Distant Blade

Distant Blade
Game	Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Objective	Rout enemy
Units Allowed	11
Units Gained	Tana (from start), Amelia (Enemy, talk with Franz or Eirika. She will leave before the beginning of Turn 12 if you have not recruited or killed her, but will return in Chapter 13)
Boss	Binks
Script	Chapter script
Previous	It's a Trap!
Next	Revolt at Carcino
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“Eirika chooses to travel by sea to the theocracy of Rausten. Her search for a ship leads her to Port Kiris in Carcino. Carcino is a young nation ruled by a council of merchants, and it is an ally of Frelia. Carcino council leader Klimt, a staunch opponent of Grado's imperialistic actions, has pledged Carcino's support to Frelia in this conflict. Prince Innes also intends to pass through Carcino on his way to Jehanna. Eirika believes there is nothing to fear in Carcino, but she is wrong.”
—Opening Narration

Distant Blade is Chapter 9 of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones if you choose Eirika's route. This is the first chapter you can get Amelia. This is also the first chapter you can use Tana to fight. You get your first Ocean Seal, an item used to promote Thieves and Pirates. You get your second Rapier here as well, which can only be used by Eirika.

Script

See Distant Blade/Script.

Initial Enemy

• Boss: Binks L5 Warrior w/ Steel Axe, Steel Bow

Enemy Reinforcements

• Turn 2: Single Pirate from the north west
• Turn 3: Mage and Mercenary from the north west, two Archers from the south east
• Turn 4: Mercenary and Soldier from the north west, two Fighters from the south east
• Turn 5: Two Mages from the south east, three Soldiers and Amelia from the south west

Items

Drops

• Ocean Seal (Pirate to the south)
• Killing Edge (Myrmidon to the west)
• Axereaver (Soldier to the south)
• Elfire (Mage, reinforcement, to the south east)

Villages

• Dragonshield (Village to the west)
• Rapier (Village to the south)

After Chapter

• Angelic Robe (After saving all villages and clearing chapter)

Strategy

Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.

Be sure to bring Franz with you to recruit Amelia, a trainee with potential. Also, be sure to bring your stronger units into the fray, since the enemies here carry stronger weapons than what you are used to. Send Tana and Ross (if he is a pirate) south to distract the pirates from the village, but be sure not to get Tana shot down by enemy archers. If you have promoted Franz, having Tana rescue him and bring him with them to the south will help greatly. The rest of the group (including Eirika and/or Franz) should be heading west to deal with the other enemies (including the pirate reinforcement that will head south, towards a village).

There are three pirates in the level that will immediately attack villages if not dealt with. An effective way to defeat the pirate closest to you without using a flying unit is to station one swordsman on the coast within the closest pirate's attack range. Instead of heading to a village, he will attack your swordsman and should be easily defeated. On that same turn, send a mounted unit on the other side of the wall within the second pirate's attack range (he has a hand axe). Have an archer or magician follow your mounted unit so that the second pirate can be dealt with from the other side of the wall on the following turn. The third pirate will appear on the north side of the map on turn 2. Keep pushing through the bridge quickly and intercept him before he attacks the village. Be careful of the waiting sniper.

As for the western forces, after dealing with the northwest rubble, head south towards the other village, and Amelia. This village will give you a Dracoshield. As for Amelia, send Franz or Eirika over to recruit her, but be sure you killed the other enemy soldiers so Amelia does not die. (If you want to use Amelia throughout the rest of game, be sure to let her have any final blows that may not backfire and kill her instead.)

When dealing with the southern enemies, be sure to be sensible about your characters, and make sure you use sword users and magic users to counter the fighters and mages that intend to deal a chunk of damage (the soldiers, on the other hand, just need an axe or two to kill them). After dealing with those three lines of enemies, be sure to kill the rest of them, and visit the village with Rapier if you have not already.

Getting to Binks (the boss), be sure you attack him at the range he is currently not covering; if he is using an axe, hit him with magic and bows; if he is using a bow, come at him with swords. You could also equip the Axereaver dropped by a nearby soldier to one of your stronger units like Seth. After a few turns, he should go down, and the chapter should be completed.