Alright, I put off writing this introduction because I have had no idea what to say for the Beyond Darkness banner.
But it’s 1:30 a.m. or so and I just need to come up with something.
So here’s my something:
Star Trek: Into Beyond Darkness.
…
Let’s talk about some Binding Blade.
Lugh — Anima Child
- Gronnserpent (Might = 12, Range = 2)
- If foe initiates combat and uses bow, dagger, magic or staff, grants Defense and Resistance +6 during combat.
- Rally Up Resistance (Range = 1)
- Grants Resistance +6 to target ally and allies within two spaces of target (excluding unit) for one turn.
- Mirror Stance (A Skill)
- If foe initiates combat, grants Attack and Resistance +4 during combat.
- Attack Feint (B Skill)
- If a Rally Assist skill is used by or targets unit, inflicts Attack +7 on foes in cardinal directions of unit through their next actions.
Sue — Doe of the Plains
- Short Bow (Might = 12, Range = 2)
- Effective against flying foes. Deals +10 damage when Special Attack triggers.
- Moonbow (Cooldown = 2)
- Treats foe’s Defense or Resistance as if reduced by 30 percent during combat.
- Swift Sparrow (A Skill)
- If unit initiates combat, grants Attack and Speed +4 during combat.
- Chill Defense (B Skill)
- At the start of the turn, inflicts Defense -7 on foe with the highest Defense through its next action.
- Hone Speed 4 (C Skill)
- At the start of the turn, grants Speed +7 to adjacent allies for one turn.
Thea — Stormy Flier
- Vanguard (Might = 14, Range = 1)
- If foe initiates combat, grants Defense +7 during combat.
- Ignis (Cooldown = 4)
- Boosts damage by 80 percent of unit’s Defense.
- Steady Posture (A Skill)
- If foe initiates combat, grants Speed and Defense +4 during combat.
- Seal Speed/Defense (B Skill)
- Inflicts Speed and Defense -5 on foe through its next action after combat.
Idunn — Dark Priestess
- Demonic Breath (Might = 16, Range = 1)
- Grants Defense +3. Effective against armored foes. At start of combat, if a negative status effect is active on unit, or if unit’s Health < 100 percent, neutralizes penalties on unit and grants Attack, Speed, Defense and Resistance +4 during combat. If foe’s Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower defensive stat.
- Bonfire (Cooldown = 3)
- Boosts damage by 50 percent of unit’s Defense.
- Fortify Defense/Resistance (A Skill)
- Grants Defense and Resistance +6. Inflicts Attack -2.
- Vengeful Fighter (B Skill)
- If unit’s Health ≥ 50 percent and foe initiates combat, grants Special Attack cooldown charge +1 per unit’s attack, and unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack (does not stack).
- Ward Dragons (C Skill)
- Grants Defense and Resistance +4 to dragon allies within two spaces during combat.
My apprehension to talk about this banner is two-fold.
First comes from the fact that I have not played the Binding Blade, and thus have no real connection to the characters.
Outside of knowing Lugh is Nino’s daughter — but I only care because she is one of my favorite Heroes units.
Second is the fact that this banner feels like a callback to the more simple units of old, which is admittedly nice after seeing so many with weapon descriptions longer than my novel.
However, Lugh and Thea basically have nothing special to talk about.
Sue similarly isn’t impressive, but only because she’s Brave Lyn lite.
Cavalry archer. Swift Sparrow. “Smoke” B Skill. ‘Nuff said.
Idunn is the only unit I would consider worth wasting orbs on. She is a powerful, red armored manakete with a weapon that counters all the Hectors and Surtrs of the world.
She also has very cute artwork.
What can I say, I’m a sucker for heterochromia. I’ll have to see about adding a character with that into my story…
While Idunn is neat, she unfortunately is not neater than Halloween Myrrh.
So I’m not going to throw a whole lot of orbs into this banner beyond supplementing the free summon tickets from Forging Bonds.
Naturally, that means the story missions are a big ol’ orb repository!
Book III, Chapter 5 begins an indiscriminate amount of time after Chapter 4, where King Gustav of Askr is killed by Hel.
The royal family mourns. I II II I_.
When Alfonse asks why Gustav wanted to pass along a ratty tree branch, his mother reveals that it was the play sword three-year-old Alfonse used to tell his father he was going to help defend their nation.
Real generic “you were prepared to lead all along” development beats.
Then we find out that as a result of Gustav’s death:
So the Order of Heroes, “built for small-scale operations,” decides to use the break in the war to take the fight to Hel.
Alfonse and Sharena were unable to figure out a trick to defeat her in royal archives, thus Alfonse figures they could scout her domain.
From there, the missions shift to simple character introductions.
The most interesting thing here comes when one map features an enemy pegasus archer — the first time a unit of that type has shown up.
I’m hoping we get a cool pegasus archer soon as a result.
As the Order reaches the entrance to Hel, now-fell King Gustav is sent to fight his children. Eir regards the act as particularly “cruel,” even for her mother.
I mostly found it surprising.
Not in that Gustav comes back to fight his children — that shit was obvious weeks ago. I’m simply surprised that they blew that plot point so early!
I am also admittedly surprised that they play Gustav as a character who keeps his sentience despite being physically commanded by Hel.
Naturally it’s all done so he can encourage Alfonse to be strong and kill him. Also closure:
Yet I had expected him to be a mindless, evil zombie.
So good on you for the surprise, Intelligent Systems.
From there, the Order of Heroes prepares to dive into Hel. Cut to black. See you next banner.
This FEH post feels a bit low-energy, don’t you think?
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m writing it into the wee hours of the morning, or if I simply could not care less about the characters… But either way, not my strongest.
It is one of my shortest, however. So I’ll happily accept that.
Maybe I’ll pivot my usual fever into my Gaming in American Culture class essay all about Sacred Stones, as I finally made up my mind for that.
Who knows, it could inspire IS to finally give us some new units from the game.
That said let me know what you think of this Binding Blade banner! Are you more excited than I am? More jaded? I’m quite interested to know.
Jason's Blog - Work in Progress 