SCREENSHOT Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The endgame

[eclipse]

Well, it's not Christmas, so how can it be a present?

I'm still enjoying this greatly, BTW. It helps to make up for the rest of my day.

[euklyd]

When I last fought the Blue King I made it out with only one unit left, and he was in single-digit HP.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these are quite possibly the only intelligible words the Owner ever says in the game.

e: also you didn't mention it, but Peytral also grows in the same way as Sequencer

Edited January 11, 2017 by Euklyd

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 91]

We've ignored Duelhorn long enough. Time to kick their teeth in.

 

Also, uh, this thing? I've never seen this.

But first, shock and horror! The revelation that Snake the Clan are in fact a cover for Snake the Dude.








What a cunning trap. Lure the people stronger than you straight into your clutches for a fair fight you will lose.



good luck lol
(Annoyingly, the law is against viera actions... and I bring Penelo, forgetting that the game thinks she's viera. She also uses the rather mewling gria/Adelle deathcry.)



Frimelda puts up a front of smug feigned surprise. I have a more succinct message in mind, though;




SHUT UP, NERDS.





He decided to counteract us by stepping onto a fucking love potion.



The beastmaster does the hits-everyone-book-thing in the corner but, being a beastmaster, his magic stat is bad.


This one fucking mage, though, just sort of has a way of ducking out of seemingly-certain death. Both the early sneak attack AND this mortar should've killed him by 10-15 HP.


Unfortunately, Snakeheart knows Death.







But things were, um, looking kind of rough at the moment, and the judge was gone because Penelo counted as fucking viera, and, well...


It was time to call out the big guns.


The really big guns.





And we win. Fuck everything else.





Snakeheart vanishes, naturally. The prick.
















Aaaaand this happens. It's, uh, it's a thing. A condemnation, really.





This is our confirmation that things have developed into a three-way gang war.


Let's just take down another King to end the update, though this will naturally be a Queen.





Verre is well-armed and -armoured, with a ribbon.


The only green magic she knows is Tranq, which she uses for the sake of her Assassination techniques.



We have an infinite combo of movement. See, the time magic version of Quicken's meant to cost 12 MP. And since you only regenerate 10 a turn, well, it can't go infinite, right? The juggler version's free.

Dillan has halved MP costs.


With just ooone flaw.


My gauntlets!



Dillan gets lucky enough to dodge an 80% slow and then unlucky enough to squander the turn he gets. Again.



Anyway we score her shoes as well as two rare and important bits of loot before Ursla one-rounds her from full health.




And our reward...

... wait, Save the Queen?? A midgame longsword?????

Fuck me. We already have two and can buy infinite more. Still, the monty hauls may have stopped but the show must go on.

Next up on FFTA2:

The one marginally different Cinquleur message.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Parrhesia

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 92]


Just three more quests down today. Simple as they come. Cinquleur needs dealing with, too.

Basically, we're just out of quests on Loar at the moment. But it's okay, I'm sure this is gimmickless fill-


what






Ssso I guess that seeq we upbraided a while ago was murdered.

I don't know if Attack just means the command or if it's broader than that. The hero of this story is going to be Vaan, the only character in the game (as far as I'm aware) who can disarm traps. And, better still, turn them to loot.


Oh fuck yes.
Turns out all traps give AMAZING loot.


Turns out, as well, that Attack does just mean the command and we can annihilate them freely. Or, in Hurdy's case, make them annihilate themselves.


They start in a really bad position so now that I know we're free to bombard them, we bombard them.


They are a mess of status at the moment.



Magic Counter isn't very good unless you're good at magic. Goblins are well and truly obsolete by this stage.


Dillan gets to the tonberry before he gets got himself.


Thanks, Liboyl! Glad someone here can use the attack command!


It's not an 'attack', you just got in the way of the dance.


I don't think I played this mission the way the designers intended.


But they, technically we upheld the law.


This catches the eye, and we pick up an Unseen Foe again, but...


Put it all on hold. A nerd needs a beating.


Seen here in their trademark 'sinking wedge' formation, the Nobles are the same baby idiots we beat the shit out of earlier. As you can see, we have gone for maximum synergy by taking a side entirely focused around murdering with bare hands.










Yeah. Good idea!







There! That's what we can do.










Sometimes the truth is in the middle.
Sometimes, on the other hand, the Brotherhood rules, Nobles drool.




Same deal as before - we need to last-hit the single enemy, which is just one of those headless guys.




Oh no. I know what this leads to.









I'm not gonna lie, Wolfe and Ursla have lost their top-tier status for a while. It's not really their fault - the game just doesn't have any really good greatbows, hunter growths in particular are mediocre and many of the others have caught up. There's two bows marginally stronger than the Gastrophetes - one's dark, which too many things resist, and the other's 5-range instead of 7. I'm even considering making one an archer since, perversely, the Malbow is better than any other bow in the game.


That said, Ursla one-rounds the target from full health.








For now, though, that's an update.

Next up on FFTA2:

Our own petard.

[euklyd]

Oh fuck yes.

Turns out all traps give AMAZING loot.

holy shit I had no idea I always just triggered the traps and took the hit

I'm not gonna lie, Wolfe and Ursla have lost their top-tier status for a while. It's not really their fault - the game just doesn't have any really good greatbows, hunter growths in particular are mediocre and many of the others have caught up. There's two bows marginally stronger than the Gastrophetes - one's dark, which too many things resist, and the other's 5-range instead of 7. I'm even considering making one an archer since, perversely, the Malbow is better than any other bow in the game.

I'd argue that the 1 panel of extra range from Max's Oathbow (52 WAtk, 6-range, Dark) offsets its 3 less WAtk than Malbow (55 WAtk, 5-range), and that the 2 panels of extra range on Gastrophetes (48 WAtk, 7-range) at least make it acceptable despite its -7 WAtk on Malbow.

Seventh Heaven (55 WAtk, 5-range) is probably overall better as well, since a lot more Big Bad Monsters are weak to Holy than resist it.

The most important aspect of all of this, though, is that Archer is ⸢A Bad Class With Bad Skills⸥, and so any gains from a potentially marginally better weapon are offset by having next to no useful skills to speak of (a Sniper would be better served with having Blade Arts, a ranged Assassin with either Blade Arts or Sharpshooting, and a Hunter with like, Devestation or Feralism or uh......Hume Hunters kinda suck).

I guess an argument could be made for abusing Focus + Doubleshot, but I'm not sure how economical that is compared to simply abusing Doubleshot.

[Parrhesia]

I've never used the Malbow, so didn't know the range since I don't think it actually tells you anywhere. Meanwhile, Ursla and Wolfe have been my best units across the entire sprawling midgame, and Focus is better than waiting most of the time - it's how a few sick oneshots have happened. Since Ursla and Wolfe both only have hunting/sniping and archery skills anyway, and it's a bit late to be building much else up (except, belatedly, trying to make Elm a viking...)

But yeah, they're still solid units the way they are now. It's just a little frustrating that there are no god-tier greatbows with maximum range and might in the 60s/70s, while most of my melee guys have something in that range by now.

[spoiler=Update 93]

Let's leap straight in with the Black King. As foreshadowed last update, he's immune to every basic element. He's also... well, he's level 77.

There's one problem - the only black magic he knows are the -aga spells.

Oh, you are so getting shoved in a locker.

Friend is a bit underwhelming.

But since he has nothing worth stealing, why fuck around? This is his one action, before...

Wolfe.

It does. There's 'just' the five.

So, remember Unseen Foe? With the monster Auction?

Move +2 and charging forward with the debilitation squad which in hindsight should be PENELO instead of Gren, fuck. Oh well, though.

It's all a bit irrelevant since he tries to steal from the bird instead.

There we go.

This level 46 soldier has about the same HP as the level 77 Black King, by the way.

They're nothing without their cheap win condition. And we get... almost no experience for it.

Bye, Mamatrice. Never thought you'd be happy to see this animation, eh?

Cid doesn't really have an answer.

So... Guinness has to find one himself.

And, you know, maybe it's good enough for now.

The next notice is really long so I'm just gonna copy-paste the words.

In theory. In practice the Game Script on GameFAQs doesn't have it. Bollocks.

So it's another exclusive by Anrias, Reporter of the Truth;

That's the worst nursery rhyme I've ever heard. So I wonder what Anrias is gon-

... oh.

So, someone to fist-fight.

Humans and nu mou remark darkly that they're 'lucky this is an adjudged clan', implying they fear death. Viera are unsettled. But I think, for once, the moogles put it best.

Kyrie (and all bangaa/seeq/gria), though, is up for this.

Let's end this on a high - the White King, who wants to pass on the message of 'fuck Parrhesia'.

Blanch... is impressive.

... and Gigaflare, and Scathe.

I sporadically meant to match each King to their opposite from my squad. Nofi for Red, obviously, Rodanu for Blue, Yvet for Green, I guess Lawrn for Black and Nathala for White.

Those of you with better memories will realise I consistently forgot to.

Oh, yeah... Blood Price. But man am I not regretting Magic Evasion right now.

I HAVE THE BOOTS, BUT JESUS THAT MAN PUNCHES HARD.

Oohhh, that was not needed. Hurdy's forced to shoot him instead of buffing again. Adelle nicks his ring.

The Scathe's expected damage is three short of one-shotting Adelle - thank fuck for Cover, you won't often need to use it but thank Christ for it now.

... the Orb of Minwu doesn't confer sleep-immunity.

We get the armlet, which is the last thing I really care about - but somewhere in there, Gren explodes.

Cornered now, though.

Finally, there he goes. We nicked everything he had and also two bits of tasty loot.

"Theft has been nerfed into oblivion" - me around Update 6 I think.

Look at me now.

I'm slowly becoming Euklyd.

Spoilers: It isn't quite.

Next on FFTA2: oh man i accidentally blew off the luckstick guy, i feel kinda sad now

ALSO

[spoiler=For someone who has played the game through before]

Do you remember if the last mission/postgame works like FFTA1, where you beat it once, load the game, have the postgame and then can beat the last mission again whenever you want?

Edited January 14, 2017 by Parrhesia

[eclipse]

Yeah, that's how I remember it. But postgame in A1 was LONG!

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=More postgame chat]Yeah the postgame in A2 seems pretty short, I think it might even just be a couple of bonus characters? If it is, I'll probably just do it the first time and then sort out ... everything else in a bonus update. We'll see how many quests I've done by the time I run out.

EDIT Actually it seems like the conclusion of A Few Things is postgame-gated, so... I'll... sort something out with that!

Edited January 14, 2017 by Parrhesia

[euklyd]

[spoiler=postgame etc]I just booted up my emulator to check, and yes, the Final Story Mission remains just as if you had never completed it.

I can't remember what all is postgame-gated beyond Brightmoon Tor 3, but I also lost interest in my most recent run more or less right after I cleared the final Brightmoon Tor tower.

jk I just checked and it's actually more than I thought; it's not THAT much, and a lot of it is unrelated, but the final mission(s) of at least a handful of questlines are all postgame-gated

... the Orb of Minwu doesn't confer sleep-immunity.

It also doesn't prevent Stop. It's basically asking to get stolen.

"Theft has been nerfed into oblivion" - me around Update 6 I think.

Look at me now.

I'm slowly becoming Euklyd.

dw it took me a long time to slowly become euklyd as well

I think it was only on my third? fourth? run through this game that I realized that pillage was actually really good (and, consequently, that weapons were literally the only things not stealable. weapons+ribbons.)

Theft has basically still been nerfed into oblivion tbf, but it doesn't really matter as much, since auctions and the bazaar both exist.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Euklyd

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 94]

Initiative A: Stomp on Duelhorn.


...
...
...
What?





This owns. Let's just grab some popcorn and let nature take its course.








Nah guys it's cool, just keep on doing what you're doing.






Oh, no. Having him sow the seeds of discord in our enemies...




And... Alys shows up.














Did it, Snakeheart? Did it really? Anyway, Duelhorn continue to be pushovers.




... will tell.

So yeah, the implications of this might be that the reprisal was set off by our attacks on the monster auctions. Not only was Duelhorn hit hard by Khamja, but now one of their leadership figures isn't trusted by the others.


We'll be doing this first, though - yeah, more Heritor stuff. The next Crime War subquest is back in Loar, so it'll be a while before we handle that.




I totally fuck up getting a good screencap, but the dragon crawls out from under the water and roars to summon their flunkies.



It can be.






The battle music is actually pretty cheery, considering.







Thing is, monsters have been obsolete for ages. The axebeak (redbird) had 66 defence, for Christ's sake! Accounting for armour, we have nobody with less than 120.


Had my mind been but stronger than my flesh... I might have used my strength to protect, rather than destroy.


And, surprisingly, that's it. The Nagrarok is our reward - a longsword about as good as a Fallen Angel.


"... up, kupo!"


We have to lead with Guinness for some reason. The leader, Zupp, gets a unique portrait - and I think all his guys have unique names too? Pane and Grayze (tinker and animist) seem to follow a theme, but Ingu, Peshe and Padi seem to forget it. They're... actually really well-geared. I should've brought Yvet and Elm to finally nick a lordly robe.






Law's against triple-digit damage, annoyingly.


Eat rust, nerd!


Thanks Pane! He poisons a couple of his own guys.


Well that's less good. Pyrrh and Wolfe start to sleep, so Hurdy shoots Wolfe in the back (who pegs the gunner with a shot to finally remove the Unscarred buff)...


And that woke Pyrrh straight back up again!


Let him repay you. It breaks the law, slightly later than expected.


Aahaha.h. AHahahaha. AHAHAHAHAH>

It was Red Spring.


THROWBACK THURSDAY, MOTHERFUCKERS.







The tinker did manage to fail another red spring before death, incidentally.








Zupp shouldn't put himself down. Hurdy's shots literally did single-digit damage to him.

Next up on FFTA2:

Pick a unit.

[eclipse]

Gren, obviously!

[euklyd]

Whoever can outspeed Pane "Literally Satan" the Gadgeteer and Stop, Sleep, or Petrify him; I'm convinced that the game has rigged his RNG to give him 75+% odds of failing Red Spring.

So yeah, the implications of this might be that the reprisal was set off by our attacks on the monster auctions. Not only was Duelhorn hit hard by Khamja, but now one of their leadership figures isn't trusted by the others.

I always assumed that it was implied/stated that it was Duke Snakeheart and his gang of Nu Mou thugs who were behind that? I'd never considered that it was busting up the Graszton monster ring being blamed on Duelhorn. I hope it's the case, though, because that's pretty great.

[Parrhesia]

I think the Khamja/Duelhorn questlines are directly tied into one another, and it's the specific mention of Graszton/Snakeheart being a total dweeb that makes me suspect it. But yeah, there's also a certain amount of 'it's left somewhat ambiguous - what possibility is the best?' in that.

[Parrhesia]

This is the worst and also best update of the entire LP.

UPDATE 95

Spoiler

[spoiler=Update 95]

Oh look. A new mission! I am sure this will go well.





It looks like our town watch friends have encountered some Trouble.


Look, the other 22 are ready to jump you any goddamn time.



But the thread wanted Gren, and Gren they shall have.





Holla!
The Goug Watch get the jump on their foes. They're missing the animist from earlier. Instead, they have Gren - well, any one guy of ours. Their gunner tries and fails to silence their illusionist, which would've been very helpful!


Deus Vult.


Deus. Fucking. Vult.


Deus. Mother. Fucking. Vult.
So we're now facing the guys we drove off last time, more or less. I don't think they had an arcanist last time but they do now. In fact I think only the main parivir and the existence of a ninja are consistent - they have a sniper and an il-


Well, they HAD an illusionist. They are also now mostly poisoned.


Gren was a good fucking choice, Eclipse.


oh no.


Vilma's addicted to using Marksman's Spite, the sniper's version of the stock half-accuracy damage=lost HP move. Fortunately, she gets unlucky while Gren's stranded the wrong end of the map. Zupp's Immobile, the ninja and sniper are almost dead, the parivir is wracked with indecision. Pane... fucks Red Spring up again. And then a third time.


Finally, Gren's free to go cause problems.


Padi is the MVP of the Moogles so far, it has to be said.


Vilma misses her third Spite out of three and then PREVENTS THE PARIVIR FROM ALMOST KILLING ZUPP. And, blissfully, Pane unfucks the spring. Everything's coming up Parrhesia!



oh fuck.




It's a good thing that the thread's favourite character with 12 votes, Yoana, was deployed instead!


you motherfucker.


Karma strikes, but I don't like this new, not-shit Vilma. That's what I'm thinking right up until her next action sees her try and Spite Pane for one damage, and miss.


The arcanist offers a fair bit of chaos to the equation. He fucking ANNIHILATES the parivir, for instance.


come the fuck on.


This is Yoana's first move. The astute will notice that the ninja moved and acted three times and every enemy had at least two turns and that FUCKING PANE is immobile and poisoned and will die in two turns.


Good thing we brought fan favourite Wolfe, with ten votes!



Great luck!
Had the tinker chosen red spring instead of green gear which is what he chose. It misses literally their entire team. And the Vilma doubleshots the knight for two hundred damage.


That's the spring.


The arcanist helps.


fucking


So our next candidate is Ursla but she's, well, out on a dispatch, so Wolfe gets another go. Pane fucks up the spring again. I hate him so much.


Full heals and buffs all 'round. With Wolfe's first action.


Countered to death. Wow, this sure is goi-



-was clearly the right candidate to play this mission, garnering nine votes.



FUCK IT.


The RNG is with me.


fuck you pane


... oh yeah the law's against harming moogles


RUST.



Pani, Zupp and Ingu are genuinely capable, it's just THAT FUCKING TINKER.



The RUST and punch is truly the Clan's equivalent of the Roman pilum and gladius.

oh dear zupp got hit by a spite


WHATEVER. SHALL. I. DO.


Discoveries made: parivirism doesn't give a FUCK about the Shield status. Pane succeeds at his fourth out of four thing.



My plan is immaculate. Without a hitch. There is absolutely nothing that could-


ah.
Let me instead toss more RUST at you and also top up Zupp.



Okay. Say what you like about me. But the maximum attack and speed character, with the tinker hitting four out of four coinflips, losing any red springs (and, hell, probably gears as well) of which is a guaranteed defeat, with the illusionist silenced immediately, the final threat on less health than he was about to lose to poison on his next turn, just had an 80% chance of losing anyway.

But it's okay, because Zupp has counter.


DEUS VULT.





Good. We killed those five people.







Look, judge me all you want. But in the words of the Irish poet, soldier and actor in radio shows that aged extremely poorly Spike Milligan;

I know I cheated;
But it was the only way I could avoid being defeated.

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Parrhesia

[eclipse]

If you take the tinkerer out for good, doesn't it make life a lot easier? The reason why I chose Gren was so that you could disable the tinkerer, then go on your merry way.

[Parrhesia]

Like I said, the entire Watch moves first, even with Gren's triple-digit speed - hell, even with Alde's.

Also I guess the FUCKING SPOILER CODE changed in the forum shift.

The theory that editing and resubmitting spoilered posts does not exist so I'm, well, not going to bother going back through the last 95. Regular updates resume tomorrow as normal.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Parrhesia

[SoloCross]

From what I understand, Training Wanted is repeatable till you complete Time to Act. The more you complete Training Wanted, the stronger the moogle team will be in Time to Act.

[Parrhesia]

That's a cool and good mechanic in theory, but in practice, that just means more red springs, while the parivir and sniper will still be able to fuck up anyone they want if they get in range/the AI doesn't shit itself respectively.

[Parrhesia]

SPOILER 95

Spoiler

 

Hell.

It's about time.

 

Man, not much pre-match dialogue. Reactions are forbidden and you know what I want to do because it's not unequipping everyone's reactions. Or Nofilia-soloing. So the second action hits Nathala who procs Replenish so lol

 

Nathala's basic as shit and also quite good.

 

Geomancers might not be terrible, but all other gria classes are physical and one's a repeat.

 

Adelle almost died (slow, disable, ~20 health) to the two up top, and geomancers are surprisingly tanky. But it's not a hard fight.

 

End of match dialogue is just 'Sun clear, [next path] will contact you'.

 

The Hardest Level In The Game [TM] unlocks... something level 31. Apparently.

 

Yes, I felt aggravated by the last mission, too.

 

We need to survive for 3 rounds and stop them going past the barrel. We outlevel them by roughly 15 on average.

 

Compare our relative firepower. This is one of those 'one drops, one spawns' missions, so just imagine we kill;

7x purple floating boi

5x red floating boi

3x gold chufty boi

2x purple chufty boi

 

Also Wolfe misses a 99% chance to oneshot a big purple boi from full health but managed to get his second turn before the boi could move.

 

Furthermore, one of the chufty bois was self-placed into the Own Zone.

 

We found an infinite grindstone for the Watch.

 

This is the update of things with very weak rank.

 

You've got a high opinion of yourselves, Bowen. My opinion of them is, um... minimal, but at least Twie 'fucking' Gel has multiple targets to aim at.

 

Our lowbies can handle this. Veis starts the match with two turns in a row by vanishing, moving to the left, moving to the right and doubleshotting the spokesthief for minimal damage. Never change.

 

Lawrn's actually come quite good, and Dillan too.

 

I wish I'd realised that the berserker skillset was bad and I never used it earlier. I guess I'll probably miss Furore at some point.

 

Job's done, basically, so I just run Elm up to grab what turns out to be the Orb of Minwu on the Lawrn what are you doing

 

Aaaand ...........

he misses and Twiegel drops the sky on him.

 

That was easy. Hurdy celebrates by mastering gunnery at least.

 

That... ... ... was really easy. Christ, exit that clan, I guess.

 

Let's bookend this with more geomancy. They're another questline that all the actual petitions are almost identically-worded.

 

Wolfe and Nofi have said I think identical lines anyway.

 

Again; easy. Okay, yes, this was a filler update - but there's 300 quests, and we're 246 in and I'll be honest the pub's looking a bit...

 

Sparse. (All that's in Recent is For the Cause, the Carm Mercantile donation.)

But we're on the home stretch. Take heart! We might have another paperweight tomorrow...

 

Next up on FFTA2:

The tables turn.

 

[Parrhesia]

UPDATE 97

Spoiler

This is definitely not ominous at all.

 

Say hello to nameless Khamja captain. His wall diagram made of pins and string is all starting to add up.

 

Sooner or later?! We've been in conflict with them our entire career!

 

So Duelhorn's immediate agenda seems to be to crush Khamja. Realistically, they're the weakest player at the table - we openly rule the continents, Khamja lurks in their shadows, Duelhorn just kind of tried to invade the place and haven't made too much headway apart from beating some clans down - the FFTA1 approach, as it were.

 

Alright, let's just do this. Bangaa are forbidden. There's five of them, none with secondary skills and all with above-average but not outstanding equipment. The soldier is just a soldier with counter and better attack, the black mage doesn't have the basics but has magic-boost and -counter, the white mage... is a white mage, the tinker doesn't have red spring but does have a Barrier thing, and the cross-counter monk is nasty. Alys opened the fight by casting Blind and Oil on herself. Why does she do that?!

 

Don't worry, though. We have plenty of status to go 'round.

 

eheheh.

Lawrn can maim the soldier and tinker for a hundred a turn (and heal himself for the same) with Maths Shadowflare.

 

70% accuracy, but just sleep and confuse? Alas. Does force the white mage to waste her turn curing it.

 

Oh, shit, and Alys has Blood Price too I think so she's slowly killing herself wi-

 

Nevermind, free Barrier across our entire team.

 

The monk tries to cross-counter Wolfe from behind for ~230 damage... and misses, and is then chipped down by my boy Caul. Frimelda's stranded the wrong end of the mountain so throws some rust at Alys to pass the time and oh look Forbidden Dance hits at 90%.

 

Sleep confuse disable! Admittedly the poison immediately stops the first two.

 

They make the mistake of bunching up and we hit them with a lot of things at once.

 

Fun fact: Alys is unkillable. But the Twiegel principle is the same, she won't cheat and continue to Blood Price.

 

Some rust later, we finish it.

 

Finally - can we get some answers?

 

Ooooookay, Alys.

 

The cheerful victory theme rings just a little hollow. How the hell do you try and preserve the peace here? Khamja and Duelhorn are going to wear each other down to dust.

 

And this is the plan.

 

More geomancers, in the interim.

 

This set actually puts up a decent fight - they pummel Torch with geomancy and Dragonheart never actually triggers, while the ice drake apparently knows a Sleep/Doom spell. But, well, might makes right. Final dialogue is... basically the same.

 

That's enough for today, though. For now? We've got a three-point strategy of our own to prepare...

 

Next up on FFTA2:

Things escalate

 

[Parrhesia]

UPDATE 98

More overwrought drama.

 

Spoiler

 

They watched, they waited. They questioned their motives. They stubbed their last cigarettes into the ground.

 

They had their orders.

 

The sorceress' question went unopposed. Who could answer?

 

Nobody wanted this.

That was the fact that echoed through the night, across the cities of Loar.

Least of all some of the Clan. Those whose loyalty was not in question had been carefully chosen to outnumber or equal the wavering or the unwilling.

 

So they sheltered themselves in braggadocio and lies.

 

Nathala shivered under her robe. The orders were senseless. She knew her charges thought the same. Hell, she knew Alys felt the same.

 

"Here she goes," Yoana muttered with an air of familiarity.

A couple of Duelhorn grunts shifted uncomfortably.

 

They were an obstacle now. The Clan stood in the way of Duelhorn's peace, Duelhorn in the way of the Clan's.

 

This was Cid's territory, so of course he came, but seemed unsure of his motives. Everyone seemed unsure of their motives. Let them destroy each other. The alternative seemed to be to leave Khamja unscathed.

 

But the matter was easiest for them.

 

Snakeheart, at least, needed to be subdued. Tonight worked as well as any.

 

They had the high ground, and they picked Yoana out for special treatment. She cursed and called them jackals and vultures, and one of them made the mistake of laughing.

 

Something flickered in the archer's eyes as she fell.

 

The Night Dancer's bouncers were picked for power over pace, and Torch's detachment had been the same. But the Joker in the Dancer's pack was overmatched by the joker in the Clan's.

 

The rest had no room for finesse. It was a time for assertion.

 

Wolfe wondered where Maquis was, and what a fool she was for relying on her faith, and then remembered Guinness awaited the results from safety in the Range.

 

Alys watched on, almost aloof, from her rooftop.

 

The Duelhorn talked as they fought, and sneered and taunted.

 

Torch preferred to shout.

 

But the Dancer's methods had merit. After all, there was promise in this young one.

 

Elm wasn't about to take half-measures in getting him to snap out of it.

 

The message stuck this time.

 

"Gifted, Gifted, Gifted..."

Like a mantra.

 

The old guard lead by example, Nathala supporting from over the hill, turning the biting winds against their foes, and Yoana...

 

... made the mistake of laughing.

 

And fell.

 

But she had the judge's favour on her side. Her former comrades did not.

 

Snakeheart's overthinking came at the cost of his companions.

 

The flanking was inefficient, but Nofilia was brought down by illusions.

 

Even so, isolated and outnumbered, two went down in a flash. And there would be no judge for them.

 

"Your words will not avail you, sorceress!" Nathala cried back, and held back her own thoughts and fears as she struck another down.

Adelle panted, swords bloody with a defenseless priestess. She wondered how it had come to this, in a dreary Moorabella winter, in a fight nobody wanted to have.

 

She never saw it coming.

 

But this wasn't her war. Yoana wanted to be here. And she would get her second chance.

 

And Nathala rose her hands. And she ensured the cold took a turn for the worse.

The Gods had chosen their side.

 

And Yoana rose to claim what she felt was destiny.

 

And yet another fell.

 

No chatter anymore. Just brawling, and there were no better in the business.

 

Perhaps a little sleight of void on the side, too.

The message was clear: you could hurt his men, but you couldn't possibly land a scratch on his delusions of grandeur.

 

Were his men even charmed, or just sick of him?

 

Penelo took care of the troublemaker.

 

And when the Duke did finally deign to join the fight, he had little effect - before following suit with his magician colleague, with the Clan left to ponder how best to assassinate those remaining.

 

Messily.

But efficiently.

This wasn't a fight Alys wanted to win, not that it was in her hands regardless. She was no fighter, but as she tussled with the gria on the roof, blinked through the fog of enchantment she shackled herself with, she thought she recognised-

"Joanna?"

 

But the gria smiled, and shook her head.

"Not anymore. Those days are behind me, and we owe you nothing."
"But we were your home! We took you off the streets!" Alys stood firm, staggered, fell to a knee and struggled to get to her feet, and... the swordsman just shook her head.

"See, this line of work's all about results. And I'd say we got ours tonight."

 

"Weren't you the ones who taught us that in the first place?"

 

She could only nod, in the end.

 

But the Clan chose mercy.

 

The dance was over, for tonight.

 

The battle was won, but what did this mean for the war?

 

Perhaps this was the end. Duelhorn had put everything into this, and their 'everything' was... by now, so, so few.

 

Just one remained.

[euklyd]

On 1/17/2017 at 2:19 AM, Parrhesia said:

Like I said, the entire Watch moves first, even with Gren's triple-digit speed - hell, even with Alde's.

I've found that the Tinker often doesn't actually use Red Sprint turn 1, so Stopping him is actually quite viable.
That being said, I also found that firing off a Blood Price-boosted Ultima Masher from 7 spaces away every turn worked even better.

I really enjoyed the style of the latest update; very fitting for the content involved.

I hope you'll be stealing everything you can next mission ? 

[Parrhesia]

The only time he didn't go for the initial spring was on Wolfe's run. I suppose he could still be stopped after an initial successful spring, but I was hoping not to resort to that and by the time I wanted to murder the tinker I'd rotated to a different character.

Yeah, items have stopped being a real issue - we have access to every item in the game by this point. I'm surprised there aren't many really good shields, actually...

[Parrhesia]

UPDATE 99

 

Spoiler

 

There's a lot going on - and one of those first two notices must surely be a Heritor thing in Ordalia. But let's be real here.

 

This is about closing the book on the game's biggest subplot.

 

... The 'phantasm'?

 

What's going on here?

 

Well... did they? Or did we?

I still don't understand why we did. It's like, we went to try and defuse the situation, failed, and ended up massacring them on our own, leaving Khamja totally unharmed. This started by an escalation that we might have caused!

 

Snakeheart submitted to our power. Alys accepted, in the end, that the means did not justify her ends. The Night Dancer, according to that notice, has dedicated herself to righting the wrongs that Duelhorn committed.

 

(The Night Dancer is a strange case in general. The game doesn't treat her with much respect, and I've cut a couple of really ugly lines, but she's the most sympathetic of the Duelhorn.)

 

Maquis... opts for self-destruction.

 

An old fool who is going down.

 

Let's just do this.

 

They all get the jump on us, and pummel us with veils. Frimelda's slowed.

 

But we have pure damage on our side. Oddly, no comment when we take one of them down - and he drops loot.

 

One of them has illusions... but not the magic to leverage them.

 

And, curiously... it doesn't matter when Maquis Prime goes down, either.

 

They don't have the damage or the staying power, at the end of the day.

 

We? Do.

 

Duelhorn's plan was doomed from the start, in all honesty. They thought they had all the resources, and would be facing a few scattered clans they could unite together.

 

They didn't bank on Khamja.

 

They sure as hell didn't bank on us.

 

No big fanfare. That's it. Duelhorn are gone from these lands.

 

So this is how the night seems to have gone down; it wasn't just about them attacking Khamja. There was collateral. All that talk about scope earlier must have gone true, as they were basically terrorising those cities - ineffectually at that, as Khamja were forewarned. We stepped in not to protect Duelhorn, but to protect our cities.

 

The alternative is none of this really makes sense.

 

That was quest 250. We have enough loot to make every bazaar item in the game. Which set the tone for a shopping spree immediately after - almost everyone's in proper endgame gear, and everyone has access to it.

 

Tomorrow, more heritor stuff - but we're well and truly on the home stretch.

 

[eclipse]

My theory is that the game treats the Night Dancer that way because the Night Dancer is merely dressed as a woman, with possibly the voice to sort-of pass.  It would explain the odd notice from the crybaby.