I mean, Cid can still die in battle, just like any other unit. He's not even that much harder to kill than a unit with similar HP would be, he just tends to kill things faster than they can kill him back. But if you were to go into a fight against ten opponents with only Cid, winning would actually be pretty hard.
<snip>
Might even be easier than that - get a few soldiers with gear good enough to survive a hit from TG Cid. Then have a strong caster target a soldier with a big spell. Finally, have the soldier run in close to Cid. Magic range only applies when you start the cast. The target can run completely out of range without any issues. I had an embarrassing near loss to Weigraf at the Windmill fight when I targetted him with a Meteor and he ran into my squad - the Meteor wiped almost my entire squad out.
Actually, the implications of cheap and effective magical healing in and of itself is fascinating. In real life the vast majority of battlefield casualties are people who are injured, but here anyone who isn't killed is 100% fine to fight again.
<snip>
What would war look like in a world where you can't bleed your enemies without outright killing them?
And remember, the two starting combat classes are Squire.... and Chemist. A bit of practice, and you get Knight, Archer, Black Mage/Wizard, and White Mage/Priest. So, yeah, simple healing should actually be pretty widespread. I imagine that's how the army sizes are so large - it takes so much to permamently take someone out. It also means the battles can get quite horrifying, since you NEED kill shots to take someone out.
I. "And people actually voluntarily attack you? Are they stupid?"
And remember, they've already framed Ramza for butchering everyone in Riovanes!
Loffrey: "So, you are unwilling to compromise on your position."
Dycedarg: "Ivalice's reunification under its rightful king was His Grace's most fervent wish. We've no intention of laying down arms until Prince Orinus sits the throne that is his birthright. You will not steer the helm of Ivalice at your own pleasure. Not so long as this house stands."
Loffrey: "Do you not know who made your assassination of the duke possible?"
Dycedarg: "I mislike the question. Larg was felled by a Southern Sky assassin. Or do you mean to say that you were the ones who sent him?"
Loffrey: "I'll not play this fool's game. There is to be no convincing you, then?"
Okay, so this next bit is just a theory of mine, and has no actual facts about it, but.... consider the following. Dycedarg is still all for putting Prince Orinus on throne. Why?
What has been established about Prince Orinus? He's the third son of the previous King and Duke Larg's sister, Queen Louveria. Louveria's been captured and held at Fort Bessalat (note: Check the Chronicles on all of them). And Duke Goltana is supporting Princess Ovelia by saying that Orinus was not fathered by the previous King. Especially after the death of the first two children, and the King's known poor health.
So, we have Duke Larg here, a fair bit of your power is tied to your sister being the Queen and the mother of the next King. Her first two tries at a successor are dead, the King is on his way out, and probably can't father another child. What can he do? First, let's take out the "Song of Ice and Fire" solution, and not have any incest. That leaves.... either getting an unknown stud that you can then remove without consequences, or.... use it to tie an important ally even closer to your faction. One that knows how to stay quiet, and maybe someone Larg has some dirt on just in case.
Dycedarg's the head of the Northern Order, the military power that the Queen lacks, a long-time friend of Larg and his sister, and Larg knows about mossfungus.
So, yeah, I do wonder about who Orinus's father really is.
Last time we fought Lettie and Celia (and Elmdore), people commented that I had been incredibly lucky to net a quick win because the Assassins can quickly disable our party and it's very frequent for Rapha to run ahead and get herself murked, resulting in an immediate game over. And I was lucky. But this time, there is no Rapha, so we'll get to see first-hand just how dangerous Lettie and Celia really are.
Yeah, Lettie and Celia, starting from the roof fight until you finally defeat them, have their full set of Assassin skills. The fact that they did not use Stop Bracelet/Suffocation on Rapha was a REAL lucky break for you. Or on the rest of your party.
Now, since you HAVE gotten the spell from here.... If you want Ultima from here, you basically got to game the two. They basically run on the following logic: If an enemy is within range and can be KO'd, walk over to them, and use Suffocation. If none are within range, move towards a target. If the target is vulnerable to a status move and in range, use it. If at range still, use Ultima. Finally, attack if no other options apply.
So what I typically do is have Mustadio Immobolize one of the Assassins, while someone like Beowulf tries to neutralize but not kill the other. Then Ramza gets about 4-5 spaces away. You want Ramza either immune to the Shadowbind or just outside of range (since Ultima has a cross hit box, it has slightly more range then Shadowbind). That USUALLY triggers Ultima, especially if Ramza is the only target in range.
Meanwhile, everyone else is trying not to permanently die to the other Assassin, and poaching the demons.
Oh.
Oooooh.
Well then.
<snip>
Elmdore's Vampire ability bites his victim, inflicting moderate damage, healing himself for the same amount, and inflicting the status effect of the same name.
So what does Vampire do?
Well, Agrias is now no longer controllable. Her defenses have dropped to zero, she's now unable to use reaction or movement ability, and every turn, she attacks the closest enemy with her own Vampire skill.
She's been turned into a vampire and is lashing out, berserk, at the first target in range to drink their blood, but still retains barely enough awareness to prioritize enemy units rather than her own allies - unless there are no enemies within her moving range, in which case she will go after an ally instead. This is honestly a pretty big flavor win compared to how weird the Zombie status can get in these games.
Yeah, this is a nasty fight.... especially if you are going for stealing all of the gear. Even more if you forget the anti-Vampire equipment, and/or there are no valid targets after you clear out the demons.
Argath!?
<snip>
Our opposition is five Ultima Demons and Argath himself, positioned on the walls around the central path. A difficult position, but we've dealt with this map once before and the conditions this time are actually similar.
<snip>
HE'S A DEATHKNIGHT? THIS FUCKING GUY! OF ALL PEOPLE!
Yep, new fight for WotL. Argath makes a bit of sense - loyal to Elmdore, and with Elmdore seeming to have some power over the dead with his final fight a valid target. And the best part is.... you get to kill Argath again!
As for the fight itself.... it honestly feels like WotL trying to give you an 'easier' fight to earn Ultima at. You are less likely to accidently kill the self-healing Argath, so you can mess around with the Ultima Demons to try and get the spell.
As for Argath being a Deathknight, well.... after what happened at the Fort, he could hardly be a living knight.
Admittedly, if I had designed the fight, I would have probably had an Undead/Vampire Tietra as a thrall to Argath, and have her plead for Ramza to kill her. Maybe have it that Argath couldn't actually die until taking Tietra out. Really twist the knife, have her ask Ramza to not tell Delita about her. Stuff like that.
[Meliadoul enters.]
Meliadoul: "The marquis is made a demon!? What devilry is this?"
Meliadoul.... who just can't catch up to the rest of her family. Late getting to Isilud. Formalv's skips out before she reaches Limberry. Or at least that was my take on it. Meliadoul's simply been following either the rumors of Ramza (for revenge) or trying to meet up with her father (to report in).
At least WotL Meliadoul's Swordskills work if the target is missing the target, unlike in the PSX version.
Zalbaag has been blind and morally complacent. Now the House of Beoulve stands poised to fall. Zalbaag is having a very belated revelation, while his brother Dycedarg now holds a stone meant to have him possessed by a demon from the netherworld, and his forsaken heretic brother Ramza rides now to Eagrose for a fateful confrontation. All stands poised to come into collision and collapse.
I've always liked this scene. Zalbaag's been loyal to his family and his brother (and trying to figure out how to deal with Ramza), so Larg's accusation, Dycedarg's actions, and Ramza's brief visit has caused him to question things. But rather than tip his hand, he quietly goes out and verifies things. "Trust but verify" in action.
As for the Delita scene, there's my old joke: "In FFT, if you're lucky you are at least on your own side. Probably."
