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So this is...interesting. Laguz classes are considered 'promoted' for most intents and purposes, but the randomizer considers them basic classes.
As a result, Cat Rhys has +12 HP, +11 STR, -4 MAG, +8 SPD, +7 DEF, and -8 RES. Before transformation bonuses.
Also yes, he's got Lethe's figurine. This means the randomizer doesn't respect gendered class assignments; Titania could have ended up as Haar or Jill.
But there's a problem with this situation: Only Ike can fight properly until Rhys transforms on Turn 5, and even then Rhys will only be getting 1 XP per kill. So Ike has to solo again, but we only have one Iron Bow.
Vanilla Ike gets four Iron Swords plus a Steel one from a village, plus Oscar and Boyd to help him fight the previous chapter and this one. Our Ike is on his own, and he's already depleted some of his shots nearly soloing the previous map.
On top of that, we have to keep basically everyone out of the danger zone. Rhys's Provoke and inability to counter makes him a huge target, which could theoretically help with tanking considering his excellent physical bulk. But if the safe zone collapses, Oscar and Boyd are probably screwed because the AI's desire to kill will almost always trump Provoke. (Provoke just has a random chance of making an AI discard its usual target-selection algorithm to attack the Provoke unit.)
Luckily, Ike can delete almost any unit on the map.
Make that any two.
He's also extremely durable for this stage in the game.
Turn 2 starts with us in this position. Our only real problem is the Fighter in the bottom center.
Ike takes out the northern Myrmidon, since he can't quite one-round the Fighter beside him.
Boyd helps him eliminate the southern Fighter...
...and he gains this fantastic level. That point of Strength is important.
Oscar scrapes some healing XP, and we pass the turn.
The enemies advance but can't reach us...
...and Titania arrives.
Now Ike can one-round that Fighter!
I miss the screenshot, but after this Chant we kill the Bandit on the southern map edge.
See? Gone.
Titania could one-shot the remaining Fighter, but since we have him loosely boxed in he can't reach anyone vulnerable.
So Titania disarms and we pass the turn.
The Fighter targets her, which is hilarious because it means...
...our Level 6 Ike has more Defence than ??/04 Titania.
13 shots left in the bow.
I'm not overly concerned. Shinon appears in the next chapter, and he'll come with at least his standard Steel Bow. His other weapon will be overwritten by whatever class-appropriate gear the randomizer assigned him, but we can take the Steel Bow and carry on. Plus we'll have Gatrie, and at a pinch we can just use the pre-promotes.
Oscar heals Titania...
...and we move up for the next leg of the map.
The enemies advance on us but can't reach, and it's Turn 5.
This would be funny, but wasteful. As a 'promoted' class, Rhys would gain only 1 XP from this.
Ike can't quite kill this Bandit...
...so let's take out this guy instead.
And fly Titania up.
Boyd chants for our combat-capable units and gains an Irrelevant Heron Level.
I wish FE9 had Cards like Radiant Dawn, Boyd could actually be pretty funny right now.
Ike fishes for a crit, but gets nothing.
Okay, he gets something pretty good. But not a kill!
But with Rhys to help body-block, we can keep Boyd out of danger. Oscar will just have to stay behind.
And now Ike can obliterate the nearby hostiles.
Unfortunately, there are three enemies left and we're down to three shots.
I'm planning to use them on Ikanau to maximize XP gains.
I'm not upset about this, because I would have shown off Rhys's transformed abilities anyway. This is murder.
Wasteful, wasteful murder.
I wonder what Shinon makes of the Greil Mercenaries employing a Laguz, by the way. And who put that bell on Rhys.
Titania just kind of disintegrates her Fighter.
Ikanau doesn't realize yet that he'll never get to make an attack in this combat.
Because after Ike puts two shots into him...
...Boyd is here to Chant...
...and it's all over.
Now, the story of this chapter is that even on Hard Mode, the Ike we got dealt is a god-unit. The game just isn't balanced around having a moderately high-leveled Bow Knight, especially not one with seemingly boosted growth rates compared to the baseline. Soloing two maps has also put us way ahead of the power curve. And there's a fresh Steel Bow with our names on it.
However, this won't last. Every chapter from now on will require more than one unit to solve effectively, since we'll start being put under time pressure and Ike has no Enemy Phase utility. Worse, we'll be losing access to Boyd for a few maps so Ike will be running at half-efficiency compared to the first updates.
I'm a bit concerned. If we don't get good rolls for Gatrie and Shinon, I'll have to set Titania loose and watch hundreds of experience points drain away. And then that will be a problem because Ike really needs help with later chapters. I don't want to do 17-3 with just an encumbered, Level 20 Bow Knight who has 1 Mobility through swamp tiles.
I could - I've done an Ike solo without all these buffs to him - but that would be boring as hell.
Luckily for us, things are about to get weird.
"Rhys, do you feel unarmed?"
"HSSSS!!"
"Better think harder, Bandit."
The post-battle cutscene plays out normally from here, by the way. Mist, Gatrie, and Shinon use the placeholder figurine, while Rolf has his usual custom one to allow for animations like this despairing kneel. That's a shame; I'd hoped for a few character previews.
Next Time: I join the Early Boots Club...
as the randomizer makes an error.