#weapon triangle

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 9 Part 6: Finally Freeing Tana

We left off here, ready to move in and free Tana.

Since I moved everyone up, Kyle and his 2 res is now in range of the monk, so the sleep staff targets him and misses.

And then on player phase, I send Ephraim to take care of the armor near Tana's cell who it turns out doesn't move.

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but a pet peeve of mine about the enemy range indicators in the GBA games is that they don't tell you when units don't move. So you actually get false information if you click on a unit who is programmed to stay in place.

After attacking the armor, Ephraim is now in range of this guy.

So how does this look? At first, it looks not so dangerous, but then I notice the guy's kill sword, which is why he has a base 36% crit rate.

I decide not to leave Ephraim there. However, now that I'm looking at these photos, I'm realizing that Ephraim actually would have survived a crit from the guy as long as he wasn't getting doubled.

I should have done more math... :(

Honestly though, playing with a DS lite in one hand while the other hand picks up and puts down my cell phone to take photos means that I start to get physically drained and my hands start to get stiff about halfway through any given map. So I think I'm more likely to make dumb mistakes as a result.

Lute finishes off the sword guy, and I leave Vanessa in place to hit the cavalier reinforcement.

Seth starts hitting the wall to free Tana, and Franz has rescued Ephraim out of (not) danger.

Meanwhile, we have even more cavalier reinforcements down below, along with a couple other guys who were there to start with and won't move until we get in range.

I leave Artur here when I realize he could be in range of that dark mage in the throne room. The archer can't reach him, and Artur has good res, so it's a pretty safe position.

Ross, meanwhile, is in range of the soldier below.

Here's Ross doing both cool shit, and really not cool shit.

Just putting this here to remind everyone that, yes, there is a magic weapon triangle!

It never feels quite as relevant as the physical one, but it's the reason why Artur has super good hit against this dark mage (below), and the dark mage is down to 50 against Artur.

Fire Emblem has done many different versions of the weapon triangle, and the GBA version (which, unless there are tiny differences I'm forgetting about, was consistent across all three games) feels relevant for the physical weapons because it can make a pretty big difference. Something about how it works out for the magic weapons always makes it feel kind of superfluous though.

I think part of it is just that enemy mages usually have decent res and bad def, so most of the time you attack them with physical units, not your own mages. You use your own mages to chip guys with no two range, or to blast armors out of existence.

I think another part of it is also that you get fewer mage characters than physical attackers in any of the three games, so it feels like you notice the characteristics of their weapon type less, and the individual eccentricities of the character more.

Like, Artur is the only light mage I have for a good portion of the game. Lute can use light magic if I promote her to sage, and so can Moulder and Natasha, and two other characters that we'll get later. But since Artur is the only light mage for so long, he feels less like "Artur who is one of the light mages" and more like "Artur".

If anything, I think a player is likely to compare Artur to Lute even though they're using totally different tomes, just because they are the only mages you have for a while. Any differences you notice are as likely to feel like differences between the two characters as they are differences between the weapon type.

Seth finishes smashing down the wall, and Colm opens his first chest, which I think had money in it.

Vanessa and Artur finish off their respective targets.

Tana flies out of her cell and has a conversation with Ephraim. She explains that she left her home castle without permission and came to help before getting captured.

At first, Ephraim tries to convince her to go home, but she manages to argue for staying with the army.

And now it is official that both Renais twins have saved Tana from being locked up. She's the Princess Peach of Sacred Stones.

I think that there is supposed to be some implied romance-potential between Ephraim and Tana. And I think they get married in the end game if you get them to A support, but I don't remember their support chain well, so I wonder if it's one of those ones that falls kind of flat, but, hey prince and princess so they gotta get married!

(I honestly don't remember, so the only reason I'm wondering if it falls flat is because I would think that if it sparked with romantic tension, I would remember it. But, hey, my memory isn't perfect.)

I might look up the supports later, or even try to get them to A to see them in game.

I also take advantage of Tana being next to Ephraim to give her a weapon from the convoy, but it turns out I have nothing but a steel lance, which is really not ideal.

I'll trade something better to her later. I also really need to hit up some shops after the map is done.

lol, here's Kyle getting attacked while asleep.

(The monk finally managed to hit Kyle with the last use of his sleep staff.)

Ross and sleeping Kyle are holding the line down below.

So we end up in this situation. Not bad! Artur is going to start us off by taking out the cav next to Ross.

Good job, Artur!

And I send Franz over to take care of the guy with the killer sword, and I realize he's much less of a threat than I thought.

If he crits, he'll do a WHOLE 3 DAMAGE to Franz.

Next time: Princess Peach starts training!

[usableusername]

Idk I kinda like Engage better than HI3 in my opinion. I feel like rock paper scissors combat systems work better for turn based games.

[osmanthus-wine-addiction]

Imagine Zhongli and you are in an established relationship. Aside from the occasional charging boar he needs to put a spear in while enjoying strolls with you, he's adjusting pretty well to mundane life.

Enter a very competitive Childe who decides he's going to steal the ex-Geo Archon's lover to piss him off. Zhongli refuses to fight him, but he's determined. Every other attempt to get the retired god to engage with him in battle has failed because Zhongli's too busy enjoying the soft life with you.

Childe finally succeeds in pissing him off. You actually manage to distract the redhead from his obsession with your lover. The Harbinger is a bit smitten with you himself after weeks of invested effort, falling into his own messily executed trap. He's caught redhanded flirting with and trying to seduce you with his boyish charms, but instead of getting a proper fight, he gets "disciplined" by an angry and jealous Zhongli while you sip tea and watch the rascal get served his just desserts.

[avianandloaded]

Hasbro Marvel Legends Warlock BAF wave Cyclops, Love Triangle three-pack Jean Gray and Apocalypse BAF wave Wolverine.

[elf-friendly]

Wyvern Rider Mallory

[three3two22]

My beloved triangles

[gregor-samsung]

Sans filtre [Triangle of Sadness] (Ruben Östlund, 2022)

[iavulture]

RAIDOU KICK!

You know, this is such a glow-up from the original. Also, we have a f*cking sword-lance spear-axe weapon triangle in this game.

Sort of. It seems that we do get to choose blade types in this game with different skills.

Sword type = well-rounded

Spear type = multiple hits

Axe type = heavy damage dealing

[urvanswrath]

[ JOUST ] - Impress someone by sparring with them by the shoreline or fighting for their honor while they watch from the seating area. The Adrestians know how to put on a good show, so why not take advantage of the beautifully decorated space by the sea? Use stage weapons that are both impressive and humorous to create an entertaining experience!

---

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Crowed a fancy-clad crier, in an accent that sounded like it was coming straight out of his nose. "We thank you all for gathering this evening to witness the latest in our spectacular series of duels! And we'd also like to thank our generous guests, who have agreed to…finest the Monastery has to…sponsored by the…"

...And those were the last pieces of the man's speech Ares bothered to catch.

His attention was much better spent on squeezing in warm-ups and last-minute weapon checks, whilst he sized up his competition for this bout.

A novice might see the older man and think him an easy target, but Ares had seen his type before. Lived and traveled with them for most of his life, and cut down just as many.

That was why his hardened look he shot the man was so knowing -- mercenaries always could recognize another in the trade, no matter what age and clothes they were disguised with.

It was disappointing, actually. As Ares ran his fingers along the dulled blade, lined with frills and terribly imbalanced, all he could think about was what this could have been like with real weapons.

But he had to keep in mind what the point of this mock fight actually was, and that was the charms competitors were told to exchange with opponents afterwards. Their version of sportsmanship, as they'd explained it.

"…And now! Without further ado, may I now present the competitors!" Finally their cues came, and when the crier gestured to Ares, he took to his side of the makeshift arena drawn in the sand.

"You stand before the Black Knight Ares," he declared to his opponent, no different than how he had done so many times on the actual battlefield.

"And that does not change no matter the weapon I wield."

The announcer and his dramatic cadence, the small crowd of nobles that had gathered to watch them–it’s all a bit over-the-top for a simple faux battle. Though, Greil supposes this is just part of the culture.

The axe in his hands is decorated with flowers, clearly more ceremonial than practical in shape. If there’s one thing, it’s that no matter how dull the blade is, it’s still capable of dealing much brute force in the right hands. He looks up from examining his weapon to get a look at his opponent, a boy with clear experience in the art of battle. When they exchange glances, Greil is comparatively more relaxed than the man standing before him.

They get into stance, and as the boy introduces himself with the tone befitting of a proper duel, Greil stares at him for a beat longer.

… The Black Knight?

It can’t be…

That title takes him back to that fateful day… a battle that determined Greil’s very life. One that his son bear unfortunate witness to.

His fingers tense on the weapon’s handle for a brief moment when he hears it, but he’s certain this isn’t the same person as them.

“The name’s Greil.” He doesn’t listen to the announcer’s words, merely speaks once his hand gestures over to his direction. Greil almost forgets that this is supposed to be a leisurely spar.

When the announcer tells them to take a step forward, he does as told. The older man gives Ares a small smile, a mixture of confidence and acknowledgement as he begins slowly approaching with axe in tow. He can hear the crowd hold their breath in suspense. “We can have a proper chat once this is done. For now…”

With both hands he raises his axe, taking courtesy of the first strike.

“...We’ll let our blades do the talking!”

[curejune]

episode 30, as doll-like as we get

episode 31, in which she brings a bow to a gunfight for a second time. in her defense the first time (robin hood one) worked out perfectly fine so there was no reason to think it would fail

[embryoed]

Gale would’ve been so much better off had he been written as Katniss’ cousin

[dreamybasil]

Kleiner Teddy süß und putzig Goldig schmusig, weich und knuffig Knuddel mich! Knuddel mich! Knuddel mich! Knuddel mich!

[robo-dino-puppy]

horizon forbidden west | patterns & effects 2/?

[theoretical-tactician]

To that one post from 3 years ago that inspired me to do a no upgrades run of TriStrat: I am so sorry for ever doubting you.

[thesummonerandthehelgeneral]

Checks my Aether Raids defense results and saw my Lif take out a Winter Edelgard.

[gregor-samsung]

Sans filtre [Triangle of Sadness] (Ruben Östlund, 2022)