Duke Revier's Grand Game Emporium

 Some of you might remember that I had started evaluating the magic schools in this game to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. I picked Nature as that was a fairly straightforward school. The rest...aren't quite so clear cut, but they still have themes they try to convey via their design. Anyway, it's now time for.... SORCERY Sorcery loosely represents the forces of wind, water and most importantly, magic itself. Its summons have great control over water, and it manipulates wind to make units fly and even become swift transports themselves, but by far their most impactful spells are magical tricks that undermine the "rules" of battle. As such, Sorcery very much is the realm of trickery...and it kind of has to be, as it has little power backing it up. When they work, they work very well, netting it amazing rewards and letting it crush its foes with ease. But when they don't , it is in deep trouble. Now, it does have some nifty logistical spells too, and th...

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 Well, I was wishing for a challenge at the end of last run, so why not take a look at the game's second, and only other attack mage? Meet Leon! Leon is essentially a darkly flavored mage, most of his spells are darkness elemental and he gets instant death and debuff spells. That said, he starts with a few water elemental spells, and those give him a decent alternative element to tap into. Leon starts at level 30, and with level 2 Alchemy. He also has the grace of starting with 500 SP and 350 BP. Now, this isn't as big as it sounds, especially since 120 of the SP has to be spent on Determination, but it's nice to have some flexibility building him up at the start! He also joins at the start of the Hoffman Ruins arc, and is a guest until the dungeon is cleared. This puts him under the same restrictions as Celine - he can't swap any equipment until he joins "for real". No armor, no weapons, no accessories, nothing. Speaking of weapons, Leon uses books as his mur...

 UNIVERSE  So, uhh...remember when this was a challenge run? Yeah, I don't! :D Now, granted, they were blocking more of his hits, and granted, they were taking longer to put down. But this was simply not enough to stem the tide of Air Slashes flying in their direction. What they did do was make him burn through more of his Blackberries. This wasn't a problem during fights itself, but did cost him more time summoning birds than I'd have liked. Well, good job being an inconvenience, enemies! The Crimson Devil buffed his damage so much the Ring of Might felt downright redundant! I swapped it for a Sacrificial Doll, as I consider it the strongest defensive accessory in the game. Sure, there are accessories with stronger individual effects, but it's hard to beat resistance to all elements alongside a free revive! Dias was so strong I skimped on stocking up on certain normally essential consumables, like Fruit Syrups and Illusion Dolls. While he was strong enough to fight wit...