Steal ALL the things! Let's Play; Fire Emblem 5!

[azureArcana]

The reasoning for this subtitle will become clear in due course, I promise.

I'm off to a bad start already because the opening glitched and skipped half of it. So here's a transcription; You're not missing much, it's just overlayed over the map.

After escaping with his life from the collapsing Lenster Castle, Leaf, together with his loyal knight Finn and his daughter Nanna, proceeded to defeat the Thracian forces and take control of Northern Thracia.

Shaking off pursuits from the eastern Granbell Empire, Leaf fled to various cities such as Alster and Tahra before finally arriving at Fiana, a small village on the eastern coast of Thracia.

Fiana was an independent village run by a swordswoman named Eyvel, and she led a band of fighters to protect the neighboring villages from bandit attacks. Eyvel gave Leaf and his comrades a warm welcome, and Leaf gradually grew up among other youths who resided in Fiana.

And now, in the Gran year 776...

No, there is no prologue. We're diving right in.


Left is Leidrick, ruler of the newly-conquered Manster. He's basically The Man, everything we do is gonna get in his way. Right is Wiseman, haver of a stupid name.

Leidrick:
"You fool! We don't have much time. I know that the prince is here. Round up the villagers and make them talk! We need to find him!"
Wiseman:
"Yes, we are already doing that, my lord. But the villagers say that he isn't here. He apparently left with the Fiana Militia to go save some village from a pirate attack."
Leidrick:
"Fiana Militia? What is that?"
Wiseman:
"This village was originally the headquarters of a large group of brigands. A little over a decade ago, a traveling mercenary named Eyvel cleared out the bandits and took over the village. She then established a militia to protect the nearby villages from bandit attacks. Apparently she's quite skilled with her sword..."
Leidrick:
"Hmm... She could be a problem."
Wiseman:
"No worries, my lord. We have already taken Eyvel's daughter hostage. We've also captured the daughter of Finn, the knight defending the prince. They'll have no choice but to give in to us now."
Leidrick:
"Well, not bad, for you. Good, I shall take the girls back to Manster with me. You stay here and wait for the rebels. Make sure the capture the prince when he returns!"

Competence from the off! It's rare in an RPG. Leidrick calls for the catpured girls, Nanna and Mareeta, and takes them away. Meanwhile, on the other side of the map...


Leaf, who is the main character, Eyvel, and a couple other people show up, on the way back from killing pirates. The crew have a quick conversation in which they decide to kick everyone's ass and get the village back. And that's it. We start. Nobody breaks the fourth wall and explains how to play, you're expected to figure it out yourself. Or read the manual.


So let's meet the crew. Leaf is a Lord, which obviously means we can't let him die. That Light sword is giving him a boost of +10 to Luck, and can be used as an item to fully restore Leaf's HP. Only Leaf can wield it.


Eyvel is ridiculously overlevelled. She's Level 12 Promoted (so effectively level 32) in the first chapter. She's the Jeigan. Note that all stats cap at 20 for everyone in this game, promoted or no. That Fire sword gives Mag +5 when equipped and flings fireballs from range.


Othin's a Fighter. He fights things. He has the Wrath skill, which in this game, provides 100% critical rate on counterattacks, ALL THE TIME. Needless to say, we like Othin already. He gets better.


Havan is Othin, but one level higher and slightly suckier due to no Wrath.


And Fin has the Brave Lance, a weapon specific to him that doubles his number of attacks. It's also giving him a Luck boost. He comes with a sword he can't use for reasons you'll understand later.


The rest of the map. That's a lot of soldiers.


The Fire sword is too good for Eyvel, so Fin takes it to stop her wasting it. She can slaughter everyone in this chapter with just an Iron sword anyway.


Othin goes off to that house outside the village walls, Fin moves up a bit after takign Eyvel's sword, and Eyvel baits that one soldier waiting to the right.


On the Enemy Phase...


He ignores her. And nobody else moves. Our turn again!


Foreshadowing! If you've played Fire Emblem before, something is out of place here. Namely that Capture command. But we'll get to it. For now let's just have Eyvel kill the guy.


The first attack of the game is a critical. I hope I'm not using up all my luck too early.


That's exactly how much of a Jeigan Eyvel is. Three whole EXP.


Let's let the kids show us what they can do. The pre-battle screen, like the status screen, is mangled for some reason. It's just a minor annoyance I have to live with.


Another critical. Hoo boy. But look how much exp he gained!


Fin moves to lure that guy with the Javelin. Unlike the last soldier, this one takes his shot, and promptly misses Fin.



On Turn 3, more allies show up!


Tanya is an Archer, with all the things that implies. She's not very good, to be honest.


Dagda is a Warrior; promoted from Fighter. Again you shouldn't really be using him this early. I'll be handing off his axes to Othin at the earliest opportunity.


Marty is a Brigand, and as his looks imply, dumb as a bag of hammers. Zero skill and speed with abysmal growths (10 and 15%, respectively) in each mean he's never going anywhere near a battle, ever.

This is getting long so I'm gonna continue in the next post.

[azureArcana]

It's time for Ridiculous Mechanics I: Capturing (Part 1).

Right, okay, Capturing. The Capture command appears when your BLD > the enemy's, or when you're mounted and the enemy isn't. You can't capture mounted enemies. When you attempt to Capture an enemy, your Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed and Defence stats are HALVED. Battle then proceeds as normal.


Fin's Brave Lance makes him great at Capturing.


Reduce an enemy's HP to 0 using Capture, and you pick the enemy up at the end of battle. See that little red square on Fin's sprite? He's carrying that soldier he just attacked. What advantage does this provide? Well, you'll see next turn.


To finish out the turn, Othin visits his home. He has a chat with who I assume is his dad, who gives him...


The Pugi axe. It's a Killer Axe with 60 uses that can attack from range. It's very, very nice.


Okay, now to finish the lesson on Capturing. See Fin isn't standing next to anyone? But he has the Trade command available? (And also Free.) Could this mean...?


Yes, you can trade with captured units! And steal all of their stuff, which I do. Vulneraries in this game, by the way, fully heal the person who uses them.


Using Free lets the captured soldier go, whereupon they blink out of existance as if killed.


Skipping ahead a few turns, Eyvel has wiped out the whole map singlehandedly. Why use the Jeigan? Well, at the beginning of the game you actually wan tthe good characters to get as little exp as possible. There is a reason for this.


Wiseman is... well, he's not very good, bluntly. Just because he's a boss doesn't make him immune to being captured though. I'll demonstrate with Fin.


While Fin moves up there, Eyvel visits that house.


And gains a Life R(ing) for her troubles. Like the Seraph Robes of newer games, it gives 7 Max HP to the character who uses it.


Fin drops in to another house containing an old man who alludes to the Capture mechanic. He gives us an Iron Sword, which none of the soldiers in this chapter could have used, so I doubt they missed it all that much.


Leaf visits an old woman and picks up a Vulnerary.


And Havan is as useful as he's going to be all game, and visits HIS house, chats with his little sister and recieves...


The Brave Axe! Which is not a personal weapon like the Brave Lance, and is thus given straight to Othin.


Wiseman, they're not even here anymore and Leidrick doesn't give a crap about you anyway. You're getting captured.


Now, because Capture halves STR, Fin can't do any damage to Wiseman. Or so you'd think.


Ridiculous Mechanics II: Critical Hits.

In other Fire Emblem games, a critical on a 0 damage hit would still do 0 damage, because 0 x 3 = 0. In FE4 and 5, a critical hit doubles your Attack BEFORE subtracting the enemy's Defence. So Fin is capable of doing 17 x 2 - 19 damage to Wiseman. With his Brave Lance he has 4 chances to crit, so it's not all that uncommon.


Bosses' Free quotes are, by and large, different to their death quotes. It's a neat little touch, I think.


We're done here.


Well, not much we can do about tha-


Oh. Okay. I guess. Small band of heroes taking on an evil empire. Not overdone or anything, Leaf.

[ArmsAreLoud]

I'll definitely be following this.

[Dais]

FE5, oh man. I couldn't finish this before losing my USB with my files on it. Had my cleared FE4 too, so bugger. I remember this game really screwing my Leaf over with like +2 Str over the course of 15~16 levels or so, so... good luck with the RNG!
Also this game has the best fighters ever. The absolute best. Othin would eat guys like Nolan for breakfast, then all the other fighters at once for lunch.

[weirdguy]

100% critical rate on counterattacks

isn't that a bit excessive

[azureArcana]

100% critical rate on counterattacks

isn't that a bit excessive

It can end up being a curse. Take a hit, counterkill, space freed up for another enemy to take a shot, counterkill, etc etc.

[azureArcana]

Plot.


Iiiiiiiith.


Bucktooth on the left there is confirmed to be an asshole right from the off. The dude on the right has a big dent in the top of his head for some reason.


UPSETTING REVELATION


Bucktooth is not Lifis. Oh no. Bucktooth has a much better name. Also this guy clearly has an agenda.


Obviously. Leaf just can't leave well enough alone.


The point of this map is to protect those three undestroyed houses. If you save them all, there's a gaiden chapter to go to - and you do NOT want to miss that.


I told you he had a much better name.


Eyvel and Leaf make a start on those pirates. Dagda goes and takes a vulnerary from an old lady in the first house.


Fin visits the northmost house. This little exchange happens, and then:


Ronan notices Fin's there and joins the team. We're already quite a sizeable force.


Ronan is widely considered to suck, and I'm inclined to agree. This is not a good game for bow-users. No Shinons or Raths here.


WELL AREN'T YOU NICE.


Asshole has a point, but we're not about to lose to pirates.


Generic girl gives us a magical ring so we don't stab asshole in the face. Also, what hard work?


It's a Speed R(ing). It boosts speed by 2, like Speedwings do nowadays.


We just park Leaf on that house and let the pirates come to him. He gains his first level! +1 HP and Luck. It's... not great. Come on Leaf. You're better than this.


Oh fffffffffffff

Luckily, the Light Sword fullheals him.


+1 HP, Str, Luck. Better!


Slowly allowing Leaf to chew through pirates on counterattacks while healing him with the Light Sword. +1 Str.


+1 HP, Str, Skl, Spd. Yesssssssss. Grow, Leaf, grow!


+1 HP, Luck, Def.


+1 Luck. SAD FACE.


+1 HP, Str, Luck. Leaf is just the luckiest guy on the planet, apparently. I should make him gamble.


And that's how Leaf rose to power. Sort of. It's just a really good spot to powerlevel him. There's only those three losers up there to deal with now. Might as well have Leaf test his newfound strength!


While being plinked at by arrows, Leaf gains +1 HP and Luck. Yet more Luck. Whaaaat.


Leaf pays a visit to the shop (where the shopkeeper babbles in gibberish), but we start with 0 Gold so there's not much we can do. This is most of the point of the Capture system. Steal what you need because you get very little money.


One more level for funsies. +1 HP, Str, Skl, Spd and... Bld? Yes folks, in this game, Build has a growth rate. For most people it's very low, generally 5-20%, but for dumbass Marty it's 75% because he is such a complete meathead. It's still not reason to use him.


Eyvel can deal with Bucks. He can be problematic for even Fin to hit, because the terrain he's standing in is +30 Avoid, +10 Def, and restores a fraction of his HP every turn. So Eyvel one-rounds him and skips all that.


Your words hurt less than the sword to the face Eyvel just gave you. But then so do most things.


+0 stats. There's really nothing at all to say about that.


Aaaaand finish!



Blagi is one of the 12 Crusaders who saved the world from Loptous hundreds of years ago. His followers and descendents are generally staff-using Clerics. Leaf, meanwhile, is of Noba blood, descended from the Crusader who used the Gae Bolg. Leaf can't use it though.


Because we saved all the villages, this line comes up! Leaf doesn't just defend the village, he then takes the fight to the pirates! What a man. August joins the team as a tactician. He can't actually fight. Having a tactician gives Leaf a Leadership Star, which gives all allied units +3% hit rate and avoid bonuses. Might seem like a small bonus, but keep it in mind.

[ArmsAreLoud]

I feel suddenly nostalgic for all the dastards in Path of Radiance.

Oh Nintendo of America, how silly you can be~

[Siegmundfried]

Woo, Thracia 776.

You're making it very hard for me not to go do a Genealogy of the Holy War Let's Play, but I'd rather not inundate the forums with Fire Emblem let's plays.

[weirdguy]

so, is there any benefit to not setting prisoners free

[azureArcana]

so, is there any benefit to not setting prisoners free

Yes, this actually comes up in the next chapter! Twice, in fact!

[Dais]

You're making it very hard for me not to go do a Genealogy of the Holy War Let's Play, but I'd rather not inundate the forums with Fire Emblem let's plays.

This is exactly why I have not done so yet.

Anyway, you have a very iiinteresting way of distributing kills aA. I think I know why you're levelling people up the way you are, but it still seems excessive to give so many levels to Leaf. Well, at least he's gaining Str right?

[ArmsAreLoud]

I actually have no idea why aA is distributing the experience like this, I assume it has something to do with the mechanics of this particular game?

[azureArcana]

Lifis knows not to mess with awesome Myrmidons like Shiva. At least not to his face.


Unfortunately he totally has major boners for Safy anyway. Safy tries to use this fact to make him help her, making her officially the smartest cleric ever.


It doesn't quite stick, however.


Until the conversation takes a turn for the creepy... and then we fade to black and the rest is left to the imagination.


Meanwhile on an island in the middle of the black abyss, I mean fog of war... the do-gooders have arrived!


Yes, for of war is total blackness in this game. You have no idea where you're even going. It's not actually that bad, you can navigate by way of movement ranges, etc.


There's some very important Capturing to be done this map, so we're taking Fin along with Dagda. Fin gains +1 HP, Spd and Def while killing pirates.


A couple of turns in, a scene plays in which we find out that Lifis is really a heartless playa. Who'd have guessed? He's only a pirate.


I just kind of wanted to show off this guy's eyepatch. Dude has an eyepatch.


You CAN go off to the left after leaving the starting island, but it goes nowhere. The true objective is up in the top-right, and these three are the only ones going. Also yeah, it's the third chapter and there are promoted generics running about.


There are a few chokepoints like this on the way to Lifis' pirate fortress. Leaf is strong enough for whats coming up now, so I'm trying to hold him back.


He gains a level anyway, though. +1 Skl, Def.


Enemies absolutely swarm this last bridge and don't even have the grace to die easily to counterattacks.


And then more start appearing from behind.


Dagda and Leaf go off to deal with those ambushers.


While Fin heads up and finds this guy hanging out on a fort.


Shiva is a recruitable character, but not right now. He does have a very nice sword though, and we want it. But without a thief, we only have one option.


You'd be forgiven for thinking I'm about to kill off a recruitable character. But fear not! Anyway, that fort he's standing on makes capturing him a little harder, so it'll be a couple turns from now when it actually happens.


Dagda gains zero stats on a level-up. At least it didn't happen to Leaf.


He also breaks his weapon in the process. Unlike in other FE games, broken weapons don't vanish. They stay equipped and become totally useless, giving no Mt or Crit and weighing you down by 20 Weight.


Another Leaf level. +1 HP, Str, Mgc, Skl. It's a magical time to be Leaf!


The pirate pile doesn't stop from getting taller.


Come here, you! He's not dead, I promise.


Moving here reveals someone with a bag o' swag standing on the chapter objective. It's obviously...


Yeah he's not actually a pirate at all. Just a common Thief.


He didn't even bring a weapon. Most incompetent pirate leader ever. That Hezul S(croll) there, it gives him the ability to negate all non-Wrath critical hits. More importantly, if a character has a scroll like this in their inventory, it provides a bonus to growth rates on level up! The Hezul scroll provides +30% HP and +10% Str growths, at a penalty of -10% Luck growth. It's a sacrifice worth making.


We steal all of Shiva's stuff...


But we do not let him go. If you release a captured enemy, they count as "dead". If you hold onto them until the end of the chapter, they do not. This ensures Shiva will be alive and well to recruit later.


Dagda captures Lifis. Because Lifis doesn't have a weapon, we don't even need to fight him. If you don't have a weapon, Capture auto-succeeds.


And we keep him too.


Leaf attempting to be funny.


Awww, ain't it sweet?


Ladies love the Leaf, apparently.


Safy drops a bombshell about how evil the Grandbell empire actually are.


And then that wily cleric ropes Leaf into the same mission she already roped Lifis into. Because Leaf has a big sign over his head saying PROTAGONIST, he can't refuse.


By capturing and not releasing Lifis, we trigger this little conversation. Lifis gonna get lynched!


Safy stands up for him though, so we recruit him instead. It's all good, Lifis is an invaluable asset to our kleptomania!

[ArmsAreLoud]

This seems like a "kick yourself over and over again as you realize that you totally could have done this instead" kind of game.

It wouldn't have even occurred to me that Lifis was recruitable.

[azureArcana]

This seems like a "kick yourself over and over again as you realize that you totally could have done this instead" kind of game.

It wouldn't have even occurred to me that Lifis was recruitable.

The recruitment conditions get even more ridiculous, trust me. >.<

[Siegmundfried]

Admittedly, the no weapons seems like a big red flag, but even then, yeah, it's fishy.

[TheBertRam]

Oh god never heard of this fire emblem game, MUST FIND IT! Well a rom of it, but whatever.

[Walliard]

I feel suddenly nostalgic for all the dastards in Path of Radiance.

Oh Nintendo of America, how silly you can be~

aA, are you playing on Elite Mode?

[Dais]

I don't remember exactly what I spoiled for myself but I remember that by the time I got to that chapter I didn't bother trying to figure things out for myself(for once).
My Lifis turned out to be pretty damn awesome, but that was probably all the Hezul scroll's doing. Man those scrolls are powerful items.

[azureArcana]

No, no Elite Mode.




This isn't going to end well, is it?


Oh god. More evil. And it's Leidrick! Maybe we can get the girls back!


Impregnable? WE'LL SEE.


August doesn't care for children, apparently. Man after my own heart.


There are the children. They're all named, and must be taken to the correct houses in the bottom-right of the map. For riches!


This asshole has a Door Key and Chest Keys, and he'll pilfer the Meteor tome from the right chest and start pelting our team with it if we leave him alone too long.


Safy joins us this chapter. Her unique staff, Repair, works exactly like the Hammerne of the more modern games.


Lifis, being a Thief, can steal things. His Bld must be higher than the Wt of the item for him to steal it. Unlike in any other FE game, you can steal equipped weapons right out of an enemy's hands. For now he's stealing a Vulnerary.


Ridiculous Mechanics III: Staff Accuracy.

Healing staves can miss. Their accuracy check is equal to 60 + (4 x Skl), capped at 99%. Healing staves can also double-heal, however.


And as he unlocks the fort's main gate, Lifis triggers the subject of the next little section.

Ridiculous Mechanics IV: Movement Stars.

Each character has a different number of Movement Stars on the lower part of their profile, from 0 to 5. Each one represents a 5% chance to Re-Move. When it activates, the character displays a musical note above their head and a whistle sound plays, and they can move again. It can only activate once per turn, though.


Ridiculous Mechanics V: Mount and Dismount.

Fin can't move into the fort. Why? He has a horse. Horses can't go inside. Same applies to Pegasi and Wyverns.


The Off option allows a unit to dismount. Their movement drops, and some other stats are cut too. But they can go inside!



When dismounted, Fin loses the ability to use Lances, and must switch to Swords. This is the same for most mounted units; Swords only. This is why mounted units aren't very useful in FE5; the last few chapters are ALL indoors.


Leaf uses the Fire Sword to roast an Armour.


Heh. Heh. Heh.


Lifis gains a level while finishing off weakened guards. +1 HP, Str, Bld.


+1 Str, Spd. It's adequate!


Safy levels while healing Leaf. We need to get Safy to A rank in staves by Chapter 12x. +1 Skl.


Lifis beats the Bishop to the door. It's looting time!


First up, Meteor tome. Straight to storage!


Then an Armourslayer. It's useful in the next chapter, so we send a Vulnerary to storage instead.


Stabbing the Bishop nets Lifis another level. +1 HP, Skl, Bld. We're 2 for 2 on Bld growth, this is VERY good for a Thief.


Crossing swords with a knight nets Lifis +1 HP, Str, Spd, Def. Battle stats aren't bad. Shame about the Bld.


+1 HP, Skl, Spd, Def. Good for an axe-user.


Safy reaches a B in staves healing up the damage done mopping up the last few enemies (except for the boss.)

[azureArcana]

A quick run to the Supply convoy to dump some dead weight.


Supply has 128 spaces. It doesn't last as long as you think.


Broken weapons are just inventory -1, so we sell them for 100 gold.


JAAAAAAIL BREEEEEEAK.


Help is Rescue; all the same rules apply. With the caveat that if the Rescuer's build is less than double the person he's carrying, his Move is halved.


The kids won't move; we have to take them home manually.



More stat boosters!


It's a Shield Ring, it increases Defense. To storage it goes.


Talking 'stache's dad takes Corple and gives us nothing. Yet.


SCROLL GIMME GIMME


Baldo is not one of the better scrolls. +5% to HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luck and Def.



The final child's family gives us no material reward, instead she tells us about a guy named Dashin who will supposedly help us out when he hears what went on here.


The boss dies to Leaf flinging infernos at his face from the Fire Sword. He sucked.


+1 Skl, Luck and Def, just in time for one of the more annoying chapters!


Why's it annoying? Well...


Leaf celebrates...


...Prematurely.


YOU SUCK AT RESCUING PEOPLE, LEAF


REALLY


Every member of the team gets a quote implying they're running away to free Leaf later. Eyvel decides to buck the trend and get captured too. Stellar idea.


Guess thats the "plan", then.

[Dais]

And the plan just works out fantastically, does it not?
I thought those Lifis +Bld level ups were from the Hezul scroll. Turns out they're not, and Lifis has a 10% chance to gain Bld each level... Talk about crazy luck right there.

[azureArcana]

And the plan just works out fantastically, does it not?
I thought those Lifis +Bld level ups were from the Hezul scroll. Turns out they're not, and Lifis has a 10% chance to gain Bld each level... Talk about crazy luck right there.

Guilty admission; I'm going to abuse Lifis's Bld as much as I can when it comes to arena training time. I want to show off how ridiculous it can be. I COULD wait for the Neir scroll and level normally, but I want to steal extra Thunder Swords and Daim Thunders. But Lifis's Bld is the only thing being abused. Lara and her 80 levels are the only other thing that might qualify.

[Dais]

Yeah, now you're talking about more of the game than I know about. I just started playing the FE4 hard mode patch, and now you're going to make me play FE5 too? Well, it'll probably be worth it.