Divine Blessings & Relics
Beyond the might of your army and the sharpness of your tactics, the ancient lands of Fevrith hold secrets capable of turning the tide of any battle: Divine Blessings and powerful Relics. These invaluable boons offer significant strategic advantages, from enhancing unit capabilities to providing crucial battlefield support. Understanding how to acquire and effectively utilize them is paramount for any aspiring liberator.
Understanding Divine Blessings
Divine Blessings are temporary, yet potent, buffs bestowed upon your units or the entire army during a battle. They are typically activated by interacting with specific altars or sacred sites found on the battlefield. Each blessing has a distinct effect, ranging from offensive boosts to defensive enhancements or even utility functions.
Activating Blessings: Step-by-Step
- Identify Sacred Sites: Before deploying, carefully examine the battle map. Look for glowing altars or ancient ruins marked with a distinct icon. These are your Sacred Sites.
- Deploy a Unit: Assign a unit to move towards the Sacred Site. Faster units like Cavalry or Flying units (e.g., Gryphon Knights) are ideal for quickly reaching these locations.
- Interact: Once your unit reaches the Sacred Site, an interaction prompt will appear. Select it to activate the Divine Blessing.
- Strategic Timing: Blessings often have a limited duration or a specific number of uses. Consider when to activate them. For instance, an offensive blessing is best used just before engaging a strong enemy unit, while a defensive one might be saved for an impending enemy assault.
Key Divine Blessings and Their Locations:
- Aegis of the Griffin: Grants a temporary boost to physical defense for all allied units within a certain radius.
- Location: Frequently found in the northern regions of Cornia, particularly near the Gryphon's Roost landmark during the mission "The Winged Menace."
- Strategy: Activate this when facing heavy-hitting physical attackers like Fighters or Soldiers.
- Celerity of the Unicorn: Increases the movement speed of the activating unit and nearby allies for a short period.
- Location: Common in open plains and forested areas, such as the Veridian Forest in the early stages of the game. Also appears in missions requiring rapid deployment, like "Scouting the Enemy."
- Strategy: Excellent for flanking maneuvers, rushing objectives, or repositioning slower units like Armored classes.
- Fervor of the Dragon: Boosts the attack power of the activating unit and adjacent allies.
- Location: Often located near enemy strongholds or boss encounters. Look for it in the vicinity of the Drakenhold Keep during "Siege of Drakenhold."
- Strategy: Use this right before your primary damage dealers engage a high-priority target or a heavily armored foe.
- Mending Light: Restores a small amount of HP to the activating unit and nearby allies.
- Location: Scattered throughout most maps, often near choke points or areas of sustained combat. A reliable source can be found in the Abandoned Chapel during "The Holy Knight's Trial."
- Strategy: A good emergency heal, especially for units without dedicated healers or when your healers are out of position.
Unearthing Ancient Relics
Relics are powerful, permanent equipment pieces or consumable items that offer significant advantages. Unlike Divine Blessings, which are temporary, Relics provide lasting benefits or can be used at critical junctures. They are often hidden, guarded by powerful enemies, or awarded for completing challenging side quests.
Acquiring Relics: Your Quest for Power
- Explore Thoroughly: Many Relics are found off the beaten path. Send out Scouts or units with high movement to explore every corner of the map, especially areas that don't seem directly related to the main objective.
- Complete Side Quests: Many optional missions and character-specific quests will reward you with unique Relics. Pay attention to dialogue and character requests.
- Defeat Powerful Foes: Bosses and elite enemy units often drop rare Relics upon defeat. Prepare your strongest units for these encounters.
- Solve Environmental Puzzles: Some Relics are locked behind minor environmental puzzles or require specific units to access. For example, a Flying unit might be needed to reach a chest on a high cliff.
Notable Relics and Their Impact:
- Amulet of the Ancients: An accessory that grants immunity to a specific status effect (e.g., Poison, Blind).
- Location: Can be found in a hidden chest within the Sunken Temple after completing the "Whispers of the Deep" side quest in Cornia.
- Strategy: Equip this on key units that are vulnerable to debilitating status effects, especially when facing enemies known for inflicting them (e.g., Witches or certain beast units).
- Blade of the Serpent: A powerful sword that deals bonus damage against Armored units.
- Location: Reward for defeating the Ironclad Knight in the "Guardian of the Bridge" mission in Drakenhold.
- Strategy: Equip this on your primary physical damage dealers when anticipating battles against heavily armored formations.
- Phoenix Feather: A consumable item that revives a fallen unit with a portion of their HP.
- Location: Extremely rare, often found in high-difficulty optional battles or as a reward for completing specific Overworld challenges. One can be found after clearing the Gryphon's Eyrie in Elheim.
- Strategy: Reserve these for your most crucial units, especially unique characters or high-level combatants. Use them only when absolutely necessary to prevent a critical loss.
- Ring of the Archmage: An accessory that boosts the wearer's Magic Attack and Magic Defense.
- Location: Discovered in the hidden chamber of the Forgotten Library after solving the riddle of the "Ancient Texts" in Albion.
- Strategy: Essential for your Mages, Witches, and other magic-focused units to maximize their offensive and defensive capabilities against magical threats.