Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Chapter 12: A Strange Land

Now that the Greil mercenaries are on board, captain Nasir sets sail with the target of reaching Begnion. This three-month journey will take the mercenaries through the waters which are frequently attacked by Raven and Hawk pirates. Eventually the group runs into some Ravens who chase them into a reef. The ship is now stuck, leaving the passangers - the Greil mercenaries - at the mercy of these air pirates.

Base preparations

Boyd and Oscar

If promoted, Boyd and Oscar have a secondary weapon. Boyd has bows and Oscar has whatever you wanted him to have when he promoted. Instead of using their main weapon, try using this secondary weapon to kill foes as this increases their weapon level for this secondary weapon. Making it much easier for you to fight with that weapon in the future.

Give bonus experience to those whom are a few levels behind, don't be afraid to leave some unused as it will be stored for next level. and give/take away any skills you wish and support and info conversations should be viewed if wanted. The main aspect of this base preparation is the fact that you have to prepare yourself for Raven laguz. These are the first laguz you've fought against and needed to be treated with care. If you've been training up Rolf, Marcia or Soren, this level will be easy. If not, you'll have to rely on Oscar and Boyd for the majority of the chapter. Ike should also be useful in this chapter if the laguz sword you got in an info conversation last chapter is still in your possession.

Make sure Soren has an Elwind scroll in his inventory and give Boyd and Oscar a bow each if they can wield them. All this is vital if you wish to get an easy win as wind magic and arrows do bonus damage to bird laguz such as these ravens, the same goes for the laguz sword.

Once you're fully prepared, save the game and leave the base.

The battle

Choose your most levelled up units and Volke to complete this level. Reposition them so that the lowest level units are to the lower-right hand corner of the boat and place the strongest units to the top-left side of the boat. remember to reinforce the southern units with a strong one so that none die. Save and start the mission.

Recruiting Jill

During this level, Jill (a reinforcement in chapter 11) arrives and is willing to help you defeat the crows. When she joins she has low speed but don't let that fool you, her defence and strength are good enougth to make up for it and once she levels up, her speed would quickly catch up compared to other units.

This level is often described as troublesome as you have to wait for the crows to come to you (Unless you trained up Marcia) This limits the speed you complete the level and the bonus experience gained. However, this is a very good time for Volke, as almost all the crows are carrying a secondary item. If you trained him up enougth you should be able to steal all these items.

This level should be relatively easy, crows are very vulnerable to wind magic and arrows and, like all laguz, they can be attacked by a ranged user without the threat of being counterattacked, making these crows very useful to level Rolf up if you're planning to use him. Deal with the boss and the enemy reinforcements and you've completed the level.