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Welcome back! I'm in a much better position going into Scorched Sand than on the last run...



...mostly in terms of money. This will get us a good many Master Seals, so let's get the grinding update out of the way, and then let's get down to promotions. This actually happened after doing some of the promotions, hence why Joshua has a level below, but I figured it would make more sense to keep to the same format.

Vanessa: 2 levels, +2 HP, +2 Str, +1 Res
Neimi: 1 level, +1 HP, +1 Mag, +1 Spd, +1 Lck, +1 Def
Joshua: 1 level, +1 HP, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Def
Kyle: 1 level, +1 HP, +1 Def
Tana, 1 level, +1 HP, +1 Lck
Rennac: 2 levels, +2 HP, +1 Str, +1 Skl, +2 Spd, +1 Res
Knoll, 2 levels, +2 HP, +1 Mag, +1 Skl, +1 Res



First up, L'Arachel gets an early promotion to Deathgoyle. She's better than Lute from the last run almost across the board... except in the HP department.



Next up is Super Pupil Natasha. The lack of Con is... unfortunate, but she can probably coast on 1-weight Fire tomes for the time being. Also, she starts at D in dark, meaning I'm going to have to really grind with her if I want her to wield Gleipnir.



Joshua's promotion gains are nearly as bad as Ephraim's, but he hit S in bows with this promotion (and he's also up a point in HP, Strength, Speed and Defense after a skirmish). You know what that means...







Moulder exchanges his decent-looking sprite for more speed by going Wyvern Knight.



I did say that Vanessa's skillset basically gives her +4 Strength at all times, so... She does start locked to E-rank swords, which are pretty terrible, sadly.



Kyle completes his transformation into the Hulk. In hindsight, Warrior might have been a better pick for the higher Speed gain, but oh well. And last but not least...



Tana keeps the spirit of Run 1 Neimi alive by going Super Recruit. She now has a base 46% Crit, which will only get higher when she's in proximity to Ephraim.



Now that I'm done breaking the difficulty curve, let's see what Eirika and friends have been up to.



Knoll is showing potential, so he's along for the ride this time. Should I actually be using my Bard? Probably, but



Really? You had to make one of them a horseback unit for the desert of all chapters?



Eirika somehow has not gained a single point in Defense across the five levels she got while out of the party, but other than that, she's still very powerful.



SKILLS:
Pavise: Skill% chance to negate a physical attack.
Canto
Counter: If this unit takes a physical attack at 1-2 damage and survives, the enemy takes all damage they dealt.
Mercy: Command that initiates battle with an enemy and always leaves them at 1 HP.

Like father like son, Innes has become a Ranger. This is all very nice, but having to field a horse user for the desert chapter is... unfortunate. Other than that, though, he's pretty incredible! His bases are on par with Rennac's, if not better, and he has a pretty nice set of growths.



Thanks to randomization between updates, Innes is (fortunately) no longer stuck with the Longbow, and now has the slightly less bad Steel Bow. It's not great, but I'll take it over something heavier and weaker.



SKILLS:
Even Rhythm: +10 Hit/Avoid on even-numbered turns.
Summon: Able to summon a Phantom.
Breath of Life: Allies within two tiles are healed for 20% of their max HP after this unit attacks.
Full Metal Body: Immune to Seal skills.

Saleh has the same problem he did in the last run - that is, he had amazing bases (mostly) but terrible growths. They're a little better this time around, but still not really enough to warrant me using him much after this except for Phantom shenanigans. Also, he comes with Luna and only Luna, which if you'll remember has 19 weight in this seed, so uhhh it's a good thing his Speed is as high as it is!



Joshua starts by visiting the village with the Master Seal. I guess I could have waited until the chapter started to promote Vanessa or Kyle, but oh well! Knoll can use this one.



Innes gets things started in style.



It's good to have you back, Eirika, even if your sprite's hair looks a little weird.



Saleh summons a Phantom, whereupon I find that its stats are wayyy higher than you'd expect. These guys might actually make decent disposable attackers with strength that high at level 4.



Well, Vanessa's gotta get her sword rank up somehow...



Saleh doesn't look so good as a Summoner. Also I guess Demon Surge is really fucking heavy because Saleh managed to double this Gorgon, despite Luna weighing a metric ton.



Amelia gets the first of the hidden treasures and - hmm. I was hoping for them to be counted as chest items instead of event items, but I guess not. That's fine, if it means guaranteed boots and Eclipse (which Natasha will appreciate, uh, eventually).



Here's Knoll's Mage sprite in action. It's pretty nice!



Knoll dodges lightning - both metaphorically and physically - like a pro.



Vanessa and Moulder have already flown up to where Caellach is, and are now taking out what little resistance surrounds him.



Natasha happens upon one of the other hidden treasures, and it's... not great.



Oh no, Ephraim took 3 damage, how ever will he recover?



Here's how - by capping Skill. It's a good thing he isn't beholden to Entombed caps, because they kind of suck.



Ow. The other mage takes him down to 1 HP, but he's not in danger of dying.



Oh, one of the Phantoms had everyone's favorite axe in its inventory. It's pretty solid, minus the whole "could backfire and kill you" thing.



Knoll keeps on rollin'.



Artur takes out a pirate for an okay level.



L'Arachel gets a similar level from taking out some hapless Shaman in the desert.



Poor thing doesn't know what's coming to her.



From another enemy attacking him, he finally gets more speed!



And this cavalier manages to suicide on the Devil Axe phantom, meaning it's free to continue spawn-camping reinforcements on the lake.



Feels weird to be fighting Caellach on just the fifth turn of the map somehow, but such is life.



As it turns out, dude's a total pushover, even with Hawkeye. His defenses are just high enough that Moulder can't one-round him without a crit, but that's the only thing he really has going for him with strength and speed this low.



Seriously, he can't even scratch Moulder!



He looks nice as a Swordmaster but oops Moulder one-rounded him with a crit



He gives good experience, though!



Amelia then grabs the Silence staff out of the sand. Maybe this can go to Neimi to tide her over before she's able to actually use magic.



A lucky crit lets Natasha one-shot a Monk with Flux. The faster she can get out of D Dark, the better.



The Phantom isn't so lucky on the next turn.



Eirika's detachment is still working on getting out of their starting area, but they're getting good experience out of it. Fortunately, there already isn't much more left after this - turns out chapters go by way quicker when half your team is promoted, who knew?



...Though, I'll be waiting a while for the last few enemies. I could send a flyer over to deal with them, but still.



Oh hey, Warp! I was wondering if this would ever show up in the LP.



There's also a Gwyllgi among the enemies - this is the first one to actually show up in the LP, given I didn't promote Colm in Run 1.



Saleh's phantom summoning sure is doing wonders for him. He also doesn't gain a skill for hitting level 5... Here I thought that was only for monster classes.



Knoll's next level (off of the Gwyllgi) is almost as uninspiring.



Neimi's doing pretty well, though!



The reinforcements from behind show up, but when this is the strongest of them, you know there's nothing to worry about.



Moulder is also spawn-camping the Bonewalker archers popping up here.



Amelia picks up the hidden Wyrmslayer, and it's also not that great, sadly.



Innes is parking himself on the gate, given it's going to be a slog to get him across the desert. He'll be able to pick off whatever reinforcements actually make it to the gate just fine.



Kyle is tanking reinforcements for days.



Tana has such high skill that she can (attempt to) make the Short Spear work out for her.



She ended up whiffing the second hit so Natasha could come and Flux the priest.







Tana shows this inferior Super Recruit what for.



Boy, does she ever!



Holy shit, Knoll, how did you dodge that?



Alas, he can only get so lucky.



I'm pretty sure the command list can get even longer than this, and it looks silly as it is. Eirika takes this Troubadour out instead, and all that's left is those two cavaliers stuck in the sand and Valter. Time to ignore them and grab the last of the treasure!



Good stuff. I'm probably going to give Metis's Tome to Neimi, given she has the most potential for growth left in her.



And then L'Arachel gets the last treasure completely by accident. Works for me!



It's kind of sad that this is more accurate than the vanilla version of Eclipse. It's also way heavier, unfortunately.



The last two normal enemies go down, so now all that's left is Valter...



...who's pretty annoying. He has immunity to crits and counterattacks, and Voice of Peace means he takes -2 damage from everything. However, note that he doesn't start with the Runesword equipped. I can blitz him down from a distance in one turn and not have to deal with HP stealing every turn - I had enough of that in the last chapter.



Unfortunately, his high defenses mean I'm going to have to really try to make that happen.



His palette on the Great Lord sprite makes it look like he's covered in blood or something



Kyle takes another chunk out of Valter, and manages to dodge both counterattacks and get an excellent level.



Moulder and Vanessa help, too.



I wanted Eirika to get the kill on Valter, but unfortunately, she whiffs even with Charisma.



Instead, Knoll gets the glory.



Or... not... Oh, god, don't tell me Flashy Mode breaks bosses with Foresight!



While I ponder how to deal with this, Vanessa and Moulder hit their A support.



At least Ephraim is immune to Valter's bullshit.



More speed is very nice!



Oh. Knoll was getting a real critical hit that Valter was immune to. Kyle getting a regular hit with Flashy Mode worked just fine.







I really would have preferred the Runesword, but oh well.



And to wrap up, here's the Jehanna sacred twins. Nowhere near as game-breaking as Garm and Gleipnir, but Excalibur is pretty decent.

Yes, I am the biggest fool for spending all my money one chapter before getting the Silver Card.

NEXT TIME:


oh goddammit not again