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Posted: 8/31/2014 10:28 PM
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solarplex
Active player (476)
Joined: 2/1/2014
Posts: 928
Rookie of 2014 Nintendo 3D TASer of 2014 First edition TAS of 2014
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Posted: 9/3/2014 8:10 AM
Post subject: S6-9 WIP
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Microstorage currently won't accept my uploads for some reason, so here's a direct link from my user storage: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/17150049748369503
Scenario 6
Victory conditions: Death of all enemies
PREPARATION Elwin hires 3 Horsemen, while Cherie enlists 5 Griffons. MAP DEPLOYMENT Elwin deploys to the upper-right, with Cherie to his immediate left. All else are auto-deployed (saves time over manual deployments). Turn 1 Start things off with Elwin by shooting him straight up to take out the southern Barbarian guarding the 1st Shaman. His Horseman respond in kind toward the guarding enemy Horseman & the 1st Knight Commander, finishing with the Shaman (this Horseman takes no damage). As for Cherie, position her on the middle river tile below the guarding Barbarian of Shaman 2; this will ensure all 5 Griffons will benefit from her AoE bonuses. In succession, each Griffon will surround Cherie and slay the three adjacent enemy Commanders. During the enemy phase, Aaron's forces will be attacked by the right-flank Sorcerer. No need for fancy manipulation as he'll only be attacked twice (and this won't be a long stage!). *Due to no one moving past the northern bridge, Morgan will stay put and reshuffle his troops. Otherwise, he'd shoot down to the nearest injured troop and attack with his Archers. Turn 2 Riana begins and heals two Griffons back to full health. Afterward, two of them fly out-of-range and take out Morgan's guarding Archer, followed by Morgan and the left-flank Sorcerer (Morgan, in particular, was a tough manipulation). Cherie then moves northeast to give the last Griffon her AoE range bonus to take out the guarding Pikeman. Elwin's unscathed Horseman then immediately moves into range, killing the remaining Sorcerer and ending the stage.
Scenario 7
Victory conditions: Death of Ginam
PREPARATION Swap Hein the Speed Boots, while giving him 4 Elves. MAP DEPLOYMENT Position Hein to the upper-left just below the graveyard; Elwin goes to the southeast just past the houses. All else auto-deployed. Turn 1 Elwin moves southeast and lands right next to the unit Civilians. This prevents the enemy Hawkman Commander from pursuing, and attacking, them during the Enemy Phase. Hein then shoots north in between the two Great Slime groups. His archers, two assigned to each Great Slime, then proceed to slaughter them. During the Enemy Phase, Ginam and his company of Necromancers will summon their undead. His two subordinate Commanders will then shoot down towards Hein. However, they are fortunately just outside of attacking range. Turn 2 With a wide open path to Ginam, Hein moves forward first to give his Archers his AoE bonus. Two Archers are then used to put Ginam away for good, making quick work out of yet another stage!
Scenario 8
Victory conditions: Death of Kramer within 23 Turns
PREPARATION Elwin hires 3 Horseman, with Hein getting a single Archer. MAP DEPLOYMENT Position Elwin furthest along the bridge, with Hein right behind him. Place Scott on the bottom-right on the map, and auto-deploy everyone else. Turn 1 With both their troop AI set to 'move' (saves time on manual movements), Elwin and Hein shoot across the bridge, with their troops following behind. A Knight and Hawkman unit will enclose in on Elwin during the Enemy Phase. Here's where a common AI exploit has been taking place. Since Elwin and his Horsemen aren't damaged or weak units in comparison to the Knight and Hawkman, they won't attack him. Rather, they'll surround him and presumably remain there until either Elwin or one of his troops become damaged. Much more timid AI compared to Warsong. Turn 2 With a Hawkman out in the open like this, Hein's Archer smells blood! He's sent in and immediately shoots the Commander out of the sky, while Elwin's Horseman takes one for the team and double K.O.'s against the Knight. This also serves to keep one of the southern Hawkmen from aggressively coming forward (due to a damaged unit). Elwin then closes more distance between himself and Kramer. Same occurrence as the last round as another Knight and Hawkman surround Elwin. Turn 3 Rinse and repeat. The archer eliminates the Sky Commander while the Horseman commits jihad against the Knight. The reason why Scott was specifically placed along the lower-right is because the last pursuing Hawkman Commander would have attacked Aaron, who was the default deployment for that tile. Turn 4 Elwin's remaining Horseman takes out Kramer's guarding Soldier; right on cue, Vargas and Zolum show up on the other side of the bridge. This is all in vain however, as Elwin ignores them and rushes straight in for the kill on Kramer. Only 4 Turns needed on a 23-limit stage! Afterward, Aaron class changes to Lord. I figured that I already have enough long-ranged movers with Elwin, Cherie and Keith. Also, his ability to hire Pikemen might prove useful in a future stage.
Scenario 9
Victory conditions: Defeat of Laird
PREPARATION Cherie enlists the maximum number of Griffons (6). MAP DEPLOYMENT Cherie takes the left-middle position under the mountain. Hein deploys to her left, while Elwin is placed just below her on the right (having Elwin here speeds up things a little when quick-swapping between Commanders). Turn 1 Cherie's top Griffin is moved one tile northeast. The reason why 6 Griffons were hired is due to the strategic unit placement from having six hirelings on the map. Without 6 Griffons, I wouldn't have had the unit placement to Cherie's upper-right, costing more frames to manually move another Griffon to that spot (which is necessary fort the next round). During the Enemy Phase, the middle Hawkman in the mountains will shoot downward toward Elwin. However, since Elwin is neither a weaker or damaged unit, they will not initiate an attack. Turn 2 Hein casts Attack on Cherie's unit. Cherie is moved north through an unguarded path in the mountains to give her Griffons her AoE bonus. The 1st Griffon takes out Laird's Heavy Horseman. The 2nd engages with Laird* and damages him down to 3 HP before being killed off. a 3rd Griffon then rushes in immediately behind to route Leon's lackey (a bit reminiscent of Lance from Warsong). *Laird can actually be reached this way during the very 1st round. However, Laird's class of Silver Knight -- and his high attack power -- make it to where he will always kill at least two Griffons before even being hit. Even with Protection buffs, Cherie's Griffons are not strong enough to block these attacks. The most I can damage Laird, therefore, is 8 HP. As a result, it's much faster to just position one Griffon and wait a round before acting.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 9/3/2014 2:10 PM
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Prion
Joined: 2/14/2012
Posts: 73
Hooray! Back in business
Posted: 9/8/2014 9:23 AM
Post subject: S10-12 WIP
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Microstorage is apparently down again, so here's a quick link to my userstorage (with savestate to S10 included): http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/17261849538080863
Scenario 10
Victory conditions: Defeat of Lester*
*At the end of the 3rd turn during the Enemy Phase, 10 additional monster Commanders appear on the map -- to which the victory conditions change to destroy all enemies. Lester and his Pirates now become allies. However, if you manage to defeat Lester before the end of your third turn... PREPARATION Purchase one Wand in the shop for Hein, and give Cherie 2 Griffons. MAP DEPLOYMENT Place Elwin on the left side of the far bank; Hein in the middle of the left bank; Cherie to Hein's right, with the rest auto-deployed. Turn 1 Move 1 Griffon and Cherie all the way north into the sea, directly south of Lester. Leave the 2nd Griffon behind. Turn 2 Use Hein's Attack buff on that 2nd Griffon. Afterward, Cherie takes out Lester's southern Merman unit to open the way for her 1st Griffon to attack Lester. One manipulation later, Lester is defeated and the stage is complete! As mentioned above, the game typically doesn't expect you to be capable of offing Lester within 3 turns (not that it's THAT hard to pull of in real-time). Either way, much time is saved in this stage by avoiding the monster reinforcements!
Scenario 11
Victory conditions: Death of all enemies*
*Egbert is not included in this victory condition. He CAN be defeated before he flees (Turn 2 Enemy Phase). However, this would've added at least 1 extra turn to this stage, making things much slower. PREPARATION Hire Elwin 3 Horsemen; Hein 4 Archers, and Cherie 4 Griffons. Hein is also equipped with the Wand, while Cherie gets the Dragon Scale armor and the Necklace (Commander Range +2). MAP DEPLOYMENT Elwin is placed on the second available spot below Jessica's house. Hein is deployed south along the road, with Cherie to his northwest. Auto-deploy is used for the remaining Commanders. Turn 1 Starting things off, 2 of Hein's Archers rush west to take out Egbert's Hawkman Commander (being out-of-range, two are needed here to beat him). Hein then shoots a powered-up Fireball spell straight south, weakening the approaching enemy Commanders; this makes it possible for Cherie and Elwin to finish them all off in a single round. Also, Cherie's troops are able to recover at full power to attack again later on. Hein's last two Archers are then positioned southeast into the mountains to await enemy reinforcements. During the Enemy Phase, Egbert launches a Fireball Spell of his own into the woods, setting them ablaze! This normally turns the stage into an urgent time-attack. Every round, the raging inferno expands outward by a two square radius. Any units caught inside this ring of flame are immediately destroyed. Also, Cherie's troops are positioned in such a way as to lure the Magic Knight forward. What makes this important is that one of his Horsemen will occupy a tree tile next to the southern bridge -- which causes the approaching Mage to land right beside him. As a result, when that Magic Knight bites the dust, the Mage is also left defenseless on her left side! Turn 2 Time to get busy! Elwin's Horseman kamikazes southward, taking himself and the Magic Knight's Horseman out of the equation. Elwin then finishes off the Magic Knight and hands things over to Hein, who proceeds to power up Cherie's troops with an Attack buff. Cherie's unit pull triple-duty, taking out the 2nd Magic Knight, Mage, and Serpent Knight in rapid succession. Afterward, a single Hawkman unit shows up as a reinforcement. His time on the battlefield is short-lived, however, as Hein's other Archers, patiently waiting in the mountains, move out into the open, shooting down Mr. Hawkman and ending the stage. At this point, Egbert technically hasn't left the map yet (he's programmed to leave during turn 2's Enemy Phase). This doesn't seem to bother Elwin and Jessica, however, as they proceed to ignore him and his remaining Armored Soldiers and continue on with the story!
Scenario 12
Victory conditions: Death of all enemies
PREPARATION Give Elwin just 2 Horsemen. In this order, give Hein 2 Guardsmen, 2 Archers, and 2 more Guardsmen; this will be a crucial troop placement for this stage. Finally, give Cherie the maximum allowed number of 6 Griffons. MAP DEPLOYMENT Place Elwin on the far-left side (in order to access the secret stage as fast as possible). Hein is positioned at the very top, with Cherie deployed directly underneath him. Finally, Jessica is manually placed on the far-right. All others auto-deploy. Turn 1 This stage was tough! Lots of different strategies were tested in order to make this one work. Elwin starts us off, setting his AI to 'Move' while heading straight north up the steps. Lester then gives Cherie's unit an Attack buff, passing things off to her as she lands below to the southeast of the Ghost (while setting her AI to 'Defend'). This Ghost was a pain to take out; very tough enemy Commander with an annoying attack style that tends to take out units before they can strike him. One Griffon is then sent up to take out the guarding Wraith. Another immediately moves in to weaken the Ghost down to 7 HP (yep, just 7), who then gets destroyed. From here, the action is momentarily halted as two of Hein's Guardsmen position themselves out-of-range to the northwest, in wait of the soon to be approaching Great Slime. Hein then shoots a Fireball straight north, weakening the Ghost further while sending his last two Guardsmen to the other side of the Temple. One last Griffon is then called forth to finish the Ghost off for good. Jessica is then moved up the right staircase before ending the round. She will be acting as a support Commander, buffing allies with her Attack spells. Turn 2 Great Slime 1, who foolishly moved itself next to a torch-wielding Guardsmen, is immediately killed off, opening the way for Elwin and his troops to continue forward. This tactic is repeated again on the other side, as Guardsmen -- even when out-of-range -- can easily take care of a max level Great Slime without taking any casualties in return. Hein then moves directly beside, setting his AI to 'Defend' to save time on manually moving his Archers. After Cherie is positioned, one of her weakened Griffons is placed to the northeast toward the inner-sanctum. Any troops positioned past this staircase cases Egbert* to appear in the southeast; which in turn, causes the two Living Armors and the Lich to begin moving during the Enemy Phase. Making Egbert appear early moves things along quite a bit faster. One last detail in this round. No troops were moved past the left-side staircase, with the approaching hellhounds. Doing so causes the 1st Living Armor to move down toward Elwin; definitely not a good idea! *Quite a strange event can occur if you're able to defeat Egbert before he reaches the Dark Rod. At a minimum, this would require the capability to hire Ballistas (which aren't available until the Class 4 tier). Since this is a speed run though, Hein is nowhere near being able to hire these units yet. For those curious, check out this playthrough by ladyabaxa where a glitched-out version of Egbert appears upon being defeated:
Link to video
Turn 3 Similar baiting tactics were used to draw out, and melt, the last two Great Slimes. Elwin and Hein then move directly onto their respective staircases, while Jessica Attack buffs Cherie and her Griffons. Cherie is then strategically positioned to the right of the Bone Dino, just southeast of the upper staircase. This places her just out of the Lich's range, who would normally blast her with a Meteor spell. Kamikaze tactics are then used to take out the resilient Master Dino with 2 Griffons. Turn 4 With the Hellhound now in range, Elwin's Horsemen are then put to use, sacrificing themselves to take these monsters out! Jessica then continues her support role, buffing Hein's Archers in order to shoot down the nearby Lich. Cherie is then place just outside of the inner-sanctum, with her remaining Griffons ordered to surround her. Turn 5 Elwin continues to move closer to the tile that will give access to secret Scenario ?1. Both Living Armors, with their multitudes of Gargoyles, are now closely clustered together beside Cherie. Hein and Cherie both then decimate them with Fireball and Tornado spells. Cherie lands the decisive blow, earning enough XP to promote up to the Class 3 tier. I chose Dragon Knight in order to keep her high flier movement, while also giving her Griffons a boost in their ATT and DEF bonuses. This makes them powerful enough to weaken the Living Armors without relying on Attack buffs. The 1st Living Armor is dealt with in this fashion, while the 2nd is weakened down to 2 HP for the next round. Turn 6 A little bit of time has to be bought now in order for Elwin to reach the secret tile. Hein weakens the Living Armor down to 3 HP (who healed during the prior Enemy Phase). This is a very tough Enemy Commander, who has a fast attack animation, to boot. In this game, having a quick attack animation (despite the battle animations being turned off) is a massive advantage -- meaning that enemy troops can be destroyed even before they can reach you in battle! Attack speeds range from painfully slow (Warlock) to instantaneous (Princess/Aniki). Turn 7 Elwin is one tile away while Cherie weakens the Living Armor again down to one HP. Turn 8 Elwin reaches the tile and activates the secret stage! The last Living Armor is now taken out to end this Scenario... **** At this point, I've gotta say that this game ain't getting any easier! It looks like most of the "easy" stages are done (i.e. where I can blitz through the main Commander in 2 rounds). Nonetheless, I've still got some tricks up my sleeve. This next stage should be a fun one! S?1 takes Elwin and Co. into the dreaded 'Temple of Muscle', where a group of flaming bodybuilders known as 'Aniki' attempt to make things dangerous (and fabulous!) for the crew :D
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 9/12/2014 6:22 PM
Post subject: S?1-15 WIP
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Moving right along: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/17358862432333491
Scenario ?1: The Temple of Muscle
Victory conditions: Death of all enemies
PREPARATION Purchase 3 Devil Axes and 2 Plate Armors from the Shop. The Devil Axe (+8 ATT/-3 DEF) is on-par with the second-strongest weapon in the game (Dragon Slayer), while its defense penalty can be easily compensated with some armor and luck manipulation. Afterward, have Hein enlist 5 Archers and Cherie 6 Griffons. Cherie is also equipped with one of the purchased Devil Axes. MAP DEPLOYMENT Hein and Cherie take the front two spots in the Temple, with Jessica placed to the right of Cherie. Likewise, Lester is also deployed just below Hein and Cherie; they will act as support Commanders in this stage. All else are auto-deployed. Turn 1 Buff up Hein's unit with Lester's Attack spell. Set Hein's AI to 'defend' before sending him forward enough while giving his Archers the range to rain arrows down on the two Aniki. Hein promotes up to Class tier 3 upon dropping the 1st Aniki. Magic Knight is chosen due to the increased Commander Range, troop upgrades (Berserker, Heavy Horseman), and attack & movement bonuses. Cherie is then moved completely north in order to draw the attention of Baron, Adon, and Samson. All 6 of her Griffons are then strategically placed to avoid counterattacks during the Enemy Phase. Finally, Jessica is moved further inward to provide support during the 2nd round. Turn 2 Jessica's turn to buff Hein's Archers, who work in pairs to take out the next two Aniki. Cherie's Griffons are up next. who fly in, one after the other, to wear down and destroy Samson and Adon (Huge XP!). Afterward, Hein's remaining Archer is used to manipulate a kill against Baron's guarding Wraith unit. Kamikaze tactics are employed one last time against Baron, before Cherie shoots east to one-shot another Aniki. Turn 3 Didn't quite have enough firepower to take out the last Aniki in Turn 2... Anyway, Hein manipulates another razor-thin one hit kill to end this quirky stage. After being scolded by Cherie for dragging everyone into this weird place, Elwin promotes up to Tier 3. The Highlander class grants an additional point of movement, in addition to upgraded troops (Berserker & Heavy Horseman) and AoE bonuses.
Scenario 13: Battle with the Fire Dragon Corps
Victory conditions: Death of General Vargas
PREPARATION Elwin is outfitted with a Devil Axe, Plate Armor, and Necklace (+2 Commander Range). He also hires 4 Heavy Horsemen. Hein also takes advantage of his new troop selection by enlisting 2 additional Heavy Horsemen. Cheries fills out the ranks with 3 Griffons. MAP DEPLOYMENT Elwin takes the lower-right position, with Hein to the northwest. Cherie covers Elwin to the northeast, while all others auto-deploy. Turn 1 These Heavy Horsemen rock! Two of these troops immediately leave Elwin's side to take out the enemy Swordsman Commander and his guarding Berserker. Cherie then flies to the southeast, positioned to where her expanded Commander range covers her Griffons as they fly ahead to both eliminate the rooftop Bishop and the alleyway Bishop's Pikeman (who is then defeated by Elwin). On the other side, Hein takes out the remaining enemy Swordsman while setting up his Heavy Horseman to directly intercept an approaching Commander during the Enemy Phase. Turn 2 Elwin's AI is switched back to 'manual' as him and two H. Horsemen move further southwest in the city, approaching Zolum. Hein takes care of business back on his end, easily dispatching the two closely-placed Magic Knights with his H. Horsemen (any opportunity to quickly take out an enemy Commander makes Enemy Phases go by quicker, saving time). Cherie is then moved directly south, which brings General Vargas out of hiding. During the Enemy Phase, since Elwin is positioned directly above him, Vargas will begin to move in toward Elwin. Otherwise, Vargas tends to hide behind the house on the right. Turn 3 Cherie immediately takes out the adjacent Dragon Lord. while Elwin cuts through between the two houses and destroys Zolum for good. One of his H. Horsemen is moved a single space SW to get into attacking range for the next round. During the Enemy Phase, Vargas moves in and sends his two H. Horsemen in towards Elwin. Elwin's intercepting H. Horsemen is manipulated to survive and kill off Vargas' 1st unit, which will draw in the 2nd unit to kill him off. Otherwise, Elwin would have been targeted, instead (and subsequently killed). Turn 4 The remaining H. Horseman softens up Vargas, allowing Elwin to move and deliver the finishing blow and ending the stage. Vargas gets an emotional sendoff before dying, requesting Leon to inform his wife and soon to be born child that he won't be coming home. War is hell, and is almost always a means to pit two innocent parties against each other; whom are manipulated by higher powers into accomplishing their own selfish means. Doesn't art imitate life?
Scenario 14: The Race for Langrisser
Victory conditions: Elwin, Cherie, or Jessica reaches Langrisser OR defeat of Leon
PREPARATION Haha, what preparation? MAP DEPLOYMENT Cherie is placed closest to the historic Baltia Castle. Everyone else sits back and takes a five. Turn 1 With her high, unrestricted movement range, Cherie's task is to simply fly directly toward Langrisser. Turn 2 ...wouldn't it have been a good idea for Leon to show up on the 1st turn? Turn 3 ...he could have also hopped on a hawk or dragon, because this was the easiest stage in the game to plan out. Cherie takes Langrisser, ending the stage and humiliating the Blue Dragon Knights. Seriously, what were the developers thinking?
Scenario 15: The Battle at Roleck River
Victory conditions: Elwin reaches bottom of map OR defeat of General Imelda
PREPARATION Give Elwin's necklace to Keith (who will actually be used this stage!). Hire Cherie 2 Griffons, while enlisting 4 for Keith. He gets equipped with the Necklace and a Devil Axe. Jessica is also equipped with a Wand. MAP DEPLOYMENT Cherie takes the spot directly above Imelda from across the river. Keith is positioned beside her to her right, with Jessica deployed alongside just over the hills. All others auto-deploy. Turn 1 Cherie and 1 Griffon move directly south toward Imelda. This Griffon is strategically placed in order to draw in the southern Serpent Commander and his troops (his two Archers will also attack this unit). Keith shoots to the south as well, with strategic unit placement in order to set things up for the next round. During the Enemy Phase, the Serpent Commander's two Archers will target Cherie's Griffon. The Griffon is manipulated to survive the first attack in order to draw in the 2nd Archer. This saves time in having to hire additional units, and also makes strategy easier. Turn 2 Jessica buffs Keith's unit with the one Griffon left behind during the last round. Keith moves further south into position, which forces the game to deploy Larna and her monster reinforcements. Two of Keith's Griffons are then used to weaken and kill off Imelda's guarding H. Horseman. The Last Griffon then kamikazes, wearing Imelda down to 8 HP. This allows Cherie to move in and, just barely, defeat and route Imelda, ending the stage (and obtaining another set of Speed Boots). After Larna flees, Scott shows up to the party just a wee bit late (which has been the recurring theme in this TAS). Scott has been undergoing some intense training during his absence, which allows him to flash level-up to his 2nd and 3rd tier classes! I chose Knight and then Priest; the Knight class due to its attack bonuses, and the Priest for other reasons. One, the Priest gets access to Phalanxes (which I don't yet have); and two, Scott also gets the Turn Undead spell after his first level-up. This spell WILL come in handy during the later stages. **** Already half-way through! S16 will be the most challenging stage yet, as Bernhart's fortress is going to be a pain to infiltrate. Most notably, flying units are unable to penetrate the Castle walls, preventing me from executing my usual strategies using Cherie (and occasionally Keith). I also don't yet have access to the spell Meteor (4th tier Class), which would make quick work of the fortress walls. This certainly be...interesting how I will figure out a speedy solution here.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 9/18/2014 3:47 PM
Post subject: S16-19 WIP
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Strategically, speaking, these were some of the toughest stages I've TASed yet!: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/17489954907488496
Scenario 16: The Blue Dragon Knights Again
Victory conditions: Defeat of Leon OR Elwin reaches the gate of the Castle.
PREPARATION Equip Elwin with Keith's Necklace, and hire 3 Heavy Horsemen. Equip Cherie with a Wand. Give Scott a set of Speed Boots and hire 2 Phalanxes. MAP DEPLOYMENT Fairly specific layout. From left to right, on the front line: Cherie, Lester, Elwin, Scott, Jessica, and Aaron. Keith and Hein are then placed in the back row. Turn 1 This Fortress is no joke. Not only are fliers not able to scale the front walls, Ballistas are lined up on either side of the narrow bridge allowing access to the interior. To top that all off, none of my low-level troops have access to the spell Meteor, which would make things far easier in a normal playthrough. Therefore, taking care of the Ballistas are priority #1. Begin by moving Lester forward into the moat on the left-hand side; Cherie is then placed along the edge of the left wall to set up a spell in the next round. In addition to providing support fire, Lester will also draw fire from the Ballistas away from Cherie (his 50% DEF bonus in the water greatly helps matters here). Elwin and Scott then set up their formations just in front of the center bridge, with both units just outside of both Arch Mages' spell ranges (they both have Meteor). Hein advances forward from the back row, placed to where he will be the only person struck by the Arch Mage's spell in the Enemy Phase. Jessica heavily damages the Ballista on the right-flank with her Fireball (this was also necessary to soften up the Arch Mage for the next round). During the Enemy Phase, both Arch Mages rain down their Meteor spells on to the party. Hein and Cherie absorb their impact; this is set up to where no other units are affected by the spell radius. Laird is manipulated into moving out toward the bridge. Enemy Commanders with support spells such as Attack can sometimes be manipulated into either casting magic or moving elsewhere on the map. This luck manipulation is caused by either ending your turn on a specific frame, or advancing the 'Enemy Phase' screen on a specific frame when it pops up. Turn 2 Time to advance our troops! On the left-flank, Lester begins by shooting down a Fireball spell on the left-side Ballitas, weakening them for Cherie. Cherie then rips out a Tornado spell, destroying the wooden launchers and damaging the Arch Mage down to 7 HP (he'll spend his phase healing). On the bridge, Elwin sends a H. Horseman forward to open up defending Saint's defenses. Elwin then smites her off the battlefield. In tandem, Hein and Jessica rain down more Fireball spells on the Fort's right flank, bursting its Ballista into flames and damaging the commanding Arch Mage down to 7 HP, as well. Scott then joins Elwin's advancement on the bridge, strategically moving his Phalanxes into place for the next round. Turn 3 It's almost like shooting fish in a barrel... Laird and the Magic Knight have rushed forward to meet Elwin, leaving their troops high and dry behind them. Scott moves into place, while steering clear of getting one-shotted by Leon's own Ballista's at the Castle gates. The enemy Magic Knight goes down easy, while one of Elwin's H. Horsemen assists in routing Silver Knight Laird. This next set up is crucial in winning the stage, and took a few attempts to figure out. Elwin's 2nd H. Horseman is moved forward, but just out of range from Leon's Ballista. This unit will serve to draw in the Dragon Lord, who has been waiting off to the side this entire stage for Elwin army to invade inward. Drawing this flying unit in will keep him away from Elwin (very important!). Elwin then advances next to the drawbridge, critically injuring the guarding Ballista (but keeping him alive...) while Elwin in manipulated into losing just 1 HP. Elwin's last H. Horseman then critically injures Leon's other Ballista (this one is keep alive because viewing a unit's death animation wastes time here). Finally, Hein needs to draw in at least of the Arch Mage's spell in order to keep Scott's Phalanxes alive. This is achieved by casting the sneaky spell Illusion, which makes decoy copies of the Commander which then surrounds him/her. These decoys will draw in any close-by foe, who will attack with either troops or spells. The decoys are destroyed after just a single hit, making them very effective in crucial strategic situations. During the Enemy Phase, Leon sends down his elite Royal Horsemen units. His 1st one easily destroys Elwin's H. Horseman. The 2nd one can also easily dispatch Elwin, but is manipulated to only hurt him down to 2 HP, instead. With no other open targets (hence, why the Ballista was kept alive), the last two Royal Horsemen surround Leon from the north and south, leaving the drawbridge momentarily unguarded... Turn 4 Seeing the brief opening, Scott sends in his last Phalanx to remove the guarding Ballista. Elwin then hightails it past Leon, leaving Mr. Goldilocks fuming and winning the stage!
Scenario 17:Emperor Bernhardt
Victory conditions: Death of Emperor Bernhardt.
Hands down, this was the most difficult stage I've ever TASed. Took me an entire weekend to figure out. PREPARATION Much preparation here! Shop list: 1 Wand, 2 Speed Boots, 1 Plate Armor, 1 Necklace. Equip list: Elwin: Great Sword, Plate Armor, Necklace. Hein: Wand, Plate Armor, Speed Boots. Cherie: Langrisser, Dragon Scale, Necklace. Aaron: Wand, Plate Armor, Speed Boots. Keith: Devil's Axe. Lester: Wand, Necklace. Jessica: Wand, Mirage Robe, Speed Boots. Scott: War Hammer, Chain Mail, Speed Boots. Hireling list: Elwin: 1 Berserker. Hein: 2 Heavy Horsemen. Cherie: 6 Griffons. Aaron: Keith: Lester: 2 Archers. Jessica: Scott: MAP DEPLOYMENT (From top-left row to bottom) Elwin, Hein, Cherie, Lester, Jessica, Aaron, Scott, and Keith. Turn 1 Here we go! Begin by moving Elwin into position by the lefthand staircase, while placing his Berserker just out of the attack range of the Saint's Ballistas. Lester then shoots a Fireball down to the Arch Mage on the left wall, softening him up. I move one of Cherie's Griffons next to Lester in order to exploit the effects of the Attack spell later on in the stage, before firing another Fireball spell with Jessica. Scott buffs Lester's Archers with an Attack spell, allowing them to take out the left-side Arch Mage. I don't have the resources to take out the other Arch Mage in the 1st round. It's, therefore, faster to leave him alone and use the left side as a "headquarters" to gather my other Commanders. After all this, Aaron is moved straight forward past Hein, while another Griffon opens up the right-flank Saint's defenses by destroying the guarding Ballista. Cherie then moves in to take her out. Hein and his two H. Horsemen are then strategically placed to take on the Chief Saint during the next round. Finally, Keith is moved slightly south to escape the Arch Mage's spell range. Turn 2 Elwin and his Berserker take care of the Saint stationed by the lefthand staircase. Lester uses the 'Treat' command in order to restore two of his MP. Scott is moved alongside Cherie's lone Griffin in order to both escape the Arch Mage's spell range and to buff Attack spells in the next round. Jessica then rushes forward behind Hein, and Aaron moves further ahead up the main staircase. Despite being anemically under-leveled at this point, Aaron is still invaluable in this stage due to his Heal 1 Spell (I'm GLAD I decided to promote him to Lord back earlier in the game!). In order to quickly take out the Chief Saint, Hein uses his Sleep spell. Despite having a long spell animation, it is very useful in this stage to speed run due to the Saint's near-instant attack speed. Finally, Cherie continues to fly up the right-hand hallway. One of her Griffons is moved manually in order to escape a Ballista counter-attack. Turn 3 Scott recovers his MP while Lester is placed in the role of Attack buffing Cherie's units. Aaron, Hein and Jessica are placed into their final support positions. After opening the Arch Mage's defenses, Cherie advances a little into the throne room in order to expand her command range far enough for her troops in the next round. Another Griffon is used to finish off the Arch Mage, instead. During the Enemy Phase, Bernhardt's Ballista -- with their incredible commander bonuses -- move southward toward Hein and Jessica. Jessica is manipulated into taking only 8 HP of damage. She'll need at least 2 HP to survive this stage. Turn 4 Scott assumes the support role this time, buffing Cherie's troops. Cherie and Hein, equipped with Wands, then send Fireball spells toward Bernhardt, destroying his Ballista and weakening his and Boser's elite troops. These spells weaken Boser's guarding Dark Guards enough for them to be taken out in one round by Cherie's Griffon. Boser, himself, is a bit of a pushover... Afterward, Bernhardt's Royal Horsemen are finished off at the end of the round in order to leave Bernhardt completely defenseless from all sides. Trust me, I'm going to need every advantage here! Aaron then uses his ONLY Heal 1 spell to freshen up Cherie and her troops for this very crucial round coming up. Turn 5 After one more Attack buff, it's time to throw everything and the kitchen sink at Bernhardt! After being softened up again with Fireball spells (this strategy may remind you of a certain stage in Warsong...) a full-strength Cherie and 3 fully-powered Griffons proceed to surround and assault the Emperor. All this manpower was needed to whittle down Bernhardt by 2 HP at a time, until finally defeated. All I've got to say is: This dude was T-O-U-G-H. Whew! And to think, Bernhardt was only Level 1 and had on zero equipment. I'd hate to face a maxed out version of him...
Scenario 18: Dark Princess
Victory conditions: Death of Great Dragon OR defeat of Dark Princess.
PREPARATION Hire Elwin 4 Heavy Horsemen, and Cherie 5 Griffons. Yep. This is what we call the "breather" stage :) MAP DEPLOYMENT Place Hein and Cherie near the top, and Elwin to the southeast end of the village. Auto-deploy everyone else. Turn 1 (Order the villagers to head West). After moving Elwin into range, send his H. Horsemen in to take out the Minotaurs and their guarding Bone Dinos, in succession. Simple as that. Afterward, transfer over to Cherie, leave one Griffon behind next to Hein, and move her towards the northeast toward the Great Dragon. The strategy here will be to avoid all others foe\ and go straight for the Dragon. Turn 2 Leave the Griffon with Hein again, and move Cherie closer to the northeast, just above and to the left of the Scylla. Her positioning here is crucial for two reasons: 1) To avoid the Great Dragon's spell range, and 2) To keep the other sea monsters from blocking her unit's path to the Dragon. Only 2 Griffons are needed to defeat the Dragon, but I need to hire 5 in order to boost my attack power and keep the other monsters from blocking me in. During the Enemy Phase, the Lich was manipulated into pursuing Cherie instead of casting a Meteor spell. Turn 3 Buff the Griffons, take out the guarding Gargoyles, and snuff the Dragon. 'Nuff said. After winning the stage, Cherie becomes the first Commander to promote up to the 4th tier! The Dragon Lord class gives access to elite troops (Armored Soldiers and Angels), as well as higher troop bonuses. In addition, a Crown accessory (+2 range, +3 troop ATK & +2 troop DEF) is awarded due to the villagers suffering no losses. Nice.
Scenario 19: Battle at Mireil
Victory conditions: Death of General Imelda within 23 turns.
PREPARATION Enlist 1 Heavy Horseman for Hein, and 3 Heavy Horsemen & 1 Archer for Jessica. Cherie upgrades to 6 Angels, while being equipped with the Crown. Keith gets hand-me-downs as he hires 2 Griffons and equips a Necklace. MAP DEPLOYMENT Place Jessica at the very top of the map alongside the building. Elwin goes on the far right toward the boat, with Cherie deployed behind him. Hein and Keith take the two spots toward the bottom of the map, while all else auto-deploy. Turn 1 Elwin is going to shake-and-move as fast as he can towards the map's upper right-hand corner in order to access the secret stage. Hein and Keith will move with their troops towards the lower dock next to the boat, while Cherie shoots out to the east towards the enemy Saint with her high-speed Angels. Meanwhile, Jessica strategically sets up her troops in wait for a certain someone;) Turn 2 Hein moves and lands just short of the docks. One of Keith's Griffons is manually moved below Hein in order to set it up for position in a later round. Cherie then leads the charge in taking out the first enemy Commander, the Saint. All her troops are either manipulated into taking zero damage or taking the minimal amount in order to recover to full health in the next round. Turn 3 A double-K.O. occurs between the Serpent Lord and Hein's H. Heavy Horseman, while Keith inches closer toward General Imelda. Cherie moves in on the boat and opens up the defenses of the enemy Wizard, which activates the event flag for enemy reinforcements. Laird shows up -- then Laird gets sent packing along with his weaker subordinates. Afterward, Cherie's Angels mop up the majority of the remaining enemy units, including the Arch Mage and one of the Dragon Knights. One of Imelda's Ballista is also destroyed before ending the round. During the Enemy Phase, Cherie's southern Angel is manipulated down to 2 HP, which attracts Imelda's Phalanx over into a more suitable attack range during the next round Turn 4 Elwin remains on the move, while all other enemy troops are taken out with the exception of Imelda. As long as no troops are withing her attack range; and no Commanders are within her spell range, Imelda does not act at all during the Enemy Phases. This, fortunately, makes all of these extra upcoming turns go by very quickly as Elwin races toward activating Scenario ?2. Turns 5-11 E -->...E -->...E -->...E -->...E -->... Get a move on, Elwin! Turn 12 After finally reaching the upper right-corner, Imelda is finished off for good by Cherie with the help of an assisting Angel unit. **** 1/3rd of the game left to TAS. My brain has been worked out to the max in figuring out solutions for these stages, lol.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 10/10/2014 12:28 AM
Post subject: One-year Anniversary!
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
One-year anniversary update! No new WIP yet, but should have one up sometime during the weekend. I had to go back to S18 and pick up an essential item that I missed (Masayan Sword). Other than that, I have the rest of the game pretty much routed (aside from the off chance that I gain access to S?4). If all goes as planned, the final battle should be memorable :)
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 10/18/2014 12:50 PM
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Hi, everyone :) A couple of things I want to address concerning the TAS. First off, I have my latest WIP uploaded to my userstorage, completing Scenarios ?2-22: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/18055296802454036 Also, I should have one more WIP posted up before the end of the weekend. If all goes well, this will be my *last* WIP before submission. S?3 and S23 are done, and I'm currently routing S24 and S25. This has, by far, been the most effort I've put into making a TAS -- and I hope it shows once I'm ready to show it off in the workbench. I really do appreciate everyone who has been keeping up with progress and watching the WIPs! Finally, I noticed the other day that someone on niconico beat me to the punch on making a Langrisser 2 TAS. It looks like he/she is in the process of uploading a full run, and has Scenarios 1-4 completed:
Link to video
Link to video
No disrespect to this runner whatsoever (I'm happy more attention is given to this game!), but they kept the battle animations on. In addition, the initial strategy is significantly slower than mine in the beginning (hiring more troops, taking more rounds to complete a stage, etc.). I definitely have the faster completion times on Scenarios 1-3. On S4 however, the strategy appears slightly faster due to using a promoted (class 2) Hein's Archers to take out Morgan and his subordinates. This is an interesting tactic to me (grinding Hein in the beginning), but comes at the cost of not promoting Elwin to Knight. In addition, he/she did not obtain the hidden Speed Boots in S2. edit: I've got a feeling this runner is gearing towards making Hein an early Archmage (with Ballistae troops and Meteor). Should be an interesting watch...
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 10/19/2014 3:06 AM
Post subject: Final WIP!
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Last WIP uploaded to userstorage: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/18166738587220399 I'm going to take my time with the submission and look into adding caption commentary with the movie file. Should have this one on the workbench by Oct. 31 :D
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 11/22/2014 2:43 AM
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Truncated
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Arcade TAS of 2023 Sega TASer of 2021 Sega TAS of 2021
For reference, here is the submitted movie: http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16005
Posted: 11/27/2014 6:34 AM
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MrTickles
Joined: 12/11/2010
Posts: 60
You should now do Langrisser 4. The most interesting route (B Route) is the shortest. And some stages can be completed quite quickly. And who doesn't love Ivar?
Posted: 11/27/2014 11:33 PM
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ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
MrTickles wrote:
You should now do Langrisser 4. The most interesting route (B Route) is the shortest. And some stages can be completed quite quickly. And who doesn't love Ivar?
You know, I've yet to play any of the Langrisser games on the next-gen consoles (Saturn, PSX). I've seen some playthroughs of 4 on YouTube. Looks good (nice soundtrack, as well). What's your opinion on part 3? Certain reviews seem to paint it as the black sheep of the series.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Posted: 12/10/2014 8:06 AM
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MrTickles
Joined: 12/11/2010
Posts: 60
Never played it. It got a PS2 remake at some point. I heard it was bad and didn't own a Saturn so never played it. Langrisser 4 is viewed as the "best" of the series. 5 is a lot like 4 but without the branching paths and a much lower difficulty level. PS1 remake improved some issues 4 had by porting it over to 5's engine and made a hard mode for 5, but the hard mode isn't particularly difficult - all they really did is buff a bunch of bosses, making them frustrating to beat until your characters catch up in levels (one particular boss goes from the first level of the second class to the first level of the fourth class). I guess you could try Der Langrisser as well, though the SNES version is very laggy. It's probably easier to abuse teleport in Der since Hein can learn it about a third into the game if you forcefeed him XP.
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