The (Simple) Art of War

Some of the friends of the Blacksmiths have asked questions about Granado Espada as it's a game that isn't widely known to them as they aren't avid players of MMO games. So to answer these questions I've made 2 more small clips that demonstrate exactly how a multi-character system can function in the simplest setup. I started this game playing with the Elementalist (Warlock), Scout and Warrior. This combo is a simple tank and AoE (Area of Effect) setup which most MMO players are quite familiar with. The unique thing about GE is the ability to switch between 3 characters and control all or none of them at all. By simply pressing quick keys (Alt+E or spacebar) one can set the characters up to Patrol Mode which basically tells the AI to react to enemies nearby in attack mode, similar to placing Gambits on partners in FF12 but a little more advanced as you'll see.



In this clip I set up my Warrior and Scout in Patrol Mode. After they position themselves I hit F1 to select my Elementalist (Galatea) and then hit F9 to switch to Individual mode. Individual mode makes it so that any commands I input only effect the person I am currently in control of so obviously Select All mode gives the commands to all of them. In this mode however, I am free to move Galatea all over the map and do anything I want, in this case it's to draw (or pull) enemies towards my Warrior and Scout. As they approach you'll notice that once they reach the field of vision the Warrior automatically runs forward and starts swinging away. The Scout also times heals based on damage percentage and automatically knows to heal since he is in the right Stance (stances dictate what abilities that character has to utilize). In this clip however he's idle because no one has taken enough damage.



In this second clip, you see what happens when things get more hectic. I ended up pulling much more than I needed to and at the same time some more enemies spawned behind my group. Things look a bit worrisome but anyone who's played MMOs a lot knows that a good plan always comes through. Here I use the aforementioned strategy of Tanking/AoE. The Warrior in this game is the same as WoW's in that they can provoke nearby enemies to focus attacks on them. By using this I can gather away all the nasties from my squishier characters (like Galatea). My Scout finally begins auto healing here and when they all get near, it's time to drop the bomb and call it a day. After clearing out most of the enemies with a well timed AoE spell, I clean up the stragglers and try unsuccessfully to show off Freezing Spear. Btw you can also hear in the distance someone else who was in the area. Apparently they tried to same thing with less success as you can hear their Elementalist bite the dust.