"And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
FIRE EMBLEM: THE SACRED STONES
An FAQ/Walkthrough
For the Nintendo GameBoy Advance
Copyright 2008 Richard Beast
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
...you gotta strike when the moment is right, without thinking." - Pink Floyd
===============================================================================
Table of Contents:
===============================================================================
-!NOTE!-
This guide, as you will soon see, is pretty big. Seeing as how this takes
effect, you will most likely be lost in trying to find out what you want to
read. There is one way to get to it, instantly. Press Ctrl + F, and then look
for whatever you want. Let's say you want to go to the Basics section. Type in
"IV. Basics", and then you'll go to the basics section, instantly! Pretty neat,
eh?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ -------------------------- * TABLE OF CONTENTS * -------------------------- ~
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Introduction
II. Legal Disclaimer
III. Contact Rules
IV. Basics
V. Characters
Va. Characters
Vb. Supports
VI. Walkthrough (Part 1)
VIa. The Fall of Renais
VIb. Escape!
VIc. The Protected
VId. The Bandits of Borgo
VIe. Ancient Horrors
VIf. The Empire's Reach
VIg. Unbroken Heart
VIh. Victims of War
VIi. Waterside Renvall
VIj. It's A Trap!
VII. Walkthrough (Eirika's Path)
VIIa. Distant Blade
VIIb. Revolt at Carcino
VIIc. Creeping Darkness
VIId. Village of Silence
VIIe. Hamill Canyon
VIIf. Queen of White Dunes
VIIg. Scorched Sand
VIII. Walkthrough (Ephraim's Path)
VIIIa. Fort Rigwald
VIIIb. Turning Traitor
VIIIc. Phantom Ship
VIIId. Landing at Taizel
VIIIe. Fluorspar's Oath
VIIIf. Father and Son
VIIIg. Scorched Sand
IX. Walkthrough (Part 4)
IXa. Ruled by Madness
IXb. River of Regrets
IXc. Two Faces of Evil
IXd. Last Hope
IXe. Darkling Woods
IXf. Sacred Stone
X. Creature Campaign
Xa. Tower of Valni
Xb. Lagdou Ruins
Xc. Secret Characters
XI. Items
XIa. Weapons
XIb. Magic
XII. Credits
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ I. Introduction ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Let me tell you a story. It all began when I started writing for Path of
Radiance on the GameCube a little bit into last year. Then I took a large break
and started this guide somewhere in between, simply insisting that just writing
for that game wouldn't be enough. I mean, hey, Sacred Stones is one of the most
underrated games on the GBA, even if in my opinion it's highly inferior to Fire
Emblem 7. Oh, hey, you may not even know who I am. The name's Richard Beast,
and I go by the alias of Gbness. This is my 42nd FAQ, I think. I don't know,
I've been doing this for about five years and have long since lost count. ;]
So, at the time of writing this it's very late at night plus that's all you need
to know anyway, so I think I'll leave it at that. Enjoy this little gem of a
game, and this guide. If you can do that, I'll be happy enough.
- Richard "Gbness" Beast
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ II. Legal Disclaimer ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You are NOT permitted to put this FAQ on your site without my permission first.
All you have to do is email me or IM me saying you want this FAQ on your site,
then you can tell me your site and the chance is high that I'll let you. But if
you put this FAQ on your site without my permission I swear you will regret it.
If I let you, not ONE word should be changed from this FAQ! NOT ONE! Got it?
Good. Also, make sure that no money is involved. If you want this FAQ to be sold
on eBay, then just forget about it, man. And don't sell this guide either, or
pay people to use it, or you'll be in such big trouble you don't want to think.
Another little note is that I will not have this guide hosted on many other web
sites besides GameNotOver, GameFAQs, IGN, and Neoseeker. You need full-on
permission if it's not one of the four above sites. I am sick of people ripping
me off (I have been ripped off three times in the past), so if I don't like your
site, I won't let my guide be posted on it. I am sorry, but this is how it has
to be. If you ask politely and I like your site, you will definitely have the
luck of getting it up there. Thank you very much.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ III. Contact Rules ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
First of all, feel free to check out the stuff I've written on GameFAQs. Those
include a guide for Baten Kaitos, a few other sorted RPGs, and tons of random
PSX games. Honor to the PSX, yanno? Hopefully, that'll be added with awesome
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Disgaea 3 guides. As you might be able to
guess, I'm a large RPG fan and writer.
Alright, enough shameless advertisement about me. You can e-mail me if there is
a question you wish to ask that hasn't been answered in the guide, but I REALLY
don't want to bother answering questions that have already been done, answered,
and done again in the guide, if it isn't too much trouble. Feel free to tell me
if there's something I've forgotten, however.
My e-mail address is richard_power1000 [at] yahoo [dot] com. Except, replace the
[at] and spaces with a "@" symbol and the [dot] and spaces with a period; I have
to write like that so I don't get a dozen spam bots e-mailing me and getting me
viruses. Just be polite in the e-mail, don't talk like "omg wtf rich ur gides r
t3h su><0rz & how du i beat bone", and don't ask something that's already been
answered in the guide, and I'll respond.
And don't bother sending things like:
"You friggin' idiot. Your guides suck, you suck, and everything about you
sucks. DIE DIE DIE!"
"BURN IN THE FLAMES OF HELL, YOU STUPID RETARD!!!"
"What the hell did you think you were doing writing all that garbage, you piece
of crap?
"I hope you fall down the stairs and break every bone in your body!"
"u su><0rz, eVrYtInG BoUt u sUx, dIe ass!!!!!!1"
I will laugh at such e-mails and delete them. So... if you're not just playing
a friendly joke on me or something, don't bother with that crap cos I've been
through with it too much.
Okay, that's enough for that. My AIM name is rbeast288; sorry, I don't have MSN
or YIM. The list is closed, but I'll add you if you ask politely via e-mail. I
like chatting with people, but try not to overdo it on AIM if I add you to my
list. Since I am busy a majority of the time and all.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ IV. Basics ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Odds are if you've played any other Fire Emblem game before, The Sacred Stones
should be at least close to second nature. Odds are if not... it still shouldn't
be too bad. But just in case, or for any other case of reference, here I am.
Because I'm da man.
BATTLES
=------=
Fire Emblem is a strategy RPG... but odds are you already knew that. That
means you're basically going from one battle to another, while developing
your army, 10-14 characters per battle, in strategic, turn-based combat. It's
turn based in the sense that all your characters do their thing, and then the
enemy does their stuff. Simple enough?
Each character will carry a weapon or two with them, and then when they attack,
the formula goes like this: (Your strength + weapon attack power - enemy's
defense = damage). Pretty simple formula, right? Then, if your character's
speed is high enough, they'll attack the opponent twice. Of course, when you
attack an enemy or an enemy attacks you, the character who's getting attacked
will counterattack, as long as the attacker is in his/her range. This makes
things just a bit more interesting. However, if a character is reduced to 0 HP,
they will NEVER come back. EVER. That's what makes this game so different from
other strategy RPGs: how extremely realistic that gets.
In battle you'll also weigh in the hit percentage, of which some weapons have
a lot more of than others, and the chance of a critical hit. When you critical
hit an enemy, the attack does three times more damage than normal. That can
easily turn the tide of a battle, even though the chance of it happening is
usually around 1-3%, unless you're using special weapons. After almost every
battle you'll be on this game's world map, where you can go around to vendors
and armories restocking on items, magic, and weapons, so... that's about it.
Enjoy it!
STATS
=----=
HP is the driving force behind everything, and is utterly defining. Even if
in the long run, defense and resistance will probably do more for you. But
basically, you get hit and damage is done to you, right? So the number is
subtracted from your maximum HP, and when your HP reaches 0, you're dead. No
really, you're DEAD, and you're not coming back. Fire Emblem will let you
resurrect characters who hit 0 HP the moment that starts happening in real
life, so... yeah, you figure it out. Regardless, you want to keep an eye on this
stat, and to do that, don't let weak characters go out in the very frontlines.
Use Vulneraries, Elixirs, Heal/Mend/Physic, etc... watch out for this.
Strength/Magic is my next favorite stat, just because it's strength. Or magic,
do I need to say more? Now, the reason these are grouped together is because
no character has both. You either attack with swords/lances/axes/bows, or magic,
never both, so no need for both stats. And obviously, it decides how much damage
you're going to do through the formula of your S/M, adding your weapon's Might,
subtracting the enemy's defense/resistance (depends on whether it's strength or
magic). So in the end, my basic recommendation is to get as many Energy Rings
as possible and jerking everyone's S/M up as high as it can go. S&M is awesome
(oh god, let's not go there...).
Skill isn't in my opinion nearly as necessary as strength and speed, but it can
be an extremely deciding factor in one character versus another. Basically, the
higher your skill is, the more chance your attacks have of hitting. If you're
going to load one type of character full of Skill more than another, definitely
give it to axe users like Ross or Dozla... they need every last bit of this
that they can get. That's about it though, just hit percentage.
Speed is life and death in Fire Emblem. Well, sort of. Basically, you can
either double attack, trade hits, or be double attacked in battles here, and
speed is the deciding factor in that. Basically attack speed is your speed,
minus penalties if your weapon's weight is higher than your strength, and if
it's 5 or more above the enemy you're attacking, you'll double attack. Speed
weighs into your avoid (double speed then add luck and stuff in there), so in
short, speed is one of the most important things out there, and you want
everyone to keep it high. It can make or break a character.
Luck isn't as important as most of the other stats, but it exists enough to
warrant a section here. It weighs into hit, avoid, and critical hit rate, and...
that's about it. Basically for hit, it's your skill doubled, your weapon's hit
rate, and your luck on top of that. Critical hit rate is essentially the same
thing except it's the enemy's luck subtracted from it, and avoid works pretty
much the same as hit. So, it affects a lot more stuff than any other stat, but
with a far smaller impact. So don't focus on it, focus on strength and speed.
Defense is one of the most basic stats and doesn't require any long winded
explanation. Basically, the higher your defense, the less damage you will take
from physical attacks only. The exact formula is Damage = Attacker's strength
+ weapon strength - defense. If you have lots of defense (like Gilliam or Kyle)
and there's no sages around, you can go right in the open and wreak all the
havoc you want with no worries.
Resistance is just as basic as defense in that the higher it is, the less
damage you will take from magic attacks only. The exact formula is Damage =
Attacker's magic + tome strength - resistance. I find defense much more
important, but resistance can break some characters and it will make you
absolutely love characters that can go right in and slice mages apart. Tana,
being a prime example.
WEAPONS
=------=
Swords are the most cliched weapon in the RPG universe, and for good reason.
They're most commonly used by Eirika, myrmidons/swordmasters, cavaliers,
mercenaries, generals, rangers, thieves/rogues... many. That's it, but in any
case, swords aren't the most powerful weapons around, but if you're using them
against axes, you're going to own those guys. That being said, I prefer lances
myself since they keep a general balance between power and accuracy, but take
the Sieglinde and Audhulma for example. Amazing stuff.
Lances are somewhat between the two extremes of swords and axes: they aren't as
strong as axes, but they've got an edge over swords there, plus they hit better
than axes, just not better than swords. And pretty much everyone uses them:
Ephraim, cavaliers, knights/generals, pegasus/falcon knights, wyvern riders,
knights, and lords, and the list goes on. Basically they own swords, and losing
to axes won't stop them from being my faorite weapons. Best lance users:
Ephraim, Tana, Cormag, Amelia, Kyle.
Axes are raw power in the making. They may not hit too hot, but hey, they will
own you. Especially if you're using a lance. They're most commonly uses by
fighters/warriors/berserkers, great knights, and generals. That honestly is
just about it. Trust me though, you'll get a lot of bloodshed out of them. The
guy who's arguably the best character in the whole game, Ross uses axes, and
while these may not be the best choice if you desperately need to hit a target,
a maxed strength/supported Berserker Ross with the Garm will kill anything.
Bows are neutral among the weapon triangle. The power in them is quite a bit
lacking compared to the other three, but you can use them from a range, which
is pretty crucial. They're only used by archers/snipers, rangers, and warriors.
That is it. Obviously you're not going to get a ton of use out of them, but
Neimi is definitely one of the better characters in the game, Innes isn't bad,
and if you want to make Gerik a Ranger, bows are definitely an asset. Bows are
definitely worth having around.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ V. Characters ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To even this all out better, I split this into one section for character
profiles, and one for supports. Go to Vb. for supports.
~- Va. Character Info ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--~-~-~-~-~-~-
This is a comprehensive list complete with recommendations and all that for
each and every single solitary character in the game. Is that awesome or what.
Name: Eirika
Recruited: PROLOGUE, CHAPTER 15 Ep
Class: Lord -> Great Lord
Attribute: Light
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Eirika is the princess of Renais. Since she's currently in Renais Castle when
Grado invades, she ends up having to leave King Fado and escape with Seth, and
the game, at least for the first eight chapters, follows her story. She's a
very compassionate person, but when she gets her mind made up about something,
it's hard to change it.
You'll be reminded of Lyn from FE7 immediately with Eirika. She has quite low
HP and strength early on, but high skill and luck, and a very high critical
rate, plus she double hits pretty much anything. But on top of that, Eirika's
defense and resistance are extremely average. Eventually, anyway, you get a
choice between following her or Ephraim from Chapters 9-15, and I personally
prefer Ephraim's path, but you can definitely follow Eirika.
Eventually Eirika's Rapier will break, but she's still got high critical rates.
And then after Chapter 16, she'll promote, and be on horseback, which is a
definite high point. And when you've got the Sieglinde, Eirika will destroy
everything. Just make sure you get some supports so that Eirika's defense can
go up. I like L'Arachel as a support myself. So... in conclusion, I like
Ephraim more, but Eirika is good.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Ephraim
Recruited: Chapter 5x, CHAPTER 8 Ep, CHAPTER 15 Ei
Class: Lord -> Great Lord
Attribute: Fire
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Very High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Ephraim is the prince of Renais. While Renais gets invaded, he's busy fighting
his way through Renvall. Ephraim is a master strategist, and when he comes up
with a plan, you'd better believe that it works. He is a tad bit reckless,
though, but he's just as compassionate as Eirika.
In combat, Ephraim really is a monster. While Eirika is the lord of swords,
Ephraim is the great lord of lances. He starts with the Reginleif lance, which
kills any knight or cavalier that it comes within a ten foot radius of. As for
stats, Ephraim has insanely high strength, skill, AND speed. His HP is quite
good, his defense is solid... the only downside to him is his resistance. It's
pretty low and worse than Eirika's, but hey, what do I care.
Ephraim really is the best character in the game once he's promoted. With the
armageddon blast of a spear known as the Siegmund, he'll do about 40 damage
to everything, double hitting light itself, and have so much evasion that no
one can touch him. In fact, if you ask me he's so good he needs no supports,
but if you wish, L'Arachel and Forde are great choices. Any way you slice it,
Ephraim is just about the best character in the game.
My Rating: 5/5
Name: Seth
Recruited: PROLOGUE
Class: Paladin
Attribute: Anima
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Seth is the general of Renais. Because of that and other things, he's King
Fado's most trusted knight, and the only one who knows the truth about Eirika's
and Ephraim's bracelets. He's also the one entrusted with Eirika when they
escape from Renais, meaning he's always with her.
Seth is the Jeigan/Marcus of Sacred Stones, and if you're unfamiliar with what
I mean by that, I mean that Seth is a prepromote that is the equivalent of
Level 21 while everyone else is Level 1-4. And while it is extremely tempting
to have Seth charge at enemies and pummel them into oblivion, which he is very
capable of doing, it's not a good idea. By doing that, you're killing off the
whole rest of your party's chances of getting EXP.
It's not that he has bad stats though, because on the contrary he actually has
good growths and good bases. In fact, he's fairly strong if you use him when
the rest of your party catches up to him, but a big problem is he doesn't have
a lot of HP and defense and will end up going down relatively fast. So yeah, he
isn't bad, but you have a choice: one divine unit or ten great units. I go with
the ten great units.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Franz
Recruited: CHAPTER 1
Class: Cavalier -> Great Knight
Attribute: Light
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Franz is a knight of Renais, and one of the most loyal soldiers of Seth's. While
during the fall of Renais he runs off to Frelia to tell them that they're
coming, he returns in the next chapter. He idolizes Seth and wants to be just
like him.
You'll have Franz in your party right off the bat, and he's one of the better
cavaliers. He joins in the middle of chapter 1 with Gilliam, and while he's
underleveled compared to Gilliam, he's got swords and lances at his disposal,
and will level up quite quickly. What you'll come out with is a character who
has good strength and speed, but the skill is a little lacking compared to
Forde's, and Franz's defense isn't the best either.
You will definitely want to promote Franz. When given a choice a Great Knight
and a Paladin, I'd go with the Great Knight, and I wish those guys were in all
Fire Emblems. It'll definitely complement Franz's high strength. Plus if you
have him support his brother Forde, you can add to his attack and hit even
more. So overall, I prefer Kyle slightly, but Franz is a great addition to any
party.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Gilliam
Recruited: CHAPTER 1
Class: Knight -> General
Attribute: Thunder
HP ........... High Defense ...... High
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Low
Speed ........ Very Low
Gilliam is a knight of Frelia. He rides into the battle with Franz, when Franz
goes to Frelia to tell of Renais's situation. Then when the group goes to speak
with King Hayden, Gilliam is one of the vassals entrusted to Eirika.
Every Fire Emblem needs a knight, and while Gilliam has got nothing on Oswin
from FE7, Gilliam's a good dude. First of all, he comes at Level 4, but his
movement are quite bad. That's to be expected, though, with that much armor on.
Not to mention terrible speed; pretty much everyone will double hit him in the
end. However, Gilliam has got good accuracy early on, and his strength is rather
good.
The selling point, however, is that Gilliam has very high HP and insanely good
defense, so nothing can hit him. If you get a chance to promote him, though, go
for a General. You have plenty of room for Great Knights with Franz and Kyle,
but with Gilliam, turn him into a General, and he'll get 3 more speed, 1 more
movement... and he doesn't need more defense anyway. Make Neimi and/or Franz
support him, and he'll be unstoppable. On the other hand, though... you get two
opportunities for Generals in this game, and I prefer the other one.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Moulder
Recruited: CHAPTER 2
Class: Priest -> Bishop
Attribute: Anima
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... High
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Low
Speed ........ Average
Moulder is a priest of Frelia. That really is all I have to say about him,
except he's a rather serious character who is pretty much forced into the party
by King Hayden, before Chapter 2.
You get two choice of healers early in the game (not including L'Arachel),
Moulder and Natasha. I'd definitely choose Moulder, as his stats are quite a
bit higher. First of all, for a mage, his HP is quite good, and though his
defense is nothing special but once again not bad for a mage, his high evasion
will definitely complement that. And if you use him every turn by healing
characters, which I assure you that you can, he'll level up quite quickly and
eventually be a candidate for promotion.
When choosing between a Bishop and a Sage, I would most definitely go with a
Bishop, just because you get so many more opportunities to make Sages. Plus
if you're going to the Lagdou Ruins, you'll need all the Bishops you can get
for their Slayer ability, and Moulder fits that job perfectly. Being able to
use light magic on top of healing helps, and while he's not the strongest mage
around, he's one of the easiest to keep alive.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Vanessa
Recruited: CHAPTER 2
Class: Pegasus Knight -> Falcoknight
Attribute: Anima
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Low Resistance ... High
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Vanessa is a pegasus knight of Frelia. That really is all I have to say about
her, except she's a rather serious character who is pretty much forced into the
party by King Hayden, before Chapter 2.
Vanessa is a classic pegasus knight, and if you're not familiar with them,
they've always got low HP, low strength, low defense, good skill, great speed,
and relatively good resistance. Always. Vanessa, in my opinion though, gets
rather overshadowed though by a far better pegasus knight, Tana, who joins in
Chapter 9, so in short, I'm not too much of a fan. Too much of a pegasus knight
for me, cuz as you guessed I've never been too fond of them.
If you do choose to use Vanessa, though, it's not a huge loss though. She
actually does become a decent character if you take the time to level her up.
If you promote her though, make her a Falcoknight. Don't get me wrong, the
Wyvern Knights are much better, but one of her or Vanessa needs to be a
Falcoknight if you want to use her triangle attack with Syrene. And if you're
looking for supports, Forde is a great choice because they go on the same
pace. Plus Syrene is a good choice too, but again, I'm a Tana guy.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Name: Ross
Recruited: CHAPTER 2
Class: Journeyman -> Pirate -> Berserker
Attribute: Fire
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Very High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ Average
Ross is a young, budding warrior from the town of Ide, who runs out with his
father when the town gets attacked. He then runs into Eirika's group there and
joins when his father does. His primary interest in life is to be a warrior,
especially one who can rival his father.
And too right Ross does become a warrior who rivals his father. Ross is quite
arguably the best character in the game, and I know you're going to look at his
base stats and ask me what in the hell I am smoking. But it's true: Ross is a
unit who is not yet Level 1 when the game starts. He gains EXP quite fast, so
get him a little, and then you get a choice of what first tier unit to turn
him into: a Pirate or a Fighter. Definitely turn him into a Pirate, you don't
get a Pirate in this game, he can walk on water, and promotion becomes easier.
You'll immediately find Ross has better stats than any unit of his level around
him. The only stats he somewhat suffers in are skill and speed, and you can
build skill up by supporting Ewan, and avoid through Amelia, or Gerik. Then
when he's at level 20 you can promote him again. It's really up to you whether
you want to turn him into a Berserker or Warrior, he'll kick so much ass either
way it's not too important, though I made him a Berserker just for his amazing
critical rate. He's a pain in the beginning, I won't deny, but...
My Rating: 5/5 (he's awesome, best axeman in the game by far)
Name: Garcia
Recruited: CHAPTER 2
Class: Fighter -> Warrior
Attribute: Fire
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Very Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ Low
Garcia is a retired fighter among Renais. He used to be a troop commander, but
during the war, his wife fell ill and died. At that point, Garcia gave up his
status and decided to devote himself to his son Ross. However, he's recruited in
Chapter 2 and decides to come with you, to watch over Ross there.
Naturally, Garcia joins at the same time as Ross so they're going to be compared
to each other since they're the same type of character. I won't deny it, Garcia
starts out much better with rather good strength, plus his HP will hold out to
the end. However his speed ends up really bad, his resistance is putrid, and
all his other stuff is just really kind of average. But all that brings me to
the biggest point: the comparison with Ross.
Ross, because he has better growth rates and will get far more levels than
Garcia, will end up with far, far better stats. His HP and strength will be
far better, and although Ross's speed isn't too good, it'll still be better than
Garcia's. Garcia is far from unusable though; if you want to make him into a
Warrior, he's still not bad, plus he's a fire affinity and can give some good
supports, but he's just a weaker version of Ross.
My Rating: 3/5
Name: Neimi
Recruited: CHAPTER 3
Class: Archer -> Ranger
Attribute: Fire
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Neimi is a former villager in a town called Lark, but the town was burned down
by Bazba's Bandits, and she and her friend Colm were the only two survivors.
Because of that, she just drifts around with Colm, running into Eirika's group
when they're looking for Colm and joining them.
While in my opinion Neimi hasn't got nothing on Rebecca from Fire Emblem 7,
she's an incredibly decent character to use, and since there's a grand total of
two archers in the game (one already a promoted sniper), I would by all means
recommend going ahead and using her for the entire portion of the game. Face it,
there's no reason not to. While she does have rather low HP and strength, those
can be both be corrected because her growths are good, and obviously her skill
and speed are superb.
Neimi is a fire affinity, meaning she'll not only give amazing supports, but
be an amazing support to anyone. Amelia and Artur are both perfectly good
choices, or Garcia if you plan on using him. When promoting Neimi, I'd
definitely say make her a Ranger rather than a Sniper, as turning into a
Ranger will help out her weak stats more, give her much better movement, and
seriously, who cares about a Sniper's Sure Shot anyway. Not a perfect character
at all, but a good one that doesn't receive enough credit.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Colm
Recruited: CHAPTER 3
Class: Thief -> Assassin
Attribute: Light
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Low Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Low Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Colm is a former villager in a town called Lark, but the town was burned down
by Bazba's Bandits, and he and his friend Neimi were the only two survivors.
Because of that, Colm follows a very dark path into thievery, which brings a
lot of worry into Neimi. He runs into Eirika when he tries to steal her
bracelet.
Colm is a rather mixed bag, and is a love or hate. He's... decent enough,
though, even if in my opinion he's an ass pain to raise up, and you get Rennac
as a rogue later, who even though his stats will end up weaker than Colm's, is
at least already a Rogue. Colm's HP starts out below average, though it'll
grow quickly. All his other stats are rather straightforward for a thief, and
his luck stat definitely helps out.
I honestly have no preference of making Colm an Assassin or a Rogue, since the
former will give him the Silencer ability, which definitely helps considering
Colm's lowish strength, but the latter has the innate Lockpick ability, so, I
dunno. Depends on if you plan to use Rennac or not. Both are good, then you
just need supports, in which Kyle is great for defense and Neimi is great for
the offense, or Rennac if you want a mix thereof. Not a bad character overall.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Artur
Recruited: CHAPTER 4
Class: Monk -> Bishop
Attribute: Ice
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... High
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Low
Speed ........ Average
Artur is a monk from Renais, who just happens to be an extremely religious man
living in a village that gets overrun by monsters from Grado. He claims to be a
vanquisher of evil though, and since he uses light magic, he's good for that.
Another rather good magic user, Artur is a monk who excels in light magic. He
does it with relative skill, and while his magic power isn't as high as Lute's,
Artur uses light magic, which is a completely different dimension. His HP is
solid for a mage, plus he's got all the necessary skill and speed. My biggest
issues are his defense which is really inferior to Moulder's, and his luck,
which is some of the worst in the game.
When you get the opportunity to promote Artur, you can make him a Sage or a
Bishop. That's really a hard choice, and although the Sage stat caps are a bit
better, I tend to prefer turning Artur into a Bishop, mainly because I love the
Slayer ability, and in the final battle and the Tower of Valni/Lagdou Ruins you
can never have too many bishops. You can't go wrong either way though. For
supports, Lute and Joshua will balance out his attack and defense, so go for
them, and you'll have a killer mage on your hands.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Lute
Recruited: CHAPTER 4
Class: Mage -> Sage
Attribute: Anima
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... High Resistance ... High
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Lute is an annoying young girl from Renais, living in a village off of it that
gets overrun by monsters. She lives with Artur, and claims to be an absolute
prodigy when it comes to magic.
Alright, I'm going to come clean and honest here and say that Lute is pretty
much the best magic user in the game. Her HP is pretty terrible, but she has
just about the highest magic stat in the game, rather decent skill, and high
speed. That's just about all you need for a mage, right? If you're just looking
for some basic anima, Lute is your girl.
Definitely make her a Sage rather than a Mage Knight; the Sage has MUCH better
stat caps (strength, speed, and skill, enough said), and the Sage is just a
better overall class. At that point, make sure Lute's speed is up to snuff,
since it's doubtless that she'll have great strength. It's all a case of whether
you want more offense or defense for here. Ross is your offensive guy with a
fire affinity, Kyle for defense. Hard to go wrong however you slice it.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Natasha
Recruited: CHAPTER 5
Class: Cleric -> Bishop
Attribute: Ice
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... High
Skill ........ Low Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Natasha is a cleric from Grado's imperial temple. She left it one day, however,
when her mentor was executed without warning by Vigarde, and then she ran
across the border only to be caught. She runs into the party and Joshua in
Serafew, in Chapter 5.
I'm not a fan of Natasha, although I won't deny she can be promoted into a
bishop, and you can never have too many of those. It's just, there's far too
many magic users out there, and many of them far outshine Natasha. Moulder for
example, beats her in just about every stat except speed and resistance, with
far superior HP and defense. L'Arachel is also extremely comparable, and overall
I'd just rather use her because of her greater versatility.
If you decide to use Natasha, I'd use a Guiding Ring early just so that she
can start holding her own on the battlefield. I'd definitely choose a Bishop
over a Valkyrie; the bishop has not only Slayer (which is amazing), but better
caps in everything except defense. Then again, I'd just rather use Moulder,
Artur, or L'Arachel over Natasha, honestly. That, and Natasha doesn't have
great support options, except Joshua I guess.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Name: Joshua
Recruited: CHAPTER 5
Class: Myrmidon -> Swordmaster
Attribute: Wind
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Very High Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ Very High
Joshua is the son of Ismaire, the queen of Jehanna. That doesn't make Joshua
much of a prince though. On the contrary, he's a ridiculous gambler, taking any
opportunity to gamble even if he's just recently lost several times. And if
Natasha speaks to him in Chapter 5, he'll join you based on another lost bet.
Some people aren't a big fan of Joshua, but I personally think he's one of the
best characters in the entire game. He's a classic myrmidon, in that he has
extremely high skill and speed, but his HP and defense are rather lacking. If
you want to spend an Angelic Robe on him, which I almost always do, the only
thing that can remotely wear him down is magic. For a myrmidon (at least
compared to the game's other myrmidon, Marisa), Joshua has extremely high
strength, especially in the late game.
What with Joshua's high luck, he'll be doing a lot of critical hits, plus when
you promote him, which I would suggest turning him into a Swordmaster, if you
have a Killing Edge on him, he'll have a critical rate of mid 60s. Throw a
support like Gerik onto him, and that critical rate will just skyrocket even
more. And sure, while Gerik may end up being better in the long run, if you
use Joshua the right way you won't regret it.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Kyle
Recruited: CHAPTER 5x, Chapter 8
Class: Cavalier -> Great Knight
Attribute: Ice
HP ........... High Defense ...... High
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Very Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ Average
Kyle is a knight of Renais in the service of Ephraim. He takes his job as a
cavalier very seriously, and is extremely proud to serve under Ephraim. Plus
he's not bad in combat, though I wonder how he got involved with the two
brothers.
One of the three main cavaliers in Sacred Stones, Kyle is probably my favorite
of the three. He's a bit stronger and sturdier than the other two, in that his
strength, HP, and defense are all rock solid, and he won't have any problems
doing lots of damage. That being said, his resistance is some of the worst in
the game, and his speed is far inferior to Franz's and especially Forde's. AND
his skill isn't too great either, though I don't care about that too much.
If you can get Kyle's speed on par with at least the other cavaliers, he'll
easily turn into one of the best units in the game. In giving him a choice
between a Great Knight and a Paladin, the Great Knight is by far the preferable
option. Seriously, it just adds to his strengths, plus the Great Knight has a
better strength cap. And with that, all he needs is a support or two. I'd go
with Forde and Ephraim myself. Not without his faults, but overall one of the
better characters in the game.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Forde
Recruited: CHAPTER 5x, Chapter 8
Class: Cavalier -> Paladin
Attribute: Wind
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Much like Kyle, Forde is a knight of Renais in the service of Ephraim. He's
extremely laidback about his job as a cavalier, and will sometimes in the
middle of battle even start painting, which is his other hobby. He's also the
brother of Franz.
Forde excels in the exact places that Kyle doesn't. While both of their HPs
are quite good and don't need any worrying on your part, Forde definitely lacks
the physical strength that Kyle does, and unless you play around with the RNG,
Forde may end up as one of the physically weakest characters in your whole
party. His defense isn't great either, but Forde has two things that Kyle
sorely lacks: skill and speed. His speed is quite a bit higher, and he'll be
getting a lot of double attacks that Kyle won't.
In giving the choice to promote Forde, I'd definitely turn him into a Paladin.
The Great Knight has the higher strength cap, but there's no way Forde will
max out his strength. Go with something that'll add to his current abilities,
while you personally keep an eye out for his low strength. If he turns out good
for you, he'll definitely be one of the game's best characters. For supports,
go with fire and light people. Ephraim and Eirika are both great.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Tana
Recruited: CHAPTER 9
Class: Pegasus Knight -> Wyvern Knight
Attribute: Wind
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... High
Speed ........ Very High
Tana is the princess of Frelia. She's an incredibly rebellious spirit, in that
she's been friends with Eirika all her life, and although Innes and King
Hayden tell her not to leave the castle, she does to go help her friend on the
battlefield, be it Eirika or Ephraim (the latter in which she gets clumsy and
ends up in jail). Besides, she's a pegasus knight.
Speaking of being a pegasus knight, you will hear me mention again and again
during the course of this guide that Tana is one of the best characters in the
game. She outclasses Vanessa in just about every way: her defense may not be
high, but her resistance is absolutely outstanding for a physical attacker type
character. Her HP isn't too shabby though I always give her an Angelic Robe
anyway, her strength turns out to be quite good, and she's one of the fastest
characters in the entire game.
Since Tana joins in Chapter 9, she'll be racking up experience incredibly fast,
and soon you'll need to promote her. Obviously you'll want to make her a Wyvern
Knight, which is one of the best classes in the game, and once you do that her
speed will just keep growing even more. All of her stats are extremely good,
and once she has the Vidofnir, plus supports with Ephraim, Eirika, or Cormag,
she'll be absolutely unstoppable.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Amelia
Recruited: CHAPTER 9
Class: Recruit -> Knight -> General
Attribute: Thunder
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Amelia is a girl from Grado who joins the military, basically to protect her
family. Obviously, she's a new recruit, and there's mutual dislike betwen her
and the Grado army, really. So in other words, Eirika or Ephraim can have a
word with her, and she'll join you. And you'll be glad for that.
Much like Ross, Amelia is one of those underpromoted characters that are
unusuable until you take them to the Tower of Valni, then they get promoted and
kick so much ass it's not even funny. Yes, as a Recruit Amelia has a movement of
four and barely does any damage at all, but yes, she'll get a choice of to turn
into a Knight or Cavalier as soon as she hits Level 10. Definitely change her
into a Knight, since you have a lot less room for Generals than Paladins.
Once she gets going, Amelia is going to have extremely high strength, skill,
and luck. Since she'll be a Knight, her movement will always blow, but her
speed actually isn't that bad. And while her defense never does get amazing,
she has absolutely excellent avoid, so you can't go wrong either way. Then when
she's a General, she'll have the Great Shield ability, and not a weak stat
anywhere. And that's WITHOUT supporting Ross and Ewan, who will make her even
stronger. ;] Truly one of the best characters in the game.
My Rating: 5/5
Name: Cormag
Recruited: CHAPTER 10 Ep, CHAPTER 13 Ei
Class: Wyvern Rider -> Wyvern Lord
Attribute: Fire
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Cormag is the brother of Glen, one of the six generals of Grado. Much like his
brother, he questions whether what Grado is doing is right, and takes a dislike
to General Valter. However, when Glen dies that doesn't stop him from holding
a grudge against Eirika. That, or Duessel can convince him in Chapter 10.
In my opinion, Cormag is a god. All of his stats are amazing, with the exception
of his resistance, which is rather poor compared to Tana's. Cormag has excellent
HP, his strength is extremely high, his speed isn't quite as high as Tana's,
but Cormag DOES have higher HP and strength as compensation. His defense is as
good as a flier's defense will ever get, and couple that with his extremely good
skill, and if you're playing Ephraim's route, then you'll have one of the best
characters in the game on your hands.
Choosing to promote Cormag to either a Wyvern Knight or a Wyvern Lord is a hard
choice. The Wyvern Knight is a better overall class really since it comes with
the Pierce ability which nullifies enemies' defenses, but in almost all stats,
the Wyvern Lord wins out. I'd probably choose the Wyvern Lord, but you can't go
wrong either way. Cormag is just one of those characters that's so good he
doesn't really need supports, but he can support Artur and Tana, which I'd
recommend, plus he's a fire affinity, which is always awesome. Great guy.
My Rating: 5/5
Name: Duessel
Recruited: CHAPTER 10 Ep, CHAPTER 15 Ei
Class: Great Knight
Attribute: Anima
HP ........... High Defense ...... High
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Low Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ Low
The great knight Duessel the Obsidian is one of the six generals of Grado. Of
six generals of Grado, three of them (Glen, Selena, Duessel) question whether
what Grado is doing is right, and Duessel takes the most active stance. That
leads to Vigarde ordering his execution, but Ephraim manages to rescue him in
Chapter 10.
Duessel isn't a horrible character... but he isn't good either. To start off
with, he's a promoted Great Knight, so he's going to be compared to the man
he most resembles, and that is Kyle. Then again, if you turn Kyle into a Level
8 Great Knight gradually, his stats won't even be in Duessel's league. You've
got very good HP, plus Duessel is extremely good with all three weapons, and
he can hit very hard. Not to mention he has good base defense, albeit poor
growth.
What seals the deal for me and Duessel though, is his bad skill and speed. I
guess they aren't BAD, but I expect more from a character that's this high
leveled. Especially his speed, that's going to hinder him terribly if you
really intend on using him. He's extremely usable, but I'd only use him if
something terrible happened to Kyle and Forde. If you choose to give him
supports, Cormag and Ephraim are both fire elemental which I love, plus you
can't go wrong with Amelia either. I refuse to use Knoll, so...
My Rating: 3/5
Name: Marisa
Recruited: CHAPTER 10 Ei, Chapter 12 Ep
Class: Myrmidon -> Swordmaster
Attribute: Ice
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Low Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Marisa is a member of Gerik's Mercenaries, who just so happens to be a fighter
from Jehanna. Although she's loyal to Gerik, she does a few stupid things just
to get some budgets. Ewan or Gerik are always able to sway her over.
Okay I'm really going to be in the minority on this one, but I don't like Marisa
much. She has the stuff you'll want in a myrmidon (skill, speed, and luck),
but what she completely lacks is strength, defense, and resistance. Sure, her
strength is salvageable in the end, but to me she's highly inferior to Joshua,
just because Joshua's strength is much greater. I might add, Marisa comes at
the same level as Joshua did, only 5-7 chapters later. If you know me, you
know that I hate underleveled characters very late on whose name isn't "Nino".
I may have got you off thinking Marisa's a bad character. She's not; her high
luck will definitely help you out with Killing Edges and Shamshirs, plus her
speed is quite high, I just prefer Joshua for the strength advantage. In
choosing an Assassin or a Swordmaster for Marisa, both are good, but I'd go
with the Swordmaster just for the higher caps, though Silencer is great for
Marisa. If you choose to use her though, which is perfectly fine, definitely
load her up with Tana or Tethys for offensive supports. Possibly Gerik too.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Name: Gerik
Recruited: CHAPTER 10 Ei, CHAPTER 13 Ep
Class: Mercenary -> Hero
Attribute: Thunder
HP ........... Very High Defense ...... High
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ High Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ High
Gerik is the frontman of a group called, well, Gerik's Mercenaries. He and
his friend Tethys show up to help either Eirika or Ephraim, and even though
they call themselves mercenaries, they fight out of loyalty rather than money.
Great mercenaries, aren't they?
You damn right Gerik is a great mercenary. Without any doubt one of the best
characters in the game, Gerik is an absolute beast. His HP is some of the
highest in the game with a ridiculously good growth rate, as a mercenary he
uses swords with an unrivaled power, his skill and speed are both excellent,
his luck isn't bad, and hell, his defense is pretty high too. I mean, his
resistance blows ass, but I can forgive that.
When you promote Gerik, definitely promote him into a Hero, to capitalize on
his HP and strength. You either get to use bows or axes in addition to swords,
and I'd definitely choose axes. Plus the Hero has a lot better promotional
gains. If you're choosing supports, you have a lot of good choices. Joshua as
a wind affinity isn't bad, and then you have either Ross or Tethys if you want
a fire affinity in there. Bottom line, Gerik will own you.
My Rating: 5/5
Name: Tethys
Recruited: CHAPTER 10 Ei, CHAPTER 13 Ep
Class: Dancer
Attribute: Fire
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Very Low Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Very Low Luck ......... High
Speed ........ Average
Tethys is another member of Gerik's Mercenaries, and it's clear that she has a
close connection to Gerik. She's a dancer who everyone loves because she gives
them energy, and that's about it.
Probably the first thing you'll notice is those stats. Tethys, a character who
is already seemingly promoted, has almost no strength or skill, her defense is
very weak, resistance isn't much better, and her HP isn't great either. Then
why use her, you may ask? Because she's a Dancer, and her special ability is
Dance -- by doing this she'll give a character an extra turn. I'm not a big fan
of dancers outside of Reyson from Path of Radiance because my motto has always
been to bring another excellent character, but if you can keep Tethys on the
same pace as someone else (like she'll do with Gerik all the time), you'll have
an incredibly helpful character on your hands. Plus she's a fire affinity; she
doesn't need supports herself, but other characters do. Ewan, Gerik, etc...
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Innes
Recruited: CHAPTER 10 Ei, CHAPTER 15 Ep
Class: Sniper
Attribute: Ice
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... High
Speed ........ Average
Innes is the brash, arrogant prince of Frelia. And when I say brash I mean it,
he's an incredibly reckless guy who can't be satisfied with being the second
best at anything. He needs to be the best man, the best general, the best
fighter, and of course that makes him do dangerous things, as well as look at
Ephraim as his rival.
In battle, Innes is very... average. Yeah, just about all of his stats can best
be described as that. Just quite decent, but nothing better, except his base
luck whihc is pretty good. As a Sniper, Innes's strength is fairly good, and
since he comes with a Silver Bow, if you took Ephraim's path the first instance
you get to use him, Chapter 15, he'll be killing stuff left and right. His skill
is a little low for a sniper, but it's not bad. Same with speed.
Innes can also keep himself alive on the battlefield, so what's the problem?
It's just that he's really average. He's naturally going to be compared to the
game's only other archer, Neimi, and Neimi will end up beating him everywhere
except resistance, and possibly HP as well, not to mention she'll end up a lot
faster with much better movement if she becomes a Ranger. Innes DOES have good
very good supports though, of just about every kind you want, so if you plan on
using him and someone needs an ice affinity, I guess he's okay in that regard.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Name: L'Arachel
Recruited: CHAPTER 11
Class: Troubador -> Mage Knight
Attribute: Light
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
L'Arachel is the princess of Rausten. She comes across as being extremely full
of herself, as she hides her identity but wanders all around Magvel with her
bodyguards Dozla and Rennac claiming to be an ambassador of justice and a
vanquisher of justice. She's actually very compassionate though, and her path
and Eirika's cross quite frequently.
To me, L'Arachel is a huge pain in the ass to raise. You'll get her in Chapter
11, already halfway through the game, and she comes at Level 3, as a healer.
Yeah... it's horribly difficult to get her EXP, and the fact she comes at a
low level doesn't help at all. If you do raise her though, which is made
possible by using unique staves, you'll find you have a very helpful character
on your hands. Bad HP and defense, but good speed, and some of the best luck in
the game. Nice magic too.
I would use a Guiding Ring or Master Seal on L'Arachel earlier, which I
normally discourage against, but L'Arachel needs to be able to fight. You can
make her either a Valkyrie or a Mage Knight, which are essentially the same
class except Valkyries use light and Mage Knights use anima. I'd choose anima
since I'd rather light magic just stay with my bishops. She'll turn into a good
character with some rather decent supports in Eirika, Ephraim, or Joshua,
depending on what you want.
My Rating: 4/5
Name: Dozla
Recruited: CHAPTER 11
Class: Berserker
Attribute: Thunder
HP ........... High Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... High Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Low
Speed ........ Low
Dozla is the incredibly sworn, loyal bodyguard of L'Arachel. He's a man from
Rausten who's very big and hearty, and actually stays with her through thick
and thin. He also has a strange laugh, and a rather awkward way of talking,
but he's a "veteran berserker", so...
So, Dozla kind of sucks. Actually, let me rephrase that, Dozla really does
suck. All of his stats are incredibly poor, except he has a lot of HP. That is
just about the only thing keeping him going: his strength isn't as good as
Ross's or even Garcia's, his skill is terrible, which really hurts him since
he's an axe user, and he has almost no speed to speak of. That, and his defense
is bad, so he can't even be an effective front line fighter.
Dozla's luck is just another thing that drops him over the edge and turns him
into the crappy character that he is: he needs all the hit and avoid that he can
get because of this, so if you just want the hit, definitely have him support
Ewan or L'Arachel so that he can get that. I advise using Garcia as a fire
affinity even more, or better yet, just use a good character like Ross to start
with. Dozla is terrible.
My Rating: 2.5/5
Name: Ewan
Recruited: CHAPTER 12
Class: Pupil -> Shaman -> Druid
Attribute: Light
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Very Low
Strength ..... High Resistance ... High
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Ewan is the younger brother of the dancer Tethys of the Gerik Mercenaries, and
is constantly getting himself in trouble, leading to worry for everyone. He's a
student of magic, in which his teacher is Saleh. He's a crazy little guy, but
if I lived in Caer Pelyn, I would be too.
Ewan is the third and last of the "trainee" type of classes (Ross and Amelia
being the other two), and while he's in my opinion the weakest of them, that
doesn't say much, since the other two are gods anyhow. Ewan starts out puny as
hell; he has almost no HP, and absolutely zero defense, but his magic stat will
grow quickly, and eventually you have to choose between a Mage or a Shaman. I'd
definitely pick a Shaman, since the only other shaman is Knoll (who I dislike),
and Ewan has good enough speed to handle the dark tomes rather effectively.
As a shaman, Ewan's magic stat will skyrocket, his speed will stay high, it's
just his incredibly shoddy defense that you need to keep an eye on. He should
be avoiding attacks very well though, with his high speed and luck. Eventually,
when you make him into a Druid (which I prefer to Summoners though both are
good), he'll easily be one of the best mages in the game, as far as damage goes,
and there's no one better to give the Gleipnir tome to.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Name: Saleh
Recruited: CHAPTER 12 Ei, CHAPTER 15 Ep
Class: Sage
Attribute: Wind
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... High
Skill ........ High Luck ......... Average
Speed ........ Average
Saleh is a sage who lives in the mountains of Caer Pelyn. He teaches people
such as Ewan magic, as well as watching over the manakete Myrrh, and he's
renowned for knowing his way around the place, as far as Carcino is concerned.
Now you see why I said Lute was one of the best magic users in the game. The
other primary sage in the game, Saleh is highly inferior. While he does come
with decent HP for a sage at least, Saleh's magic stat isn't great, and just
about any promoted mage at that point will have better. His speed is also
extremely average, he has low defense, not great luck, and he's left with is
high skill, which as we've already established isn't the most important thing.
Saleh will need some definite help in the defensive department if you plan to
use him in battle. Not like his offense is great either, but Eirika and Ewan
are good characters in their own right who will give both attack and defense
boosts, and Gerik is great if you need the all around defensive boost. He's
just too weak for me to use in my main team though, sorry.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Name: Rennac
Recruited: CHAPTER 14
Class: Rogue
Attribute: Dark
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Low Resistance ... Low
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Low
Speed ........ High
Rennac is one of the two guardians of L'Arachel. Between him and Dozla, though,
he's definitely the less loyal one though. Rennac uses any opportunity to get
away from L'Arachel and do his plundering, and his ultimate goal is to get away
from her altogether. Of course, in Chapter 14 L'Arachel can always force him
back...
The number one reason you'd recruit Rennac isn't for the character himself,
but for the Member Card he comes with. With that item you can get into the
secret shops, which is a necessity, especially if you plan on going into the
Lagdou Ruins. However, he is a rogue who exists just to be a replacement for
Colm if you didn't use him. And it's also my rather controversial opinion that
Colm is a pain in the ass to build up, so since I use thieves very rarely
anyway, Rennac may be your answer to that.
There's no question that Colm's stats will end up better than Rennac's.
Rennac's HP is barely average, his strength and defense are both low, his
resistance is horrible, and his speed isn't as high as you might think for a
rogue. That being said, he's a rogue, so he can pick locks without a Lockpick,
not to mention he can steal, so just use him if you didn't use Colm. If you
did, Colm is probably a lot better.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Name: Knoll
Recruited: CHAPTER 15
Class: Shaman -> Summoner
Attribute: Dark
HP ........... Low Defense ...... Low
Strength ..... Average Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ Average Luck ......... Very Low
Speed ........ Low
Knoll is a scientist and prisoner held within the Grado Keep. He was involved
in Lyon's experiment with the Dark Stone for Emperor Vigarde's life, and was
of course Lyon's chief scientist, but when Lyon went nuts, he ended up throwing
Knoll in jail, though Ephraim gets him out later.
In my personal opinion, Knoll is one of the worst characters in the game. And
that's a true shame, since Knoll is the only natural Shaman in the game, so
your only other option is to train Ewan up into a Shaman instead of a Mage,
which I have no problem with, but still, once again, Knoll is bad. His HP and
defense are obviously pathetic, his speed is bad, his magic hasn't got anything
on Lute's and Ewan will easily surpass him. That, and he has no luck to speak
of.
Another bad point, is that Knoll's skill is hideously bad, and that'll hurt a
lot since dark magic tends to have a terrible hit percentage. And once again,
you can build Ewan up into a Shaman, and each and every single one of his
stats will be far better than Knoll's. If you do choose to use Knoll though, I
guess you could make him into a Summoner since his Phantoms are okay, but I'd
only use him as a healer since his defense and luck are so bad. But why do that
when there are far better characters out there? I don't get it.
My Rating: 2/5
Name: Myrrh
Recruited: CHAPTER 16
Class: Manakete
Attribute: Wind
HP ........... High Defense ...... High
Strength ..... Insane Resistance ... High
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Myrrh is neither human nor demon, but rather a separate subspecies known as a
manakete, which can transform into dragons. She lives in Darkling Woods, but
because of her power, was sought after by Grado. She then wandered around with
Saleh but got lost and then found Ephraim. And from that moment onward, she
pretty much followed Ephraim around everywhere.
Scroll down a bit, and you'll see I give Myrrh a six. That's right, a SIX. "But
look at those terrible stats," you say. Myrrh is equipped with a Dragonstone,
which increases every stat by 10-15, so hah. This Dragonstone is her weapon, and
it has a total of fifty uses. It is the single most powerful thing you will ever
see in battle: it's the only thing I've ever seen which can do 70+ damage. It's
strong against undead monsters too, which is what you'll be fighting a lot in
the later battles.
Of course, there's a downside: the Dragonstone has a limited durability. Fifty
uses is plenty if all you want to do is finish the game, but in the Lagdou Ruins
and stuff, you'll have to use Myrrh sparingly. Another great thing: her leveling
up is CRAZY, she'll practically level up every time she attacks something. Her
growths are insane, she gets two more HP half the time she levels up. She's
impossible to kill, and the definition of lethality, so for that reason, she
needs no supports. But when the Dragonstone breaks... she has no more value.
There's not another one, and you can't repair it. So use it wisely.
My Rating: 6/5
Name: Syrene
Recruited: CHAPTER 17
Class: Falcoknight
Attribute: Thunder
HP ........... Average Defense ...... Average
Strength ..... Low Resistance ... Average
Skill ........ High Luck ......... High
Speed ........ High
Syrene is a falcon knight of Frelia, who also happens to be Vanessa's older
sister, although she's a captain and everyone, even her sister, addresses her
as "Ma'am". She's recruited in Chapter 17 if you talk to her with Vanessa,
Innes, or Tana. Or if she just lives.
In battle, Syrene is... a decent character. That's really all I can say about
her though, is that she's a decent character, since Tana is quite a lot
better. The first complaint I have is that she's a falcoknight when I highly,
highly prefer wyvern knights, but I can ignore that for a moment. She comes
with a Silver Lance, which is good, because like any other pegasus knight her
strength is quite low. Her HP and defense are also rather mediocre naturally.
That being said, Syrene's skill and speed are both good, plus her luck is
pretty high too. Her strength is a very killing point for me though, since as
the third pegasus knight she's naturally going to be compared to Tana, and
Tana has such higher strength. In the end she's kind of mediocre, but she CAN
be salvaged by having her support Tana and Vanessa, and if you make Vanessa a
Falcoknight, you can use the triangle attack.
My Rating: 3.5/5
~- Vb. Supports ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Many thanks to SerenesForest.net for this incredible list here. Basically, what
you see before you are the character's attribute, their options for supports,
and the number of support points characters have with one another, and how many
they gain per turn. You need 60 points for a C support, 120 points for a B
support, and 200 points for an A support, and the number on there is the amount
of points gained per turn when the two characters stand next to each other.
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Character | Opt 1 | Opt 2 | Opt 3 | Opt 4 | Opt 5 | Opt 6 | Opt 7 |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Eirika | Ephraim | Seth | Saleh |Larachel| Tana | Innes | Forde |
(light) | 30 +4 | 25 +3 | 5 +2 | 10 +2 | 20 +2 | 10 +2 | 20 +2 |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Seth | Franz | Eirika | Garcia |Natasha | Cormag | | |
(anima) | 15 +2 | 25 +3 | 10 +2 | 5 +2 | 0 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Gilliam | Garcia | Franz | Syrene |Moulder | Neimi | | |
(thunder) | 0 +2 | 10 +2 | 20 +3 | 10 +2 | 0 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Franz | Seth |Gilliam | Forde | Amelia |Natasha | | |
(light) | 15 +2 | 10 +2 | 25 +3 | 5 +3 | 10 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Moulder | Vanessa | Colm |Gilliam | Syrene | | | |
(anima) | 15 +2 | 0 +2 | 10 +2 | 10 +2 | | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Vanessa | Moulder | Syrene | Lute | Forde | Innes | | |
(anima) | 15 +2 | 20 +3 | 10 +2 | 5 +2 | 10 +3 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Ross | Garcia | Lute | Amelia | Ewan | Gerik | | |
(fire) | 35 +4 | 5 +2 | 5 +2 | 5 +3 | 0 +3 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Garcia | Ross | Dozla | Seth | Neimi |Gilliam | | |
(fire) | 35 +4 | 10 +2 | 10 +2 | 10 +2 | 0 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Neimi | Colm | Garcia | Amelia | Artur |Gilliam | | |
(fire) | 80 +3 | 10 +2 | 15 +3 | 5 +3 | 0 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Colm | Neimi | Marisa | Rennac |Moulder | Kyle | | |
(light) | 80 +3 | 0 +2 | 5 +2 | 0 +2 | 5 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Artur | Lute | Tethys | Cormag | Neimi | Joshua | | |
(ice) | 15 +3 | 10 +2 | 5 +2 | 5 +3 | 5 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Lute | Artur | Ross | Knoll | Kyle |Vanessa | | |
(anima) | 15 +3 | 5 +2 | 5 +2 | 5 +3 | 10 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Natasha | Joshua | Knoll | Cormag | Seth | Franz | | |
(ice) | 20 +3 | 10 +2 | 5 +2 | 5 +2 | 10 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Joshua | Natasha | Innes | Artur |Larachel| Marisa | Gerik | |
(wind) | 20 +3 | 0 +2 | 5 +2 | 5 +2 | 10 +3 | 15 +3 | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Ephraim | Eirika | Kyle | Forde | Myrrh |Larachel|Duessel | Tana |
(fire) | 30 +4 | 20 +3 | 20 +3 | 10 +4 | 5 +3 | 30 +3 | 25 +3 |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Kyle | Forde |Ephraim | Syrene | Colm | Lute | | |
(ice) | 30 +3 | 20 +3 | 5 +3 | 5 +2 | 5 +3 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Forde | Kyle |Vanessa |Ephraim | Franz | Eirika | | |
(wind) | 30 +3 | 5 +2 | 20 +3 | 25 +3 | 20 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Tana | Ephraim | Syrene | Cormag | Innes | Eirika | Marisa | |
(wind) | 25 +3 | 20 +3 | 0 +2 | 25 +3 | 20 +2 | 10 +2 | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Amelia | Neimi |Duessel | Ewan | Ross | Franz | | |
(thunder) | 15 +3 | 10 +3 | 5 +3 | 5 +2 | 5 +3 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Innes | Gerik |Vanessa | Tana | Joshua |Larachel| Eirika | |
(ice) | 15 +3 | 10 +3 | 25 +3 | 0 +2 | 5 +2 | 10 +2 | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Gerik | Innes | Tethys | Marisa | Saleh | Joshua | Ross | |
(thunder) | 15 +3 | 30 +4 | 20 +3 | 25 +3 | 15 +3 | 0 +3 | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Cormag | Duessel | Tana |Natasha | Artur | Seth | | |
(fire) | 10 +2 | 0 +2 | 5 +2 | 5 +2 | 0 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Tethys | Ewan | Gerik | Marisa | Rennac | Artur | | |
(fire) | 25 +3 | 30 +4 | 10 +2 | 5 +1 | 10 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Marisa | Tana | Tethys | Gerik | Joshua | Colm | | |
(ice) | 10 +2 | 10 +2 | 20 +3 | 10 +3 | 0 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Saleh | Myrrh | Ewan | Gerik | Eirika | | | |
(wind) | 30 +3 | 15 +3 | 25 +3 | 5 +2 | | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Ewan | Tethys | Saleh | Dozla | Amelia | Ross | | |
(light) | 25 +3 | 15 +3 | 0 +3 | 5 +3 | 5 +3 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
L'Arachel | Dozla | Rennac | Joshua | Eirika |Ephraim | Innes | |
(light) | 25 +3 | 10 +2 | 5 +2 | 10 +2 | 5 +3 | 5 +2 | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Dozla |L'Arachel| Myrrh | Rennac | Ewan | Garcia | | |
(thunder) | 25 +3 | 0 +2 | 10 +2 | 0 +3 | 10 +2 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Rennac | Tethys |Larachel| Dozla | Colm | | | |
(dark) | 5 +1 | 10 +2 | 10 +2 | 5 +2 | | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Duessel | Cormag | Amelia | Knoll |Ephraim | | | |
(anima) | 10 +2 | 10 +3 | 0 +2 | 30 +3 | | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Knoll | Natasha |Duessel | Lute | | | | |
(dark) | 10 +2 | 0 +2 | 5 +2 | | | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Myrrh | Saleh | Dozla |Ephraim | | | | |
(anima) | 30 +3 | 0 +2 | 10 +4 | | | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
Syrene | Kyle |Vanessa |Moulder |Gilliam | Tana | | |
(thunder) | 5 +3 | 20 +3 | 10 +2 | 20 +3 | 20 +3 | | |
----------+---------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------+
When two characters support one another and stand near each other, the following
boosts are given to their stats depending on the element of the supporter.
Element | Level | Attack | Defense | Hit | Avoid | Crit | CrAvd |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Fire | C | +0.5 | 0 |+2.5 | +2.5 | +2.5 | 0 |
| B | +1.0 | 0 |+5.0 | +5.0 | +5.0 | 0 |
| A | +1.5 | 0 |+7.5 | +7.5 | +7.5 | 0 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Ice | C | 0 | +0.5 |+2.5 | +2.5 | 0 | +2.5 |
| B | 0 | +1.0 |+5.0 | +5.0 | 0 | +5.0 |
| A | 0 | +1.5 |+7.5 | +7.5 | 0 | +7.5 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Wind | C | +0.5 | 0 |+2.5 | 0 | +2.5 | +2.5 |
| B | +1.0 | 0 |+5.0 | 0 | +5.0 | +5.0 |
| A | +1.5 | 0 |+7.5 | 0 | +7.5 | +7.5 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Thunder | C | 0 | +0.5 | 0 | +2.5 | +2.5 | +2.5 |
| B | 0 | +1.0 | 0 | +5.0 | +5.0 | +5.0 |
| A | 0 | +1.5 | 0 | +7.5 | +7.5 | +7.5 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Dark | C | 0 | 0 |+2.5 | +2.5 | +2.5 | +2.5 |
| B | 0 | 0 |+5.0 | +5.0 | +5.0 | +5.0 |
| A | 0 | 0 |+7.5 | +7.5 | +7.5 | +7.5 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Light | C | +0.5 | +0.5 |+2.5 | 0 | +2.5 | 0 |
| B | +1.0 | +1.0 |+5.0 | 0 | +5.0 | 0 |
| A | +1.5 | +1.5 |+7.5 | 0 | +7.5 | 0 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
Anima | C | +0.5 | +0.5 | 0 | +2.5 | 0 | +2.5 |
| B | +1.0 | +1.0 | 0 | +5.0 | 0 | +5.0 |
| A | +1.5 | +1.5 | 0 | +7.5 | 0 | +7.5 |
---------+-------+--------+---------+-----+-------+------+-------+
In general, the offensive supporters are of fire, wind, and light, whereas
ice and thunder are the defensive ones. Dark and anima are more of a balance
of the two. Fire is my favorite though, since crit evade isn't extremely
important to me, and I'd rather have avoid to take no damage at all, than
defense to reduce the damage. That's just me though. Not including secret
characters, there are six of fire, five of ice, four of wind, five of thunder,
five of light, six of anima, and two of dark. Have fun.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ VI. Walkthrough (Part 1) ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Alright, I guess I've droned on long enough at this point and should move on to
the walkthrough finally at this point, so let me just drop you a few notes
before we start.
-> There are some spoilers here. Proceed with caution.
-> If you've ever read any of my guides before, you know how they are rife with
lame jokes. This is no exception.
-> The guide assumes you're playing on Normal difficulty. Whether you're a Fire
Emblem guru or not, that's an excellent place to start, so I advise you do
the same thing.
-> Unless you really, really don't want to use a character ever again, you
might as well reset if they die. Especially if they are: Franz, Ross, Joshua,
Neimi, Kyle, Tana, Amelia, Cormag, Gerik, L'Arachel, Ewan, Myrrh.
-> Use Ross, make him a Pirate. Use Amelia, make her a Knight. Also you might
want to use Ewan, and make a Shaman. Do not overuse Seth.
Enter The Sacred Stones.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIa. The Fall of Renais
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 0
~ My Party: Eirika, Seth
The game begins with a history of the continent of Magvel, and then shows that
the enemy country in this game, Grado, is attacking the country of Renais.
Being that the current main character, Eirika, is the princess of Renais, you
can bet they're the good country. But anyways, Renais's King Fado orders Eirika
to leave with General Seth. Outside the castle, Seth is attacked by Grado's evil
General Valter, who really is one of the bigger bastards in this game. Seth gets
wounded, but the two manage to run away into the mountains only to get attacked
by bandits. Sacred Stones begins.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 4 Fighter (O'Neill) N/A
Lv. 2 Fighter x1
Lv. 1 Fighter x1
Doesn't look like a very threatening group of enemies, does it? Let's just take
a minute to explain who you're working with, though. Eirika is equipped with a
Rapier, which I'd say you can run out all its uses by about Chapter 8 or so. It
is a good weapon, plus the critical rate on it is great. Then you've got Seth,
who is an already promoted unit whom I would not use at all if you can avoid it.
He's just overpowered; if you want to remove his equipment and use him as a
decoy, though, he works quite well that way.
But back to the battle. The first two Fighters there can't land a hit on Eirika.
Eirika uses swords while they use axes, so you've obviously got a lead on the
weapon triangle. Just hit them down with the Rapier; they barely pose any threat
at all. After you've gotten rid of them, however, Seth will note that only their
leader, O'Neill, is left, and sure enough the guy will come charging at you a
turn later. Your first boss already!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
O'Neill | Fighter | 4 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright, now this guy is a weakling. When you finish off the other two
Fighters, though, he'll come charging at you, and I'll call to your attention
that he can hit you quite a bit more easily than the other two could. That's
due to his higher level, of course. Basically, I'd just have Eirika stand in
front of Seth, so that Seth can't snag all the EXP away from Eirika. O'Neill
will hit you, and Eirika will counterattack. Of course, you probably took a
hit, so I'd just stay there and use a Vulnerary. Then O'Neill will attack
again, and Eirika will counterattack. Either way it works, three hits will
finish him off, plus you'll probably get a critical in there. Easiest battle
in the game, I tell you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hopefully Eirika will level up to Level 2 and get some stats up after that. You
have to have her catch up with Seth's already promoted stuff, you know? Anyway,
the battle will be over after that, and Eirika and Seth will discuss Grado's
invasion of Renais. Their goal is to escape to the clutches of the neighboring
country Frelia, and that's precisely what the next battle is.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIb. Escape!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 1
~ My Party: Eirika, Seth, Franz, Gilliam
Right from the get go, you can see Frelia isn't in the best of shape. Princess
Tana of Frelia runs away at the right moment, because Commander Breguet of the
Grado army there walks up to the fort and slices down the mercenary defending
it. That's not good. Eirika and Seth show up to witness this, and have a choice
of whether or not they want to help out. Obviously, they do.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 4 Knight (Breguet) Lv. 2 Soldier x1
Lv. 3 Soldier x1 Lv. 1 Fighter x2
Lv. 2 Fighter x3
Lv. 2 Soldier x2
Right when the battle starts, you'll notice a few houses around. When you enter
houses, you'll either get some juicy info, or an item. Going into the houses is
a fairly decent way for Seth to spend his time so that he's not interfering
with the transfer of EXP, while Eirika slashes down the enemies. After turn 1,
the cavalier Franz whom you saw run away at the beginning of the Prologue
appears with a knight Gilliam. If you're not familiar with the two units, Franz
is an unpromoted version of Seth (who will eventually be better), and Gilliam is
a slow, but strong, sturdy soldier.
If you're not familiar with the weapon triangle, swords beat axes, axes beat
lances, and lances beat swords. Franz comes with both a sword and a lance, so
he's the most diverse. He and Eirika are best at fending off the fighters, while
you can't win out the soldiers that way, and Gilliam is probably the best option
against them. At the end of turn 4, anyway, three reinforcements show up to the
southeast. That's not good, but to get some EXP, I'd send Franz down there as
he's the most diverse. Meanwhile, you can have your other characters have a
showdown with the boss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Breguet | Knight | 4 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Breguet's stats are barely better than O'Neill's. Might I point out that he
barely has any speed at all? That's to be expected though, with all that
heavy armor, but every one of Gilliam's stats are better. However, Breguet is
sitting on a fort, meaning he gets an extra 3 defense, 30 avoid, and heals 2
HP after every turn. So what I would do is have Seth go over to him with the
Steel Sword, which has a 58% chance of doing 9 damage twice. Then use Gilliam
to rescue Seth, so that Seth doesn't hog up all the EXP. Eirika's Rapier is
extremely effective against heavy armor. Breguet has no ranged attacks and
can't move, so he's a sitting duck to you slicing him up and winning a bunch
of EXP.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With Breguet gone, hopefully Franz can finish off the three reinforcements to
the southeast. If not, there's always Seth and Gilliam to help out. To complete
the battle, though, you've got to have Eirika walk up to the throne where
Breguet was standing, and seize it. Once you've done that, the party goes to
Castle Frelia, and King Hayden there brings news that King Fado is dead. That
is NOT good. Eirika, knowing that, requests to go to Renvall after Ephraim, and
Hayden lends you Gilliam, a priest named Moulder, and a pegasus knight Vanessa.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIc. The Protected
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 1
~ My Party: Eirika, Seth, Franz, Gilliam, Moulder, Vanessa, Ross*, Garcia*
You will notice that you're on a world map, which is a first for a Fire Emblem
game, hah. You don't have any shops available to you now though, so all you can
really do is manage items. And since I don't use Seth, I'd have him give the
Steel Sword over to Eirika, so that she doesn't waste the Rapier too fast. So
when you're ready to fight, just go south. There, a bunch of bandits tear down
a village, and two fighters named Ross and Garcia run out. Ross happens to be
wounded. And the battle begins.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 4 Brigand (Bone) Lv. 3 Brigand x1
Lv. 3 Brigand x3 Lv. 2 Brigand x1
Lv. 2 Brigand x1
Lv. 1 Archer x1
The first thing you'll want to do, as the scene right before immediately pointed
out to you, is have Vanessa fly over to the kid there, whose name is Ross.
Rescue him and then fly back to the area above to drop him off. There, have
Moulder heal him, and the guy will join you if you have Eirika talk to him. So
do that. Ross starts out scrawny, weak, and doesn't contribute a whole lot to
the mix of things. Just wait -- Ross turns into arguably the best character in
the entire game.
After you've done that, have Vanessa pick up the fighter Garcia over there, and
bring him over to have Moulder heal him if need be, and have Ross speak with
him. Then he'll join you -- he's a Level 4 Fighter, and while he starts out
quite a bit better than Ross, he doesn't have nearly as much star potential.
With that done, you'll want to visit the two villages above. The people there
will give you a Red Gem and an Elixir. The first sells for a hefty amount of
money, and the second is self explanatory awesomeness.
Ross starts out at Level 1, and you want to level him up as much as possible.
since in the end he will be a beast on the battlefield. You'll find a vendor
right below the two villages as well, so I'd recommend giving Ross an Iron Axe
to start on his way. Two reinforcement bandits will come in from the west, and
they're on the mountains. Don't try to hit enemies who are on the mountains,
as they'll get a bonus 40 avoid... that's never good. When they come down,
though, let them taste sword and Ross's axe. And the boss will probably come
after you himself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bone | Brigand | 4 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be wary of this guy. He's just the same if not even weaker than O'Neill was
in the first chapter, but the difference with this guy is that he moves.
He'll come after you, but his attacks aren't very strong, even if you're
using lances. And since he doesn't have good evasion or anything, you might
just want to have Franz or someone weaken him, and Ross go over to him and
hit him down with his Hatchet. Because once again, Ross isn't good now but
will end amazing. Bone doesn't have any ranged attacks, so just as long as
Moulder or Vanessa aren't in his range, you have nothing to worry about.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When all the enemies are routed out, Ross and Garcia will talk to you after the
battle and decide to come with you. Then Eirika will have a flashback of when
Ephraim was teaching her swordplay, but as that's happening, a thief will
pilfer the bracelet she's wearing. So... we're going to move into Chapter 3,
with that.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VId. The Bandits of Borgo
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 1
~ My Party: Eirika, Seth, Franz, Gilliam, Moulder, Vanessa, Ross, Garcia,
Neimi, Colm*
Before going into this battle, I'd definitely stop at Ide and pick up some
equipment. You definitely want all the lance users to have Javelins so that
they've got long range capabilities. Gilliam, I'm looking at you. Plus getting
Ross a Steel Axe isn't a bad idea. When you're ready, head on into the Borgo
Ridge, and a girl named Neimi who's a friend of the thief (Colm), will join
right before the battle starts.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 6 Brigand (Bazba) N/A
Lv. 4 Archer x1
Lv. 4 Brigand x1
Lv. 3 Thief x1
Lv. 3 Brigand x5
Lv. 2 Mercenary x1
We're getting to have a few more enemies on screen at one time. But hey, I
don't have a complaint with that, since I get more EXP that way. When you're
setting this up, have Neimi move to the north. Just make her do that, while
Seth uses the Silver Lance to break the wall down. There you'll have a brigand
whom you can immediately tear into, who drops a Door Key. Coincidentally,
right below that guy is a brigand who drops a Chest Key, and there's a chest
below him that contains a Javelin. Connect the dots.
Send Neimi and maybe someone else to the north, and Colm will show up after
turn 1. Have Neimi talk to him to recruit him; I never was a big Colm fan
myself, but whatever, he's there. Not to mention there's three chests up
there, which contain an Iron Lance, a Hand Axe, and an Iron Sword. Nothing too
flashy, but it's free weapons. Have Colm open the door right below him, and
then the party can meet up around the same time, and then move north to fight
Bazba.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bazba | Brigand | 6 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bazba is by far the hardest of the bosses you've fought so far. For starters,
each and every one of his stats is an improvement over Bone's, plus he's on
a throne, meaning he's going to have higher defense and avoid. There's no
way you're going to hit him with lances. Just try it with Vanessa, it just
doesn't work. Your best assets are sword users, like Eirika or Franz. Just
sit tight and hit him, but don't bring people too close to him, as he has a
Hand Axe handy (get it?) and thus, has a long ranged attack. Though like any
other boss on a throne, he will never, ever move.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, that chapter was even easier than the last one. Make sure you're having
Moulder move all over the place and heal characters after they've taken damage,
because you DO want to promote him eventually. After the battle, Neimi and
Colm join you, and Colm gives the bracelet back to Eirika after some rough work
by Seth. Meanwhile, in the Grado Keep, the current three generals, Duessel,
Glen, and Selena have an audience with Emperor Vigarde, who apparently wants to
conquer all the nations, and adds three generals into the mix: that bastard
Valter we saw earlier, a creepy looking man named Riev, and a scumbag by the
name of Caellach. See a trend here? Grado's going to hell.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIe. Ancient Horrors
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 1
~ My Party: Eirika, Franz, Gilliam, Moulder, Vanessa, Ross, Garcia, Neimi,
Artur, Lute*
Move on to the Za'ha Woods, and you'll see a bunch of monsters everywhere
there. Here's your first encounter with monsters, so have fun, you're almost
near Serafew and the border with Grado. Meanwhile, though, you've got two
mages named Artur and Lute in the village nearby, and obviously those monsters
are posing a bit of a problem. Shall we take initiative?
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 1 Entombed x1 Lv. 2 Revenant x4
Lv. 3 Revenant x2 Lv. 2 Bonewalker x1
Lv. 3 Bonewalker x2 Lv. 1 Bonewalker x2
Lv. 2 Revenant x3
Lv. 2 Bonewalker x1
Lv. 2 Mogall x1
Lv. 1 Revenant x3
Lv. 1 Mogall x2
Yes, you'd better get used to the battles against undead monsters, since there
are definitely a lot of them. The first thing you should do is visit the village
just to the right of where you come in, and the guy there will give you an Iron
Axe. Anyway, the eyeballs to the right will come after you really fast, but just
have Artur there. They attack with dark magic, and Artur's light magic beats
that, so HA! This battle is pretty straightforward though. Just start off by
having your characters swipe kill off the zombies around you.
After turn 1, three bonewalkers appear to the east, and after turn 2, on the
cliffs above three weird people will see you, but then just disappear to find
a gentler way down except the cliffs. And of course, four revenants appear to
the northeast with that. But anyway, I'd have Vanessa head down south, just
because there are some sword users down there and she's good with that, plus
when you enter the village there, the mage that Artur was with, Lute, will
join you. I see no reason not to!
While Lute isn't quite as useful right now as Artur, make sure she gets a kill
here and there. The same applies to all your other low level characters, such
as Neimi or Ross: they need the EXP, plus Moulder needs to heal someone EVERY
turn. Trust me, you'll thank me later, and this battle is a good opportunity to
get some experience. Enemies will die in absolutely no time, but the boss does
come after you. Oh yeah, the boss...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entombed | Entombed | 1 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't make those stats up. That's really what you're facing here. That
being said, however, it's a bit more damaging than the other undead monsters,
so don't get too cocky. This Entombed DOES move, but let me just point out:
it's the first promoted enemy in the game. Sure, it may be just one of those
monsters that no one cares about, but that explains why it's level one. Of
course, that means it will drop a tremendous amount of EXP, so make sure
someone finishes it who needs it. Don't just let one character whore this
whole battle away, especially if it's Seth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd say don't have your Ross be any lower than level six at this point, level
seven or eight would be even better. Afterwards, Lute and Artur join the group,
which Eirika decides to keep pushing forward even though undead monsters walk
the earth again. The people you saw earlier then talk to Eirika, the leader of
whom is an overly cheerful person named L'Arachel. Guess it's onward to Serafew
now.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIf. The Empire's Reach
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 2
~ My Party: Eirika, Franz, Gilliam, Vanessa, Ross, Neimi, Artur, Lute,
Natasha, Joshua*
Not much to do between Chapters 4 and 5, so just head down south to Serafew at
last. First thing we see is a suspicious red haired myrmidon who's addicted to
gambling running into a cleric named Natasha. After an awkward run in, Natasha
runs away and requests help from Eirika's group, since that red haired man is
in fact a guy named Joshua who is a fighter in Grado's army.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 8 Knight (Saar) Lv. 6 Brigand x2
Lv. 6 Soldier x2 Lv. 5 Brigand x2
Lv. 6 Mercenary x1 Lv. 4 Brigand x2
Lv. 5 Myrmidon (Joshua)
Lv. 5 Soldier x4
Lv. 5 Archer x2
Lv. 5 Fighter x4
Lv. 4 Archer x1
Lv. 4 Fighter x1
Alright, first things first. You need Natasha in this battle, and for a good
reason. But start by having Vanessa fly over to the east house, to talk to the
dancer Tethys for a Dragonshield. Woot woot. This is the first battle which
may pose a slight bit of a challenge, most likely because it actually requires
a bit of strategy. First of all, that Joshua guy you met in the scene... you
absolutely need to get him in your party, which you can do in this battle, but
it's a bit tricky. What you need to do to recruit him is talk to him with
Natasha. Obviously, Joshua comes with a Killing Edge and is no slouch in the
battle department.
My ideal set up would be sending Franz to the far west to go down that alley and
rout the enemies out there. Meanwhile, send Eirika and a weak character here
and there down the path just to the right of that one (the left one which leads
to the main area). And as for the center, you'll want Gilliam there to draw in
some of the enemies surrounding Joshua. Natasha can be right behind him, while
Vanessa and a few other characters handle the brigand reinforcements that come
from the east.
When Joshua is just left standing, move Gilliam into his range. Gilliam and
Joshua are of such natures that it's pretty much impossible for one to kill the
other, so you're good. Just have Natasha talk to Joshua when he comes in, and...
guess what, he's in. And he kicks ass too. Meanwhile, the house to the east
contains an Armorslayer (appropriate for this battle), the northwest house has
a Torch, and the west house has a Secret Book, so get them all. Why? Because I
said so.
Some more brigands will come in from the east, but they shouldn't be too much of
an issue. If you need some more levels, enter the arena which is right below the
boss. You'll get to bet money (and your life) on the battle you fight, which is
almost completely dependent on the weapon triangle, but hey, it's some cheap,
quick EXP. There'll be more dumbass bandits from the northeast, but when you're
done with all that (soft resets make the arena go round), how's about we fight
that boss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saar | Knight | 8 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yawn. Sure, Saar may be quite a bit stronger than the last couple bosses,
but that doesn't mean he poses a challenge. He's got a Javelin on him,
meaning that his attacks are ranged, but that hardly matters. There's two
ways to slaughter him right off the bat, and both work equally well: have
Joshua or whomever you gave the Armorslayer to just hit him. You'll get a
double attack anyway, so it's all good. Or, since his resistance sucks and
he's not got a throne to sit on, have Artur and Lute hit him one time each,
and he'll bite the dust. Truly an easy boss for such a chapter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With that done, Natasha tells her story to Eirika and the crew, and a citizen
of Serafew gives Eirika a Guiding Ring, which is basically an item that
promotes magic users. Trust me, you need all of those that you can get in this
game, cuz there are so many mages. Now... thought we were advancing with Eirika?
AW HELL NAW! Let's see what Ephraim is up to!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIg. Unbroken Heart
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 2
~ My Party: Ephraim, Kyle, Forde, Orson
That's right, the game chooses to take a chapter off to see what Ephraim is
doing in Renvall. Ephraim is with two cavaliers named Kyle and Forde and a
paladin by the name of Orson, and they don't exactly want to go to a village to
stock up on stuff, because that'll involve innocents. So what's the solution?
Oh, capture a whole castle with only a couple people. Great idea.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 8 Mercenary (Zonta) N/A
Lv. 6 Soldier x1
Lv. 5 Knight x1
Lv. 5 Archer x1
Lv. 5 Soldier x8
Lv. 5 Mage x1
Lv. 4 Cavalier x3
Lv. 4 Knight x1
Lv. 4 Fighter x5
Lv. 4 Archer x2
Lv. 4 Mercenary x1
Lv. 4 Mage x1
Lv. 4 Monk x1
Lv. 4 Shaman x1
Lv. 3 Knight x1
Lv. 3 Archer x1
Lv. 3 Shaman x1
...Yeah. I'm not making those numbers up. You're fighting 31 enemies with only
four characters. If that weren't bad enough, you only get Orson in this battle
and this battle only. SO REMOVE ALL OF ORSON'S EQUIPMENT AND DO NOT USE HIM IN
THIS BATTLE AT ALL. Leave everything to Ephraim, Kyle, and Forde. But still,
notice how I only gave this battle a 2/5 difficulty? That's right, you'd be
surprised, Lv. 3-5 enemies aren't that bad with a couple extremely strong
cavaliers like Kyle and Forde.
Oh but don't get me wrong, you're going to take some damage as you go, what
with the mages, monks, and shaman. Because of that, feel free to use the
Vulneraries and Elixirs that your characters come with. Your first objective,
though, should be to kill the knight right above. Ephraim's Reginleif is godly
powerful and can kill the knight in one hit easily, and he drops a Door Key.
The two enemies inside the room each drop a Chest Key, and the two chests have
an Elixir and a Killer Lance. How awesome.
While I'm telling you not to have Orson attack anything, have him come along
with the trio. He's great for moving forward to draw hits (pretty much nothing
can damage him), and if you get into a dangerous situation, he can always
rescue any of the other three. Eventually you'll enter the narrow eastern hall
which has the monk hitting you from a distance and a shaman from below. That's
probably the hardest part of the battle, and you'll want Orson ahead to draw
hits, while whomever has the Javelin makes good use of it. When you get through
there, you'll get up to the boss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zonta | Mercenary | 8 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zonta can damage you, but that's pretty much it. Does that make any sense?
Well, he'll always have a damage number of about 10-13, which is pretty bad,
but the thing is, his Steel Blade doesn't have much accuracy, especially if
you're fighting him with lance users, which pretty much all your characters
are. That Killer Lance you got earlier will wipe the floor with him. So will
the Reginleif. Hell, just use lances instead of swords, and you can't lose
against this guy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now just have Ephraim capture the throne. See, it's true, three people really
can win against thirty-one. My levels: Ephraim 7, Kyle 9, Forde 9. However,
just moments after Ephraim conquers the castle, a ton of Grado reinforcements
show up from outside. Yep, Valter's here with a bunch of druids and wyvern
knights. So... we're left to wonder how Ephraim can possibly break through all
that, while we go back to Eirika. Stock up in Serafew and head south to the
Adlas Plains, but buy a Torch first. Trust me.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIh. Victims of War
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 3
~ My Party: Eirika, Franz, Gilliam, Vanessa, Ross, Neimi, Artur, Lute, Joshua,
Moulder
Right as the battle starts, Riev is seen in the plains talking to a vassal of
his known as Novala. Obviously Novala is just as evil as Riev, and wants
little more than to become a general. After demanding and even receiving
Eirika's bracelet, he takes a hostage and throws her in a pit of spiders. Guess
it's a battle.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 10 Shaman (Novala) N/A
Lv. 7 Cavalier x1
Lv. 7 Soldier x4
Lv. 6 Cavalier x2
Lv. 6 Knight x2
Lv. 6 Fighter x2
Lv. 6 Archer x1
Lv. 6 Mercenary x2
Lv. 6 Soldier x1
Lv. 6 Mage x1
Lv. 6 Shaman x1
Lv. 6 Priest x1
Lv. 6 Troubadour x1
Lv. 5 Fighter x1
Lv. 1 Bael x2
Alright, this really is the hardest battle as of yet, easily surpassing Chapter
5. You can't just recklessly rampage through this one and expect to suffer no
casualties, which was quite possible in the last few battles: this one will
actually require a bit of planning. Starting with the fact it's one of four
battles in the game with fog of war. In fog of war, you can't see very far
ahead of you, unless you have a thief present. So if you want to bring Colm, do
that. I personally didn't. Your other best bet is to have a Priest equipped
with a Torch staff use it on the area ahead.
Right from the getgo, split up into two pairs. Straight ahead are a bunch of
soldiers and knights, nothing too flashy. To the north are a smaller force
which constant of about three cavaliers, an archer, and a troubadour. That
really isn't a big threat, except one of the cavaliers is equipped with an
Iron Blade, which is a weapon to fear. So I'd say about three or four characters
up there is sufficient. Moulder (or Natasha if you want to use her, I'm a
Moulder man myself) should go down the middle shooting off the Torch. Got to
see, man... you have to be able to see.
There's a village to the south which you can go to for an Antitoxin. Speaking
of which, one of your goals in this battle should be to get it over with
somewhat quickly, since at about turn 6, a couple Bael enemies will come into
view. They may be level 1, but they are demonic opponents, and you don't want
to face them. Or have them claw down the civilians, either one. So keep
pressing forward while keeping an eye on your HP, as the Iron Blades around
here aren't nice. Use Vulneraries if you get below 10 HP, and eventually you
will start to surround the boss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / MAG / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Novala | Shaman | 10 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Novala doesn't move, but he still isn't too nice. Fortunately though, his
speed suffers to some extent, so if you can double attack him, you've pretty
much won right there. There is absolutely NO way you can fight him with
magic, especially not anima. His resistance is too high for that. However,
his defense is pretty bad, so if you can hit him, you'll pretty much kill
him that way. His Flux spell isn't all that bad anyhow, so start from three
spaces away and then surround him. His critical rate is about 1% thankfully,
meaning you're not going to die. Short-range physical attacks all the way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The battle ends with Novala's death, and the citizens thank you by giving you
an Orion's Bolt. Neimi is the only character in the game who can use that, so
make sure you're using her. Seth then reveals to Eirika the truth about her
and Ephraim's bracelets: they are the keys to unveiling the Sacred Stone of
Renais, as the one in the temple there is a fake. So with that knowledge in
mind, and also the fact that Ephraim has apparently been taken prisoner within
Renvall, it's time to go to Renvall with Eirika.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIi. Waterside Renvall
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 1
~ My Party: Eirika, Franz, Gilliam, Vanessa, Ross, Neimi, Artur, Lute, Joshua,
Moulder
If you need to do some preparation in terms of the armory and stuff, do that
now. There's two battles back to back coming up, so be ready for that. There
really isn't too much to say at this point, so just enter Renvall, and we're
ready for the final chapters of this part of the game: the attack on an almost
inpenetrable castle. After everyone says their final words, it's time for the
battle to begin.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 12 Cavalier (Murray) N/A
Lv. 8 Mercenary x1
Lv. 8 Soldier x1
Lv. 7 Fighter x5
Lv. 7 Archer x3
Lv. 7 Mercenary x1
Lv. 7 Soldier x3
Lv. 7 Mage x3
Lv. 5 Archer x1
For an easy to defend castle which is quite hard to assault, this battle sure
ain't difficult. In fact, this battle is so straightforward it's almost hard to
give advice. All you've got is a path going to the right, which then turns
around to the left, and then has a gate where the boss, Murray, awaits. All
the enemies are Lv. 7-8, meaning they're not going to pose big problems. You
should really have Ross promoted to a Pirate at this point, so that he can
really dominate. I mean, look at those Lv. 1 stats... those are impressive.
Go down the path, killing whatever you find. As long as you follow the weapon
triangle, nothing can touch you. Soon enough, though, you'll come into range of
a ballista. If you're using Vanessa, make absolutely sure she doesn't enter
that, because that's 15-16 damage right there. Otherwise, expect about 5-6 to a
single character, nothing bad. Use the characters who need EXP, and eventually
only the boss will be left. Since he doesn't move, you can heal up if you need
to, otherwise...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murray | Cavalier | 12 | 32 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, this isn't too bad, to put it lightly. Murray has two weapons: a Steel
Sword and a Javelin, so the long range method isn't going to work. However,
you might notice that his strength is quite pathetic and he's not going to
be laying you in too bad. I might add, walk up to him with Eirika, Rapier in
hand, and you'll do about 15 damage each hit. He can't withstand all that.
Once again, enemies sitting on thrones will NEVER move, so like most other
bosses, he's a sitting duck to physical attacks. But don't worry, bosses will
soon become hard.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that battle was a joke if I've ever seen one. In fact, there's little else
to do now. Have Moulder gain as much EXP as possible by healing everyone, and
then Eirika can just seize the throne. Then, once you get inside the castle,
Orson appears to greet Eirika and Seth. However... look at the title of the next
chapter.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIj. It's a Trap!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 3
~ My Party: Eirika, Gilliam, Vanessa, Ross, Neimi, Lute, Joshua, Vanessa,
Colm, Ephraim*, Kyle*, Forde*
I suppose you can guess what happens soon, judging by the title of this chapter.
Oh, that's right, Eirika and Seth enter to talk with Orson, who knows about the
tie between the bracelet and the Sacred Stone. Seth begins to suspect Orson
(yeah, he has a blade concealed), and then Orson reveals that he betrayed
Renais. And with that, he rides away and Valter's aide Tirado appears. He's
the master of Renvall, and while Ephraim is actually gone... looks like we
have to fight him now.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 1 General (Tirado) Lv. 10 Thief x1
Lv. 8 Knight x5 Lv. 8 Cavalier x3
Lv. 8 Mercenary x1 Lv. 7 Mage x2
Lv. 8 Archer x2
Lv. 8 Soldier x4
Lv. 8 Shaman x1
Lv. 7 Knight x2
Lv. 7 Mercenary x1
Lv. 7 Archer x1
Lv. 7 Soldier x1
Lv. 6 Knight x2
Lv. 6 Archer x2
Lv. 6 Myrmidon x1
Lv. 6 Soldier x1
Lv. 6 Mage x1
Lv. 6 Shaman x1
Let's start with your choice of party. You only get nine characters, and since
Kyle and Forde will be coming in as reinforcements, Franz is rather superfluous.
And two mages is also too much, so ditch the one that's higher leveled in favor
of Colm, since there are chests here. And with that, let's capture Renvall with
Eirika, shall we? This battle isn't quite as rough as Chapter 6, but it's a
good deal more challenging than last one, or the battle here with Ephraim in
Chapter 5x.
The first thing you'll notice is the absolute necessity to get all the treasure
chests that litter this place. To do so, you need Colm. Plus there's two paths
here, meaning you should split into a force to the west, and a slightly smaller
force to the north. The absolute perfect party to bring north is Ross, Lute,
Colm, Vanessa, and Eirika. That way, Ross and Eirika can handle the five Knights
there (Lute is backup), while Colm can get the chest for an Angelic Robe which
you do not want to miss, and Vanessa can move ahead.
Resist the urge to have Ross just solo the knights on his own, but do use him,
he'll get two hits to them easily, and slaughter them with his axes. Eirika's
Rapier is great too. Vanessa, however, should move towards the southern stairs
there, because a Thief will come out as a reinforcement, and Vanessa is a good
character to handle him. Meanwhile, with the other group. Ephraim, Kyle, and
Forde will show up as reinforcements to the southwest after one turn, and thank
god for that. They're just as strong as they were last time you went through
here.
Have your characters (I used Joshua, Gilliam, and Neimi) join those three in
the meantime. Three cavaliers will come in where Ephraim's group arrived,
though, so keep your eyes peeled. Ephraim's group should have no trouble at
all advancing up, killing everything in their path, so that's good. It was
going to be hard, but then God appeared to Ephraim and said, "let there be the
Reginleif". Okay, that was terrible, but whatever. The two groups will join up,
and Colm can swipe the chests to the west for a Silver Sword and an Elysian
Whip. Don't miss those. That's an order. When Eirika's and Ephraim's groups
are reunited, it's time to handle that boss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tirado | General | 1 | 40 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whoa there... that's a promoted character right there. Told you enemies
would start getting hard. You can barely damage Tirado; he's sitting on a
throne, so he has even MORE defense than what you see. There's only two ways
to beat him without losing your mind: Eirika's Rapier, and Ephraim's
Reginleif, the second option being much, much better. Ephraim will have about
a 67% chance of doing 22 damage twice, which is quite good. Much better than
everyone else who does 2 damage to him. If Ephraim misses, have one of the
cavaliers or Vanessa rescue him and move him away. Then someone else can
take Ephraim and then drop him, so that Moulder can heal him right up, and
he'll be ready to try it again. So... good luck. Hardest boss yet by a mile.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assuming you made it through that, have Moulder heal everyone up before you
have Eirika seize the throne. Now, you've finished the first part of the game.
Eirika and Ephraim go back to Serafew and then have a flashback about their
friend Lyon (the son of Emperor Vigarde of Grado), then once back in Frelia,
meet up with the princess Tana and prince Innes. After a council with King
Hayden, Ephraim shows to them a girl named Myrrh who has indigo hair, and is
apparently a part of a dragon tribe. Interesting.
News comes one minute later than Caellach and Selena have ambushed all the
soldiers guarding the tower of Frelia that holds its Sacred Stone, and now
there are two tasks: warn the other nations of Grado's actions, and lead an
assault on Grado Keep. Innes goes to Jehanna, Eirika to Rausten, and Ephraim
to Grado. YOU NOW HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT CHOICE: you can either go with Eirika,
or Ephraim. Eirika's is much easier, in my opinion, but Ephraim's is quite a
bit more fun. Either one you take, all your characters will come with you,
including Kyle and Forde. I cover both, so if you take Ephraim, look up "VIII.
Walkthrough (Ephraim's Path)". If you take Eirika... read on.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~-~ ~-~ ~-~ VII. Walkthrough (Eirika's Path) ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
So, you have chosen Eirika's path. Her's is quite a bit easier, I'll tell you
that. There's only a couple really hard battles if you go this way, plus you
get the great mercenary Gerik earlier, but come on. Would you rather be warning
a nation of danger, or invading a nation? I like Ephraim more than Eirika in
the first place, ya know. But oh well, this path is a lot easier. And you have
chosen it.
The first you'll notice is that the Tower of Valni shows up on the world map.
That is where Caellach and Selena destroyed the Sacred Stone, and it's also a
great way to get yourself some free experience for underleveled characters.
Then again, it's the reason people say this game is too easy, so... just
warning ya. =) There's also dark creatures who appear on the world map besides
that, so use those too if you need to. When you're ready and got Eirika's party
all outfitted, head east to Port Kiris.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIIa. Distant Blade
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 2
~ My Party: Eirika, Franz, Gilliam, Moulder, Neimi, Ross, Artur, Joshua, Kyle,
Forde, Tana, Amelia*
When you head to Port Kiris, Eirika is on her way to Carcino, an ally of Frelia,
to get a boat over to Rausten. Meanwhile, in Grado Keep, Vigarde orders Glen to
find Eirika, Valter to find Ephraim, Caellach to go to Jehanna, Riev to go to
Rausten, Duessel to go to Frelia, and Selena to stay in Grado. Meanwhile, the
princess of Frelia, the pegasus knight Tana, forces her way into the party.
After Eirika meets L'Arachel (the crazy chick from the woods) again, they ride
off, and a bunch of bandits attack. Alright, fine, bring it.
===============================================================================
Enemies: Reinforcements:
--------- ----------------
Lv. 5 Warrior (Binks) Lv. 9 Mercenary x1
Lv. 2 Sniper x1 Lv. 9 Fighter x2
Lv. 9 Fighter x2 Lv. 9 Pirate x1
Lv. 9 Myrmidon x1 Lv. 9 Soldier x3
Lv. 9 Mercenary x8 Lv. 8 Archer x2
Lv. 9 Pirate x2 Lv. 8 Mercenary x1
Lv. 8 Archer x3 Lv. 8 Soldier x1
Lv. 8 Soldier x4 Lv. 8 Mage x3
Lv. 8 Shaman x1 Lv. 1 Recruit (Amelia)
Not a tough battle by any means, so long as you do it rationally. Let me start
with how to set this up: you absolutely need Ross as a Pirate for this fight.
Position him to the far southeast, so he can immediately start walking through
the water (who does he think he is, Jesus Christ?), and kill off the pirates
there. Also, you're required to use Tana here, so I'd give her that Angelic
Robe you got from Chapter 8 a bit back. She turns out to be one of the best
characters in the game by a mile, but right now... meh, she's pretty weak. But
she shows potential, I'll give her that. For that reason, I'm done with Vanessa
at this point.
You can't go wrong having three cavaliers either, so that's all good. Right
ahead of you are a bunch of mercenaries and whatnot, so just rush at them and
take 'em out. You really do need to rush here, because there are two houses
here, one to the west and one to the east, which the pirates will destroy if
they get to. One of them is right below the water, and Ross should have no
trouble defending it, but the one to the west is another story. I'd have Tana
move upward along the water. But of course, watch out for the sniper there, as
he'll shoot her down and you'll be quite unhappy. I know you will be. Trust me.
Along with that, bring some characters who preferably have swords to go get
the pirate. The house to the west has a Dragonshield, and one to the east has a
Rapier (YES, Eirika will be good!). I might add, one of the pirates in the water
has an Ocean Seal, which is all fitting, because Ross will need that eventually
since he's a pirate. Watch out for the reinforcements that come in, one of
which is quite notable. Three soldiers and a girl named Amelia will come in
from the south a few turns in. You can tell that Amelia is rather unsteady with
her position, so guess what that means.
You can indeed recruit the recruit (how ironic) Amelia, if you have Eirika talk
to her. And trust me you want to, as she's like Ross in that she starts out
terrible but ends fantastic, but it's not easy, since she has a movement range
of 4 and gets killed by anything. She won't come at you unless she can, though,
so take care of everything in your path, and then move Eirika six spaces away.
Then she can move five spaces down and talk to her, then she'll join, woot woot.
Make sure you've got all the treasure, then your party can go reunite with Ross,
and take that bad boy boss down.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boss / Class / LV / HP / STR / SKL / SPD / LCK / DEF / RES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Binks | Warrior | 5 | 42 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another promoted unit, it's not gonna stop with Tirado. It's the way to come
moving on, so... yeah. Binks is very easy even though he has a ranged
attack. He comes equipped with an axe, so guess what that means? Swords all
the way. Your two star characters will be Eirika and Joshua, but even with
the weapon triangle as is, Binks will still do about 20 damage a hit. His
hit rate is terrible, but if the damage connects, you're in trouble. So to
get around that, have Tana or a cavalier rescue that character and then move
away, have someone else take the character, drop him/her, and use Moulder to
heal. Easy as that. Then repeat the process, using Eirika and Joshua to just
slay the guy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that the battle's over, Seth grabs one of the mercenaries there, who tells
him that he was hired by Pablo, the ruler of Carcino. Turns out Carcino decided
to betray Frelia, but just moments later, a pegasus knight messenger shows up
to inform Eirika that Innes is in danger, because he went to pass through there.
Oh dear. Well, Rennac (L'Arachel's thief companion) gives you an Angelic Robe,
so take that, stock up at the armory and vendor here which are both relatively
good, and let's go to our next destination.
Just a note, though: since you have Tana and Amelia now, both are extremely
underleveled. I would HIGHLY recommend going to the Tower of Valni now and
leveling them up, so that they can actually survive in the battlefield. The
Tower of Valni has an Entombed at the back that will give 100 EXP to anyone
who kills it no matter what, which is great, so as long as you're careful,
Amelia will get the experience, and after two trips there, she should be able
to promote into a Knight. Now you can head on to save Innes.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIIb. Revolt at Carcino
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~ Difficulty: 2
~ My Party: Eirika, Franz, Gilliam, Moulder, Ross, Neimi, Ar