Messing with MyCastle XVIII¶

Well, that was kind of a bummer. You can still visit Lilith’s Shrine, offer food, and all that jazz, so it’s more of a story change than a gameplay change. You can also upgrade your Private Quarters and Records Hall. Now you’ll get nine allies with a heart next to them to schmooze in the Private Quarters, and even more music in the Records Hall.

Castle: Grand Stair¶

The heroes make their way through Garon’s castle, only to encounter his chief stooge (and perpetual failure) along the way. As usual, he’s got another trick for you, this one long in the making. Unfortunately, the mighty forces of evil never anticipated a little positive reinforcement and a little singing.

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Map of Chapter 25.

Like last time, expect the enemies to have jumped a few levels, although they’re really not that much stronger than most of the baddies were last time around. You’ll find many of the same types of units, so it’ll be assumed you know what they’re capable of, and how to counter them. You start out (again, on the southern end of the map) surrounded by Generals and a Strategist to the north, Heroes and a Great Knight to the west, and Berserkers and a Great Knight to the east.

Cut down the defenders to the north (the Strategist will drop an Arms Scroll ), then wait for the Great Knights to east and west to attack, which they’ll do shortly. Don’t bother moving anywhere yet, though, as reinforcements will also spawn to the east and west, which should be disposed of before you move on. Namely, a Bow Knight and a Great Knight spawn to the west and a Dark Knight and Great Knight spawn to the east. The western group will spawn twice, and if you sit around and wait you may also provoke the Berserkers nearby at some point, not to mention a Maid, who will come down from near the top of the map.

Exterminate them all and turn your attention to the north; there are two chest rooms on either side of a large central chamber, where a Maid and a Sorcerer wait near a Launcher and a Fire Orb, ready to cause you grief as you advance to the north. In the western chest room you’ll find a Sorcerer, who will be joined by a Sorcerer and a Hero as reinforcements soon enough. The eastern chest room also houses a Sorcerer, and will likewise be joined by two aggressively mobile Maids. Despite the lure of these chests, however, you should try to disable the Maid and Sorcerer near the Fire Orb and Launcher, as they’ll harass you if you don’t.

Wait for the reinforcements in the chest room and kill them and the Great Knights standing in front of the hallways leading to the chest rooms, then mass outside the range of the turrets before advancing. You’ll take a few shots, but if you can heal on the move or safeguard your injured (via fleeing or defensive pairing), you should make be able to seize the turrets just fine. Be wary of the Berserker accompanying the Sorcerer and the Maid, as well as the Berserker and Great Knight who will spawn by Iago. If you want to make your task slightly easier, you can consider using a Dragon Vein at the southern end of the turret room, which will disarm enemy units, rendering them impotent. It won’t stop the units near the turrets from using them, but it may neuter any support units they have.

Once the turret room is seized, you can then focus on two tasks; luring Iago’s supporters away from him and dispatching them, and looting the chests in the rooms to the east and west. In the latter case you may have obtained some Chest Keys from the attendant Sorcerers, but anyone with Locktouch works just as well. Of the two chests to the east you can find a Waterwheel (east chest) and some Boots (west chest), while in the western room you’ll obtain a Pursuer (west chest) and a Great Festal (east chest). Iago’s easily-distracted guards will also offer up some loot, including an Arms Scroll (dropped by a Berserker) and 10,000G (former property of a Strategist).

Iago is another lazy boss who will forfeit the initiative to you. He’s got a very strong offenses, range, and high Hit Points, not to mention great Resistance. Still, a few brave Ninjas and some Falcon Knights should make quick work of him. It should be noted, though, that he’s got a competent General guard who will not flee his side. You’ll want to take him out before going after Iago, as he’ll otherwise help protect Iago. This can be done easily enough with magic-users and/or Sting Shuriken. When he falls, Iago will drop the Hagakure Blade .