Voting Gauntlet: Destructive Forces

[Lord-Zero]

I guess I’ll join Dark Emperor Hardin. 

[GreatKnightEcho]

Free-pulled Hardin. Guess I have to side with him now.

[Diovani Bressan]

43 minutes ago, GreatKnightEcho said:

Free-pulled Hardin. Guess I have to side with him now.

Nice! This happened to me in the Mothers and Sons VG: I free-pulled Owain and to thanks him I supported Owain in the VG..

[GrandeRampel]

I'm gonna support my man Duma. But honestly an all villain banner is such a fun idea that I would support anyone. 

And it's good to have so many free to play friendly options. Nice work, IS.

[Michelaar]

I'll support Daddy Hardin. He has served me well in the past and I've always liked him.

[Mercakete]

Who to pick, who to pick... I was a bit sad to look at these giuys and realize that a lot of them are just kind of made to be hated. Even if their paths make sense, they're pretty similar... Some dark force took them over and made them evil for the sake of being evil. (Surtr enacted the rite of flames, and what made him him was burned until all that was left was the need to spread the flame, Robin was possessed by an evil dragon who just wants to see the world burn, Julius likewise was overtaken by an evil dark force and, again, wants to see the world burn. I don't know enough about Hardin's story to say anything about him; likewise with Garon and Idunn (except that Idunn also eventually gets an annoying "feel bad for me; look, I can only speak in broken sentences now; you should want to take care of me" ending, from what I've heard.)) Kind of boring, imo, even if it's acceptable in individual circumstances... I guess Duma's tale is the most different and interesting. It's tragic without having the Idunn ending; he's not a bad guy, he just steadily lost his sanity over time, and so began enacting his care in warped ways.

Guess I'll support Duma.

[XRay]

2 hours ago, omegaxis1 said:

Guys, can we stop? @Anacybele says she won't play, so let's leave it at that. 

Sometimes, it is just super frustrating to see players who have difficulty with the game squandering away their resources, but complain about the difficulty of the game and refusing to manage their resources better, despite being constantly reminded by others to not flush valuable stuff down the toilet. For some reason, they just refuse to believe that they are squandering resources and refuse to believe that it would negatively impact their game progression.

For example, some players brag about getting extra Hero Feathers from sending 5* Heroes and limited Heroes they dislike home instead of turning them into Combat Manuals. I feel like facepalming every time I read something like that on Reddit, YouTube's comment section, this forum, etc. That Feather argument makes absolutely no freaking sense because those Heroes could have been extra merges for stats or skill fodder and the Feather they gain in return is so little that it is practically worthless. The average active player earns well over 2,000 Feathers per day on average***, so sending home a 5* Hero for 1,000 Feathers represents speeding up the promotion of a 4* Hero they like by half a day at best, and in my opinion giving up skill fodder and merges is never worth speeding up promotion by literally less than half a day.

At least sending home 5* Heroes gives players 1,000 Feathers, but refusing event participation that has no cost to a player is like literally sending home a 5* unit and flushing the Feathers down the toilet.

***Feather Income Breakdown:

Spoiler

3,000 Arena Participation
1,800 Arena Tier 18
900 Arena Defense
1,500 Arena Assault Rank 30,001 to 50,000
7,200 PvP Total; ~1,000 per Day

Monthly Tempest Trials: 11,000 Score Rewards + 4,000 Rank 10,001 to 50,000 = 15,000 Total
Monthly Forging Bonds: 4,400 + 4,400 + 4,400 + 4,400 = 16,400 Total
Monthly Voting Gauntlet: 700 Round 1 (Rank 70,001-99,999) + 700 Round 2 + 1,300 Round 3 + 1,200 Total Rank = 3,900 Total
Grand Conquest: 5,200 Rounds 1-3 (Rank 21-30) + 6,000 Rounds 1-3 (1 Area Controlled) = 11,200 Total
46,500 Events Total; ~1,500 per Day

If you factor in Quests and Daily Log-In Bonuses, a player can reasonably earn 3,000 a day.

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by XRay

[NSSKG151]

A Voting Gauntlet theme based around villians huh, I think I remember people asking for that once before. Going to start off on Grima's team and will probably see tons of Robins, Grimas and Morgans from random allies. After that there is still Idunn, Garon, Gharnef and Julius as my other options for bonus teams if something goes wrong. Guess my lead unit will be A!Tiki, Tailtiu or Kaze throughout the VG.

[Icelerate]

Going to go with Surtr. Hope he wins and that I get more merges. By far my most useful unit in AR. 

[Alexmender]

I'll obviously go with Idunn first because I'm biased. If she were to lose (doubtful, she's the only girl here and her art is gorgeous) then I'll just flock to whatever GHB units is still in the fray.

With that said, Idunn's facing Duma during the first round and she can easily take care of him so the better play will be to put a green unit to cover for blues. I think I'll put B!Ephraim there because he works pretty well with her.

[Ottservia]

I’ve already sworn myself as a devote grimleal so my support goes to my lord Grima.

[Lewyn]

Wow look at the dominance of Idunn votes, hotness matters!  Anyways I'm going for Duma, if he loses then I'll go to dark emperor Hardin.  

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 hours ago, Mercakete said:

Some dark force took them over and made them evil for the sake of being evil. (Surtr enacted the rite of flames, and what made him him was burned until all that was left was the need to spread the flame, Robin was possessed by an evil dragon who just wants to see the world burn, Julius likewise was overtaken by an evil dark force and, again, wants to see the world burn. I don't know enough about Hardin's story to say anything about him

Hardin's villainy is actually another case of corruption. His story:

He started as the younger brother of the King of Aurelis, the dashing warrior known as the Coyote fighting the evil Dolhr Empire. Later he received Princess Nyna anonymously from Camus, who spared her from execution, Hardin then fell in love with Nyna and fought in her name. Marth saved Hardin's forces when he was he on the verge of defeat, and then joined Marth's army, although the style of storytelling used for the War of Shadows has meant Hardin's importance disappears after recruitment.

After the War of Shadows ended, Nyna chose Hardin as her husband, which he immediately accepted due to his great love for her, and thus he became King of Archanea.

What Hardin did not realize right away is that Nyna had only married him because Boah, a bishop and confidant of hers, had pushed her into marrying someone to continue the royal Archanean bloodline. Her only two choices were Marth and Hardin, both great, and royal, heroes of the War of Shadow. Not wanting to cause Caeda heartbreak, Nyna chose Hardin. However, in the depths of her heart, Nyna was still in deeply love with Camus, despite the fact he was dead not really. She could not love Hardin as she should due to this longing for a dead man, whom she had first hated, but then admired after he spared her life when the rest of her family died.

Eventually Hardin found out about Nyna's lack of true feelings towards him. He tried to develop them in her, but it didn't work. That Camus kept Nyna's heart into the grave made Hardin frustrated and envious, thus creating a crack in his moral character. That crack was exploited by the resurrected Gharnef, who had died in the War of Shadows. Gharnef gave Hardin the Darksphere, which then consumed his soul. Filled now with nothing but feelings of envy, greed, and lust for absolute power, Hardin declared himself Emperor and set out conquering the whole of the Archanean continent by force.

These created ideal conditions for Gharnef to steal the royal/noble maidens needed to resurrect Medeus. These included Nyna, but owing to his love for her enduring even when corrupted, Nyna was kept under palace arrest and safe from Gharnef for quite some time, though not forever.

When Hardin's tyranny leads Marth to defy his former friend and now liege, the War of Heroes begins. Eventually, Marth defeats Hardin in the capital of Archanea, using the Lightsphere to negate the powers of the Darksphere, which has the effect of forcing anyone who tries to attack Hardin to be temporarily brainwashed into harmless submission. As Hardin dies, he apologizes to Marth that his weakness of character allowed this to happen, he is happy Marth could kill him, and to rescue Nyna, whom he still loves and hopes could forgive him. He also strangely regains his signature white turban upon death, which he did not wear as Emperor.

 

Gharnef himself is also the victim of corruption. He was one of the two pupils of Gotoh, the White Sage, confidant of Naga, grantor of the Falchion to Anri, and inventor of magic to humanity. Gharnef had to be talented and not wholly a bad person if Gotoh made him one of only two pupils, but Gharnef had weakness in his heart. Because he saw that weakness, Gotoh gave the oasis of magic called Khadein and the Aura tome to his other student, Miloah. Gharnef was envious of this, he thus stole the Darksphere from Gotoh, gave his soul to it, and then created Imhullu with its power. So Gharnef, as much as a cackling stereotypical villain he is, in origins and on the principle, a tragic character. Just one we don't ever see the tragedy of.

 

And interesting point about most villains here being corrupted, and degeneration isn't too different from corruption actually. Grima is not degenerate, nor corrupted, but was pretty much born destined to be wicked unfortunately, with no choice in the matter to be good. Lyon is corrupted too, as in the not-yet-in Nergal. Anankos is degenerate as well. FE does have plenty of plain rotten villains and or those with agency though, just not here.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[omegaxis1]

49 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Hardin's villainy is actually another case of corruption. His story:

He started as the younger brother of the King of Aurelis, the dashing warrior known as the Coyote fighting the evil Dolhr Empire. Later he received Princess Nyna anonymously from Camus, who spared her from execution, Hardin then fell in love with Nyna and fought in her name. Marth saved Hardin's forces when he was he on the verge of defeat, and then joined Marth's army, although the style of storytelling used for the War of Shadows has meant Hardin's importance disappears after recruitment.

After the War of Shadows ended, Nyna chose Hardin as her husband, which he immediately accepted due to his great love for her, and thus he became King of Archanea.

What Hardin did not realize right away is that Nyna had only married him because Boah, a bishop and confidant of hers, had pushed her into marrying someone to continue the royal Archanean bloodline. Her only two choices were Marth and Hardin, both great, and royal, heroes of the War of Shadow. Not wanting to cause Caeda heartbreak, Nyna chose Hardin. However, in the depths of her heart, Nyna was still in deeply love with Camus, despite the fact he was dead not really. She could not love Hardin as she should due to this longing for a dead man, whom she had first hated, but then admired after he spared her life when the rest of her family died.

Eventually Hardin found out about Nyna's lack of true feelings towards him. He tried to develop them in her, but it didn't work. That Camus kept Nyna's heart into the grave made Hardin frustrated and envious, thus creating a crack in his moral character. That crack was exploited by the resurrected Gharnef, who had died in the War of Shadows. Gharnef gave Hardin the Darksphere, which then consumed his soul. Filled now with nothing but feelings of envy, greed, and lust for absolute power, Hardin declared himself Emperor and set out conquering the whole of the Archanean continent by force.

These created ideal conditions for Gharnef to steal the royal/noble maidens needed to resurrect Medeus. These included Nyna, but owing to his love for her enduring even when corrupted, Nyna was kept under palace arrest and safe from Gharnef for quite some time, though not forever.

When Hardin's tyranny leads Marth to defy his former friend and now liege, the War of Heroes begins. Eventually, Marth defeats Hardin in the capital of Archanea, using the Lightsphere to negate the powers of the Darksphere, which has the effect of forcing anyone who tries to attack Hardin to be temporarily brainwashed into harmless submission. As Hardin dies, he apologizes to Marth that his weakness of character allowed this to happen, he is happy Marth could kill him, and to rescue Nyna, whom he still loves and hopes could forgive him. He also strangely regains his signature white turban upon death, which he did not wear as Emperor.

 

Gharnef himself is also the victim of corruption. He was one of the two pupils of Gotoh, the White Sage, confidant of Naga, grantor of the Falchion to Anri, and inventor of magic to humanity. Gharnef had to be talented and not wholly a bad person if Gotoh made him one of only two pupils, but Gharnef had weakness in his heart. Because he saw that weakness, Gotoh gave the oasis of magic called Khadein and the Aura tome to his other student, Miloah. Gharnef was envious of this, he thus stole the Darksphere from Gotoh, gave his soul to it, and then created Imhullu with its power. So Gharnef, as much as a cackling stereotypical villain he is, in origins and on the principle, a tragic character. Just one we don't ever see the tragedy of.

 

And interesting point about most villains here being corrupted, and degeneration isn't too different from corruption actually. Grima is not degenerate, nor corrupted, but was pretty much born destined to be wicked unfortunately, with no choice in the matter to be good. Lyon is corrupted too, as in the not-yet-in Nergal. Anankos is degenerate as well. FE does have plenty of plain rotten villains though, just not here.

Nice summarization. I think you added extra details here and there, but overall really good.

I wouldn't say that Gharnef was a victim per se. Gharnef likely knew but didn't care. I think he simply wanted to beat Miloah that badly so that he could control Khadein, since Miloah was to lead it because he was chosen to wield Aura. And that led to him wanting everything else. 

But Fire Emblem generally does follow in the lines of corruption. Even in the Tellius series, we have the Lehran Medallion, which is basically inspired from the Darksphere, to turn people insane.

[Icelerate]

Most of these villains have been corrupted, possessed or brainwashed. At least Surtr is someone who does things of his own agency. 

[Tybrosion]

1 hour ago, Icelerate said:

Most of these villains have been corrupted, possessed or brainwashed. At least Surtr is someone who does things of his own agency. 

And yet, he’s still easily the worst villain here. At least the other seven here have actual reasons for their actions as well as actual backstories. Blowzai just wants to burn everything to the ground like his idol Flame Hyenard because potatoes.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Tybrosion

[Icelerate]

30 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

And yet, he’s still easily the worst villain here. Blowzai just wants to burn everything to the ground like his idol Flame Hyenard because potatoes.

He's a lot more enjoyable to me than the rest of the poll. Ozai>>Surtr. Don't insult Ozai to put him on the same level as Surtr. 

[Tybrosion]

16 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

He's a lot more enjoyable to me than the rest of the poll. Ozai>>Surtr. Don't insult Ozai to put him on the same level as Surtr. 

I’m not insulting Ozai or saying he’s on Surtr’s shit level because he definitely isn’t. I’m calling Surtr that now because he’s also a warmongering king of a fire nation, except unlike Ozai everything about him sucks hence the “blow” half of the name.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Tybrosion

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Going Garon because even if he's not my real family I just...have to know why he would kill all those people.

[Erren]

Well I can finally pull for Grima or Surtr. Glad I already have Hardin.

[MonkeyCheez3K]

Hmm, i'm not sure how to vote with the new system. With 1500ish flags per round, the smartest move for feather mercs is to use all 8 votes with 800 flags in the last "weaker" phase of the round, to get the maximum of points, however, the most amount of points before that would be a 7-vote with 700 flags before that in the last "weaker" phase 8 hours before the aforementioned one. This is going to be weird to predict. Also wasting the peanut daily login flags somewhere else, as usual.

This feels like a change similar to the Aether Raid changes that were supposed to avoid making us play daily (which didn't work out, since you pretty much should play as little as possible, to not refill the aether above the cap, but without pushing too far towards tryhards; not to forget that you still need to play 5/7 days for the rewards anyways.). I already barely played VG on the first day of every round, and I'll still need to pay attention to the last hours of the new system, so I'm not sure how much better this really is. I'm still on camp "Let VG die", but hey, just my personal opinion on this mode.

[Sunwoo]

Fuck it, I'm just joining Julius.

[Nanima]

Going Hardin, since he is the only one of these guys I am actually using and has put in a lot of work for me.

If he loses, I still have the rest of the GHB bonanza to choose from I guess. Another VG where I don't care about anyone much.. At least it's relaxing? They better not have redistributed orbs or anything though.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Nanima

[Zangetsu]

Huh, I thought Duma would have the most vote because of Echoes.

Weird

 

On 3/28/2019 at 8:28 AM, Lau said:

Two Archaneans? Somebody pinch me, because I must be dreaming.

I'm gonna go with Gharnef, then Hardin, then male Grima.

 

Traitor! How dare you support your prefer game in the series you just happen to enjoy!

 

On 3/28/2019 at 11:24 AM, Icelerate said:

Going to go with Surtr. Hope he wins and that I get more merges. By far my most useful unit in AR. 

 

On 3/28/2019 at 1:41 PM, Icelerate said:

Most of these villains have been corrupted, possessed or brainwashed. At least Surtr is someone who does things of his own agency. 

You & your generic over power overlord will fall to our generic over power overlord in where this game for whatever reason they decide to flesh out his background story. And for whatever reason the caretaker of the manaketes

[Anacybele]

Well, I've started feeling like I'm gonna need the orbs and all from this, so I've changed my mind and decided to enter after all. Also, I'm curious about the new system and how it'll work out. I think since I have a 4 star Julius, I'll just start with him. Plus, I like his dad.