Heading into Chapter 3, my concern was simply keeping a solid distribution of experience amongst the force (and staying alive, obviously). My force was beginning to take real shape, with Max and company finally resembling something close to an actual squad.
Battle 9 – Bustoke Quarry
This one’s all about pacing. If I wanted to just steamroll my way through, I could slap a Power Ring boost on Balbaroy and have him zip over to delete the Master Mage. But that's not why we’re here. I need my team gaining experience across the board - and that means no shortcuts!
Naturally, this turns the map into a bit of a crawl. The layout forces you into narrow/bottlenecked paths, and the Skeleton + Dark Elf combo is nothing to scoff at. Skeletons are tanky and pack a punch. Dark Elves? Annoyingly accurate and dangerous at a distance. Still, with a calm approach and my usual "slow and steady" strategy, I was able to get through without any major issues. Push forward with multiple lines of offense, stay healed up, and hope RNG doesn’t throw a crit your way. Simple as that.
After clearing out the last group, it was back to town to take stock. Zylo joined the force and it was on to Battle 10.
Battle 10 – Outside Bustoke
This map throws a familiar enemy set at you, but with a drastically different layout. Gone are the bottlenecks, now it’s wide open terrain. And terrain, as any Shining Force vet will tell you, is a pain. Movement is slogged, spellcasters lagging behind, and frontrunners getting too far ahead. These maps tend to become disorganized fast.
With that in mind, I kept things tight and deliberate. The plan was simple: group up, push forward as a unit, and break down the Lizardman + Mage duo at the end without overextending. It worked. The battle didn’t deliver any cinematic moments or many pulse-pounding close calls, but sometimes boring is good.
Back in Bustoke after the win, it was finally time for some promotions. Luke and Ken hit level 10 and got the bump. Zylo was ready too, but I decided to hold off a bit longer. And I still hadn’t used my two allotted grinds, so uh...
Battle 11 – The Laser Eye
This fight is iconic, and for good reason. It’s a long bridge flanked with enemy troops, with a mini-gauntlet of ranged attackers, all while a giant eye charges up and fires off a devastating beam every few turns. Sounds like fun, right?
I used my two grinds here, which felt like the right call. The first grind ended early though, unfortunately. I noticed Tao was positioned in the Laser Eye blast zone and I wasn’t about to let her get disintegrated just for a few more XP ticks. Egressed and I went back in with a better setup.
After grinding and promoting Max and Balbaroy, I was ready for the real deal. The strategy? Let the Laser Eye do some of the work for me. I timed my movements to bait enemies into its path, letting the blast soften them up while I stayed just out of range. The Dark Elves and Pegasus Knights near the end posed the biggest threat, but keeping my lines tight and my healers on alert made a huge difference.
Closing Thoughts
There were a few tense moments, as there always are, but ultimately no casualties. Experience gains were solid, the force came out stronger than ever, and we wrapped up Chapter 3 with a clean record.
No permadeaths this time... but Chapter 4 is waiting!
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