So Ike is a bit out of it due to his whole story he heard from Volke. Soren is trying to brief him but he's being a space cadet. Then he admits to Soren and Titania that he didn't sleep last night because he was sleeping.
"Really? I never thought I'd hear that. Ike didn't sleep because he was thinking. I wonder if Soren will start being polite..."
SICK BURN. But then Mist barges in and says he lost her medallion. God damnit b****. Ike says it isn't her fault BUT SHE LOST IT. Anyway, on top of that, Petrine is making her troops attack again. So, uh... Petrine is being a complete and utter uber b****.
And then I level up Jill, Soren, and Ilyana to 19. And then I get no special conversations, because I'm debating on whether or not Gatrie will talk to Astrid or Marcia instead. And now for extra convos. I talk to this Calill chick who is just incredible. I really like her! Too bad I have two other mages right now I'm using. :( Maybe I'll ditch one. And then there's Reyson. Apparently he can read minds, but he's sick. He's all disappointed because he thinks he's a burden, but Ike tells him to STFU and just stick around. He says he will. Good for him. Not sure if I'll use him or not though.
I'll see if I can get out of the rut of annoying battles and just plow through everything. That's when I have most fun.
--
Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
And yeah, Calill is awesome. In fact, she's my favorite mage to use other than Soren and eventually Tormod, well-rounded stats and high magic levels. Only downside is that she's stuck with knives instead of staves.
-- SuperNiceDog won the Guru contest super nicely!
I've never used Calill precisely because she uses knives instead of staves. Since I typically don't use Rhys or Mist I rely heavily on Sages for my healing. and Calill can't do that soooo...
At least Calill has that sweet, 5-use Meteor tome...that probably can't be used because you haven't used Tormod and I doubt Soren and Ilyana's fire level is high enough.
Yeah, the knives thing is pretty crappy, if she used staves it would be so much more awesome. I don't know why anyone would prefer knives over staves anyway, it's not like mages have much strength or anything. And even though Meteor might be unusable right now, I've been able to get Soren's Fire high enough by the last few levels, so Meteor has been able to help me out there a few times.
Stan, how do you not use Rhys OR Mist? Your early game must be scary without any healer.
-- ~Peaf~ "Later that day, I f***ed a panda." - PSO
Oh I'll use Rhys/Mist until one of my mages promotes. I'll keep them around for a bit until I feel comfortable having my Sage take up the healing duties or I get a second Sage.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Daein released a flood. Because they released a flood. Janafff goes to scout for the flood for us. Apparently we can stop it if we get there. Anyway, who to choose. Jill stays at home, unfortunately. I pick Ike, Rhys of course. And then Boyd and Kieran for the mass amounts of lance users. And then Astrid and Shinon for the large amount of flying units. I roll with Gatrie to be my tank. And then... Ilyana and we'll try Calill for now since I don't like Shinon and his s***ty stat upgrades. Then Oscar for mobility and... Volke. I wanted to use Marcia, but I'm not sure how good of an idea that is with all of the flying units around who can tear her up. And the bows.
So the fighting is alright at first. After the first turn, Jill's dad tells Haar to run away so he doesn't get killed. So he does! This fight goes just fine. No real problems. Calill tears it up though. She's pretty awesome and I like her more than Mr. 0 Level Up, Soren! I think I'll keep her. I had Boyd, Shinon, and Kieran take care of the mage and wyvern ambushes. And then I had my two mage girls destroy the two mages at the end before having Ike run in and kill Jill's daddy. And I did it with one turn left to spare. Awww yeah.
They closed the floodgates. Ike wants to give supplies to the people who lost their homes while Soren is being a douche about it. Then we get Jill. :( Aw, babe. Ike says she can try to take revenge if she wants, but she doesn't reply. Haar and a soldier miss Jill's dad. Some chick named Ena is supposed to lead the next attack I guess. Ena is apparently a spy along with a MYSTERY PERSON who wants to give her the medallion. AND THE MYSTERY PERSON IS NASIR! What a douche. We should kill him.
The only reason I would see anyone using knives on a sage is so that they do more damage against fellow magic users. But really, I would just chance it with melee units.
From: PrivateBiscuit1 | #009 And then... Ilyana and we'll try Calill for now since I don't like Shinon and his s***ty stat upgrades.
Probably not immediately. I think I'll need a break. I'm actually thinking about doing a playthrough of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows next. It's such a silly game with a bad plot. I figure the comic book fans might appreciate me talking about how bad it is.
--
Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
RD, compared to PoR, has higher highs and lower lows, IMO. Its got some amazing and really fun levels, while others are just such a drag that are only fun because they progress the plot and get you to the next level.
-- ~Peaf~ "Later that day, I f***ed a panda." - PSO
There are some cool things in it and some really dubious things, and I don't just mean the chapters. Sometimes, a feature is even both. I think you could make a case for it being better or worse than PoR and I could see both sides being kinda right.
Micaiah turns into a monster once you get to change one of her weapons to infinite use. Use it on her across the screen Purge spell. Laugh as she kills stuff from all the way behind your lines
--
We are thought, and reality, and concept, and the unimaginable
Radiant Dawn is great from a gameplay perspective, and pretty much terrible in everything else.
I don't really want to start a flamewar over tastes, here, but... it's friggin' FIRE EMBLEM. What are you playing it for if not gameplay? All FEs are pretty bad for story/graphics/etc. anyway (besides character art which RD does just as well as any other game).
As you can probably gues I consider RD superior, but I can see why someone would prefer PoR. PoR is easier and much more straightforward (you can just choose one team and run with it). Regardless, RD is absolutely worth a try to see what you think about it!
Regarding Calill, I'd definitely use her if either of your first two mages aren't looking too good, her stats are solid and she can use every long-ranged tome. I'm the opposite of one of the previous posters here, I usually use a real healer + Calill because I lack the patience to spam Heal staff use on a combat character until they can actually use the staves I care about (Physic and Restore). Still, your milage may vary there. You have one more Sage left to get, and sadly he is terrible.
-- The RPG Duelling League: www.rpgdl.com An unparalleled source for RPG information and discussion
From: NeoElfboy | #026 All FEs are pretty bad for story/graphics/etc. anyway
Disagree. 4 and 5 have great stories, and the GBA games have really really good sprite work. Also, 9 and 10's story is very well done, if not amazing (Though admittedly 10 is very divisive on whether or not it's actually a likable story).
And gameplay wise, RD has a lot of things that are just weird about it, like how the chapters system works, and bad unit balance. Also the whole 'no support conversations' thing is a pretty massive blow in a lot of peoples eyes.
EDIT: Also, I'd like to point out that 'generic' =/= bad. The FE games all have pretty generic stories, but they execute them usually decently well. Some people just like a straightforward fantasy war story every now and then.
When you're given 70+ characters in RD having a split army works better. Of course a few characters get screwed by availability while other armies could have used 1 or 2 extra chapters.
--
BOP Results: http://www.freewebs.com/charmander6000/Rivalry%20BOP.xls Congrats to SuperNiceDog for winning the guru contest.
Ena and a dude called Kasatai talk about how the King is a D and how Ena isn't fit to command. Then Ike, Nasir, Titania, and Soren are talking about how they're going to attack the castle and how the people in Daein think they might be punished for what happened to the Crimeans. And then Elincia comes up and is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT HER PEOPLE WERE ALL KILLED OR BEING ABUSED BECAUSE THEY LOST THEIR WAR. XD The worst princess ever. Soren gives us the report of the battle after they make Elincia cry and I've decided to just name the NPC instead. It's Kieran! Not sure how, honestly. And then I take the time to promote Jill, Mia, Ilyana and Nephenee with bonus exp. Because damnit, I like them! And hey! Ilyana can use Staves now! I got a second healer. Ballyhoo.
Then I figured out what to do with my support conversation stuff. See, I decided already that Kieran would get to A with Rhys, and then that meant Mia would have to get to A with Ilyana, and then Gatrie would have to go with Marcia or Astrid. I decided on Astrid. I go with Gatrie and Astrid's second support convo. Gatrie gives her a lesson on how they need to stay behind him because he's an armored wall. Astrid wonders what she should do since she's on horseback and faster than Gatrie. Gatrie doesn't remember what Titania said about that, but Gatrie still tells her it's all good and they'll discuss that next time! Gatrie thinks that she is CRAZY about him because she wants to train with him again, and because his muscles are breathtaking.
For regular conversations, Jill talks to Ike. She thanks him for what he did in giving the people from her village food and gold. And then this b****y woman runs up and starts telling Jill that she's great and that her father was great and that the Crimeans were the ones who opened the floodgates and that they refuse to take food from them. lulz Jill apologizes to Ike after it. Ike then talks to Mist and convinces her to quit being a b**** because her medallion is lost. Then Nasir, the douche, tells them to go ahead inside.
Aaaaand that's all. Going to start the battle now.
--
Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
I hope we're not derailing the topic too much, TC!
I don't really want to start a flamewar over tastes, here, but... it's friggin' FIRE EMBLEM. What are you playing it for if not gameplay? All FEs are pretty bad for story/graphics/etc. anyway (besides character art which RD does just as well as any other game).
The big thing you left out here is character development, which the series does extremely well (especially 7) but is completely absent from Radiant Dawn. The tradeoff, of course, is much more accessible, less cumbersome support system.
RD is definitely a mixed bag: series-best gameplay and great aesthetics are counterbalanced by a stupidly uneven difficulty curve ('sup Suck Brigade) and a questionably designed plot. Still, I love it for all of its shortcomings.
-- The Many Forms of Kobe: http://i39.tinypic.com/oqx98z.jpg -- credit to KIRBEH
So I guess they open up the gate for Ike and friends. Ena then says they have one thing that will destroy the enemy... and then she turns into a dragon. WELL THEN. I can pick 13 people now, so let's see.... Obviously Ike and Rhys. Then Volke for chests and locks and such. And it's actually really well-rounded with troop types. So I go with Shinon, Boyd, Astrid, Kieran, Gatrie, Ilyana, Calill, Oscar, and... Nephenee. And then finally Jill for some Laguz slaying at the end + flying over rivers. Poor Marcia. I haven't been able to give her more love!
And so the second turn, the three units that can use lances run up to Boyd and then all three die. Awww yeah, Boyd. Btw, I totally shouldn't have brought Nepehenee. Ike is literally my only sword user now. Whoops! Maybe I'll switch if I lose this (god I hope I don't). So I get a Stiletto knife from the first chest followed by a skill called Parity. Huh. And hey! Looks like that Katarie dude managed to randomly crit on Boyd and killed him. F*** this s***. Swapping Mia back in.
So this time goes just fine. Jill gets frozen in front of one of the doors I need to unlock though. Grrr. And then Boyd, Kieran, and Gatrie get frozen too! Lame. I have Ike talk to Tauroneo who apparently knows his father. He wants to die because he doesn't care for Daein and refuses to fight Ike. So Ike makes him join his army! Yay! New person! ...Who is level 14+. Wtf? Should my troops be a higher level than they are right now or something? Anyway, I also get the high tier Lightning attack, a +Strength item, and a +Magic item. Then I also got Corrosion. I get a Master Seal as well! And I have Jill tank Ena because she handles Laguz like a boss. I let Ike deal the last blow so I can hear special dialogue though. Apparently she loves someone. Probably Nasir. But anyway, I make it through and seize the glowing spot.
So Ena runs away to find her loved one and Nasir runs up as she runs away!
"Nasir! Good time! Grab her, will you."
YES, GRAB THE HARMLESS DRAGON GIRL WILL YA? And I guess Nasir is stronger than he lets on because he punches Ike, making Ike go down. Ena gets away somehow and Nasir stays quiet when Ike questions him, so he has him imprisoned. Ashnard gets the medallion and then is all giddy.... and I really need to go to work. Posting this and maybe I'll watch the rest on Youtube!
So some dude called Zelgius of Begnion comes by with reinforcements. Soren gets to be the voice of reason and says that this is all a CONSPIRACY because of the Begnion wanting all the glory for winning the fight since it is comprised of mostly Begnion troops now. F***ing Sanaki. Everyone trashes on Soren until he says that it's this kind of dumbass attitude that gets people killed. Soren being kind of good now. My last MVP was Ike, which makes sense.
So I have plenty to play around with now! I give Gatrie the +Magic Resistance item because I'm tired of him being able to tank everything BUT THAT. And then I'm tired of Shinon's piss poor Strength, so I give him the +Strength item. And then I give Volke Lethality since you guys said that was amazing. Then I get Nephenee and Marcia up to level 2+.
And then I get my first A conversation with... Rhys and Kieran! Oh dear god, think about your reputation Kieran! "Here lies Kieran the knight! He suffered a massive hemorrhage in training and died cold and alone." XD Rhys dropping the bomb. Rhys is trying everything he can in order to get Kieran to stop training like a maniac. "We can't achieve victory without our greatest soldier-- that would be you-- in our army!" Finally, Kieran seems to understand and promises to take it easy with his training. And then...
"I guess I'll just... sit down here and... knit... something... Oooo, look! A bear!" "No, Kieran! Nooooooooo!"
Ultimate XD at that.
Then I have Ilyana and Mia talk again! It's not as interesting as the first one. Ilyana is apparently not sick, and a priest even said so. And Mia decided she would walk with her to help her out since she is kind of... uh, sickly.
Since I won't use anyone else that Mia and Rhys can support with, I decide to have them go to Support B! Rhys is terrified that Mia will throw her sword at him again, but she says she won't. But Mia decides that Rhys is a legendary swordsman-- he just doesn't know it yet! lolz
"There is awesome potential within you. And when you finally realize it, you'll end up clashing with me as my grand archrival!"
"I don't think that will happen. I used to be a fighter when I was a frail child." "Aha! I knew it! You can't give up your unharnessed talent like yours just because you're frail!"
And I guess this convinced him. Good ol' Mia and Rhys. I'm disappointed I can't see their conclusion. :(
Then I decide I might as well finally give Ike and Oscar a support convo. Ike is looking forward to Oscar's cooking, and Oscar is surprised because only Mist, Shinon, and Soren ever said anything about it. lol Shinon and Soren? Really? Apparently this is a big deal for Oscar since Soren hates everything. Mist sucks at cooking though, but Oscar convinces Ike to encourage her more. What a nice dude. n_n
So Jorge comes back around asking Ike for more fighting tips! Ike suggests they start fighting instead of playing a stupid game and Jorge says "Stop joking arouind. We're happy-go-lucky traveling merchants! We don't know anything about fighting!" lulz Ike is pissed and tells Jorge not to bother him because he's fighting for real every day. So Jorge guilt trips Ike and then Ike gives him more tips. So then we talk to that Sothe loser. He says that he used to be in Daein and he liked it there and thought Ashnard wasn't so bad. He says he'll keep fighting for Ike, but he doesn't like to see Daein torn up like it is. Alrighty kid.
And then for the battle!
--
Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
So Ike tells Zelgius to guard the castle while they go forward. Mist is still emo about her missing medallion and Nasir being a traitor. And then there's a loser going GAR HAR HAR (wasn't that in the GBA game?) and he's going to ambush us in this temple. Booooo. And their thing is that they're using the priests to block their path. Dicks. And only 11 units again!? Weak.
Anyway! Who do I pick. Ike and Rhys. Then Volke for stealing. And then Ilyana and Calill to tank the magic. And then Mia for all of the axe enemies. And then Marcia to tank the magic. And Astrid to tank more magic! Oscar for speed and Shinon for ranged. And finally... Boyd, because he has the higher resistance of my two axe users. Well s***, this is quite a f***ed up team.
And out of nowhere, Shinon starts getting godlike level ups. Awww yeah. And then Mia with a s*** upgrade. Thanks for that. But now I've got the constantly critting Shinon back! Awww yeah! But oh god the sniped Mia and did 18 damage! Luckily she attacked first against the axe enemy that walked up and critted him to death. And good lord, all my units are critting! RAINING CRITS! Until Volke gets killed by a Longsword crit.
Live by the crit, die by the crit.
So yeah. A bit annoyed by that, and I don't have time to restart before work, so I'll have to do this later.
--
Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
Don't know if you noticed from the discussions going on before you fight, but you get more BEXP if you don't kill the priests. They barely give any exp at all to begin with, but I know that for me at least, shoving them around is a pain. It's up to you, though.
-- ~Peaf~ "Later that day, I f***ed a panda." - PSO
The annoying thing about that particular submission is that the priests will act stupid enough to position themselves in a way that killing them seems to be the only viable option. But the Ashera Staff is quite useful, especially in the late levels.