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Herman Gigglethorpe · January 21st, 2019, 18:13

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 6: Ghoul Evades Quickly

The battle in Shade Abbey was the toughest the party had faced yet, and hopefully the worst they'll face in this variant playthrough. It had 6 Zombies, 3 Skeletons, and a boss Ghoul. The Ghoul was like a Zombie, except with higher stats, and sleep attacks instead of poison.

It took many attempts to find the correct tactics to use, as well as either luck or divine intervention kicking in. Part of the difficulty came from the poor options I had. If this were Fire Emblem, promoting my units for a quick stat boost would have been the obvious way to go. But Shining Force is cruel and decreases your stats when you upgrade your units. You're supposed to wait until you get better weapons and high experience point enemies to take advantage of promoted stat growths. The equipment available in Rindo was the same stuff available since Chapter 1: Middle Swords, Spears, and Bronze Lances. Only the Power Staff was superior, and that was a mage weapon.

Camelot clearly intended for players to use mages with multi-target spells here. Shade Abbey has several choke points that can be blocked with melee units, while mages can kill the undead enemies with BLAZE or FREEZE. Spells ignore defense and evasion too. The main difficulty in this variant comes from the lack of attack mages and healers, since they tend to have 5 MOVE.

The Zombies and Ghouls "evaded quickly" so many times I wondered if my characters were wearing blindfolds. On one attempt, I killed every enemy except the Ghoul, only to lose when it dodged most of my attacks and got a double attack on HERMAN. (Dark Vortex's guide on GameFAQs is mistaken about the "Kill the Ghoul" victory condition. On one other attempt, I went straight for the Ghoul and killed it, only to learn that it was actually a "Destroy All Enemies" mission.)

On the final attempt, everything went well. I had HERMAN and Arthur go to the northern corners and hide for a while, while Mae blocked the 1 tile wide passage. Ken threw his Spear for minor damage at whatever enemy was attacking Mae. Luke stayed in the area immediately south of the horde of undead, and they seemed to ignore him for some reason. He got in a few kills with his Middle Sword this way. Perhaps the AI is designed to prioritize HERMAN and any units in front of him.

Mae was never poisoned, but Luke was. There were a few misses against the Ghoul, and Arthur of all people shamed the rest of my units' incompetence by getting in 2 damage with a Spear. He also managed to supply Luke with Healing Seeds as needed. Mae finished off the Ghoul with one last thrust with the Bronze Lance, and Chapter 2 was over!

Balbaroy and Amon joined the team immediately afterwards, and the town of Bustoke promised better gear.

HERMAN the SDMN level 10
HP: 22
MP: 10
ATTACK: 23
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 12

Middle Sword

Ken the KNT level 10

HP: 25
MP: 0
ATTACK: 19
DEFENSE: 9
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 11

Spear

Mae the KNT level 11

HP: 18
MP: 0
ATTACK: 21
DEFENSE: 20
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 13

Bronze Lance

Arthur the KNT level 6

HP: 11
MP: 0
ATTACK: 17
DEFENSE: 7
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 8

Spear
Power Ring

Luke the WARR level 10

HP: 16
MP: 0
ATTACK: 23
DEFENSE: 15
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 13

Middle Sword
Speed Ring

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 21st, 2019, 20:30

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 7: Battles Are For the Birds

Chapter 3 began auspiciously. The shops finally had some decent weapons for a change, most notably the Power Spear, which had 2 range and 6 more ATTACK than the Bronze Lance. Centaurs like Ken, Mae, and Arthur were happy that they no longer faced the risk of becoming irrelevant. HERMAN along with other sword users were not fond of the lack of anything better than their starting Middle Swords. At least Luke got a small benefit with the Middle Axe.

Bustoke's men were working for Runefaust as slaves in Bustoke's quarry, so of course HERMAN and company had to save them. Diane the Archer offered to join, but her MOVE was too low to fit in the active party. She'll be twiddling her thumbs in headquarters for the rest of the game. Balbaroy and Amon, however, were welcome additions to the Shining Force. Thanks to being Birdmen, they could fly around the map with 7 MOVE each. They were stuck at level 5 with Middle Swords, but soft targets were available in the quarry.

Bustoke Quarry had 2 Dark Mages, 6 Skeletons, 2 Dark Elves, 4 Dark Priests, 1 Lizardman, and 1 Master Mage boss. The Skeletons were the same as before, but Power Spears meant they no longer had the DEFENSE advantage that they did in earlier missions. Dark Elf archers, Dark Mages, and Dark Priests had such low DEFENSE that I used them to level up Arthur, Balbaroy, and Amon. It wouldn't do to waste such an opportunity when they might have trouble catching up later.

Dark Mages tended to use BLAZE level 2, and Dark Priests healed other units whenever they could. They were too weak to make much of a difference. Balbaroy and Amon could fly and hide out of range on the cliffs if necessary, but the Runefaust monsters were all earthbound. Several narrow passageways allowed Mae and Ken to guard other units.

Defeating the Master Mage ended the mission, and the final Skeleton and melee attacking Lizardman were irrelevant. I did have to get rid of the nearby Dark Priest to prevent it from healing the boss.

HERMAN got Lunar Dew after the mission, which he gave to Zylo the werewolf. This cured his illness, and he then joined the Shining Force. Zylo is eligible with 7 MOVE, is generally considered a high tier melee attacker, and doesn't need any weapon upgrades. What's not to like?

Stats and Equipment (Zylo isn't included because he hasn't been in a battle yet.)

HERMAN the SDMN level 10

HP: 22
MP: 10
ATTACK: 23
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 12

Middle Sword

Ken the KNT level 12

HP: 33
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 10
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 12

Power Spear

Mae the KNT level 12

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 28
DEFENSE: 20
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 16

Power Spear

Arthur the KNT level 10

HP: 13
MP: 2
ATTACK: 24
DEFENSE: 9
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 10

Power Spear

Luke the WARR level 11

HP: 17
MP: 0
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 18
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 14

Middle Axe
Speed Ring

Amon the BDMN level 11

HP: 23
MP: 0
ATTACK: 24
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 15

Middle Sword
Power Ring

Balbaroy the BDMN level 11

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 20
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 14

Middle Sword

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 22nd, 2019, 10:07

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 8: Do Not Play This Game If You are Photosensitive

Chapter 3 was short and only had two more battles left. Both were fairly easy, but I decided to EGRESS on the second when Balbaroy died after being hit with the ugly RNG stick.

The first mission was on a map filled with mostly with forest and mountain terrain. This hindered the centaur Knights a bit, but not Zylo the werewolf! One perk of his class is the ability to ignore movement costs on some terrain. Ken, Mae, and Arthur still saw some action because the Power Spear had both range and power. HERMAN was irrelevant because he was a weak sword user. Balbaroy and Amon weren't really stronger than other sword wielders, but they at least had 7 MOVE and could fly.

Enemy units on this map included 5 Skeletons, 2 Dark Elves, 2 Dark Priests, 2 Lizardmen, and 4 Pegasus Knights. I actually had to fight the Lizardmen this time, but they were just generic melee units. Pegasus Knights could fly like their Fire Emblem namesakes, and had decent DEFENSE. Fortunately, Pegasus Knights had a decent experience point yield too.

Once that mission was done, it was on to the Pao Bridge. There was a "bridge" to the north with a special enemy unit on the eastern side. The southern part of the map was mostly sky impassable to everyone except for Balbaroy and Amon.

Enemy units on Pao Bridge included 3 Dark Elves, 2 Dark Priests, 5 Lizardmen, 3 Pegasus Knights, 2 Silver Knights, and 1 Laser Eye. The Silver Knights were upgraded versions of Rune Knights, but they couldn't keep up with my party. Balbaroy and Amon lured out one of the Pegasus Knights and killed it, while the rest of the group stayed to the southwest of the bridge. The reason for this was that the Laser Eye fired every 10 turns, dealing about 12 damage to all units on the bridge. Shining Force normally doesn't have "friendly fire", but this case was an exception. The enemies on the bridge were severely damaged by the Laser Eye's flashing seizure-inducing lights, and then the centaurs and infantry charged through.

Luke had the honor of both getting the first strike on the Laser Eye and dealing the final blow. Mae and Ken hurled their Power Spear at it too. Once the Laser Eye superweapon was defeated, the rest of the fight was easy.

Pelle joined the Shining Force after the fight. He had a disagreement with a Silver Knight who threw him off a cliff in a cutscene at the beginning. Pelle was yet another centaur Knight, just in case this variant team needed any more of those.

Stats and Equipment (After some equipment upgrades in Pao, and featuring Pelle)

HERMAN the SDMN level 11

HP: 23
MP: 10
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 12

Long Sword

Ken the KNT level 13

HP: 33
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 11
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 13

Power Spear

Mae the KNT level 13

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 29
DEFENSE: 20
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 17

Power Spear

Arthur the KNT level 11

HP: 14
MP: 2
ATTACK: 25
DEFENSE: 9
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 11

Power Spear

Pelle the KNT level 8 (3 levels lower than Arthur, and he already has much better stats. . .)

HP: 21
MP: 0
ATTACK: 33
DEFENSE: 18
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 15

Power Spear

Luke the WARR level 12

HP: 17
MP: 0
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 18
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 14

Middle Axe
Speed Ring

Amon the BDMN level 12

HP: 23
MP: 0
ATTACK: 24
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 16

Long Sword

Balbaroy the BDMN level 12

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 28
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 14

Long Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WRWF level 12

HP: 26
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 17
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 16

No Equipment

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 22nd, 2019, 13:49

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 9: Promotion at Last

General Elliott was the obligatory honorable enemy general. He told HERMAN that Runefaust was once a nice country named Protectora until Darksol corrupted its king. The town of Pao was a nomadic settlement filled with wagons, and the queen was about to issue the order to move somewhere else. But there were a few things that needed to be done first.

One Long Sword was in a treasure chest, and more were available for purchase in the weapon shop. Swords had been inferior to polearms for so long that it was nice to get an upgrade for HERMAN, Balbaroy, and Amon. I also bought a few more Power Spears for new party members who carried wimpy Bronze Lances for some reason.

Two viable party members joined the 6-7 MOVE squad. Kokichi was a comic relief old man in Bustoke who was testing out a flying machine. By Chapter 4, he had perfected it, and decided to provide "experience" to the team. This didn't translate into a high character level, so I had to grind a few levels with him first. Kokichi had 1 less MOVE than the Birdmen, but his "Wing Knight" class let him use the versatile Power Spear instead of the mediocre Long Sword. Pelle was yet another centaur Knight, but his high starting stats made him viable from the start.

Then there was the infamous Jogurt the YGRT. Jogurt may be the weakest character in any RPG. He's a hamster with 1 in every stat except for MOVE, which is 7. However, if you finish off an enemy with Jogurt, you can make other characters look like hamsters too. As entertaining as an all-rodent army would be, this team is already handicapped enough as it is. (The only spell these losers have right now is EGRESS. . .)

Elliott challenged the party to a battle on the plains near Pao. This was a huge map filled with very little movement-hindering terrain. It took quite a while for the opposing forces to even approach each other to attack. I fought some of the enemies multiple times to level up Kokichi and Pelle, and then Kokichi found a Heat Axe. This weapon was the first promotion-exclusive item. So Luke had the honor of becoming the first promoted unit of the Shining Force! He had to deal with a stat penalty at first, but soon caught up to his pre-promoted self.

Elliott's forces included 3 Dark Priests, 5 Lizardmen, 4 Pegasus Knights, 4 Silver Knights, 1 Artillery, and the boss himself. Two of the Dark Priests stayed to the east of the main force and mostly remained irrelevant. The Artillery and the remaining Dark Priest stayed with Elliott. The Lizardmen, Pegasus Knights, and Silver Knights were the main focus of the battle. I tried to keep my units close together to prevent any one from getting overwhelmed, with Mae at the lead. Having a unit who takes 1 damage from most physical attacks makes for the perfect bait.

Elliott stood still like a Fire Emblem boss, and that was good for my party. He had 60 HP, and dealt considerable damage to Zylo with his sword. After the first strike, the centaurs threw Power Spears. Luke jumped in the air while spinning his axe around to finish off the boss.

Pao had stopped in the center of the plains, and it was time to check for more units. . .

HERMAN the SDMN level 12

HP: 24
MP: 10
ATTACK: 28
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 12

Long Sword

Ken the KNT level 13

HP: 33
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 11
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 13

Power Spear

Mae the KNT level 14

HP: 20
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 20
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 17

Power Spear

Arthur the KNT level 12

HP: 14
MP: 3
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 10
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 11

Power Spear

Pelle the KNT level 12

HP: 21
MP: 0
ATTACK: 34
DEFENSE: 24
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 17

Power Spear

Luke the GLDR level 12/3

HP: 17
MP: 0
ATTACK: 37
DEFENSE: 18
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 21 (+7 in one level!)

Heat Axe
Speed Ring

Amon the BDMN level 13

HP: 23
MP: 0
ATTACK: 24
DEFENSE: 15
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

Long Sword

Balbaroy the BDMN level 13

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 28
DEFENSE: 15
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 14

Long Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WRWF level 13

HP: 26
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 17
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

No Equipment

Kokichi the WKNT level 11

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 28
DEFENSE: 12
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 13

Power Spear

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 22nd, 2019, 15:42

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 10: No One Is Patient Enough to Use Arthur

This update has 3 battles, because two of them were relatively uneventful.

I had forgotten to pick up Vankar at the first opportunity, so I went back to Pao's first location and talked to him. As if I needed another centaur Knight at this point. . .

Uranbatol Fortress was blocked by 3 Dark Priests, 3 Pegasus Knights, 6 Silver Knights, 1 Artillery, and 2 Hellhounds. Hellhounds were normally weak, but could randomly unleash a dangerous fire breath attack. The arena was cramped with many narrow passages, making the flying units relevant once more. I tried to give some free kills to HERMAN, since I had promoted him to HERO after finding a Steel Sword that wouldn't work on his base class. He quickly began to catch up to the other party members. Some later enemies will dodge most physical attacks, so HERMAN's upcoming magical swords will be welcome.

Uranbatol the city had a headstrong centaur Knight named Earnest who opened the way to the next fight by charging into a wall repeatedly. He then joined the Shining Force to provide more class redundancy.

Uranbatol's port had 1 Dark Priest, 1 Evil Puppet, 2 Silver Knights, 3 Artilleries, 2 Hellhounds, 5 Seabats, and the boss Balbazek. Much of the eastern half of the map was water, so only Balbaroy, Amon, or Kokichi could fight effectively there. Sometimes, the Seabats would fly west towards the docks anyway. Seabats had a good experience yield and better stats than their earlier palette swaps, but didn't seem to have their sleep attacks.

Most of the fight was straightforward until the end. Guides sometimes recommend taking advantage of Balbazek's sessile nature and regenerating health to level up weak units like Arthur. Unfortunately, each hit only gave him 5 experience and then I had to cycle through everyone's turns. Who has the patience for that in Shining Force? I'll dump Arthur for a different unit once I find him. Instead of sandbagging for hours, I had the centaurs and Kokichi hit him with Power Spears. Luke got in a hit too. When Balbazek died, he grovelled to convince HERMAN to spare his life. Not that it did any good, because Darksol zapped him to death like a generic evil overlord.

Chapter 5 began immediately with a battle aboard the ship with 3 Pegasus Knights, 4 Seabats, 3 Conches, and 2 Shellfish. It was easy, but took a while thanks to so many of the enemies flying over water. Kokichi was useful here.

A mermaid guided HERMAN to the town of Waral, where promotion-exclusive equipment could be purchased. It's probably time to upgrade the rest of the team now. If I wait too long, I'll have to deal with the initial promotion stat penalty in a hard battle. The final unit for this team will come at the beginning of Chapter 6.

HERMAN the HERO level 12/4

HP: 27
MP: 9
ATTACK: 32
DEFENSE: 16
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 30

Steel Sword
Speed Ring

Ken the KNT level 14

HP: 33
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 12
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 14

Power Spear

Mae the KNT level 15

HP: 23
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 20
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 17

Power Spear

Arthur the KNT level 13

HP: 16
MP: 3
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 10
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 12

Power Spear

Pelle the KNT level 15

HP: 23
MP: 0
ATTACK: 35
DEFENSE: 24
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 19

Power Spear

Vankar the KNT level 9

HP: 29
MP: 0
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 11
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 12

Power Spear

Earnest the KNT level 9

HP: 21
MP: 0

ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 13
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 15

Power Spear

Luke the GLDR level 12/4

HP: 17
MP: 0
ATTACK: 37
DEFENSE: 21
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 17

Heat Axe

Amon the BDMN level 15

HP: 24
MP: 0
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 15
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 20

Long Sword

Balbaroy the BDMN level 14

HP: 19
MP: 0
ATTACK: 28
DEFENSE: 15
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 17

Long Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WRWF level 13

HP: 26
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 17
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

No Equipment

Kokichi the WKNT level 14

HP: 23
MP: 0
ATTACK: 29
DEFENSE: 14
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 13

Power Spear

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 22nd, 2019, 20:24

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 11: What's a Paladin?

The Shining Force was stuck in the island town of Waral, but fortunately the king happened to be the shopkeeper too. Shining Force has nice humorous moments like that. Picture an old bearded medieval king rushing from his throne to the counter, and you'll get the idea.

Steel Swords and Steel Lances were available now, a clear hint that unpromoted units would become obsolete soon. So I upgraded everyone that I could, and leveled Earnest and Vankar to 10 so I could promote them too. I spent far more time grinding in the next battle than anyone should, but you can't take too many precautions when your party doesn't have magic yet.

The battle in the Ring Reef ruins had 5 Hellhounds, 4 Seabats, 5 stat-buffed Skeletons, 3 Worms, and 1 Master Mage. The arena was divided into three main routes that lead to the north, which were separated by void spaces and narrow passages.

HERMAN, Zylo, Luke, and Vankar went north, the other centaur Paladins went east, and the flying units went west. Balbaroy, Amon, and Kokichi worked well as a fast strike team, and helped take out a few Seabats. The centaurs had a little more trouble dealing with the enemies to the east. Zylo started off weak with the promoted penalty, but started to regain his former strength. HERMAN was sturdier than ever before, and didn't have to hide in fear as he did in earlier missions. The Master Mage to the north was weak for a boss, and its FREEZE spells didn't pose much of a threat as long as I prevented my units from staying in packed formations.

The Power Lance was still more useful than the Steel Lance thanks to its range. Not bad for an unpromoted unit weapon.

Next up was another battle on the boat. The enemy forces started with 2 Pegasus Knights, 5 Seabats, 6 Conches, 4 Shellfish, and 1 Gargoyle. The gimmick for this map was enemy reinforcements, which occasionally spawned new Seabats and Conches. This was another way the game tried to tell me to use area of effect magic. Enemy evasion was annoying in this fight. There's no sight quite like watching HERMAN strike a heroic pose, then whiff two slashes in a row. Accuracy for physical attacks must be lower in this game than in the average Fire Emblem. The Gargoyle was barely a problem at all, but the Seabats kept dodging spears and swords.

The fight itself was easy but tedious. HERMAN got into yet another shipwreck and landed in the town of Rudo. Lyle, the final eligible party member, joined the Shining Force when I talked to him. He had a bow instead of a polearm, unlike most centaurs. He came unpromoted below level 10, so I may have to level him up a bit.

HERMAN the HERO level 12/7

HP: 37
MP: 9
ATTACK: 36
DEFENSE: 24
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 38

Steel Sword
Speed Ring

Ken the PLDN level 14/4

HP: 32
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 12
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 19

Power Spear

Mae the PLDN level 15/5

HP: 42
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 27
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 26

Power Spear

Arthur the KNT level 13

HP: 16
MP: 3
ATTACK: 27
DEFENSE: 10
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 12

Power Spear

Pelle the PLDN level 15/4

HP: 31
MP: 0
ATTACK: 36
DEFENSE: 23
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 16

Power Spear

Vankar the PLDN level 10/4

HP: 33
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

Power Spear

Earnest the PLDN level 10/3

HP: 18
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 16
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 13

Power Spear

Luke the GLDR level 12/8

HP: 29
MP: 0
ATTACK: 42
DEFENSE: 34
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 20

Heat Axe

Amon the SKYW level 15/6

HP: 25
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 18
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 27

Steel Sword

Balbaroy the SKYW level 14/6

HP: 28
MP: 0
ATTACK: 39
DEFENSE: 20
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 22

Steel Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WFBN level 13/6

HP: 35
MP: 0
ATTACK: 36
DEFENSE: 25
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 24

No Equipment

Kokichi the SKYL level 14/5

HP: 27
MP: 0
ATTACK: 29
DEFENSE: 15
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 21

Power Spear
Mobility Ring

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 23rd, 2019, 11:19

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 12: Who Are the Gargoyles?

Chapter 6 began with Rudo, the town full of children who hated adults. They weren't foul-mouthed like their Little Lamplight cousins in Fallout 3. Lyle joined the team, but there was no way he could catch up to my promoted units. Lyle died in the first battle I sent him to, and things weren't going to get any better. So I ditched both Arthur and Lyle for convenience's sake.

The weapon shop had melee range Chrome Lances, which I bought for the centaurs and Kokichi. Power Spears were still preferred much of the time thanks to their range. Much like Fire Emblem, equipping a different weapon in Shining Force is a free action, so polearm users may want to take both a lance and a spear.

HERMAN was looking for a spell book to seal the Dark Dragon and prevent Darksol from releasing it again. On the way to Dragonia, 4 Master Mages, 5 Artilleries, 3 Worms, 1 High Priest, 5 Golems, and 1 Durahan attacked. As my centaurs and ground units stumbled through the mountainous terrain, more Golems and Master Mages appeared. My horde of physical attackers eventually plowed their way through without too much trouble. Shining Force 1 becomes much easier after characters get over the promotion penalty, and mages with fixed damage spells are much more dangerous than physical monsters who often deal damage in the single digits.

Bleu the cowardly Sacred Dragon was beloved by all of Rudo's children, but ran away when it was time to fight Runefaust. He then gained some courage and roasted an enemy soldier. Bleu joined the Shining Force. Stat optimizers love Bleu for his late game power and flight, but he was ineligible for the team due to having 5 MOVE.

Kane, or "Cain" as he was called in battle, challenged the party to a battle in Dragonia. There were several treasure chests containing new weapons like a Long Sword for HERMAN and a melee range Halberd for Kokichi. Kane came with 3 Master Mages, 3 Gargoyles, 2 High Priests, 4 Golems, and 2 Durahans. My flying units and HERMAN helped deal with the northern Gargoyles, who didn't do much other than try to inflict accuracy loss with MUDDLE. The Golems and Master Mages were in a formation to the east, which the centaurs and Zylo overran.

Kane himself had 70 HP and the Sword of Darkness which could cast a low level DESOUL, an instant kill spell. He only tried that trick once and failed, and then he resorted to regular slashes. Zylo and Luke dealt much of the damage, while centaurs sometimes pelted him with Power Spears. Luke's jumping spinning strike with his Heat Axe finished off the villain, who was apparently HERMAN's brother in the original Japanese. (Kane seems like Golbez to me. . .)

Kane's mask had been brainwashing him, so he decided to repent by fighting Darksol. Kane disappeared once Darksol got the spell book needed to reawaken the dragon.

The kids in Rudo told HERMAN to go to Prompt next. Along the way, Mishaela taunted the Shining Force and sent 4 Master Mages, 3 Gargoyles, 2 High Priests, 2 Bowriders, and 3 Belials. Belials were similar to Gargoyles, except they could cast BOLT level 2 instead of crappy status ailment spells. Some enemy spells in quick succession took out Balbaroy, but that was the result of bad moves on my part. Amon and Kokichi were the stars this time, because the map was more mountainous than the first battle of Chapter 6. The centaurs must have looked silly trying and failing to go through narrow mountain passes with a heavy MOVE penalty! Zylo's forest-ignoring movement allowed him to be relevant near the end.

Mishaela's Demon Castle had 4 Master Mages, 3 Gargoyles, 2 Durahans, 1 High Priest, 3 Belials, 3 Bowriders, and the boss herself. I liked this map because of its enemy placement. There was a narrow corridor to the north surrounded by Gargoyles to the west and Bowriders to the east. Balbaroy, Amon, and Kokichi earned their place in the Shining Force here. Bowriders were the main priority because their arrows once hit HERMAN hard. Fliers were also useful for taking out the Belials, though the centaur Paladins helped against the ones who moved too close to land.

Mishaela was a "wizardess" according to the game script, and her BOLT 2 could target most of her throne room at once. She also had 65 HP and a high evasion rate. Kokichi's Halberd dealt a considerable amount of damage, and his flight allowed him to hit from the north. Power Spears dealt minor damage, while Zylo and Luke fought her in melee. Luke finished her off like so many other bosses. HERMAN made sure to pick up treasure chests containing Shower of Cure, the Evil Ring, the Black Ring, the White Ring, a Healing Seed, and a Power Potion before acquiring the Sword of Light. This was important because picking up the Sword of Light automatically ended the chapter.

In Chapter 7, the Shining Force finally made it to the town of Prompt after having been delayed for so long by aquatic detours.

HERMAN the HERO level 12/9

HP: 43
MP: 9
ATTACK: 41
DEFENSE: 30
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 42

Broad Sword

Ken the PLDN level 14/7

HP: 41
MP: 0
ATTACK: 31
DEFENSE: 14
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 26

Power Spear

Mae the PLDN level 15/9

HP: 52
MP: 0
ATTACK: 34
DEFENSE: 29
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 31

Power Spear

Pelle the PLDN level 15/8

HP: 36
MP: 0
ATTACK: 38
DEFENSE: 31
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 21

Power Spear

Vankar the PLDN level 10/5

HP: 36
MP: 0
ATTACK: 30
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

Power Spear

Earnest the PLDN level 10/5

HP: 26
MP: 0
ATTACK: 32
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

Power Spear

Luke the GLDR level 12/10

HP: 30
MP: 0
ATTACK: 51
DEFENSE: 39
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 26

Heat Axe

Amon the SKYW level 15/9

HP: 25
MP: 0
ATTACK: 37
DEFENSE: 24
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 36

Steel Sword

Balbaroy the SKYW level 14/9

HP: 30
MP: 0
ATTACK: 40
DEFENSE: 25
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 29

Steel Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WFBN level 13/9

HP: 37
MP: 0
ATTACK: 43
DEFENSE: 32
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 30

No Equipment

Kokichi the SKYL level 14/10

HP: 41
MP: 0
ATTACK: 46
DEFENSE: 24
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 33

Halberd
Mobility Ring

Herman Gigglethorpe

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 13: Kokichi the (Almost) Unstoppable

Chapter 7 began with yet another heavily forested and mountainous area, in case Shining Force 1 didn't already hate centaurs enough. For this reason, Balbaroy, Kokichi, Zylo, and Amon were important again. Balbaroy got himself killed in a more honorable way this time. The opponents were 4 Durahans, 2 Belials, 2 Jets, 2 Torch Eyes, 2 Wyverns, and 1 Minotaur. Jets were flying enemies with good DEFENSE and an extremely hard-hitting physical attack. Wyverns functioned like stronger flying Hellhounds, complete with fire breath. Torch Eyes were laser-spewing robots that seemed to ignore DEFENSE. If one got a double attack, any low HP unit was done for.

HERMAN became more useful in this chapter because his Sword of Light could cast BOLT level 2, dealing around 12-15 damage to enemies in a wide radius.

Tower of the Ancients had terrain that was more suitable for centaur Paladins, but the winding paths and walls still gave the fliers a big advantage. For once, Amon died instead of Balbaroy. The enemies were 3 Jets, 3 Torch Eyes, 2 Wyverns, 5 Ice Worms, 4 Steel Claws, and 1 Demon Master at the end. Ice Worms were basically the ice version of Hellhounds, and Steel Claws were powerful flying robots with a ranged attack. The Demon Master was just another palette swapped wizard with a high level FREEZE. The Sword of Light's magic came in handy when enemies bunched together in narrow areas.

Dark Vortex's FAQ suggested opening the treasure chest before completing the mission. It contained the Valkyrie, the ultimate non-cursed polearm. It could hit at 2 range like a spear as well. Of course I gave it to Kokichi! He flew his mini helicopter up to the Demon Master and took him out with one attack.

Next up was Metapha, a region accessed through the Shining Path in Prompt. Chaos the robot tried to stop HERMAN, along with 4 Jets, 4 Torch Eyes, 2 Minotaurs, 4 Ice Worms, and 3 Demon Masters. The Jets were to the north in a hard-to-reach place, so I had the fliers fight them for a while. Zylo and Mae went east, while the rest went west into the wide open area. Kokichi took out most of Chaos's health in a lucky double attack, but paid for it with his life. Vankar died too, but nobody cared. A BOLT 2 from the Sword of Light dealt around 7 damage, less than what I was hoping for. Ken of all people finished it off, despite centaurs being allergic to ATTACK stat growth.

HERMAN combined the Sword of Light with the Sword of Darkness to create the Chaos Breaker, a weapon that could cast FREEZE level 3. Its range wasn't as wide as BOLT level 2, but it dealt more damage.

The final battle of Chapter 7 was another round in the mountainous and forested area outside of Prompt. Camelot must have liked flying units a bit too much. They saw most of the action in this battle, though HERMAN's sword magic and Zylo's claws helped out too. Runefaust's army included 1 High Priest, 3 Minotaurs, 2 Demon Masters, 3 Horsemen, 4 Cerberuses, and 4 Armed Skeletons. Cerberuses were upgrades to Hellhounds, and Horsemen were promoted Bowriders. The fight wasn't too hard apart from a few occasions when the fliers needed to run away and heal with items.

Chapter 8 is the last part of the game. Hopefully the team will be strong enough to beat the Dark Dragon. At least Kokichi will be for sure. Who would have thought that a comparatively late unit would be the most overleveled?

HERMAN the HERO level 12/13

HP: 50
MP: 9
ATTACK: 65
DEFENSE: 45
MOVE: 7 (With pepper boost)
AGILITY: 44

Chaos Breaker
White Ring

Ken the PLDN level 14/8

HP: 41
MP: 0
ATTACK: 38
DEFENSE: 16
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 28

Chrome Lance

Mae the PLDN level 15/11

HP: 56
MP: 0
ATTACK: 34
DEFENSE: 33
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 40

Power Spear

Pelle the PLDN level 15/9

HP: 40
MP: 0
ATTACK: 45
DEFENSE: 35
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 21

Chrome Lance

Vankar the PLDN level 10/6

HP: 36
MP: 0
ATTACK: 37
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 21

Chrome Lance

Earnest the PLDN level 10/5

HP: 26
MP: 0
ATTACK: 32
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

Power Spear

Luke the GLDR level 12/14

HP: 39
MP: 0
ATTACK: 56
DEFENSE: 49
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 31

Great Axe

Amon the SKYW level 15/13

HP: 37
MP: 0
ATTACK: 45
DEFENSE: 33
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 41

Broad Sword

Balbaroy the SKYW level 14/13

HP: 38
MP: 0
ATTACK: 48
DEFENSE: 31
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 38

Broad Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WFBN level 13/15

HP: 55
MP: 0
ATTACK: 58
DEFENSE: 42
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 46

No Equipment

Kokichi the SKYL level 14/18

HP: 54
MP: 0
ATTACK: 62
DEFENSE: 41
MOVE: 8 (With ring)
AGILITY: 46

Valkyrie
Mobility Ring

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 23rd, 2019, 20:07

Shining Force 1 Mobility Variant Part 14: Penultimate Battles

Chapter 8 started in Runefaust, which looked surprisingly similar to Guardiana. It's nice that the main villain city didn't look like a generic evil lair for a change. All the residents were glad that Darksol had left, but that was because he was preparing to resurrect the dragon.

Runefaust Castle had two battles, and both were tricky. The first had 2 High Priests, 3 Horsemen, 3 Cerberuses, 3 Armed Skeletons, 5 Chimaeras, and 3 Blue Dragons. Most of the map was a wide open area, with a narrow passage to the southeast containing treasure chests with an Atlas axe and a Halberd. I sent Earnest there because there was no chance of him being useful in combat at all. Earnest is the new Arthur.

Most units didn't move far from their starting location, but the Chimaeras were the exception. This was a problem. Chimaeras had 56 HP each, often dodged physical attacks, and had a high chance of using a DEFENSE penetrating fire breath attack. Kokichi died to them on the first few attempts, and then I figured out a plan to exploit the AI. The Chimaeras were probably programmed to move towards the party once they reach certain tiles. So I had all the centaurs march in a line, with HERMAN, Zylo, Luke, and Kokichi staying back a bit. Once the Chimaeras attacked, I surrounded them with physical units and had HERMAN use the Chaos Breaker's FREEZE spell. The plan worked well. Once the Chimaeras were dead, the rest of the map was easy. The Blue Dragons stayed in their small narrow passageways so I couldn't surround them, but they were weaker than Chimaeras.

King Ramladu of Runefaust fought personally in the second battle, but first he sent his 6 Torch Eyes and 6 Steel Claws to attack. They were spaced out and not in a tight formation. I took a more offensive approach this time, since there was no way everyone was going to survive 12 potential laser attacks anyway. Luke lost the honor of being the boss killer this time because he fell to one of the robots. The Chaos Breaker's magic served me well once again, in addition to Kokichi's Valkyrie. Sometimes I wish I could sacrifice my other units' turns and give them to the old man in the helicopter!

King Ramladu was the toughest boss yet. He had 99 HP and a nasty habit of casting AURA to restore most of it. Don't mistake him for a purely defensive unit. Each of his silly looking sword waving animations could one-shot even decent characters like Pelle. Both Pelle and Vankar were defeated in the battle. Amon, Mae, and Zylo blocked him once he left his throne. Kokichi dealt much of the damage, and HERMAN dealt the final blow with Chaos Breaker's FREEZE spell.

The update ends here because I still have to figure out a way to get past the Colossus battle in the dragon's shrine with the variant restrictions. The arena is nasty for any non-flying unit, because so much of it is void and the way north for grounded characters is very narrow. There are also more aggressive Blue Dragons and Chimaeras. If Domingo were eligible, it would be a lot easier! banghead

HERMAN the HERO level 12/18

HP: 60
MP: 10
ATTACK: 73
DEFENSE: 56
MOVE: 7 (With pepper boost)
AGILITY: 44

Chaos Breaker
White Ring

Ken the PLDN level 14/10

HP: 42
MP: 0
ATTACK: 42
DEFENSE: 18
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 33

Chrome Lance

Mae the PLDN level 15/13

HP: 59
MP: 0
ATTACK: 47
DEFENSE: 38
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 44

Halberd

Pelle the PLDN level 15/10

HP: 41
MP: 0
ATTACK: 51
DEFENSE: 36
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 21

Halberd

Vankar the PLDN level 10/6

HP: 36
MP: 0
ATTACK: 37
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 21

Chrome Lance

Earnest the PLDN level 10/5

HP: 26
MP: 0
ATTACK: 32
DEFENSE: 22
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 18

Power Spear

Luke the GLDR level 12/15

HP: 43
MP: 0
ATTACK: 63
DEFENSE: 54
MOVE: 6
AGILITY: 31

Atlas

Amon the SKYW level 15/15

HP: 39
MP: 0
ATTACK: 45
DEFENSE: 37
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 48

Broad Sword

Balbaroy the SKYW level 14/15

HP: 45
MP: 0
ATTACK: 50
DEFENSE: 36
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 44

Broad Sword
Power Ring

Zylo the WFBN level 13/17

HP: 58
MP: 0
ATTACK: 59
DEFENSE: 49
MOVE: 7
AGILITY: 48

No Equipment

Kokichi the SKYL level 14/20

HP: 60
MP: 0
ATTACK: 63
DEFENSE: 41
MOVE: 8 (With ring)
AGILITY: 53

Valkyrie
Mobility Ring

Herman Gigglethorpe · January 24th, 2019, 19:46

Shining Force 1 Final Part: A Cinematic Finisher

Darksol's techno-castle had three battles, 2 of which had to be fought consecutively. The first was against the Colossus computer and 3 Jets, 2 Horsemen, 6 Chimaeras, and 3 Blue Dragons. This fight took many attempts until I figured out the correct solution for this variant. It turned out to be similar to the previous Chimaera battle, but with a narrower corridor to the north. The Chimaeras and Blue Dragons were much more aggressive this time, which was the main problem.

The party retreated toward the center, lured out the monsters, then fought them on the starting platform. My units then gradually swarmed and defeated them, and HERMAN was once fortunate enough to use the Chaos Breaker's FREEZE on multiple enemies once they got too close to each other.

After that, the fight was relatively easy. There was one Chimaera left, which could cause problems while I dealt with Jets and Horsemen. Earnest drew the short straw and stayed behind to take two fire breaths from it. This bought the rest of my army enough time to charge northwest and defeat the ice element Colossus. Only the lightning one in the north central area needed to be killed to clear the mission, but it was nice to avoid having to deal with more than 1 spell per turn.

The final Colossus was lured out by one of my generic centaurs (maybe Ken?) The centaur took the BOLT well. Once the boss was in melee range, my heavy hitters surrounded it. Luke was once again the boss slayer, but with a Heat Axe BLAZE spell. I didn't realize the Heat Axe could be used as an item until late in the game.

HERMAN cast EGRESS, revived fallen party members, and restocked everyone with Healing Seeds. I also took out all 3 Shower of Cures, since this was the final battle. My party had no healing other than items, and a "restore everyone to full health" consumable was too valuable to waste.

Darksol's arena was similar to the previous one, with a narrow corridor north and obstructive terrain where ranged enemies could attack. Darksol's army included 8 Torch Eyes, 2 High Priests, 5 Steel Claws, and 2 Blue Dragons. They weren't nearly as intimidating as the horde of Chimaeras in earlier Chapter 8 battles, but they were still a threat.

Balbaroy, Amon, and Kokichi were valuable once again. They were the only ones who could effectively reach the Torch Eyes and Steel Claws. HERMAN managed to kill one with the Chaos Breaker's spell once it got too close. After that, the grounded units charged through. Blue Dragons were difficult to deal with at the same time as the robots to the north.

Darksol himself was easier than the cutscenes suggested. He had 150 HP (any over 99 is represented with at least one "?" in the game), and knew the DEMON BLAZE spell. This hit as hard as any high level spell. His other attack was a pathetic melee that hit for 1 damage. Guess which one he used on HERMAN. rolleye

Pelle got the final blow.

Darksol used his dying breath to summon Dark Dragon, the final boss. This fight took several attempts due to unlucky damage rolls on HERMAN and odd turn order.

Dark Dragon was actually 3 separate units with 250 HP each. These were represented as heads with devil horns fused to one body that could be flown over. The heads knew BOLT, FREEZE, and DEMON BLAZE. The spells were more dangerous for their area of effect than their raw damage.

Dark Dragon also had 2 infinitely respawning Armed Skeletons. Those bandoliers weren't there for show, since they could hit at 2 range for high damage even on Mae. The solution to this was to park Earnest and Ken on their spawn points. Who said Earnest was useless? lol

On the successful attempt, I surrounded Dark Dragon's heads with alternating parties. Balbaroy and Amon hit for less than 20 damage each, but each hit counted for something. Zylo, Luke, and Kokichi were much stronger, and HERMAN supported with Chaos Breaker magic from a distance. I think Zylo took down the right head and Kokichi decapitated the middle one. HERMAN proved himself a worthy protagonist by casting one last Chaos Breaker FREEZE to kill the last head.

HERMAN was forced to stay with the Dark Dragon as the castle sank into the sea. He cast one final EGRESS to get the rest of the party out. HERMAN was later seen in a farming village once he was sick of wandering around the world.

I'll write a postscript about my experiences with this variant.

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