Entry tags:
Let's Play Vantage Master
Welcome back!

And welcome to Phase 3! The game still has the kids gloves on a bit at this point, but critical thinking is definitely a must from here on to keep from getting overwhelmed. Our first battle will be against Mune-Kain the Ranger, for control of Blexe, one of my all-time favorite Natials.

This is a fairly tight and simple map, with a lot of chokepoints. Notable is the fact that most of the Magic Stones are underwater, meaning that fire, heavens, and some earth Natials are unable to claim them.

Note that available space down and to the right! Why can Guene-Foss reach there? Because those four inaccessible areas aren't walls - they're pits. This means that both flying units and ranged attacks can get through them, something that is VERY much worth knowing.

The battle rapidly turning in my favor, I make use of chokepoints to get almost dangerously close to the main fighting. I'm totally safe here, thanks to Marme's positioning!

The enemy is building up quite a fire army here, and there's not enough water on the map to make moving around water Natials convenient. She can't take the Stone in the center, but I definitely don't want to lose that position...

And, the enemy being a ranger, I can't touch any of that area for fear of arrow attack.

Or at least, I couldn't, until Kain turned her back for a second. Invasion time!

From there, her position rapidly degrades, and I'm soon beseiging the remaining enemy territory from all sides.

One nice advantage that magic has over ranged attacks is that, as shown here, it can target enemies on the other side of a wall.

In the late game, the computer kind of loves its healers. This will be more of a problem once we get to the late maps, where very powerful healing is available.
It doesn't turn the tides, just slows down my inexorable advance.

And thus does Mune-Kain lose her last hiding places.

BATMAN HASII WONED

A delicious speed increase, in addition to Blexe, a crossbow-wielding ranged fire Natial. This baby will be a staple of my army for basically the rest of the game.

And welcome to Phase 3! The game still has the kids gloves on a bit at this point, but critical thinking is definitely a must from here on to keep from getting overwhelmed. Our first battle will be against Mune-Kain the Ranger, for control of Blexe, one of my all-time favorite Natials.

This is a fairly tight and simple map, with a lot of chokepoints. Notable is the fact that most of the Magic Stones are underwater, meaning that fire, heavens, and some earth Natials are unable to claim them.

Note that available space down and to the right! Why can Guene-Foss reach there? Because those four inaccessible areas aren't walls - they're pits. This means that both flying units and ranged attacks can get through them, something that is VERY much worth knowing.

The battle rapidly turning in my favor, I make use of chokepoints to get almost dangerously close to the main fighting. I'm totally safe here, thanks to Marme's positioning!

The enemy is building up quite a fire army here, and there's not enough water on the map to make moving around water Natials convenient. She can't take the Stone in the center, but I definitely don't want to lose that position...

And, the enemy being a ranger, I can't touch any of that area for fear of arrow attack.

Or at least, I couldn't, until Kain turned her back for a second. Invasion time!

From there, her position rapidly degrades, and I'm soon beseiging the remaining enemy territory from all sides.

One nice advantage that magic has over ranged attacks is that, as shown here, it can target enemies on the other side of a wall.

In the late game, the computer kind of loves its healers. This will be more of a problem once we get to the late maps, where very powerful healing is available.
It doesn't turn the tides, just slows down my inexorable advance.

And thus does Mune-Kain lose her last hiding places.

BATMAN HASII WONED

A delicious speed increase, in addition to Blexe, a crossbow-wielding ranged fire Natial. This baby will be a staple of my army for basically the rest of the game.