Encode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gGMUTjiJnE
With Alan being so far behind in terms of the level he needs to promote, I had to dedicate some of the kills to him. He ends up getting a little over the exp needed to promote, but I doubt he can get 1 fewer kill in order to promote by the time it is needed.
Turn 1: Thany trades all three Door Keys to Roy. He needs one in Ch12, and the other two will be given to Marcus later in this chapter. It is faster for Alan to double here than to crit. Zealot trades Alan the Killing Edge, and picks him up, for Marcus to drop Alan 1 square forward. This position allows Alan to get into a better combat position later on.
Getting Alan's level up necessitated avoiding crits here too - he gains Str, Skl, Spd, Luk, Def. The archer that attacks Lilina cannot crit, so he has to take 2 rounds killing her to avoid the gaiden.
Turn 2: Marcus nets a level up of Str, Spd, which is all he really needs. Zealot gets into position to kill the archer next turn - it stops him walking all the way across the map wasting enemy phase time. Alan and Thany advance, Thany giving Zealot a 2 use Hand Axe as she goes. I have plans for that. On enemy phase, both Alan and Marcus save time by critting their attackers.
Turn 3: Alan's repositioning on turn 1 allowed him to get another sword kill on the knight. Marcus nabs another crit, and another on the enemy phase. Zealot also crits the archer.
Turn 4: Marcus was in desperate need of Hand Axe uses, so Thany trades a full one to him. Alan takes Roy and the Chest Key and advances, getting another sword kill for HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luk, Def, level up.
Turn 5: Marcus crits the archer, and the soldier on enemy phase.
Turn 6: Here's where the fresh Hand Axe was needed - Marcus cannot OHKO the knight with the Javelin, and he has 5 more enemies to deal with. No level up makes this battle easier to manage.
Turn 7: Alan trades off Roy. It would be nice if I could use a glitch here, that allows both Alan and Marcus to occupy the same square, but Marcus would not be able to move this turn if I did that. Marcus takes the Door Keys off Roy and advances. Alan gets another sword kill on EP.
Turn 8: Starting the advance to the boss.
Turn 9: Alan gets the Knight Crest. Having a full inventory means I can get rid of the now useless Chest Key. Marcus whips out the Hammer for a OHKO on the knight.
Turn 10: Cath and another thief appear on enemy phase.
Turn 11: Marcus takes a kill with the Silver Lance - he doesn't have the ability to crit the mage with a ranged weapon. I had to manipulate the thief's stats to allow Alan to OHKO with Iron Sword - 20 mt vs 18 HP/2 Def.
Turn 12: Getting rid of Cath stops her wasting time later as well as giving the final exp Alan needs to promote. It will be faster to do that at the start of next chapter, which is why I don't do it here. Alan also gets his Sword rank up finally, meaning he can immediately make use of the Killing Edge after promotion. All that extra effort will pay off for definite with all the extra crits. Level up gains are HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luk, Res.
Marcus equips the Hammer for the enemy phase, dropping Roy just in range of the throne. Marcus gets HP, Str, Luk level up - I could get a level up with just HP only easily enough, but I have a feeling the Str will be useful later on.
Turn 13: Leygance bites the dust.
5131 frames ahead here, but the promotion will take about 1000 frames or so. Overall I've not really lost any time but not gained much either - combat went faster, but Alan got stronger level ups with a few less crits to compensate. The narrow corridors around the first half of the map are not conducive to big RNG manipulations, so I minimise them as much as I can - which allowed me to get so many good enemy phase results and level ups without spending forever manipulating them, so overall I'm pleased with this. Alan gets to promote next chapter, and I can have fun with the KE, saving a huge amount of manipulation.
