Fire Emblem: The Random Stones

[Simon]

Prologue, Part 2: Enough story, time for battle!



Before that, though, let's see what units we're working with. With the randomizer, starting classes, base stats, and stat growths have hall been randomized, while still keep largely the same array of stats on the board. So each character we get (and some of the ones we'll face in battle) not only has a random class, but random stats as well, which may be for the better sometimes.

:eng101: A quick synopsis on stats: Strength/Magic is how much damage a unit deals. Skill determines a unit's accuracy and crit chance - units with higher skill are almost guaranteed to hit. Speed is pitted against other units to determine how many attacks either unit gets. Luck is the opposing stat for Skill - when another unit attacks you, your Luck subtracts from their Skill. Defense and Resistance reduce damage from physical and magical attacks, respectively.

Firstly, we have Seth. In the base game, Seth was our trademark Paladin: a high-end unit meant to be our crutch character for the early game while we have undeveloped classes. Thankfully, because he has such a high starting array, his stats aren't in any bad spot. If anything, he's gotten an improvement: graduating into a Falcoknight gives him a boatload of movement unhindered by terrain. His higher Skill, too, gives him a great chance to hit and crit.


His starting equipment is a Steel Sword and a Light Brand- a mid-tier and high-tier weapon. The Light Brand allows him to do magical attacks at range, which makes him extremely effective at this stage of the game.

...oh, and he's at half-death because it's scripted. Apparently the game was so shocked at his and Erika's dramatic performance that he took damage anyways.

Next is Eirika (who I will occasionally be misspelling as Erika), who was originally one of our requisite Lord characters. She was originally quite vulnerable, due to her low stats, and sadly the stat change hasn't done much to mitigate that at all. Of course, the largest difference is that she's a Mogall, one of the game's monsterous units.


Thankfully, to account for the fact that she can't use any weapons, she's supplied with Evil Eye, the signature Mogall "weapon". This is a blessing, as her new unit type means that, like Seth, she can fly over mountains and stuff and take on units at range. On top of that, Evil Eye never runs out, which will make her consistent in that role.



But enough of that. Last we left off, we were about to kill a couple of poor saps and the giant spider they're running from.


Using our ample amounts of free movement, Seth flies into the adjacent mountains and stabs one of them, while Erika finishes him off with a sharp glare.


For this early part of the game, we're going to want Erika to get kills so that she gets the bigger chunk of EXP. Seth's status as a high-tier unit means he won't get as much for himself, so it's better off in her hands - er, tentacles?

It's the Enemy's Turn now. The boss in this chapter won't move until his flunkies are dead, so the remaining fighter tries his luck on Seth, being unable to reach Eirika in the mountains.

He doesn't do much, sadly, and Seth retaliates in kind.

Back to the Player Phase, Erika finished off that injured fighter for the sweet EXP, leaving only the boss.



This is going to be the tricky part. That spider is capable of climbing through mountains and inflicting poison with his attack, so if Erika is within his range, he's going to try and attack her- and with her stats so low, there's a good chance she won't survive. Therefore, I should keep Seth in front of her- however, he's at low enough health that if the spider hits him even once, the poison will finish him off.


So we compromise by keeping Seth in front of Erika and using one of his healing items. Now Seth will be able to survive a full turn, no matter what happens.


The enemy phase begins.


Seth bravely dodges the attack, and strikes back true.



Player phase again. He's still a little high for Erika to finish him off, so I have Seth take another shot. He does very well, making his need to heal pointless.



Murphy's Law, I guess. :frog:

At any rate, this lets us safely finish off the spider with Erika. For that, she get about a whole level's worth of EXP, putting her halfway into level 2.


Gains could be better, but beggars can't be choosers.


Following the battle, Erika insists she's fine, having come out of the battle unharmed. Seth, however, can tell she's not feeling well.

...Don't ask me how he can tell, he just does.

Erika laments that this is really war, and that she really had to kill people. She brings up games she used to play with Ephraim-


-just, you know what? Every thing about Erika just brings up more questions than it answers. Why is a giant eyeball fit to be a princess? How is she Fado's daughter and Ephraim's brother? Is she adopted? How does she do anything at all when her primary ability is to stare at things until they die??

Fuckin' Christ, man. 



That's all for this session. Tune in next time for Chapter 1: That Was All Just the Prologue?