Banner Saga: Saving the World

[Part of my Banner Saga play through]

Arberrang is on borrowed time as the darkness engulfs it. Fortunately Zefr and the plentiful court menders can put up a huge light shield to protect the town but they must be defended from direct assaults by the warped. Prince Ludin and his archer guard Yrsa volunteer to take charge of that while supported by Scathach, Ubin and Bastion to defeat waves of the scum. Despite doing really well they eventually have to fall back further and further to the inner keep as more and more menders are lost. Apparently not happy with the current death count, Canary also kills fellow horseborn Derdriu for centaur-girl reasons.

 

So it's our last-last stand then?

Eventually it is only the great hall still shielded as the warped continue their attacks, which the survivors - even the terrible fighters like Aleo, defend as long as they can - losing Tryggvi. After the third day, they need to enact Yrsa's plan of burning the roof and hiding in the fortified basement in hopes that someone will save them. Luckily they did manage to buy enough time for Iver and the Ravens to make it to the White Tower where Bolverk somehow awaits, but is absolutely steam rolled by Iver this time around as the one armed varl downs the ex-Raven leader mid-sentence.

The wounded giant serpent reappears at this point, offering Eyvind a deal: instead of dooming Juno to an eternity of imprisonment, he can kill her before going back into the new sun. It's price is to devour only half the world. Since Eyvind is seriously considering this, Iver doesn't take the chance and chops down the mender from the back. The witch Alfrun takes his place for the original plan which recreates the black sun, locking Juno, the serpent and the darkness away.

Unfortunately Alfrun is not as strong as Eyvind and is destroyed in the process - which also obliterates the White Tower and everyone nearby. Though they saved the world, she, Iver, Bersi, Oli, Sparr, Eirik and Valgard are disintegrated!

Insight: I managed to buy Arberrang 21 days and 21 hrs on the "doom clock" and only had 12-13 hours to spare at the end.

Banner Saga: The Light in the Dark

[Part of my Banner Saga play through]

Somewhere inside the darkness, Juno, Eyvind and Iver march back to Ridgehorn with remaining ravens Folka, Oli, Sparr, Dytch and Bersi using the magical light of the menders to protect them from being warped. They are not the only survivors as at the Strand they rescue remaining survivors Eirik, Valgard and the witch Alfrun (who also can cast light) from a warped attack. With nothing better to do the trio join the crew on their quest to save the world.

Not far behind is the enraged Bolverk, now possessed by Bellower, because absolutely zero people died in that tower collapse. Thanks to constant attacks from the warped, he manages to catch up to them at Ridgehorn itself and when Folka tries to get him to see reason, he chops her to pieces. Eyvind blasts Bolverk away with lightning and the remaining squad quickly enter the secret gate into inner earth: home of the dredge.

By gate I mean a giant hole that they jump down.

It is here Juno explains what's going on. After she was executed for mender crimes, Eyvind revived her with the power of the inner earth's black sun which cracked it open - releasing the great serpent and the expanding darkness. They just need to reach the altar at the White Tower where Eyvind will return the energy, trapping Juno, the darkness and the serpent in a new black sun for all eternity.

Alfrun whispers to Iver that she doesn't trust them to do what they say but without a better plan, they simply have to go along with it - and quickly too, if they want any of their friends at Arberrang to survive. Thus begins their charge through the warped darkness, and the start of the countdown timer till the end of the world.

Insight: I found Dytch's hide ability to often be a waste of time. Just hack away at enemy armor already so that his allies can kill them faster. The only exception is if its his starting move and/or if you are using him as an invisible block by staying hidden and standing in a position that enemies need to walk through. They can't walk through or attack him while hidden... awesome for prolonging fights. Lol.

Banner Saga: Flight of the Ravens

[Part of my Banner Saga play through]

Elsewhere, Bolverk and his crew of Ravens which include Folka the shield maiden, Sparr the old skald, Oli the axe thrower, Dytch the rogue and fellow varl Bersi who once served as Prince Ludin's bodyguard are on a secret job for Juno to dump a large box into the sea. Their road takes them through murdering refugees while out pacing dredge and eventually to the mining town of Bindal which is run by captain Gudmundr and menders Nikels and Zefr, where a large force of dredge finally catch up to them.

When Bolverk explains he's doing a job for Juno, Nikels and Zefr don't believe him as the mender council executed her months ago. Prying the box open they discover it contains the body of Bellower, and suddenly Zefr understands why the dredge have been pursuing them. To escape the dredge army at the wall everyone evacuates into the deep mine with Gudmundr sacrificing himself to seal the passage behind them to buy some time.

Not that it matters as there are dredge in here too, including the necromancer Eyeless who keeps reviving the fallen. Zefr explodes Nikels to escape from that, only for the team to run into warped dredge who absolutely wreck the party at every turn. When the survivors make it to the surface, they barely have time to look at the giant black dome in the distance as Bolverk calls for a death march to get past the swarming dredge and across the small human bridge of Old Ford which is guarded by Fasolt - who somehow survived the fall of Einartoft!?

So many spectators. They'd easily win if they all decided to charge.

Eyeless catches up to the Ravens here, and after a short battle on the bridge is brought down by Oli's axes, but not slain. With both sides too injured in the clash, a stalemate is formed giving Bolverk and Zefr the time to push on with Bellower's corpse while everyone else remains to hold the bridge. By chance, they run into Juno, Eyvind and Iver at an old tower and immediately attack, with Bolverk beating Iver down before Eyvind drops the entire structure on top of them all.

Insight: For a mender, Zefr's magic ability sucks as enemies can also benefit from walking over the tiles her boons randomly appear on. Best used as for her armor repair skills instead. Also somewhat worthless is Bolverk himself. Sure he has good multi-attacks but until he levels up and gets his "bear rage" on (which lets him counter) he's an easy target to beat down.