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FD's Draft: Gang Bang - Fierce Bitches Are Fierce
With this post, it's all over. I finished. I don't have something particularly entertaining or witty to say, though I normally love to insert such things. Hope you enjoy my last draft entry.

Chapter 20x – The Lair of Fire: 11 turns (0 count; 111 total)
I get to recruit my final combat unit with this Gaiden, Ymir. As there are no reinforcements in this chapter, once everything was dead, it was dead. Opened the chests, talked to Ymir, promoted Roshea, and went on my merry way. Athena and Abel did most of the heavy lifting, as you might imagine, Gradivus+the spheres included. Marth got a level, too, thanks to there being a Manakete near Ymir.

I’m no longer posting my unit’s stats every chapter, since this is my final post. Instead, I’ll be posting their stats at the end of the game and writing about what they contributed to my draft as a sort of Epilogue.

Chapter 21 – Clash in Macedon: 3 turns (114 total)
Abel took the Gradivus forward, Athena borrowed it from him for the boss, to make up for it (and takes no damage from him; delightful). The majority of my units didn’t even move from starting position. I have Ymir now, though, and he’s got pretty good offense. Took out a DracoKnight. Moving on.

Chapter 22 – A Knight-Filled Sky: 7 turns (121 total
Athena and Gradivus went to the right of the castle, Marth following behind, Abel and Roshea went left and shopping. Athena killed almost everything. Majority of my units stayed in place, again. Why bother moving them when they won’t reach any enemies anyway? Boah and Jagen provided Physic support when needed. Oh, and the village wasn’t visited. ******** Starlight. You’ll see how I handle the next chapter.

Chapter 23 – Dark Pontifex: 7 turns (128 total)
Abel, having higher Resistance than Athena, takes Gradivus for this chapter, and with Marth coming behind as fast as he can, they head for the throne room. Julius unlocks the chests so conveniently located just north of the starting point, and Boah and Jagen provide Barrier and Physic support to Abel and Marth. Athena and Roshea take out a couple of the Bishops east of the starting point that started approaching as well. Boah hit A rank in Staves and is thus set to use Fortify in endgame alongside Elice when she joins. Between their Fortify support and Jagen having access to Physic, I’m set for Endgame.
As for Falchion and Gharnef, you don’t need to kill Gharnef to win the game. And you don’t need Falchion either. But the Lightsphere and Starsphere DO let me ignore the defense bonus a throne offers to bosses and use the Gradivus infinitely. That’s a lot more appealing than getting a sword for Marth and an otherwise unwanted spell tome. The Gharnefs were completely ignored, although one of the fake ones did end up attacking Abel and dying. Abel now has max Strength, Skill, and Speed, by the way. Medeus is ******** 24 – The Dragonkin Realm: 4 turns (132 total)
Aum Staff? Don’t need it. Athena, now wielding Iote’s Shield and officially my tankiest unit, gets Gradivus for the chapter, as well as the Talisman from one of the chests from the previous chapter to handle the Magestone-Manaketes more effectively here and gets the blessings of Barrier before killing the boss on the first turn. She takes a pretty good beating, but she CAN take a beating. Flies north the next turn to be Recovered by Boah then kill whatever is around. Marth cuts through the mountains for a very quick chapter. Onto the final gaiden!

Chapter 24x – The Alterspire: 9 turns (0 count; 132 total)
Promoted enemies for Marth, Abel, and others to eat up. Athena hit level 20. What is there to say at this point, really?

Endgame – Chosen by Fate: 5 turns (137 total)
Had just as many Master Seals as I did unpromoted units, so I promoted them before starting. In terms of positioning, I placed all my healers where they could move so nothing could hit them. It hasn’t saved me any turns to promote them sooner, so I don’t really regret not promothing them earlier, something usually very viable for drafted runs.
Basically, my strategy was to have Athena and Abel (positioned as close to the throne as possible) tag team Medeus and kill whatever they needed to along the way. Worked out fine. Would’ve been done in four chapters, but Athena was ahead of Abel going down the narrow hall right before Medeus and at max speed, couldn’t double one of the Manakete’s requiring her to take it on the next turn. This cost me a turn to reach Medeus. Sucks, but hey, I’m otherwise very happy with this runthrough. They did easily kill him together in one turn though, thanks to being able to trade the Gradivus and it having 1-2 range. Marth didn’t even move (this is the only chapter where the requirement is something other than seizing, very notably). The other groups toyed with the enemies that start near them, also. And Elice+Boah using Fortify every turn along with Jagen using Physic if anyone wasn’t fully healed after that worked out great.

Character Epilogue
Marth: Level 19 – b***h for Seizing Things
HP: 41 Str: 15 Mag: 0 Skl: 10 Spd: 15 Luck: 21 Def: 11 Res: 0
Not nearly as important as one might think he is in combat. On that note, it’s actually more important for him to have a good defense rather than a good offense for draft runs because his goal is to get to seize as quickly as possible, which can often mean he has to survive whatever enemies might throw at him. That’s why he’s a good candidate for the first Seraph Robe. And why he needs the Boots.

Abel: Level 20 – The MVP
HP: 48 Str: 25 Mag: 1 Skl: 28 Spd: 25 Luck: 12 Def: 19 Res: 6
Abel got a lot of stat boosters, and NONE of them went to waste. As a unit with high movement available for the entirety of the game with good growths, no one else contributed as much to this playthrough as Abel did (he doubles Medeus with max speed, by the way). SO many chapters would’ve taken longer without Abel, I don’t think I can properly describe how valuable he was to this playthrough.

Jagen: Level 10 – Never Useless
HP: 26 Str: 1 Mag: 3 Skl: 11 Spd: 7 Luck: 5 Def: 4 Res: 9
Jagen’s stats DO suck, don’t be fooled. But stats aren’t everything. He starts out as the only unit capable of using Silver Lances, with his B rank, and that’s a really big deal for a really long time. I know of people who get him all the way to A rank in Staves to Fortify spam, but I kept him as a Paladin too long to accomplish that. But Physic and healing support in general ensured that even when he failed to significantly contribute in combat, Jagen was a valuable member of my team. The fact that he WILL eventually cease to matter in combat is what makes him such a good option for reclassing, as well, and that’s why I had him as one of my two allowed reclasses.

Gaggles: Level 2 (promoted from 14) – Professional Potshot-er
HP: 35 Str: 12 Mag: 1 Skl: 12 Spd: 12 Luck: 9 Def: 11 Res: 3
As I’ve said before, my strategy with the team I selected was to take advantage of having so many units available so soon to have a shorter early game. Eventually, once everyone’s star units get powered up, anyone’s team can handle the latter chapters really quickly. Thus, early game is the place to make a difference. And Gaggles definitely contributed to this. His potshots were helping Marth move forward unhindered even in the first chapter, he could take out flyers (he helped take down Minerva to get Hauteclere), he helped stopped reinforcements from being a drag, and he eventually got to wield the Parthia. Later on, while he made contributions to chapters and continued to get experience, they did nothing for reducing turn counts, but having for all of the game DID.

Draug: Level 2 (promoted from 14) – A Wall When One Needs One
HP: 37 Str: 12 Mag: 1 Skl: 10 Spd: 13 Luck: 5 Def: 22 Res: 3
Having Draug also definitely helped with my early game for the first few chapters especially. He and Gaggles made a great team together. He helped with a lot of minor goals like getting Hauteclere and such, so I’m very glad to have recruited him.

Barst: Level 7 – Herald of Hammer Time
HP: 49 Str: 22 Mag: 0 Skl: 16 Spd: 17 Luck: 14 Def: 12 Res: 1
Barst, Ogma, Cord, Bord, Darros; you really want to recruit one of them to Hammer Time (or Armorslayer in Ogma’s case, without a reclass, anyway) a lot of bosses in the game to ensure Marth seizes in minimum turns for a good number of chapters. Unless you have Caeda and her Wingspear, but only one person will. Of the early game axe users though, Barst is probably the best you can get (going by growths and averages), so I was quite fortunate. Once Marth gets his Boots, his purpose for cutting turns ceases, but Barst remained a very strong unit who I could use to kill enemies at any point.

Julian: Level 13 – Harbringer of Lots and Lots of Free Stuff
HP: 25 Str: 9 Mag: 0 Skl: 10 Spd: 17 Luck: 15 Def: 6 Res: 0
Sometimes Thieves are free (or at least, you’re free to have them open chests, doors and bridges). Since they weren’t here, Julian’s value skyrocketed. He DID cut turns by being able to open doors and bridges so Marth could cross and continue forward unimpeded a number of times. And eventually getting a C in Swords (Armorslayers and Killing Edges), he could hold his own in combat, too. Keeping Lena alive as a support-bot for him and Matthis helped his combat even more.

Matthis: Level 1 (promoted from 15) – Weaker Wallbreaker
HP: 35 Str: 13 Mag: 1 Skl: 9 Spd: 11 Luck: 4 Def: 11 Res: 6
Matthis being a mounted unit definitely helped save turns. It’s often the case that you’ll move your units forward as much as possible, than the enemy army will start fighting you, and when it’s your turn again, there are enemies blocking the way from continuing forward further. If someone is blocking Marth’s way, it usually falls upon the cavalry to clear it. Matthis was a part of that cavalry, and definitely saved turns eliminating enemies that blocked Marth. That purpose eventually came to a halt, and he turned out to be the least useful of my mounted units, but Matthis was still a very viable part of the team that aided in reaching the turn count that we did.

Roshea: Level 3 – Stronger Wallbreaker
HP: 43 Str: 15 Mag: 1 Skl: 20 Spd: 12 Luck: 6 Def: 12 Res: 6
Roshea essentially served the same purpose as Matthis, but as he continued to get better level ups in this playthrough, I eventually started feeding him more kills and he promoted first (and at level 20). By the time he promoted, I had Gradivus so he didn’t really save any turns at that point, but he definitely helped out earlier on, too. If something had to be done besides seize the throne, like take out the Paladins south of the mountains in chapter 20 so they don’t dash forward and kill your healers, for example, Roshea proved his mettle. He’s no Abel, but by having so many mounts, I was definitely able to save turns and reach turn minimums more easily.

Athena: Level 20 – Vun Voman Army, Reclassed Vinged Vundervoman.
HP: 54 Str: 25 Mag: 1 Skl: 19 Spd: 23 Luck: 15 Def: 22 Res: 5
The other half of my late-game offensive core, Athena, reclassed as a flyer, saved A TON of turns. There are a lot of chapters where her flying utility determined my ability to finish in minimum turns possible (or do so while accomplishing other things – most notable example being killing Camus for Gradivus in a timely manner). Every team should have a flyer, and if you didn’t draft someone that starts as one (that isn’t named Est) you definitely want to plan to reclass someone into one. Athena not costing turns to recruit and being a capable flyer if reclassed is why I chose her for that position. She needed a good deal of favoritism to accomplish everything she was responsible, but it was more than worth it. Abel might be MVP, but Athena is just under him.

Boah: Level 8 – Supplemental Staffbot
HP: 23 Str: 1 Mag: 6 Skl: 8 Spd: 12 Luck: 5 Def: 5 Res: 10
Healers are nice to have, and Fortify-spamming was part of my strategy for endgame, so having Boah reach an A in staves to assist with that was actually the only reason I drafted him. He and Jagen providing double Staves, while not necessary was very useful and did help save turns a few times, if only by virtue of letting my fighters attack instead of use Vulnerary.

Ymir: Level 11 – Unnecessary, but Unharmful Proto-Gonzales
HP: 47 Str: 18 Mag: 0 Skl: 13 Spd: 14 Luck: 6 Def: 9 Res: 1
Ymir did not save me a single turn. He didn’t cost any either, though, and has a very nice offense. He killed various mooks and was a good choice simply for not costing a turn to recruit.

Elice: Level 2 (promoted at base level 10) – Fortifying Princess
HP: 25 Str: 1 Mag: 4 Skl: 6 Spd: 8 Luck: 4 Def: 5 Res: 9
Also recruited for the purpose of endgame Fortify-spamming. Elice did her job well, and costs no turns to recruit also. While a lot of units I chose not to draft can be great, I was very deliberate not to choose anyone that cost a single turn to recruit, so she contributed my my overall strategy in that way as well.

Nagi: has her bases – Unwanted Substitute
I wish I had Gotoh (guess what staff he comes with?), but Nagi didn’t do any harm. She killed just one enemy. Tiki costs turns, and Falchion means non having infinite Gradivus, which was the crux of my lategame approach. Gotoh would’ve contributed more (albeit not a noticeable amount), but what I got from the way I did things was the best way I could go about them.

So there you have it. My drafted run took a total of 137 turns, Gaidens and Prologue being free up to 20 turns taken. That’s not the minimum possible, but it IS quite close. I had a good time with this. Good luck to everyone still doing their drafts and I will be sure to keep up with your progress.

Some Advice in General About FE11 Drafts
-offensive magic loses a LOT of value. Comparatively lower movement and survivability usually means other types of units will offer more for saving turns.
-Frey, Abel, Cain, Caeda, Hardin; make sure you have one of them.
-Barst, Ogma, Cord, Bord, Darros; make sure you have one of them, also.
-if two different characters will accomplish the same potential role for you, one costs turns to recruit, and one doesn’t, ALWAYS go for the one that doesn’t cost turns.
-If you recruit either Sedgar or Wolf, basically feed everything in a couple of Gaidens to them to jump start them. Once their stats get going, they can definitely make huge impacts.
-Have a flyer, even if it means reclassing.
-You DO NOT need to collect every Master Seal in the game, as you probably don’t even have enough units to use them. Promoting early is very frequently beneficial, as well.
-Stat boosters are usually best used as soon as obtained.
-Most villages are best avoided. Everything in a draft that takes turns needs to be assessed for payoff against cost. Villages almost always cost more than they're worth.

NOM'S DAY OFF! Not really. Played at school!

Chapter 12: The female Paladin! (23 turns. 185 overall)

I. Did not like this chapter at all. I restarted this one about five times before I beat it. But overall Frey, Roger, Hardin, Vyland, and Linde were my MVPs. I took the liberty of having Linde kill a couple Horsemen to get her a lot of EXP while Roger and Frey tanked them. In the end Frey went down and stabbed the boss to death because he was so frail. Oh yeah and I also got Midia. Yeah. Marth got the boots as well.

Chapter 12x: The death of a traitor (0 turns added)

Horace you are a fine man. I was sad to kill you. But in the end...HAMMER TIME ROCKS! Darros had fun beating Horace up with the hammer. He practically killed him off. Marth charged forward and beat the boss, then seized next turn. Nothing new to report.

Chapter 13: Annoying. Ballistae. (12 turns. 197 overall)

Oh god the annoying part of this chapter: The range of all the enemies. They killed Marth off...four times I think. This chapter has all my hate. In the end he just stayed back for a bit while Frey charged onwards to beat everyone up. Of course the boss was so stubborn because of his healer next to him. I was so stupid that I didn't kill said healer till...five turns later. But he died and I seized.

Chapter 14: Death to a Kingdom (12 turns. 209 overall)

By this point I got my last unit Catria. Of course while I was at school I didn't remember if I was able to use Palla or Catria so both were recruited. I had them shoot off to the side so that they would not fight. But overall Darros and Linde took care of the boss for me while Rickard got some treasure.

Stats:

Level 17 Marth: 31 HP, 13 Str, 9 Skill, 14 Speed, 18 Luck, 12 def

Level 20/6 Frey: 42 HP, 18 Str, 1 Magic, 25 Skill, 25 speed, 17 luck, 18 defense, 6 res

Level 19 Darros: 36 HP, 16 Str, 8 Skill, 11 Speed and Luck, 10 Def

Level 15 Vyland: 32 HP, 9 Str, 5 Skill, 10 Spd, 9 Luck and Def

Level 17 Hardin: 32 HP, 13 Str and Skill, 14 Speed, 8 Luck, 10 Def, and 1 Res

Level 9 Rickard: 21 HP, 8 Str, 4 Skill, 12 Spd, 3 Luck, 4 Def

Level 7 Radd: 23 HP, 8 Str, 10 Skill, 11 Spd, 2 Lck, 8 Def

Level 15 Roger: 27 HP, 12 Str, 4 Skill, 6 Speed, 9 Lck, 16 Def

Level 10 Linde: 22 HP, 6 Magic, 8 Skill, 11 Spd and luck, 3 Def, and 4 Res

Midia: Same as when you get her

Catria: Same as when you recruit her

Stay tuned because next up will be Chapter 15 and on.

The Forces of Evil are in Cereal Trouble!

I'm back from a mini vacation! I ran around in the state where I used to live and visited a bunch of friends. But I'm back home now, and I've got a long weekend to myself. Which means I can get back to these again!

And I just so happened to get my long awaited copy of Fire Emblem Memorial Book Akaneia Chronicle in the mail today. This is excellent.

Chapter 12: AWW YEAH, DOLPH AND MACELLAN. NOW IT’S A PARTY. They chill in jail while their buddies get picked off. But first, Castor’s birthday has come early and he gets a Master Seal, the ability to use swords, and a brand new Horse just for him! Caeda also snacks on an Angel Robe. In the chapter proper, Jagen, Sedgar, and Castor ride ahead and Jagen beelines for the boots. I take it a bit slow so I can grab them. Caeda helps clear the way for them, and Wendell lags behind a bit to take care of the armorslayer thief before heading off. Wolf hangs around to do some meatshielding by sitting on a pillar and allowing the reinforcements to swarm him. He dies in the process. Wendell uses a fresh Barrier staff on Castor so he can deal with the mages as they come. He and Cord stay behind to deal with stragglers and net some more experience, and Wendell kills the Warp Staff thief when he steals the Master Seal (Apparently he won’t steal anything else after that, he just runs off and opens the door as I experienced before). Caeda one-shots the roaming Paladin boss. Ogma gets a killing edge crit on the sniper and gets a silver bow to give to Castor for a birthday present in the near future when he reaches B level bows. Caeda defeats the boss, she grows a level, she gets Strength among other things, she gets a weapon level, and I giggle like a schoolgirl. Jagen grabs the boots, Cord, Wendell, and Sedgar get some extra exp off of reinforcements (Sedgar grows a level via shots from over a wall, his sexy growths are starting to show in his stats now), Marth seizes the throne, and life is good. We then get Parthia, which will most likely fall into Castor’s hands if anyone’s, because his bow level is higher than Sedgar’s. This was Castor’s best birthday ever.

Chapter 12x: Enough people are dead to net me this Gaiden chapter. And Midia even survived the last chapter! She will be a lovely meatshield, her tenacity will be appreciated. Dolph and Macellen… They’ve got a support bonus at least. I’m a bit tentative to reclass them right away, as I like their armor knight defense and it’s not like I will rely on them for a whole lot, since my team’s pretty much set and the experience can go to more capable people. And when they do reclass, they lose defense and their defense growths, so I’d like to try for a little extra. I feel like I have room to experiment. But I would like it if they had better movement and changed into mercenaries or sommat down the line (plus 10 speed also looks good). So I hold off on that for the time being. Marthy puts on his new pair of boots. I intend to promote Caeda come next chapter, since I want her to be able to soak up levels while she still can. But the focus here is getting Sedgar, Marth, and Caeda some experience with a side order of Dolph and Macellen. Castor gets a B for Bows on his first turn. Marth visits the villages, since he has time now, and grabs a shiny new Killer Lance for his galpal. And I already bought a blizzard tome for Wendell… eh. Wendell’s library of weapons to choose from is already pretty big (I didn’t mention it, but I have gotten some use out of Excalibur. It was good for taking down stronger units when need be, especially when everyone else was weaker and in danger. It still has plenty of mileage left, though). Horace was delicious, and he provided some nice levels, Cord in particular got a nearly perfect level up. I take the boss down intentionally slowly, since I want some more units to get exp off of him, and I wanted Wrys and Wendell to get in some healing. Marth strikes the final blow and seizes the gate on the next turn.

Chapter 13: Today is the day Caeda becomes a woman and trades in her magical Pegasus for a beefy dragon. I’ll miss those points of Res, but she’s still more resistant then the other close combat units. And that's what Barrier is for. And she’s still the same in spirit. Her strategy is also still spear it. I give Jagen the speedwing that I owed him, so that his crusty a** will be doubled less often. He can still lure out Astram to get killed by Armor Knights who don’t care about being doubled because they’re armor knights. His Wyrmslayer is welcome. What’s the best way to protect Caeda from Arrowspate? Have her kill them herself, of course! So, Marth, Jagen, Wendell, and the Vanilla Armor duo go down the middle, Castor, Sedgar, and Wrys go up top, and Ogma, Cord, and Caeda go bottomward, though Caeda goes where she pleases. Mister Beck costs me two turns, but his thunderbolts are a very welcome addition nonetheless. Caeda crits on the boss with her new Killer Lance, though Marth’s A support with her probably helped too. Twice, even. What a beautiful woman. Marth, you lucky dog you.

I know I’ve been playing up the goofy aspect of Shadow Dragon’s writing, especially when talking about it outside of this draft, but I actually rather like the conversation at the end of this chapter between Marth and Nyna, short as it is. It’s not exceptional or anywhere near it, but that’s FE flavor enough for me. A story doesn’t have to be a six-hundred page opera to have a bit of feeling. Just bringing up how Marth knows not all of Gra wanted to go to war with Altea, yet is unable to stop hating them for their betrayal without falling into angst or melodrama suggest a bit more on the minds of these characters then “kill the evil dragon with the shiny sword.” I know the story is not high art or anywhere near it. You know that my heart bleeds for Path of Radiance’s writing. But I do think Shadow Dragon deserves a bit more respect then it gets. This could just be the ramblings of a Dragon Quest fangirl, though.


Chapter 14: Ogma classes up at the ripe level of 15. Beck also grabs his new Hoistflamme we snagged last chapter, as well as a stonehoist from the nearby ballistician near the beginning right away. He gets a fair amount of levels in. Caeda clears the way for Marth to advance across the river, and Ogma follows suit, though he can’t really keep up with them. Everyone else gets some experience from the archers that shoot at them as they pass without realizing they can retaliate. The three of them travel on ahead, and some enemy cavaliers even manage to get Marth a level by breaking themselves on him. Marth is able to stop at the vendor on his way down to the throne. Palla and Catria die for exp. Caeda uses a door key and flies ahead to clear the way for Marth. She even hits an A in spears this chapter before killing Jiol via Wing Spear to the face. I actually haven’t used her Wing Spear for a while before this chapter. Caeda’s strength has not failed me. I’m so proud.



Marth: Level 15
Hp: 29 Str: 12 Mag: 0 Skill: 6 Spd: 13 Luck: 19 Def: 11 Res: 0

Jagen: Level 7
Hp: 25 Str: 7 Mag: 1 Skill: 13 Spd: 10 Luck: 2 Def: 10 Res: 6

Caeda: 16/3
Hp: 37 Str: 14 Mag: 0 Skill: 16 Spd: 22 Luck: 20 Def: 13 Res: 3

Wrys: Level 7
Hp: 18 Str: 0 Mag: 4 Skill: 5 Spd: 8 Luck: 4 Def: 3 Res: 9

Ogma: Level 15/1
Hp: 39 Str: 16 Mag: 1 Skill: 18 Spd: 17 Luck: 8 Def: 10 Res: 3

Cord: Level 11
Hp: 27 Str: 14 (This is still kinda cool) Mag: 0 Skill: 7 Spd: 12 Luck: 9 Def: 7 Res:0

Castor: Level 10/2
Hp: 28 Str: 11 Mag: 1 Skill: 8 Spd: 13 Luck: 4 Def: 8 Res: 3

Sedgar: Level 5
Hp: 26 Str: 9 Mag: 1 Skill: 10 Spd: 11 Luck: 2 Def: 10 Res: 2

Wendell: Level 6
Hp: 24 Str: 3 Mag: 7 Skill: 2 Spd: 15 Luck: 4 Def: 5 Res: 6

Dolph: Level 5
Hp: 23 Str: 8 Mag: 0 Skill: 7 Spd: 6 Luck: 4 Def: 14 Res: 0

Macellan is still Macellan. But with 86 EXP.

Beck: Level 4
Hp: 22 Str: 6 Mag: 0 Skill: 6 Spd: 4 Luck: 5 Def: 16 Res: 0

I forgot how much I liked the second Player Phase song in this game.

The Forces of Evil are in Sirius Trouble!
Guess what happens in this update?

Chapter 18: Like I said last time, I promoted Cord into a warrior. Caeda gets to Wing Spear many enemies, Sedgar finally gets D in swords (took him long enough) and with a steel sword now handy and his growth spurts starting to show he can work harder on getting that level up quicker. Hardin dies so I can keep my 15 unit quota. We get some levels all around. The biggest affair here is recruiting Est, which is a pain in the butt since she comes in on Turn 6 way the crap over in the ocean. Everyone else indulges in healing and Boss and reinforcement abusing, Castor and Sedgar even visit the arena in their spare time and use the spoils to buy a recover staff. Marth waits away from the gate for Est to talk to him on the enemy phase. Four freaking turns. MERCURIUS. MERCURIUS IS GOOD FOR OGMA, YES (couldakilledEstbutwhatever)... Est… well at least she flies, which is more then I can say for Dolph and Macellan, but they didn’t cost any turns to get of course… You know, this is my first draft (pair of them, really, but this one is easier and will be over quicker), and I thought more about characters on their own rather than the turns they would cost me to recruit. Of course I knew not to go for characters like Bantu or Tiki or Minerva that would cost a ton of turns, but all these little delays are adding up. Some I can see as far more worth it on a harder difficulty, but this is Normal Mode and things are much more straightforward and easy. Bluh, that’ll be discussed more when this draft is done and I share my final thoughts. For now I'll see if I can do anything with Pinkie, since she gets her exp quick.

Chapter 19: I’ve always recruited Tiki, since I love her and I’m sentimental and casual like that, but she just wouldn’t be a good pick for a draft, especially with Nagi and Diet Falchion being more turn efficient to get, and all the turns it would cost to recruit Bantu so I could recruit Tiki would hurt me too. The real affair here is getting the Lightsphere and Starsphere for their lovely benefits, plus anything else I can get my grubby paws on. In the end, that comes out to Spirit Dust and an Extra Large Bullion fetched by Est and Dolph, and of course the two aforementioned spheres. Plus two master keys left. Wendell barriers Marth and sends him on his way. He braves Bolganone and Blizzard and all sorts of magic damage and gets beaten down but not out. He is kept alive by three vulneraries and Wendell’s Physic staff. He then beats Tiki with one swing of his mighty Wyrmslayer on turn 4’s enemy phase. He did it so quick that I didn’t even cry once. Marth does not, in fact, seize the throne before turn 5.

Chapter 20: Caeda has a wing spear with Camus’ name written on it, and she intends to return it to him with gusto. Wendell uses Spirit Dust number two. Caeda takes the starsphere with her, because it’s never too early to stop weapon degradation. Marth and Ogma both cross the river and start killing generals, while Caeda destroys all in her path, and everyone else goes around. Wendell provides plenty of wonderful Physic staff support for the opportunist trio. Caeda takes out Camus in one round of combat with 19 hp to spare, and she immediately begins her beautiful new friendship with Gradivus. Though she does manage to overkill Lorenz using her wing spear, because unless your name is Castor, if she sees you on the enemy side, she dun care, and her lance does the talking.

Chapter 20x: ‘Nother gaiden! Marth lollygags around so that he can open up all the chests, except for the two in Ymir’s neck of the woods. Ogma opens one of them with a leftover Master Key and grabs a killer axe from one of them. At this point there is only one master key left, and I’ve still got my original Wo Dao, so I don’t need to use it right off. Castor and Beck take shots at Ymir for easy exp before Ogma finishes him off. Wendell reaches B level staves, and Castor reaches A bows at last and can use Parthia instead of staring at it longingly in the convoy. Most everyone gets levels all around, Est even manages two of them. Sedgar gets a few lovely ones too. After the boss is defeated, everyone waits around for Marth to get the last chest near the goal before finishing the chapter up.

Chapter 21: I got a replacement unit. Get outta town! Anyway, Cord takes down all of the dracoknights to the west by himself. Caeda takes down the majority of the enemies by the boss, including the boss himself. Gradivus is wonderful, recovery, range, power, the whole deal. But Wing Spear is still good for taking out buff generals. Either way, having my weapons not degrade is wonderful, and Caeda is ready for almost anything (by the end of next chapter she’ll be ready for anything). Sedgar gets his B for Bows. That’s kinda it. I did have to run this chapter a few times, though. I knew I could do it in three turns, but I’m not good at counting movement over trees, and I often forget. I’ve always had this, it’s something my brain's not that good at, and I know sometimes I am forever one square away from the end, but sometimes it’s just me. Either way, chapter done.



Marth: Level 19
Hp: 33 Str: 14 Mag:0 Skill: 7 Spd: 16 Luck: 23 Def: 12 Res: 0

Jagen: Level 9
He gained a level, but got no stats. Poor Jagen.

Caeda: Level 16/14
Hp: 42 Str: 15 Mag: 0 Skill: 25 Spd: 23 (cap) Luck: 28 Def: 14 Res: 3

Wrys: Level 10/1
Hp: 24 Str: 1 Mag: 6 Skill: 8 Spd: 8 Luck: 5 Def: 3 Res: 12

Ogma: Level 15/8
Hp: 45 Str: 19 Mag: 1 Skill: 19 Spd: 19 Luck: 10 Def: 11 Res: 3

Cord: Level 13/6
Hp: 38 Str: 20 Mag: 0 Skill: 10 Spd: 17 Luck: 15 Def: 9 Res: 1

Castor: Level 10/9
Hp: 31 Str: 13 Mag: 1 Skill: 11 Spd: 17 Luck: 6 Def: 11 Res: 3

Sedgar: Level 11
Hp: 36 Str: 13 Mag: 1 Skill: 15 Spd: 18 Luck: 2 Def: 14 Res: 2

Wendell: Level 11
Hp: 26 Str: 3 Mag: 11 Skill: 4 Spd: 16 Luck: 5 Def: 5 Res: 8

Dolph Is Dolph

Macellan is Macellan

Beck: Level 12
Hp: 26 Str: 8 Mag: 0 Skill: 9 Spd: 7 Luck: 8 Def: 18 Res: 0

Est: Level 7
Hp: 23 Str: 6 Mag: 2 Skill: 8 Spd: 13 Luck: 14 Def: 8 Res: 6

Next time, we end this!