In the event the daily video is too long for you, here is something more bite sized. We bring Kanbei into Grit at Moji Island and it is really a contest of trying to rush him before he can get his bottlenecks set up. Interestingly, if he had a better starting economy and AI, he could set up a killzone outside your HQ that would be fairly difficult to overcome. To see what I mean, you'll have to wait until I do this one on BHR.
The goal here is to secure the two forward bases so we have outposts to move out from. Our direct combat units will obliterate Grit's, making it difficult for him to get some walls in place. With the openings we generate, we want to stop his infantry from securing properties to restrict his economy. Then while ours grows and his stagnates, we push through for the win.
You can see the results of the third map here because I recorded that before buying the maps in Hachi's shop. I aim to get the third one out tomorrow to wrap up the first Advance Wars entirely. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0PfepBwn-o
One of the newer monsters has hopped onto the chopping block and I am more than happy to oblige. Zinogre has a few breakable parts, such as his face, back, and claws, but he also has a unique gathering spot on his back when he is on his side. Sadly, you are more likely to get his claws as carves or target rewards rather than capturing, and quite a few things use them, so this is definitely a monster I farmed quite a bit off camera to get the stuff I need. You may need some of his stuff for weapons too, so luckily he isn't as annoying as some of his peers...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFb2i65hEYo
The time has come where we can finally finish this quest, so swing by St. Ursula's inn and grab the dish. With that, you will have all of them if you did everything in the other video and can go turn in everything to Grace. By getting all of them, you get more DP, and we definitely need all we can get for some upcoming fights...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p_z_ko3YkY
With the avalanche plan having been predicted, we take refuge in Athrabalt and aim to stall until reinforcements arrive. This starts with a "strategy" battle that is fairly simple before going hand to hand inside the city. Like in the previous part, we split into three teams and each team has their own boss battle, so hopefully the groups from the last part work for you, otherwise you will need to adjust them on the fly here. If everything goes according to plan, we just may get a little more time...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRFxDGL0mjg
Opting to do the story immediately, we now explore the island with the NPCs from Partitio's story available. Beyond just the people on the island, make sure you track down Floyd, Thurston, Roque, Alrond, Alrond's Butler, and Wil as they could not be interacted with in the past. There are even sidequests involving Floyd and Alrond that you can do to net a bit of extra gear that I will be using for quite some time. If you're wondering, NPCs from Ochette's story are up for grabs too, but we need to find where they're hiding. Give me a few videos for that...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IEz6RsMCaU
We get to pick up a new character immediately at the beginning of this chapter, which is becoming a rarer and rarer event. Other than that, this is when the shops finally get stocked, and the NG+ and beyond items finally become available. This includes being able to see how your affinities have fallen and how to recruit more characters so you can adjust going forward. I will be using this to grab the final characters outside of ending routes, so when it is all said and done, the only characters I will be missing are Trish and Milo.
Otherwise, the goal here is still to force your way into the castle where the same scenes play out. We have the resources to secure the map and I can use the opportunity to farm, which doesn't really pay off. In order to grind or gather resources, the bar missions are going to be your best bet until we get further into the game.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4xEwUfoqic
With his legacy sure to be destroyed by Hyzante, Svarog decides to go out in a literal blaze of glory, destroying Aesfrost while taking as many invaders out with him. His soldiers have no sense of preservation, dashing across the molten lava to strike. He himself is immune to fire tiles somehow. Due to the poor terrain, Jens and his traps are extremely potent for shutting anything and everything down. While that is going on, poke enemies with ranged attacks and magic and you can take them down while exposing yourself to minimal danger.
Be aware that Svarog can AOE the tiles around him, making surrounding him very dangerous. Whoever goes close to him needs to be able to withstand that damage, which may be easier if Geela or another healer is there to provide maximum support. Once he finally bites the dust, you get your ending and we get to do all of this over again, except harder this time.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGzEefBlmsM
The final push against Black Hole in Blue Moon kicks off, and I opt to send Grit and Max against them. I want to make this a textbook Grit game, so I have the wall of infantry pushing forward with the artillery moving in behind them. Wave after wave of infantry is needed to replace the wounded as you push, and whatever swings at them gets shot up on the following turn. Once we push around one side of the factory, we are clear to focus on the seam and bring the mission to an end.
As for the Orange Star side, I bring Max here as his tanks can also do a number on the seam if you get close enough. Had I done Yellow Comet first, I think you can use them here, but this is a mission where I preferred Max since you just have to smash anything that gets close while Grit's phalanx advances. If you get an opening take it, otherwise you can just help Grit push.
With this, the second region of the game draws to a close, and we move onto the third. Next stop: Yellow Comet.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1s_si4yAos
I am releasing this late, but we have arrived at the first gym, which is very reminiscent of RBY. I am not sure if that is intentional or not, but the bottom line is that Piplup is able to get through them pretty quickly until Roarke's final guy shows up and stirs up some trouble. Luckily, I have something in my pocket to deal with him. With our first badge, we can set out for the next town, but it looks like we will not be flying through this as fast as I ended up doing for Shield.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiDaZfF2vEI
This is the last aquarq mission we did in this session, and this is easily the one that went poorest. Many things went wrong, including having some of the stones we needed trapped in the ceiling with limited access routes. It was extremely tedious, we got it done, and I wouldn't mind taking a break from these for a little while.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_yjVl-pSVQ