approach to everything. They're like Younger Toguro from Yu Yu Hakusho. No fancy tricks, no frills, no subtlety, no nothing. They just hit you...really, really hard. That's about it.

Yet, they're still about the most dangerous people you'll ever meet. They don't really NEED anything else, when all's said and done .



Celice WILL, however, want this +5 RES Barrier Ring, because...





This map is going to be yet another solo; with Celice taking up his father's mantle as "greatest FE4 unit that ever lived".



Of course, that EXP rank isn't going up by itself, so, we need other guys to join in, too.



But first, a nice chat between Delmud and Oifaye.

DELMUD & OIFAYE: (+1 Str, +1 Skl, and +1 Def to Delmud)





Oifaye: Oh... Fin. I bet you can’t wait to see her
again.

Delmud: You got that right!

Oifaye: Well, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Here, I’ll give you some tips on using that sword.

Delmud: Wow, that’d be great!





And there we go! A nice smattering of stat boosts for one of our up and comers! And if you went with the Substitutes, you'll also get THIS!

(No Change in Music)

Rodolban vs. Tristan (+2 Str, +1 Skl, and +1 Def to Rodolban; +2 Str, +1 Spd, and +1 Def to Tristan)
[Conquer Melgen, then have them Wait next to each other. Only works if both are under LVL 10]



Rodolban: Hey, show a guy a little respect, would ya? Anyway, I was just thinking. Do you think we’re holding Sir Celice back any?

I mean, "out-of-sight, out-of-mind", so I doubt you're actively harming him...

Tristan: We? Don’t you mean YOU? I’m holding up my own out here.

Rodolban: Is that so? Alright, let me hear what you’ve done so far.

Tristan: Ah, well... You know, I’ve... um...

Sheesh, they KNEW just how bad the subs were, didn't they ?

Rodolban: See there? That’s just what I’m saying. You can’t think of anything, can ya?

Tristan: Alright, alright! So what’s your point?

Rodolban: Let’s get a little dueling practice in. I want to move up to the front line! I doubt I’d learn a whole lot from you, but I’ll do anything to avoid getting castle duty!

Tristan: You know you’ve got a real crappy way of asking someone a favour? Just forget it.

Rodolban: Oh, c’mon! Look... Would you pretty please be my sparring partner with sugar on top? How about that!?

Tristan: Where the hell do you get off!? Okay, I’ll fight you... only to shut you up! You ready?

And now, I present to you...Roddlebad vs. Tristan Taylor. Battle...of the useless sidekicks. Let it begin!



And there we go; an actually REALLY useful boost for both of these guys.

Unfortunately, you're not likely to ever see it. It's available only after an arbitrary sequence trigger, they both have to be lower than LVL 10 (nevermind the promoted sprites, this was hacked), and the game never gives you any indication that they can talk to each other. Even the "Talk" section of their profiles don't give any names; you just have to find this by pure chance. "Guide Dang It" indeed...



Now, back in the MAIN timeline, Lana gets in some Warp Staff grinding.





Lakche uses her Elite skill, OP stats, and broken skills to clear the Arena...





Sells off a bunch of stuff (you'll see later)...



Then waits outside for Johalva. Speaking of...





Johalva spends all his money on a Hero Axe, as that's gonna be his bread and butter for the Arena...





Julia also gets as far as she can go...





And then assumes the Jealousy formation to help pair Johalva and Lakche, as Johalva REALLY needs the extra money that Lakche can bring.

Don't worry everyone; Lex and his bros. came from different mothers, according to some expanded material. So these two're far enough apart to be acceptable.





Anyway, after beating up Hugh Hepner and the rest of his Arena goons...





He now has JUST enough money to buy the Elite Ring, so long as he sells off all the rest of his gear.





Arthur has a lot of things going for him, as far as grinding goes. He can be nigh on invulnerable with Holsety, his legendary weapon is 1-2 Range, he's got the best magic type in the game, and he also gets a horse on promotion.

Besides that, we also need him to recruit someone later on this chapter. Hence, getting him a ton of EXP here is just a good idea all around.



And while we're doing that, we can also have Fee spend some quality time with him.

I'm not doing this for the strategic value, like I am with Johalva and Lakche. Actually, none of the other pairings have much strategic value, now. Gen 1 has already come and gone, so all of the really important stuff has already been taken care of. I'm just doing this because, well...I'm nothing if not a softy :daw: .



Now before we end the turn, let's talk about what Leaf, Nanna, and Fin are doing. See, there're a lot of villages here; and they've got an entire garrison breathing down their necks.

Fortunately, Fin's got both the Hero Lance and Prayer working for him. He's got what he needs to just barely stave off the invaders, with some healing from Nanna. So while he goes and does that (while popping off the southeast MBandit), Leaf and Nanna are going to help out the other villages.





This isn't going to be a 2-Turn job, but...we'll get em' eventually.



And if you all remember the other straggler group (Patty & Shanan), don't worry; I already moved them last update.



As for Celice, the enemies are just as helpless against him as they always are. No problems there.





Castle Alster is the one ruled by King Blume.



They're the guys that're gonna try and invade Lenster.





Now then...



Fin pops off one of the MBandits here, so he can have a nice chat with the common wealth.



Yeah...at which point, he lost 95% of his army. Does it still count as "taking a stand" when it's your last stand?

Cuan... Ethlin... You should be proud of your son.

"He got all his men killed in a battle they were not prepared for in any way. He really IS Cuan's son !"

Here, I’d like you to have this Speed Ring.



Somebody really did not get the memo, did they? Here's to hoping they don't have to learn the hard way...



Oh well. Let's see if this one's any better informed.



He’s a horrible ruler. And to top that off, he’s now conducting child hunts!



We have had all we can take of that man!

I can imagine! We learned about the resurgence of the child hunts back in Chapter 6, but...wow.



Maybe they DO know how desperate things are for Leaf, and they're just thinking there's nowhere to go but up?



Anyway, Lana's still grinding up that EXP with Warp, everyone's still playing matchmaker with Lakche and Johalva...



And we're having Delmud and Oifaye coast outside enemy fire. Delmud IS going to be seeing some action with the trust old Thief Sword...but not yet, readers. Not yet.



For now, it's still the Celice show...



With some occasional guest appearances by Shanan and Patty.





Alright, your turn!





I left Celice on the Hero Sword on purpose. He's already promoted, so I want to funnel these guys into Arthur instead.





As for the invading team, there's...really not a lot for them to do this turn.



And the home team...





Isn't exactly winning any fights either.





So that's about it for Yied. Next turn we'll...hmm?



Oh, it's this place again!





Bramsel: There’s a nice bounty on that boy. Let’s see to it that we are the ones who bring him in. Keep the border secure for now. Their fatigue will mark the moment of opportunity! You tell Commander Jabarro to be on the alert!

Fatigue? Clearly someone doesn't know about Celice's good ol' Live Ring .





ELTSHAN?! IS THAT YOU?!? What be this talk of "the Isaac's" rebel army?!

Leen: Whew... that’s a relief. For a second there I thought you had to go to battle.

Aless: If war breaks out, I will go. All mercenaries will. Besides, I heard that Sigurd’s son is commanding the rebels. Sigurd was the sworn enemy of my father. His boy is as good as dead if I get my hands on him.

...Cripes. Am I gonna to have to break out Senator Armstrong's theme again?

Leen: Hahaha... you just don’t let up, do you? Your father and that Sigurd guy were both knights. Well, their job was killing people. Am I right? Sometimes I have to dance for disgusting men, but that’s a part of my job! We do what we do to survive! So don’t hold a grudge over someone else’s livelihood.

Aless: ...You’ve got a good point, Leen. I’m just in a difficult position, that’s all.

Well, that's how it was with your father, and...he became this game's Camus. You'd best not repeat the same mistake ...



Anyway, Alster is still a thing.



For now, this just means the MBandits are trashing the villages. But things are gonna get heated, soon...





Anyway...



Celice got hit last turn, though that hardly matters.



Now, I had Shanan go straight south here; and it's important that Patty positions herself either right below him, or directly to his left. That way, she won't get hit by that swordfighter.







So that's that...





Now back to the southern group. I would normally skip past this, except, this damage will be important for setting up Prayer. By putting him here immediately afterwards, I can get him attacked by (blah blah blah) without the (blah blah blah) having a chance to kill him afterwards. I'm not sure this would always work; but in my case, his stats just happened to work out that way.



Alas, Leaf is still too weak to clear these guys out like Fin can. Instead, we'll simply have to settle for blocking off the villages entirely.

Some people say he becomes one of the best units in the game, after getting past this rocky early game. Me personally, though? I've never been terribly impressed with him, for all the reasons covered in the...

Leaf Overview

But, he is still worth promoting, if you have the time. He's the only other unit, besides Lachesis, who transforms into a Master Knight; and Master Knights are still every bit as broken here as they were in Gen 1. That's great as far as Efficiency runs go...I just wish I didn't have to put so much effort into GETTING him there .

Anyway...



Blume’s got Ishtar at Manster and Ishtor at Melgen. They’re both decent kids unlike their father. I’m sure you’ll be facing them on the battlefield in due course, so keep your guard up!

Aw, not a Lord Clement situation ...



Also, Nanna is NOT taking this village, as she doesn't need the help.



No; melee fighters are the guys most hard up for Gold. Which is why...





I'm letting Delmud get some of the stuff with his Thief sword! And yes, that leaves him at just 1 HP. Interesting how that works out .





But he IS definitely gonna need some support!





That's ok, though. Delmud hitting these guys is ALSO perfect for setting Arthur up for some kills. 6 Damage x 2 Attacks puts these guys in JUST the perfect area for Arthur to one-shot them!



Delmud gets his Gold, Arthur gets his EXP...it all works out, doesn't it?





It's too bad I couldn't put Fee next to Arthur; but these guys just hit too hard .





Alright, show me whatcha got!





You know magic is dangerous when the game's Jeigan can't survive more than one hit!



But look at all them dodges! Things are gonna look pretty good if he can keep THAT up!





You know, they did a good job of spreading these guys out. They knew how dangerous these guys were; so they structured their advanced so that you could take them out 1-2 at a time.





As for Super Saiyan Shanan...





...Yeah. He's fine. More than fine, in fact. Just read all the I typed out for him, here!

Shanan Overview





Alright, now for the scary part...





Prayer rigging.





Jeez...I mean, I know on a logical level that Prayer is now granting +80% Evasion this turn, pushing Fin well beyond what any of these guys can hit...

But it still trips every alarm in my head. Just too used to knowing what that means in every OTHER Fire Emblem I'm played >_> ...



Actually, same thing happens with Shanan. Don't have any healers close to him, nor any churches. Every nick of damage he takes is one nick closer to possible death



But hey, it all worked out. Alster's forces have been decimated, and the MBandits are soon to come. Now that's strategy !







Hold on, Shanan!



Celice is comin' to town!



He may not LOOK like he needs the help; but again, the dark mages are dangerous. Things could change at a moment's notice.



And get Patty behind there, too. She's not the fighter that Shanan is; and in most circumstances, she never would be. In fact, she'd usually be pretty bad. I personally find her useful as far as THIS run goes, but...well, you can read all about her here:

Patty Overview







Alright, now get Delmud some Gold...





Get him healed up immediately...



Finish the guy off...



And get all non-participants out of the way. This is Delmud and Arthur's time to rock !



Fee can come, though. She and Arthur got that chemistry :daw: .



Meanwhile, Fin's now working out his stuff.



Phew...what a dangerous encounter. Not sure that would have worked out so happily, had Fin gotten a different set of level ups...



But it's all good, now. Nanna's there, and Fin should be fine for now.



It's too bad he can't help out with the villages this turn, though. Those MBandits are real annoying...





But whatever; he have bigger things to worry about...



I meant what I said about the game allowing you to fight these guys 1-2 at a time. However, I also let way more of them live than a normal person would. I had Celice skip em' all so I could funnel them into Delmud and Arthur. So now? I'm dealing with the natural consequences of that.





Fortunately, I had a plan for that; a certain "ace-in-the-hole". You'll see what I mean .





But for now, nothing really happens this time. These MBandits are all that are left, and they're not much of a problem.





Even a LVL 1 Leaf can handle one with relative ease.



And they certainly don't give Fin any trouble!





Oh, by the way? Leaf and Nanna are gonna be an item. Thought I'd mention that.





Man, we're getting ALL the pairings this chapter, aren't we?



Again, Lakche x Johalva is the only one that's really necessary for my plans. The rest are just because I'm a romantic.





Which is why I'm not too worried about min-maxing Fee's romance time. Efficiency is what's the priority here.





Now will anything happen this turn?







No...but next turn's looking to be pretty eventful!





Hammer time.



Dow, dow, dow, dow...d-dow...D-DOW, can't touch this !



Btw... Patty and Shanan? Totally got the googly eyes for each other



Anyway, here's a villager...



And there's what she said! No, really; that's everything .



Back to the Lenster Special Forces; Nanna is actually pretty.



She's basically Ethlin, but with her dad's Pursuit skill and crazy high Strength growth. I typed up a lot of in regards to HOW useful she is, here...

Nanna Overview





But basically, she's an incredibly mobile healer AND a fairly decent combat unit! She's no Celice, but she still gets the job done!



She'll be a pretty great wife to Leaf, if nothing else.





Ok, now THIS was a little scary.





I'd been having Arthur finish off every guy Delmud had hit up to now, but...





There's rather a lot of them, now.



So ultimately, I had to settle for moving everyone back to safety...kind of...



Now, I know what you're thinking, viewers. "How is that safe? Aren't Fee and Arthur still in range of both dark mages"?





Well, here's a little exploit I discovered! You see, as far as I have tested...



Enemies will always target Julia, so long as the following conditions are fulfilled.

code:
1) Julia must be the closest person they can get to.

2) Everyone else they can attack [i]must[/i] be able to attack back.  Otherwise, there's a chance the dark mage will go after [i]them[/i] instead.


Now, I will admit; I did screw this up a bit by putting Fee and Arthur the same amount of spaces away as Julia was. I hadn't fully tested this at the time, and things happened to work out this time; so I didn't have all the details at the time. Make sure not to make this same mistake, if any of you do what I did.





So let's review. If Julia was 5 spaces away, while Arthur was only 1, the enemies would choose to fight Arthur. But if Arthur was 5 spaces away, and Julia was only 4 spaces; the enemies would've ALWAYS gone for Julia. Every single one of them.



What's more, Rezire acts exactly like Nosferatu does in the later games. In other words...





Julia is basically immortal. There is literally nothing these guys can do to kill her; not unless they have mad Leadership stars or something.





Hence, Julia was my trump card; my ace-in-the-hole. I laid out the bait...





And they swallowed it hook-line-and-sinker.



Now, this guy's telling himself that he's worrying about that. He thinks he can hide, but...





SURPRISE! Patty can also suck out your life, too!



Heck, she'll even take your livelihood. Girl's just all-around bad news for these guys .





Alright, semi-final turn of this update.



Delmud takes this guy's life and money...





Arthur takes care of one of the ones Julia softened up...





And that's everything Fin needs to do there. So now...





We send him back to our pad...





And finish up by walking Celice further down the path of victory...





And then allow our enemies to accomplish...





...nothing really.



The only "scary" part was wondering whether or not Julia's gonna kill them all before Arthur can get em'.





Fortunately, she did leave one of them alive. Not brilliant, but, beggers can't be choosers .



Here's the last Village text of this update...



There’s the 3 sisters, Vampa, Fetra, and Eliu, and also a mage named Tinny. But Tinny has a good heart... even if she is Blume’s niece. She’s helped us out on numerous occasions... Yep, she’s just not like the rest of them.

Get some foreshadowing for a possible new recruit (oh, like that's a spoiler )...





Kiss Leaf's boo-boos, and...





There we go. That's the last dark mage our home castle fortress is going to face this chapter.





Good job, Julia! Your mother will be proud .



Also, I haven't shown every single big of staff spamming, as that'd be a drag. But, Lana's getting a lot of EXP. And once she's done, so will Julia!





Alright, one last turn. But first; how about another bonus convo? This time between Celice and Shanan...



CELICE AND SHANAN:



Shanan: I heard you took back Isaac while I was gone. I can’t thank you enough, Celice.

Celice: You were the one who gave us the courage to fight in the first place!

Shanan: Hey Celice, you’re getting some muscle on you. You’d be just about...

Celice: What’s that, Shanan?

Shanan: ...Huh? Ah, nothing. Never mind, Celice.

...



Celice: Well, anyway... Shanan, I’m going to take on the empire!

Shanan: Haha... That’s great, Celice. I’ve been waiting for this day to come, too.

Celice: Well, I better get going. I’ll see you later, Shanan!

I'd like to say that's the weirdest moment we have with Shanan, but...sadly, it is not.



SHANAN AND LAKCHE [+100 Love Points and +2 STR]:



Lakche: I’m just relieved that you’re not hurt. I...

Shanan: How’s your attack coming along?

Lakche: Oh, I’m a long way off from where you’re at.

Shanan: You’re just lacking power in your swing. Put a little spirit behind it. Here... watch me.

Lakche: Alright. How am I now?

I remind you all that Aira was Shanan's aunt...and Lakche is Aira's daughter. The conversation itself is innocent enough, but, then there's the love points.

...

You know what? I don't even have anything to say about that. Like, we already went through so much of this with Lachesis x Eltshan, Deirdre x Alvis, Sylvia x Claude, et. al, that...it's almost not even noticeable anymore. Back then it was shocking, but now? Just par for the course for ol' Kaga ...



Alright, let's finish this!





Cutozov: My dark magic will consign you to oblivion!



Huh. Must be one of those "delayed effect" magicks, huh?



Let's get some story!





Levin: They had no choice. They would’ve been persecuted and burned at the stake otherwise. I doubt they differed much from you or I at first, but over time the ways of evil took root.

Celice: It’s like they’re being punished just because their ancestors were a part of the empire! And people are always calling them the ‘family of the devil’ and whatnot. ...is this is a child’s handwriting on this wall? It’s a prayer for the Dark Lord’s revival... ...Is Loputousu the only god they have?

Levin: Yeah... You have to be careful when placing labels on good and evil, Celice. Never waste your anger on individuals. Always focus it on the evil within all of us.

A very important moral lesson, and one that I hold very near and dear to my heart. No matter how much you hate a person, you always have to remember that they are human beings; with all the good and the bad that comes with that.

...That said, this here is the first sign of one of the major problems I have with Gen 2's story. We haven't seen enough of it yet for me to go into detail, here, but...keep this conversation in mind. I'll be bringing it up again when I DO lay into the story and characters.





Aaaaaaand one last convo!



CELICE AND PATTY [+100 Love Points and a Hero Sword for Celice; available after Yied is Conquered]:



Patty: I’m Patty, Shanan’s girlfriend.

Celice: You’re Shanan’s girlfriend? Yeah, right.

Patty: Ulp... you got me. I used to be a thief, but I’ve given that all up. So I’m here to help you guys out now.

Celice: You can’t be serious. This is an army. It’s no place for you.

Patty: You sure about that? You guys have no money, right? But you gotta have money to fight. That’s where I come in. I can get you all the money you need!

...How? No, seriously, how? Funding an entire army...well, I've never personally lived in medieval times, but, I have to imagine it's pretty expensive! Master thief or not, she's just one person! If she wants to steal from the enemy army, that's fine, but...it couldn't turn the tides THAT rapidly...could it?

Celice: Yeah, but we don’t want your money if it’s stolen.

Patty: Sir, where do you think the imperial troops get all their gold? They steal it from the villagers! I’m just tryin’ to take it back from them! ...What’s so wrong with that!?

Celice: ...I’m sorry, Patty. You’ve got a good point.

Patty: Sniff...

Celice: Patty, I think we can make room for you.



Patty: Hm? Really??

Celice: Yeah, I think so.

Patty: I promise I’ll work as hard as anybody else! Here, I’ll give you this sword as a token of our friendship.

Celice: Wow, that’s a nice blade!

Patty: It’s a Hero Sword... just for you!

Ooooh, nice!



Well, guess that answers my question. But...will she, and everyone else in Celice's merry band survive to the end? Will Celice's raid on Yied go unopposed? And what of the vengeful Aless? Will Laylea's LEEN'S words be enough to calm the wrath burning in his heart? Will he see reason before it's too late? And what of the Lenster Special Forces? Will they be safe, now that they quashed Lord Blume's initial onslaught? Or will he have other plans for our harried heroes? Seek the answers to all this and more, on the next installment of Let's Max Rank Fire Emblem 4!

This is Fionordequester, signing out! Have a nice day, and God bless you!