Maddening Lions Update
[CAUTION! SPOILERS ALL FOR FE3H!]
I'm in the time skip! The battle to defend Garreg Mach was ROUGH. Took a couple divine pulses (and one restart; opening position is so important) to figure out how we wanted to proceed, but once we got over the hump, things went much more smoothly. In retrospect, I should have trained more than one archer. DX Hunter's Volley is a thing of beauty. But we are managing.
Because Caspar is in second string, he's a few levels behind, but with the help of his teammates, he was able to strike the final blow on his (unrecognized) uncle Randolph. I let Dimitri go for Edelgard, and while he wasn't able to KO her, he was shockingly dodgy--Edelgard had only a 34% hit chance with very low damage against him. And in the end, she was not immune to being punched in the face by my Brawleth before she tore our army to shreds and we fell off a cliff.
ALSO turns out the Commander ability protects against OHKOs which I shouldn't have been surprised by but somehow was?? I didn't mentally translate "a single hit with a lot of damage" as an "instant death effect," so Hubert was slightly more annoying than usual.
This map's Death Knight Elimination Squad was Mercedes at a Fire Orb and one lucky Ashe on the other side of a wall. By the official Death Knight Elimination rules (which I have just made up), for striking the final blow, Ashe is next in line to be Dark Bishop. XD he is behind Dimitri for this run (can you imagine Dark Bishop Dimitri??? I didn't do it because a) his reason is trash and b) the idea of giving him Lifetaker is soooooo cringe. I much prefer to have him self-heal via Renewal. It seems happier and healthier). Buuuutt I already did this to poor Ashe last time to give him Lifetaker, which he is making phenomenal use of.
Shout out to my new best friend, a green Swordsmaster ally, who solo'd the left middle chunk of the map without dying so I didn't have to. We have named her Marlene. We kept Marlene alive throughout the map (it was the least we could do). We hope the time skip is treating Marlene well.
Time Skip!
So firstly I just wanna say that Chris Hackney is fucking amazing as Dimitri's VA. I chose Blue Lions for my first playthrough and was utterly shocked at Dimitri's descent, and witnessing it again is as heartbreaking as the first time. The emotion in his voice is insane. My roommates and I all started with different houses, and while they were all having tearful, joyful reunions with their lords, we over on Team Faerghus were having a Bad Time (TM). (I kept saying, "All is not well in Waffleville," because they didn't want spoilers). And Chris Hackney's performance just fucking knocks it out of the park.
The first time I played this map, I made the mistake of believing that Dimitri and I were both frontliners. We put Dimitri in front and stood in the shadow of his cape and healed him ("WASTED EFFORT") This time, I made the mistake of believing that Dimitri was a frontliner. Poor boy got two-shot by EVERYONE (Reblog if you've ever been personally victimized by a Poison Touch archer). And with his personal ability giving him +20 Avoid at full health, you'd think he would have dodged SOMETHING. I was so maniacally laughing at our misfortune that my roommates came to give me emotional support hugs. They stayed for the whole battle. ♡ last time, we also had to beeline for Annette and Mercedes to prevent them from untimely doom. This time, we hid in a bush while Assassinette and Thyrcedes came to us. Thyrcedes came to save us all, because despite his beefy Defense and literally standing inside of a tree, Gilbert is also apparently allergic to dodging. I think it helped that Mercedes was able to class into Gremory before the time skip. And with a Levin Sword, Annette is lethal (now with Lethality!)
But no restarts! Yaaaay!
(In my hubris, I realized I have left Ashes and Dust on Dedue. RIP Faerghus. The war is lost.)
Roster Progression (as of post rat-hunting)
Key! [Unit: end goal. Pathing -> Current Class]
Byleth: Enlightened One. Path: Monk/Fighter -> Brigand -> Swordmaster -> Bishop? -> Enlightened One
Dimitri: Great Lord. Path: Monk -> Priest/Lord/Cavalier -> Paladin/Bishop -> High Lord -> Great Lord
Mercedes: Gremory. Path: Monk -> Mage/Priest -> Warlock/Bishop -> Gremory
Ingrid: Holy Knight. Path: Monk/Soldier -> Cavalier/Priest -> Paladin -> Holy Knight
Ashe: Bow Knight. Path: Fighter -> Archer/Cavalier -> Sniper/Paladin -> Bow Knight
Annette: Mortal Savant. Path: Monk -> Mage -> Assassin -> Mortal Savant
Dedue: Wyvern Lord. Path: Fighter -> Brigand -> Wyvern Rider/Warrior -> Wyvern Lord
Sylvain: Mortal Savant. Path: Mercenary/Thief -> Hero -> Swordmaster -> Mortal Savant
Felix: Warmaster. Path: Brigand/Brawler -> Grappler -> Warmaster
Flayn: Dancer. Path: Priest -> Mage -> Warlock/Priest -> Dancer
Hilda: Falcon Knight. Path: Pegasus Knight -> ??? -> Falcon Knight
Caspar: Wyvern Lord. Path: Brigand -> Warrior -> Wyvern Rider -> Wyvern Lord
