So, after finishing my first playthrough, Here’s what I could gather about my boy Scymerius
1- His real name is Praxis
2- He was complicit in the orphanage fire caused by Alastor
Anything else ?
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Well for one thing they aren’t a boy lol.
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Damn, here I though I was being smart
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Damn, I never found this Plato guy. Do you remember where he came from?
chapter 19 swordmaster boss which you have to talk with Pluto, his brother, to recruit him.
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Exactly what Alexmonster99 said about Plato.
Also, about Scymerius, I think she’s a reference to a character from Brigandine. The said character is a female knight who’s fully armored and uses lance as weapon. That, along with the fact that she uses female Hoplite sprite, is how I realize Scymerius in The Hag in White is female.
Money investment, I guess
Strongest level 10 unpromoted in history. I guess it is what a +6 in all your stats do. I am going to restart because 5k is too much for an unit I am not using. And worth reminder he can promote to black dragoon, that has supper effective damage to armours, cavs, fliers, axe users and mages.
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Well for another thing they aren’t a girl lol.
Good catch! Yeah, Brigandine’s where I got Scymerius’s name from. It sounds super cool but it’s apparently completely made-up gibberish, since searching it online just shows the Brigandine character and nothing else. I figured that’d be a fun little gag if anyone tried to search the name to figure out its origin.
As for the topic at hand, like most everything related to themself, their gender is “stop asking so many questions.” That’s where they feel comfortable.
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I see. I was interested in grabbing Scymerius during the first rest stop, but I ultimately went with Fructuoso. I did grab Scymerius at the second rest stop, but by that point I already have too many units I wanna use, so I didn’t really get to use them.
The second one is so screwed because or it is Vasiliki which at that point is a really good amount of effort and you have at least 1 sniper and a pair of vulneraries aren’t that relevant by that point and you can obtain a prepromote of the other 2 in chapter 13 only for one of them and Begoña and Nikolaos also exist and if you used them they are at that point way better.
Spoiler
He’ll later ask you for more money, like around 1250 I think, giving him that increases all his stats +3, so he can gain a total of +4 in every stat if you give him money, I’m on chapter 21 and as far as i can see, it doesn’t have any repercussion in the history, but maybe it’ll have later idk. as for Glaucus, If you accept Glaucus’s left, He will return you a master seal if he was promoted, he’ll then comeback later on chapter 20 as a lv 5 Wyvern lord with these stats regardless of the stats he had before leaving or if he was promoted or no. if you do not leave him leave, then nothing happen outside of some conversations with his father and other units.
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lopez got that dog in him
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Both?
Both is good.
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So you pick the 2.5k gold you save with him in 19 or he returns the next chapter but he is now a promoted flier. A very mediocre one in term of stats, but that is Glaucus in whatever class he is and I guess he is a wyvern and not a malig because 21 gives you one.
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That is a really strength blessed Lopez, even with one energy ring because mine at 9 has 14 which should be 15 if he was promoted at 20 on average.
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Summary
Yeah, but he’s actually useful in chapter 20 bc he joins automatically in turn 4 as a blue unit with his Horseslayer that allows him to 1 round ok the enemy great knights in the map in hard mode, and well chapter 21 is also a great map for fliers, plus free weapons.
You actually have 2 energy rings at that point with the one in chapter 19
And that’s it for my run! The Hag in White surpassed my already lofty expectations and is now a serious contender for my favorite FE hack of all time. Its only competition is Dream of Five, which is saying a lot (ironically, backlog willing, I’ll need to finish another run of each).
Now for my thoughts. I’ll start with units (the easier part) and add some commentary on the story and characters if I can come up with anything meaningful.
Without further ado, my rebels. Spoilers for the whole game, of course.
Units (hella long, beware)
Kyra is up first, obviously. She was a wonderful lord and served me very well throughout the game. I do remember a brief period at the beginning where her combat felt kinda sketchy, but my worries were assuaged before even hitting Glamorgan.
Kyra is just super versatile thanks to the combination of strong bows and light magic on promotion (very creative combination, not sure how I didn’t see it coming), which enabled multiple strong EP showings. I could’ve used Maelstrom more, but hoarding resources more than you need to is normal for a first run. I’ll definitely take advantage of it liberally next time.
I’m not sure what a Hag tier list would look like, but surely having only one healer puts that unit at the top? Apate is the linchpin of your army from beginning to end, and thus the unit all of your turns are built around. I didn’t really use her for combat much, but Vortex was a handy tool and because I never got Tiresias to S Light, she eventually picked up Dolus’ Wrath… and used it once? Maybe?
All in all, for the unit that represents the entire premise of your gameplay, you did a fantastic job.
Boosters: Spirit Dust, Mother’s Icon, Dragonshield, two Talismans, Swiftsole, Mind Scroll
I will admit that my taste in men can be somewhat… questionable at times, but the moment I saw Fango, I immediately started mourning a handsome, sweet, if not too bright playable bandit. Of course, you being you, you decided not to kill him off and allowed me to hold out hope until Ch. 3, when I finally got him. As you can see, he went on to become my most invested unit.
I have a history with Cord and Fango really reminded me of him, especially in his Fates SD remake incarnation. I was ecstatic upon seeing his growths, and I never regretted choosing Warrior as his promotion. Axes, bows and anima is not a combination I would’ve ever expected, but it worked wonders for all sorts of things (bows being the weakest of the three, but without them, he could not have infiltrated the walls in 22 along with Fiadh).
There is not much I can say about Fango that the screens don’t already show. While not totally invincible, throwing him at stuff was often the easiest way to solve a problem. He took on half a dozen enemies multiple times, and could’ve dealt with even more if I had bothered to set him up fully in specific instances. Triple S ranks, btw.
I did not look at Sandraudiga’s battle convos in the first part of Final-3, so I went through all my deployed units while leaving him the kill… and had a very nice surprise for my efforts. Not my favorite character in the game, but a very clear second place.
I talked way too much about Fango, and I’m gonna talk way too much about Edward, so I’ll cut it short for our favorite margrave.
Barlowe is a fantastic support unit. He can’t fight, but between his Rallies, Leadership stars (the only playable character to have 2, iirc) and Inspiration, I got so much use out of him from the moment he joined. I did have one gripe with him as a character, which I’ll touch on in a moment, but that would’ve only been extra goodies on top of an already excellent unit. His relationship with Fiadh was really nice though. It made me very happy I chose to keep her around.
Boosters: Dragonshield, Curious Herb
Edward is my favorite character in the game, bar none. As a unit, he’s exceptional. Thunderstorm is a disastrously powerful skill, fixing Hit and boosting Mt on weapons that could use the former and are not at all hurting for the latter. Had I known he would join, I would’ve saved the second Mind Scroll for him (it certainly didn’t help Tiresias much), but I’d say he made a good showing. Basically a reverse Fango: best character, second best unit. Not too shabby for a guy who joins right at the start of the lategame.
The one gripe I do have with Edward actually regards him as a character. Ever the fan of old man yaoi, seeing Edward interact with Barlowe and Pericles so much made me hope that something more could blossom between him and either of them by the end of the game. That never came to pass, but it’s fine. I’m a big shipper, but Edward already can’t rise any higher in my character rankings. He ticks all boxes imaginable.
Since I read it, I’ll point out that his battle quote against Soter is my favorite in the game by a significant margin.
Onto Agari. Kind of a weird unit, this one. I didn’t think too much of her for a long time, and she seemed to always fall 1-2 points short of any given benchmark I wanted her to hit. Sometime around Ch. 13, however, those stat deficiencies finally faded away and she became a veritable workhorse, finally showing the true boons of an early Def blessing and her high Luck (Devil weapon gambling yo). This was only compounded by her promotion, although she stopped being a key player sometime around 22.
I can’t say for sure that I’ll use her again in my second run unless the RNG were to prove particularly favorable to her, but I liked having her around, as it made Pericles’ absence sting even harder.
I was honestly very scared of using Begona early on, as she seemed to outclass Fango in most things and while I will always choose favorites over the “meta” (no way anyone would consider her worse than him), it feels bad when you try to use a unit you know is outclassed. However, midway through Glamorgan, Fango’s absurd Str/HP and solid bulk really began to show, allowing him to carve out an undeniable niche. They were comparable for a while, but Warrior on someone with Fango’s statline is a ridiculous EP class, so eventually, it was Begona who became outclassed (her Spd lead didn’t really matter - he had Con on his side and she rammed the Hoplite cap long before 26 Spd became necessary). By far my best melee delete button though, and Triangle Adept proved incredibly useful in boosting both her reliability and survivability.
Now here’s someone I did not expect I would stick around. I really thought Fiadh would be a Klein-type prepromote, the ones who are serviceable for the entire game but have a definite expiration date. That is not how Fiadh works, however: high offenses on an early Sniper give her an invaluable niche as a delete button for a long time, and Bow Range +1 is single-handedly making me consider Archer Pheme for my next run. I sent the girl through Fighter (unknowingly) but up until Endgame, Fiadh had absurd 3- and sometimes 4/5-range combat no one else could match, ever. Unfortunately, that does mean Fiadh could lose her spot on the team, but she did well for herself here.
Nothing more to say. Wrexham is in very good hands.
Boosters: two Energy Rings, Secret Book
I’M SO HAPPY I CHOSE TO KEEP HIM OVER SOTER.
Alonso is an utterly bizarre unit. I’m not sure how “good” he is, but he served me oh so well for the entire game with his blistering Spd, rock-solid Def and mixed offenses. He was by far the best candidate for the Solar Brace, with his ultra-lopsided defenses. I used my fair share of Generals throughout the run, but he was definitely the best of them all. A ridiculously enjoyable character too, albeit one I would’ve loved to see interact with more people (I didn’t get Polonius and forewent Scymerius, btw).
Boosters: Mother’s Icon
All in all, probably the weakest unit of my final team. Not bad, mind you, but her lackluster bulk made it very difficult for her to contribute beyond PP combat and rescuedropping utility. Luckily, nothing else was ever needed of her (and it did make choosing my Wing Shield bearer brainless). I’m not sure Malig Knight was the right choice for her: I picked it for bulk and Con (she had exactly enough to ferry Fango and Herb!Edward, but no one else could take them) but she only used tomes twice in Endgame bc of her low Mag, and she might have benefitted from the weapon triangle control.
This hack has made me hyper-aware of just how much you like to play with conventions, and I don’t think I need to explain why Nicaea is everything a pegasus knight usually isn’t. Not my favorite character, but I do think sad stories have a place in every game, and for what it’s worth, I think she’s one of your greatest accomplishments writing-wise. I’m glad she didn’t end up taking her own life.
Boosters: Angelic Robe, Body Ring
The moment I saw Beatrix (in Ch. 10, but still) I knew my slow Hecate’s days were numbered. When she joined for real, she was not nearly as potent, but still did a very good job for the whole game and snagged her fair share of kills. I really don’t have much to say about her, except that I hope Hecate turns out well next time so I might not use Beatrix? That doesn’t take away from how good she is though.
This is another case in which I suspected a couple that did not happen (with Fiadh, obv) but I really enjoyed their dynamic. I was able to glean some stuff about her backstory after triggering her conversation with Scymerius by accident, and later reading she had one with Alastor, but I still don’t have a full picture. However, I can certainly say that Beatrix matters.
Yet another hot man choosing not to be gay, what a shame. Jokes aside, Telemus was basically my Soter replacement (even though Soter had been benched since 14 when he joined) and I couldn’t be happier about him. He unfortunately lacks Alonso’s Spd and Def while only boasting slightly better Res, but I still got a ton of use out of him, if only because Repo and Canto+ is a strong combo even with 5 Mov. Like Alonso, he fell into the same playstyle as Fango lategame, that being “nice weapon triangle control, eat my tome” EP maneuvers, but he was good at it.
Really happy with him as a character too! I didn’t quite expect him to end up with Phobos’ mom but they seemed cute. I can definitely relate to Ofelia trying to get a piece that one time, Telemus really is the whole package.
Boosters: Angelic Robe, Speedwing
Teresa surprised me! Both as a character, with really fun interactions (eat shit, Zaccheus) and as a unit, being the superior flier by far in spite of a fairly unimpressive statline. After giving her a Wing, she started to get really fast and her high HP (compounded by a late Robe) meant that her defenses weren’t much of a problem. Nicaea really couldn’t tank to save her life, so the Wing Shield went to Teresa, and she made fantastic use out of it, as well as Lust from 23 onwards.
All in all, a good flier makes any FE game so much easier, and Teresa definitely delivered on that front.
Boosters: Spirit Dust, Speedwing
We’ve finally reached the end of what I would consider my “team”. The units after this will be either very late joiners, inconsistent participants or people I dropped lategame.
Before any of that, Pericles. I should note that I adore Old Men With Baggage. They tend to be some of my favorites in the games they’re in (Hanneman, Gilbert, Medeus, Duessel just to name a few) and I love them so much I’ve taken a rather unexplored FE character (Leopold from Hopes) and headcanon’d trauma onto him. You may be able to infer just how much I enjoyed Pericles, and you know how I felt about him and Edward, but what about his performance?
Well, he was the definition of solid. Closer to Telemus than the likes of Fango and Edward, but still a very appreciated contributor, and I’d argue he surpassed his daughter in the final stages of the campaign. I didn’t play with Tsunami a whole lot, but I got a glimpse of its power in Endgame and I feel like he might be one of its best users.
Overall, I definitely used him more for his character than for his gameplay, but as a known Cav Hater, I’m impressed he even made it on the team. Good boy, Pericles.
Thyone was an unexpected Gotoh, but she worked wonders in that role. White Pool is disgustingly strong in a GBA context, and her magical prowess was no joke! Combustion hits hard with a Mag stat that high. It’s a little sad that I ended up benching Eupraxia, because I giggled so hard when I realized there was old woman yuri going on, but they still got a heartwarming ending, for which I’m glad.
The final handsome old man of the game, and what a good character he was. I had no clue he would become sympathetic until his arc was clearly underway, but I liked his parallels with Edward and Soter (fuck Soter, btw) and his interactions with Kyra and Pericles. What do you know, Amnisos is busy and there’s so much work to be done… maybe he and Pericles will keep each other company. Ok now I’m just bullshitting, I really enjoyed their exchange in the Epilogue. He wasn’t much of a unit, but I liked him enough to bench…
Boosters: Mind Scroll
I had every intention of raising Tiresias, and I did, but it was kind of a half-hearted attempt bc he seemed hellbent on defying the boosts to his growths, and his combat performance always seemed so… meh? I guess it’s what I get for benching his partner (sucks to be them, they should’ve been old).
I do think you have a very solid Est design on your hands though: Tiresias goes against the whole premise by providing you with a second healer, as well as Repo/Canto+ utility should you send him General, which is imo the better option. I take it you are automatically awarded a better staff for each new rank he hits, but I was kinda sloppy with his training so I didn’t get Heal until Final-1.
Boosters: Angelic Robe (Eupraxia)
Lumping these four together because they got ousted by the Ch. 16 recruits, and 17 didn’t have room for all of them so I had to make some choices. Ironically, I think I regret Conan the most: I may have gotten the least use out of him, but he’s still a shredded older man, his recruitment is hilarious, and I do think he’s a strong unit. All four contributed while they were on the team (I don’t think I have to explain Lopez), and I’m not sure if I’ll be making an attempt to keep some of them around until Endgame in my next run.
It does feel bad to choose Zaccheus again (Simeon seems marginally more decent) but as I said, I want to use Hecate and Conan vs Dahl is a no-brainer for me. I didn’t feel particularly inspired by Jane either, but Delilah is an absolute delight (see what I did there?) and it would be nice to field them together.
That was long and I’m feeling a little drained, but I hope my love for this hack got through. It’s easily your finest work, and you know I enjoyed the shit out of your writing over the years.
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