Vortex of Strategy

Vortex of Strategy (Japanese: 謀略の渦 Vortex of Strategy) is a chapter in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade; it is the eighth chapter in Lyn's tale. In this chapter, Lyndis continues her march towards Caelin, but she is ambushed by a squad of Lundgren's troops commanded by Yogi. This chapter introduces the concepts of reaver weapons and ballistae.

Plot

Main article: Vortex of Strategy/Script

Lyn and her troop continue towards Caelin, and Kent reveals that they are about two days away if they hurry. However, Nils senses danger and instructs Lyn to stay put—she barely avoids an attack from a ballista. Sain explains what ballistae are and warns Florina to stay aground lest she get shot down. Lyn asks Wil if he can use a ballista, and he responds that he should be able to figure it out. The group confronts and defeats Yogi, the commander of the enemy forces. After they are routed, Matthew returns from his investigation of a nearby village and shares his findings with Lyn. According to a rumor in the village, Marquess Hausen is being poisoned by Lundgren. With Hausen too ill to protest, Lundgren has claimed Caelin for his own and has declared Lyn to be an imposter and Sain and Kent traitors to Caelin. Lyn realizes she needs a plan and decides to visit Eliwood for help.

Chapter data

Chapter Data
Conditions	Unit Data
Victory: Rout enemy	Player	Partner	Other	Enemy	Third
Defeat: Lyn dies	1–9	{{{partner}}}	{{{other}}}	14+4	{{{third}}}

Character data

Characters
New units
None
Required characters
Available characters
Undeployable characters

Item data

Items

Name Obtainment Method Lancereaver Visit village

Armory data

Armories and vendors

Swords Lances Axes Bows Anima Light Dark Staves Items Secret

	Name	Cost
	Iron Sword	460

	Name	Cost
	Iron Lance	360

	Name	Cost
	Iron Axe	270

	Name	Cost
	Iron Bow	540

None

None

None

None

None

None

{{{content11}}}

{{{content12}}}

{{{content13}}}

{{{content14}}}

{{{content15}}}

Enemy data

Stats with two figures separated by a ~ are presented as a range, representing stats that vary due to random growths. The figures to the left and right of the ~ are the stat's minimum and maximum possible values respectively.

Enemy Units

Name Class Lv # HP Str/Mag Mag Skill Spd Lck Prf Wlv Def Res Cha Lck Con Mov Inventory and Skills Yogi Knight 6 1 25 9 7 3 2 11 1 12 4 Axereaver -- Caelin Soldier 2 2 20~21 3~4 0~1 1~2 0 0~1 0~1 6 5 Iron Lance -- Caelin Archer 2 1 18~19 3~4 3~4 3~4 0 3~4 0~1 7 5 Iron Bow • Mans a ballista; does not move. • When ballista is exhausted, exits ballista and moves to attack units in range. Caelin Brigand 2 1 20~21 4~5 1~2 5~6 0 3~4 0~1 12 5 Iron Axe Moves to raid the village, then moves to attack units unprovoked. Caelin Cavalier 1 2 20 5 2 5 0 6 0 9 7 Iron Lance -- Caelin Mercenary 1 1 18 3 8 8 0 4 0 9 5 Iron Sword -- Caelin Mage 1 1 16 1 2 3 0 5 2 6 5 Fire -- Caelin Shaman 1 1 16 2 1 2 0 5 2 7 5 Flux Moves to attack units in range. Caelin Archer 1 1 18 3 3 3 0 3 0 7 5 Iron Bow -- Caelin Soldier 1 1 20 3 0 1 0 0 0 6 5 Axereaver Moves to attack units in range. Caelin Mercenary 1 1 18 3 8 8 0 4 0 9 5 Lancereaver Moves to attack units in range. Caelin Brigand 1 1 20 4 1 5 0 3 0 12 5 Swordreaver Moves to attack units in range.

Reinforcements

Name Class Lv # HP Str/Mag Mag Skill Spd Lck Prf Wlv Def Res Cha Lck Con Mov Inventory and Skills Caelin Soldier 2 4 20~21 3~4 0~1 1~2 0 0~1 0~1 6 5 Iron Lance --

Reinforcements

Reinforcements spawn at the beginning of the enemy phase rather than the end.

• Turns 3 and 4
  • 2 Soldiers from the southwestern forts

Boss data

Main article: Yogi

Knight Level 6 Affinity --

Stats Max HP 25 Luck 2 Strength 9 Defense 11 Skill 7 Resistance 1 Speed 3 Constitution 12 Movement 4 Aid 11

Inventory Axereaver Weapon Levels -- C -- -- -- -- -- --

Strategy

Despite the warnings Sain gives in the opening dialogue, the Ballista on this map is not that big of a threat as it will likely fail to one shot Florina. The Weapon Effectiveness bonus in the Western localization of this game is ×2 as opposed to ×3, so as long as Florina can survive one 19 to 20 might attack—which she can at full HP with her base stats—and is out of range of all other enemies, she will survive, causing the ballista to target Nils or Serra instead. Since the ballista is not all that dangerous, you can safely use Florina to rescue drop units on the other side of the forest and have them clear out some of the enemies to clear the chapter objective quicker. If Nils plays for Florina after she rescues a unit, she can drop that unit on the same turn and use canto to return to safety. While you move your units through the forest to the south, have either Erk or Lucius take out the mages and visit the village. You will get a Lancereaver which will be useful against a later boss that only has lances and it is valuable, meaning it will contribute to your funds ranking.

The opening dialogue of this chapter suggests that the player use Wil to man the ballista, however, this is of little use since Wil will need no enemies in range of him to use the ballista without taking attacks he cannot counterattack, and the ballista has a Weight of twenty, reducing Wil's AS to zero and putting him in mortal danger against several enemies. Furthermore, the ballista does not do damage to the enemies surrounding Yogi, or Yogi himself, that other units cannot deal.

Yogi is quite easy to kill. Since he is carrying an Axereaver he is incredibly weak to swords, so much so that you will likely be able to take him out in one round with Lyn's Mani Katti or the Armorslayer.

There is no forced tutorial in this chapter, meaning that the strategy for clearing hard mode is the same as the strategy for clearing normal mode.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

This section has been marked as a stub. Please help improve the page by adding information.