Ch. 12 Long Live the King

**Long Live the King** is the final chapter of Act I and 12th chapter overall of *Andaron Saga*.

## Gameplay

Chapter 12 begins the long-awaited showdown between the three Steel brothers; Baudimon, Randall and Mortimer. On this map, only Baudimon and Mortimer may be fielded - no other characters may participate. Although the objective is to defeat Randall, there is no true Game Over condition active in this battle - Mortimer may be defeated without penalty, and if Baudimon is defeated or the turn count expires, the story will in fact still progress, albeit with consequences for the run later on (see the spoiler section below).

Randall's unique King class is considered an Armoured unit and does not have the Nullify that is typical of Steel Knights - thus, equipping Baudimon with a  Hammer or an  Armorslayer is highly recommended for dealing significant damage to him, especially if he can gain weapon triangle advantage. Due to a bug where the  Bolwerk unintentionally grants +5 Speed, Randall is very difficult for Baudimon to double; he will need at least 25 speed to double or 27 with a Hammer due to its weight. These benchmarks are somewhat unlikely to be hit without very lucky level-ups or giving Baudimon Speedwings. Mortimer can usually suffice with a single strong tome such as Elfire and a healing staff for Baudimon.

If  Dawncaller was taken at the start of the game, Randall will only have 1-range weapons available to him. Baiting him away from the throne before occupying it with Baudimon and fighting him 1v1 is a relatively consistent strategy, but may require sacrificing Mortimer to get Baudimon into position in time. Once he is on the throne, the throne's combination of defence, avoid and healing bonuses are usually enough to allow Baudimon to win, even if Randall can gain weapon advantage over him.

If Dawncaller was *not* taken at the start of the game, Randall will also wield it in this battle. Its bonuses to Resistance will make him more difficult to damage as Mortimer, but it can actually be more of a hindrance to Randall than a benefit, as his very low base magic means he will often be unable to damage Mortimer at all while Baudimon can mostly shrug off his attacks. He will often prefer to use Dawncaller against Baudimon if he has a 1-range weapon equipped, which can be exploited to keep him using the weapon. It's extra range means that Baudimon cannot abuse the throne to best him in a 1v1, however - use of the line of stairs in the middle of the room or the columns are alternative places to attack from while still being able to follow Randall around.

Unlike other characters in the game, Randall has special AI which will never voluntarily attack Mortimer's illusions, though he will counterattack them and will approach them if there is nothing else in range. He therefore cannot be distracted by the clones, but they can still be used for chip damage and to block off key squares which the player does not want Randall to occupy, such as a column or the throne.

Regardless of the outcome of the fight, Baudimon will be killed after the events of the chapter and will no longer be accessible by the player. As with other deceased characters, his inventory will be returned to the convoy after the chapter ends (except for  Dawncaller, which will be removed whether he has it or not). Mortimer's inventory will also be returned, even though he does not die, although he will permanently leave the party.

The outcome of this chapter will also determine the final promotion available to Jakka after Ch. 14 - if Randall is beaten, then he will promote to a **Sentinel**. Otherwise, he will promote to a Halberdier, which gives lower promotion bonuses and stat caps. This is to reward the player if they are able to best Randall.

End of spoilers.

### Secret Event

At the end of turn 3, there is a 0.4% (1 in 250) chance for the following dialogue to occur:

>  **Mortimer**It's Morting time! **Baudimon**What? **Randall**What?

This has no effect on gameplay.