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Welcome back. I did say I was breaking my no-grinding rule, so if I do decide to grind in between chapters, I'll post who got what levels at the start of the update... such as right now!



I took a group of 6 (Ephraim, Garcia, Neimi, Natasha, Forde, Kyle) to a skirmish, where they had to do battle with this, and then to a less eventful run of the Tower of Valni. She was packing a Steel Blade, too, which in this run has 22 weight but 18 might, meaning she was guaranteed to one-shot anyone not named Ephraim or Kyle. Yes, that's Hawkeye as a class skill for female Swordmasters too, because it being one on Wyvern Riders wasn't enough. Anyway, levels!

Ephraim: 3 levels, +2 HP, +2 Str, +2 Skl, +1 Spd, +1 Lck, +2 Def, +3 Res
Garcia: 3 levels, +2 HP, +3 Str, +3 Skl, +1 Spd, +1 Lck, +1 Def, learned Luna (Skill% chance to negate enemy defenses in combat)
Neimi: 2 levels, +1 HP, +1 Skl, +2 Spd, +2 Res - also got the Angelic Robe for an extra +7 HP
Natasha: 3 levels, +1 HP, +2 Mag, +2 Skl, +1 Spd, +3 Lck, +2 Res, hit B rank in anima, learned Foresight
Forde: 2 levels, +1 HP, +1 Str, +1 Skl, +1 Def, hit C rank in axes, learned Seal Luck
Kyle: 3 levels, +2 HP, +3 Str, +1 Skl, +1 Spd, +1 Lck, +3 Def, +2 Res, learned Seal Luck

Neimi is still only level 4, but unlike last run where I had more than enough Troubadours to go around, I'm using her because she and Artur are the only healers for now. She'll turn out eventually... I hope.



Enough about stats, let's get into the chapter.



The Grado generals have pretty normal classes this time... for now.



Evidently they captured the pegasus too, because Tana is now a humble Recruit.



And Amelia is here, too.



SKILLS:
Lucky 7: +20 Hit/Avoid for the first 7 turns.
Cunning: Can steal, use Lockpicks, and has better vision.
Darting Blow: +5 Attack Speed when initiating battle.

A thief! And earlier than last time! Unfortunately, as nice as her 9 speed is, her bases overall are kind of on the low side. She's not horrible, mind, but on the off-chance I get a Thief with better bases, she might end up on the bench.



SKILLS:
Poison Strike: Enemy takes 20% of max HP as damage after this unit starts a fight.
Shove
Lumina: Allows the user to use Light magic... if they're capable of using magic to begin with.

Is this some kind of overcompensated apology to make up for me losing Eirika? Her Defense growth being as low as it is kind of sucks, but I'm used to that at this point - either way, it doesn't detract from the rest of her growths being as good as they are.



Also, evidently the soldiers forgot to take her weapons, because I definitely don't remember Tana starting with anything in her inventory in Ephraim's route.



If I really wanted to I could have her bust herself out, but given that this Revenant is right outside the door, I will not be doing that!



Natasha gets things started, using a nifty little weapon I took out of Orson's inventory before he left. Her palette plus the Pupil animations kind of reminds me of Lucas from Mother 3, just wearing blue and not red.



Then Vantage+ means she one-shots this Soldier that went for her, without the dude even getting a chance to attack.



And Amelia... breaks formation? Well, if she wants to come to me, that makes my life a lot easier.



However, the other Thieves did, too, and this jackass going for the chests means I'm pretty much out of luck with getting the one in this screenshot - he'll make it there in three turns, and there's no way I'll make it there in time. Amelia's too slow to steal it back, too.



And then this guy will be at the one on the east end of the map in the same amount of time, but his Lockpick is flagged as being droppable, which means I'll be able to at least beat the treasure out of him.



Time is of the essense, so everyone rushes forward.



That Mercenary then suicides on Vanessa. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that she's capping Skill, and hopefully she does the same with Speed.



Then something strange happens. This is the first Thief I had highlighted, and I could have sworn he would make a run for the treasure, but instead he pops the door open for Amelia and the other units. Works for me!



Artur heals Vanessa's wounds from another enemy that suicided on her.



Then Moulder charges forward and takes down a Bael. Those accents don't look great, but other than that he has a pretty solid sprite.



Joshua gets in on the action, too.



Amelia is right here, and Ephraim is too far away from the front line to talk to her. Hmm...



Shove chain time! Imagine this image repeated about 5 times with everyone in slightly different positions. Eventually...







I was able to bear with Dozla's low Speed growth last time because his other growths were tolerable enough that I didn't mind, but... that's not really the case here. Let's hope a better Thief is in my future.



And then I realize Ephraim is now in range of three different enemies, so Natasha gives him one last Shove to make herself a target as well.



The first Thief reached the chest, and I think I can live without it. Interestingly, this chest had just straight gold in it originally, totally disproving what I said about gold in chests not being randomized.



Neimi patches up Natasha. The pink looks quite nice on the Priest robes!



Moulder breaks Ephraim out of his enemy cage so that he can run back and get healed by Artur.



At least Ephraim still looks like a human...



With the help of their support bonuses (from Moulder and Joshua respectively), Vanessa and Natasha take out the Enemyphraims.







Meanwhile, the Thieves... uh... I thought they would have spread out to the other chests, but one went into the same room as the first one (who didn't move), and the other looks like he's trying to leave the map, which, as far as I know, isn't possible here.



Might as well at least give Amelia a little bit of a chance to prove herself.







Garcia then proves to this Bael that it's not about how sharp your claws are, it's about... uh... I've lost the metaphor.



Here's the other gun off the mantle that I got in chapter 5x. Not quite as ridiculous as its Run 1 incarnation, but its low accuracy is irrelevant in Moulder's hands.



And that's strength capped!



You know, these stats would still be bad if he was half the level he is. Our hero, folks.



Moulder charges into the fort, as at this point that Revenant and Mauthe Doog are the only enemies left outside it.



The Mauthe Doog then suicides on Garcia, giving him a solid level. He's basically guaranteed to always gain Strength and Skill due to his high growths there, so it's a good thing Baels have promoted caps despite being unpromoted.



The Revenant does the same on Vanessa, giving her a better one.



Lute also runs into the fort, where a Revenant accosts her. The purple sword is nice, but I think she looked better as a Gargoyle.



Amelia gets a pretty uninspiring level dealing with a separate Revenant.



Kyle sees some combat, finally. He looks like he fell into a vat of toxic waste



Then Relief undoes most of the damage Kyle did, so Joshua comes in to clip this guy's wings.



Levels Neimi has gained: 3
Magic Neimi has gained: 0



The Thieves finally wake up when Moulder enters their range, and either I managed to accidentally turn off a background layer or some other glitch happened.



After they're dealt with, Tana starts to bust herself out. Oh, if only you could actually poison walls.



This Revenant spawns at the end of the hallway, but Lute takes care of it pretty handily.



Gilliam is here, too, and he still looks hideous.







Then Ephraim pops the door to Tana's cell. She's probably not gonna see much action this chapter, but she'll have plenty of time to shine going forward.



Holy shit.



What's wrong with your faaaaace



Gilliam continues to deal with Fort Rigwald's spider problem for a pretty solid level.



Another 15 grand? Don't mind if I do!



Ephraim goes up against a Revenant and a Bard, and then Artur patches him for an excellent level and Fiery Blood, giving him +4 damage dealt when his health isn't full. Man, I cannot wait to get him promoted.



OUR HERO, FOLKS.



Bards are actually kind of a pain in the ass in this seed, as they have Red Death Blow and high speed, and most of my party... doesn't.



Tana criti-kills one of the last enemies on the map and gets a pretty sweet level out of it!



The last non-boss enemy was a Myrmidon that suicided on Kyle, so now all that's left is Gheb.



And as luck would have it, he's also a Hawkeye Swordmaster! At least he's confined to the throne, and also doesn't have nearly as scary a weapon as the Steel Blade.



I think I like my Hawkeye better. I just park him in front of Gheb, though, in the interest of getting at least a little experience for other people.



"Other people" does not include Ephraim, who can't finish him off even if I were to use Rally Strength.



But on the next turn, with a little help from Vanessa...



...a Rally Strength from Joshua, and Lute giving her a Steel Lance, Tana is able to get the kill.



A little worse than her last level, but still very good.



And that'll do it!

NEXT TIME:


The game makes me work for my Bard.