Vandal Hearts II/Chapter 3

Zopart Valley

Victory condition: Defeat all enemies
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 30.000 G
Items:

• Tabarl (axe) - V24, H15 (chest)
• Bonesaw (special weapon) - V10, H4 (hidden)

Finally an easy battle. The terrain has many reliefs, but climbing them is not too difficult. It is advisable to try to immediately take the group to the plateau to the left of the initial position, defeating the enemies you encounter along the way. Once there, it will be easy to eliminate the enemy units that are further down. The only enemies that can cause you some problems are precisely on the plateau: a wizard who can paralyze your characters and another enemy with a thrown weapon. Eliminate them from a distance as soon as possible. All the others should not create any problems for you. You can also find two useful weapons here, one in a chest and one hidden.

After this battle there is a dialogue scene, in which you will have to make a choice. What you do will heavily affect the ending of the game. Refer to the appropriate section for further information. You can also tackle the optional battlefield Mt Daboll.

Pava Sea East

Victory condition: Defeat all enemies
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items:

• Psybell (special weapon) - V22, H1 (hidden)
• Map-0 - V21, H36 (hidden)

In this battle you are on a ship, surrounded by the sea. The fight is simple and easy, because the enemies are practically all the same and easy to defeat. There are eleven wingers, armed with axes or spears. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to get surrounded and eliminate the enemies quickly, since those with spears have a powerful physical attack. Given the low HP of the enemies this shouldn't be a problem, a couple of attacks are enough to kill them. You still have to send a winged character to collect two items in the sea. Map-0 in particular is essential to obtain the Vandal Hearts sword.

Pava Sea West

Victory condition: Defeat Mahler
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items: none

Another battle at sea. This time there are two ships: yours and the enemy one, connected to each other by two narrow gangways. It is probably best to divide your group into two, one on each catwalk, in order to defeat the enemies who progressively come forward. Obviously put the characters with the best defense and with some Recovermarks in the front row. Your winged characters can also move above water, avoiding walkways, but keep in mind that they will be an easy target for enemy archers. Among the enemies there are two wizards: one can attack you and the other can heal enemy units. Eliminate both of them as soon as possible. Like many bosses, Mahler will only begin to advance when you have defeated almost all of his troops. He has 479 HP and can cast Fireburst three times. This attack doesn't have a particularly wide range, but it deals around 90 points of damage to all characters hit, so avoid it as much as possible. As usual then, try to attack Mahler from a distance first, then surround him with your strongest characters and finish him off. There are no items to collect here, so you can dedicate your entire party to the fight.

Note: If you re-enter this battlefield later, you will find yourself in a different context, where you can collect some useful items.

Domingo Village

Victory condition: Defeat all enemies
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items:

• Helmet (accessory) - V0, H18 (hidden)
• Iron-fan (special weapon) - V1, H21 (chest)
• B-sniper (bow) - V7, H16 (chest)
• Gauntelet (accessory) - V2, H13 (hidden)
• Specs (accessory) - V13, H16 (hidden)

An easy battle, so don't worry about the fact that you have no chance to shop between this fight and the previous one. The enemies are all poorly equipped zombies with low HP, so defeating them is easy. There are no wizards. The only ones to keep an eye on are the two with thrown weapons. In fact, they can cause considerable damage if they climb onto a building, so try not to get hit and eliminate them quickly. In this battle you also have a helper, Hammet, with an excellent equipment. At the beginning of the fight he is isolated from the rest of the group, but there are only two weak enemies near him, so reuniting him with the other characters shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, Hammet will not follow you after the battle, but you will meet him again later. The terrain does not present any particular obstacles, you will only have to overcome a difference in altitude at the beginning. Otherwise, there are only a few low buildings. There are also many items to find here, so send your usual winged character to collect them.

Nugasso Forest

Victory condition: Defeat alle enemies
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items:

• Wind-ring (accessory) - V3, H11 (hidden)
• Linerune (accessory) - V0, H23 (chest)
• Hoplon (shield) - V8, H11 (hidden)
• D-scythe (special weapon) - V14, H17 (chest)
• Runners (accessory) - V16, H20 (hidden)

This battlefield has a swamp in the center, which can only be crossed by winged characters, which will therefore force you to follow a forced path. Then there are some other obstacles, including brushes. The only enemies that can cause you problems are the two wizards. One of them can heal enemy units and cast Sleep on your party and the other can attack you with thunder element spells. So try to lure them forward and eliminate them from a distance as soon as possible. However, you should be able to defeat the other enemies easily, as they will come forward little by little. There are many items to collect here, some of them very useful. None of them are difficult to reach for a character with a Wing Armor, but collecting them all takes time, so you should dedicate one character primarily to this task.

Killaba Swamp

Victory condition: Defeat friar Mahler
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items:

• Goblin (shield) – V9, H27 (chest)
• S-cape (accessory) – V10, H1 (hidden)
• Lunarod (staff) - V17, H12 (chest)

In this battlefield you are forced to follow a zigzag path (except for winged characters), because much of the terrain is made up of swamp. Here you will meet Hammet again. This time too, he will start the fight alone, so try to reunite him with the rest of the group as soon as possible. The enemies shouldn't cause you any particular problems. Mahler, your main target, has 509 HP and this time he is not at the bottom of the battlefield, but just over the middle of the path. Before facing him, however, it is better to also eliminate the enemies in the farthest part from a distance, in particular a wizard who can poison your group. Try not to get hit by this attack. Mahler has the same attacks he had the last time you met him. He can cast Firebust 4 times, so don't forget to heal characters who get hit by it. Attack him from a distance and finish him off with your strongest characters at close range. Then send the usual winged character to collect the treasures. Lunarod is very useful and also the Goblin shield, which will allow you to have another Recovermark skill. After winning this battle, Hammet will permanently join you. Your group is finally complete.

Erawaga Falls

Victory condition: Defeat all enemies
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items:

• Hoplon (shield) - V7, H15 (chest)
• Ingot (accessory) - V3, H3 (hidden)
• Charmer (accessory) - V8, H19 (hidden)
• Map-7 - V5, H24 (hidden)
• Darkness-ring (accessory) - V9, H8 (hidden)
• Specs (accessory) - V14, H17 (chest)

This is one of the battlefields where you have the terrain at your disadvantage. In fact, the enemies are mostly found high up, above the waterfall that divides the area approximately in half, while your group will have to start from the bottom. Climbing the rocks next to the waterfall takes time, especially for characters with Heavy Armor. Some enemies armed with swords will come towards you first, but they are more of a nuisance than anything else and will slow you down on the way up. What is to be feared instead are two archers located on the top, who have an excellent range and can cause enormous damage. Then there are two equally dangerous wizards. In addition to being able to heal enemy units, one can attack you with Elehound and the other can launch Minimizer on the group. You must try to eliminate these enemies by the distance as soon as possible. There are quite a few items to find here, but it's best to start collecting them only after you've eliminated most of the enemies. Remember in particular to collect the secret map.

Randahl Plan

Victory condition: Defeat Godeau
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 32.000 G
Items:

• Holy-ring (accessory) - V0, H13 (chest)
• Seeds (accessory) - V21, H9 (hidden)
• Glowstar (throwing weapon) - V22, H0 (chest)

Here you will re-encounter an old acquaintance, Godeau, who you will have to defeat. The terrain is practically completely flat, but there are numerous puddles of water and bushes that will limit your movement, especially characters with Heavy Armor. The enemies are nothing too complicated. Apart from the boss, the only one you have to watch out for is (as usual) a wizard, who can heal enemy units and cause serious damage to your party when he casts Hailstorm, so try to eliminate him quickly. Godeau will start to come forward once you have eliminated most of the enemies. Compared to the last bosses you've faced, he's not too difficult to defeat. Dark Punish deals more than 90 points of damage to affected characters, so if this happens, hurry up and heal them. After casting this spell three times, Godeau will have to fall back on physical attacks. Surround him and attack Godeau until you take away all his 490 HP. In the meantime, you have to send one of the characters to collect the items, all of which are quite easy to reach. The Glowstar is a good weapon and Seeds are needed to discover a secret battlefield.

Killaba Swamp 2

Victory condition: Defeat Thorpe
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 48.000 G
Items:

• Goblin (shield) – V9, H27 (chest)
• S-cape (accessory) – V10, H1 (hidden)
• Lunarod (staff) - V17, H12 (chest)

This time, in this battlefield you will face another old acquaintance, Thorpe (470 HP) and her henchmen. You start the battle in the same location as before, but this time the boss is at the end of the path. You must therefore proceed following the obligatory path, eliminating the enemies that progressively come towards you. Besides Thorpe, there are two wizards you need to pay close attention to. Both have spells to both attack and paralyze your characters, so avoid them as much as possible and try to eliminate them from a distance as soon as they are within your reach. As always. Thorpe will only come forward when you have defeated most of the enemies. She has a lot of mobility and can cause serious damage to your party when she casts Thunderbolt. Since Thorpe has wings, even if you surround her, she will still be able to move wherever she wants. Luckily though, her HP value isn't very high at this point in the game, so you should be able to defeat her fairly quickly. But you will meet her again soon.

Note: Items will only be found here if you didn't already collect them during the previous battle.

Domingo Ruins

Victory condition: Defeat Godeau, Thorpe and Doom
Defeat condition: Death of the hero
Basic reward: 55.000 G
Items:

• Helmet (accessory) - V0, H18 (hidden)
• Iron-fan (special weapon) - V1, H21 (chest)
• B-sniper (bow) - V7, H16 (chest)
• Gauntelet (accessory) - V2, H13 (hidden)
• Specs (accessory) - V13, H16 (hidden)

As always, the last battle of the chapter is very tough. Winning without losing a single character is really difficult here (but not impossible). In this battlefield, which you have already been to, you must face the entire trio of Queen Mother Agatha's henchmen, namely Godeau and Thorpe, who you have already met and their leader Doom. In addition to these three bosses, there is also a wizard at the bottom of the battlefield. Oddly, the enemy that will give you the most problems is this wizard, because he can cast Revive twice, bringing the bosses you have already defeated back into combat (albeit with only half their HP). The ideal is therefore to eliminate this wizard before defeating the three bosses, but it is not a simple thing. You should send a winged character to the bottom of the battlefield, where the wizard is and try to eliminate him with one hit, or at most two. Along the way, however, this character will be exposed to attacks from Godeau and Doom, so move him only when the three bosses have already made their moves or move him to safety before they can attack him. It is also better to equip the character in question with items/skills to restore energy and have someone in the group capable of casting Re-move on him. Once the wizard has been eliminated, you can focus on the three bosses, which you can weaken in the meantime. It would be best to try to face them one at a time, but even this is not always possible. The first to step forward is Godeau (500 HP), generally followed by Thorpe (420 HP). Both have the same powerful spells as last time, that deal almost 100 points of damage in a large area, so for this battle you should dedicate your mages almost exclusively to the party's care. Also make sure that characters not wearing Heavy Armor don't get hit more than once. A good strategy, especially if you find yourself facing more than one boss at the same time, is to cast a healing spell on a group of characters who will most likely be hit by one of the bosses in that turn (generally they choose to attack as many characters as possible with a spell). The bosses are almost certainly more agile than your characters and will act first, but in this way the characters hit will be immediately healed. The last of the trio to step up is usually Doom (655 HP). His attacks have a shorter range than those of the other two and hit a smaller area, but are still very powerful. Try also to avoid his Ax-vortex attack, which can cause over 140 points of damage to characters next to him. Given his very high HP value, surrounding and defeating him in a single turn is practically impossible, so remember to always heal the characters he approaches until you defeat him. Unfortunately, you will meet these three scoundrels again in the last chapter, but at least you will no longer have to face them all together.

As with the previous battle, items will only be found here if you haven't already collected them previously.