TearRing Saga Series Translation

  Dear Reese, Yesterday, an intruder came to Sinon Castle and broke into my private chambers. The nerve!

Naturally, I could not stand for such insolence, so I caught the devilish rapscallion myself.

I am sure you will not object that I have brought justice upon this beast myself.

He must pay for the rips left behind in my skirt by those sharp claws of his!

I have decided to name the little kitten Volcens, as he is of similar temperament to his namesake.

In other news, Father has arranged for additional funds for your mission. He requests only that you use it prudently.

Please stay safe, and I pray for the day that you can return home safely into my arms.

May Mother Veria bless you in all that you do.

Reese and Ward have just been discussing the matter of the theft of their battalion’s horses when Czene, a thief, approaches Ward.

Czene: Hey, you! Ward: Can I help you, young lady? Czene: You're friends with that rich blond guy I met earlier, right, old-timer? Ward: Old-timer?! I'll have you know--Oh, you're that girl we came across earlier during the battle... Czene: Good, you do remember me! I'm Czene. Ward: I see. Well then, Miss Czene, is there some reason you've followed us here? Czene: Well, my friends and I found something pretty interesting in the caves earlier! But it's a secret~ Ward: If you've got nothing to tell me, then I suppose that ends that. Farewell. Czene: Geez, you're no fun at all! You guys were just talking about how your horses had been stolen, right? Well, I think we found them. They were in that cave. Ward: What?! Is this true? Czene: 'Course it's true! Would a cute face like this really lie to you? Ward: AHA! Then that confirms it! I'll get those bastards for this...! Czene: Oww... Old-timer, if you keep yelling like that, you're gonna burst my eardrums... Just listen, okay? They were locked behind this big iron grate. It won't be easy getting your horses out of there. Ward: Then we'll just have to find the remaining bandits and take the keys from them by force. Czene: Sure, you COULD do that... But what if you can't find it? Or what if they've ditched it? No, no, it'd be way more reliable to bring someone who knows her way around all sorts of locks! Ward: Who, you? Czene: Duh, of course me! There's not a single lock in the world that I can't pick! Plus, you seem like a fun crowd. I bet I'll make a fortune working with you and blondie. Ward: We won't be going there to play, you know. We'll be fighting murderers out there. Czene: Yeah, YOU will be. Not me. But I can take care of myself if it comes to that. Ward: Fine, you may come. But only this once. (Still, how am I going to justify hiring a criminal to Lord Reese?) Czene: Great! I'll get my things! Pleasure doing business with you.

[After the mission]

Battle Ranges on a Hexagonal Grid

Berwick Saga uses a hexagonal grid instead of a square grid. Because of this, there are now 6 ways to attack from 1 tile away and 12 from 2 tiles away, and strategies must change to compensate for this. For example, units guarding a single-tile gate or bridge must be prepared to deal with 2 to 3 melee attacks instead of just 1.

In terms of battle ranges, however, Berwick Saga’s hex grid operates nearly the same as one would be used to from Fire Emblem (minus the obvious geometric difference); the biggest change is that attacks from 1 tile away are now differentiated into “Range 0″ and “Range 1.”

Range 0 is “melee,” used by the vast majority of knives, swords, spears, and axes. The catch is that battles at Range 0 are considered to take place on the tile of the defending unit, meaning that both units get the terrain effect of the defending unit’s tile. Finally, units that are not flying-type cannot attack flying units at Range 0 (since the battle would take place on the defender’s “tile,” that is, in the sky), but they can counterattack when attacked by them at Range 0 (since the battle would take place on the ground).

Range 1 is “pseudo-ranged,” being used by items like javelins, hand axes, and bows/crossbows at 1 tile away. In general, a unit with a range-0 weapon can’t counterattack an attacker at range-1 and vice versa. However, there is a built-in exception to this rule: defenders with range-0 weapons can counterattack at range-1 if their attack speed is at least 11 (regardless of the attacker’s attack speed) and the attacker is not a flying-type unit.

To further complicate things, certain weapons like crossbows are listed as having Range 0-1. For most situations, this means that they attack at Range 1 but defend at Range 0 or 1, whichever lets them counterattack. The only exception to this is wyrms’ breath attacks, which instead attack at Range 0.

All other ranges function as one would expect from Fire Emblem, and for all ranges except 0, battlers are considered to be standing on their respective tiles.

Simultaneous Phases

Unlike in Fire Emblem and Champions of Yutona, instead of turns being divided into Player Phase and Enemy Phase, control alternates over the course of the turn. How exactly the control alternates depends on the number of units on each team:

if the player and enemy both have 10 units, it will alternate player>enemy>player>enemy>...

if the player has 10 units and the enemy has 20, it will alternate player>enemy>enemy>player>enemy>enemy>...

This, combined with the fact that counterattacking is generally unreliable (see next section), can make Berwick Saga more active rather than the stereotypically passive (i.e., enemy-phase oriented) turns that many Fire Emblem games have.

The Flow of Battle

Each battle (that is, when a unit selects to attack another unit) takes place in separate rounds. Each battle has 1 round by default, and the vast majority of battles won’t have more than that.

Phases per Round

Each round goes through 3 phases:

Attacker’s attack

Defender’s “counterattack” (if defender unhurt in Phase 1)

Attacker’s “retry attack” (if attacker unhurt in Phase 2)

Further stipulations:

If Phase 1 does not occur, Phase 2 occurs automatically.

If Phase 2 does not occur, Phase 3 cannot occur.

The Attacker’s attack speed must be strictly greater than the defender’s in order for Phase 3 to occur.

Note that phases can be cancelled outright by being hit; this penalizes units for not being evasive, or alternatively, simulates them being temporarily stunned from receiving damage. Counterattacks and retry attacks, on the other hand, reward units for being evasive, giving them extra attacks if they manage to dodge their enemy’s. (Note that retry attacks should not be confused with the ability provided by the skill Pursuit.)

Additional Rounds of Battle

A handful of weapons and skills can add additional rounds of battle, but only for the users of those weapons/skills. For example, if the attacker gets 3 rounds but the defender only gets 1, then for the last 2 rounds of battle, the defender can’t do anything.

Weapons that give the wielder additional rounds of battle--which I call “additive weapons”--are listed with a + next to their might on the status screen. While the weapon is equipped, each + provides 1 extra round for all battles the wielder participates in. The skill Pursuit gives the same effect as a +1 weapon when its user has at least 5 more attack speed than the opponent, and this effect stacks with any additive weapons the user may have equipped.

Extra Attacks per Phase

There are other kinds of weapons that also provide the wielder with extra attacks, but through different means. These I call “multiplicative weapons,” since they turn the single hit of each of the wielder’s phases into multiple hits (like Brave weapons from Fire Emblem).

These weapons are listed with a ×n next to their might on the status screen. Skills like Double-Shot and Triple-Shot give the same effect as ×2 and ×3 weapons, and their effects also stack with the of multiplicative weapons.

Skills that Affect Battle Flow

Pursuit: (Passive.) When user’s AS >= enemy’s AS+5, acts like a +1 weapon. Stacks with other weapon effects.

Double-Shot/Triple-Shot: Attacks the effect of a x2/x3 weapon. Stacks with other weapon effects, but negates the user’s ability to perform retry attacks for the battle.

Vantage: When attacked at Range 0, can counterattack, and AS > enemy’s AS, user is treated as the attacker instead.

Counterer: When attacked and can counterattack, always counterattacks in every round that the user can, even if damage was taken.

Note that this can be a two-edged sword; if the user’s counterattack misses, the enemy will be given a retry-attack that they may not have otherwise gotten.

Desperation: [in addition to other effects] Allows participants to counterattack or retry-attack even if they are damaged.

Deathmatch: Extends the base number of rounds for the battle to 5 rounds instead of 1. Allows participants to counterattack or retry-attack even if they are damaged.

Example Battles

In most situations, these rules don’t play out nearly as complicatedly as they sound. One can generally go by the rule of thumb that +n weapons let the user attack n extra times at the end of the battle, ×n weapons turn each strike into n strikes, and Pursuit acts like in Fire Emblem with a threshold of 5.

Still, to illustrate how battles can go, here are some examples:

Example 1:

attacker: nothing special

defender: +1 weapon

Attacker (miss)

Defender (hit) [since not damaged in Phase 1]

[no chase attack, since attacker was damaged in Phase 2]

[no attack, since can’t access Round 2]

Defender (miss)

[no chase attack, since can’t access Round 2]

Example 2:

attacker: +2 weapon

defender: x2 weapon, Pursuit’s +1, Counterer

Attacker (miss)

Defender (miss, hit)

[no chase attack, since damaged in Phase 2]

Attacker (hit)

Defender (miss, miss) [since skill Counterer]

Attacker (hit) [since not damaged in Phase 2]

Attacker (miss)

[no counterattack, since can’t access Round 3]