Retaking the Capital

Retaking the Capital
Game	Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Objective	Seize Throne
Units Allowed	14
Units Gained	Zeiss (Enemy, talk with Melady) Hugh (Enemy, recruit with Roy, though you have to pay him) Cath (Enemy, if you haven't recruited or killed her already, talk to her in 3 separate chapters with Roy)
Boss	Narcian
Script	Chapter script
Previous	The Dragon Girl
Next	The Pinnacle of Light or The Path Through the Ocean or The Bishop's Teachings
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“After rescuing Fae, Roy led his forces toward Aquleia. As the capital of Etruria, Aquleia was the largest, most prosperous city on the continent. Preparing for the Lycia Alliance Army's attack, the Revolutionaries were concentrating their forces in the palace. The Revolutionaries' original plan was to use the city walls for defense, but since the Elimine Church had turned to the Alliance Army's side, they were forced to retreat and shell up inside the palace, fearing that the Church may have encouraged the civilians to protest. The Elimine Church was established by Saint Elimine, one of the Eight Heroes. The Church had followers all around Elibe, primarily in Bern and Etruria. With the Church's support, Roy was able to arrive at the palace with ease. However, Bern's southern dispatch led by General Narcian was waiting for him inside.”
—Opening Narration

Retaking the Capital (王都奪還 Ōto Dakkan lit. Recapturing the Royal Capital) is Chapter 16 of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Notes

• There are 10 chests on the map. The 5 on the right contain 5000 gold, Bolting, Brave Lance, Restore, and Recover. On the left side of the map, the chests contain Berserk, Knight Crest, Hero Crest, Silver Bow, Rescue Staff.
• There are two Red Gems, a Blue Gem, and a Delphi Shield to steal.
• There is a Secret Shop located where Zeiss starts from.
• To go to the Gaiden chapter The Heavenly Light, Douglas must survive this chapter.
• If you have Sue and/or Shin with higher XP than Shanna and/or Thea you will continue to the Sacaen route, otherwise you will continue to the Ilian route.

Initial Enemies

• Narcian (Boss): Dragon Lord L10 w/ Runesword, Delphi Shield, Blue Gem
• 1 Mage L16 w/ Aircalibur
• 1 Mage L17 w/ Aircalibur
• 1 Mamkute L9 w/ Flame Stone
• 1 Mamkute L8 w/ Flame Stone, Red Gem
• 1 Knight L17 w/ Horseslayer
• 1 Knight L18 w/ Horseslayer
• 1 Knight L17 w/ Javelin, Steel Lance
• 2 Knight L18 w/ Steel Lance, Javelin
• 1 Bishop L1 w/ Purge, Mend
• 2 Bishop L1 w/ Lightning, Physic
• 1 Paladin L1 w/ Steel Sword, Javelin
• 2 Mage L17 w/ Elfire
• 1 Mage L16 w/ Elfire
• 1 Mage L16 w/ Aircalibur, Red Gem
• 1 Mage L17 w/ Bolting, Vulnerary
• 1 Mercenary L18 w/ Killing Edge
• 1 Mercenary L18 w/ Armorslayer
• 2 Mercenary L18 w/ Steel Sword
• 1 Fighter L15 w/ Killer Axe
• 1 Fighter L16 w/ Steel Axe, Hand Axe
• 2 Fighter L16 w/ Steel Axe
• 1 Bishop L2 w/ Lightning, Mend, Silence Staff
• 1 Sniper L6 w/ Silver Bow
• 1 Sniper L5 w/ Steel Bow
• Douglas (Enemy): General L10 w/ Silver Axe
• Roartz (Enemy): General L6 w/ Silver Lance (Note: He leaves at the start of the chapter)
• Arcard (Enemy): Paladin L5 w/ Silver Lance (Note: He leaves at the start of the chapter)
• Hugh (Enemy): Mage L15 w/ Elfire, Member Card, Elixir

Secret Shop

Merchandise: Knight Crest, Hero Crest, Guiding Ring, Orion's Bolt, Elysian Whip, Angelic Robe, Lockpick

Secret Shop location in Chapter 16

Enemy Reinforcements

• Turn 10: Cath
• Turn 11-15, from the stairs northwest of the Throne:
  • 1 Mercenary L16 w/ Steel Sword
• Turn 11-15, from the stairs near where Douglas was at the start of the chapter:
  • 1 Mage L16 w/ Elfire
• Turn 11-15, from the stairs northwest of Roy's starting position:
  • 1 Mercenary L14 w/ Steel Sword
• Turn 11-15, from the stairs north of Roy's starting position:
  • 1 Fighter L15 w/ Steel Axe, Hand Axe
• Turn 12, from the stairs near where the Bolting Mage started:
  • 1 Mage L14 w/ Bolting

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.

You can haggle Hugh's price down from his initial asking price as many as 3 times, but this is not recommended unless you want him solely for his Member Card, because his stats decrease each time you do.

Because of the locked door in the middle of the map, General Douglas and Hugh both move toward the right entrance. Make sure to move Roy in that direction, so as to help against the axe fighters that will come toward the right side group, as well as to recruit Hugh.

To get past Douglas without endangering either him or your units, it is recommended that you use a Sleep staff on him to slip your army past. Once he awakens, he can be kept out of the way by baiting him with a high-evade unit, stripped of any weapons, but carrying a few healing items in case he does hit.

You can either make him move in a circle, or simply lure him to the entrance of the eastern treasure room, where another unit can provide backup and support bonuses. Rutger is highly recommended for this, as he can become a Swordmaster and supports with Clarine, who can provide healing from within the treasure room.

Note that Douglas will not attack Larum or Elffin.

There is a variety of units, so trying to figure out who to use could be tough, but the reinforcements that come in from the stairs are largely Mercenaries, with Mages and Fighters also thrown into the mix, so two really good choices would be Pegasus knights for the north and Cavaliers for the south. You should also use other units with high Resistance and Avoid, because of the several Mages and Bishops, a few of which have long-range Bolting and Purge, respectively.

Zeiss can be recruited with Melady, and he has astounding hard mode bonuses (19 Strength at Level 7). He has similar stats to his sister, except he has higher Strength but lower speed, higher defense but even lower luck, higher HP but even lower resistance. Overall, he'll have high stats in everything except Luck and Resistance, similar to his sister.

Melady is an extremely useful unit on her own, so with some help from Zeiss, you've got yourself a great Wyvern duo, which will help in many later chapters.

There's also an arena in chapter 17 of either the Ilia or Sacae route, so Zeiss can reach Level 20 with ease using those.

Make sure Melady and Hugh are both recruited and alive to get the gaiden chapter for Apocalypse, and they're some of the few units who can reach the secret shop in chapter 21, as well as talk to Galle, so Chapter 21 is just one of the chapters they'll be heavily useful.

There's a secret shop where Zeiss starts, and it's the first in the game. To access it, use Hugh's member card (obtained by stealing it or recruiting him), and it has Lockpicks, Angelic Robes, and all promotion items for sale. The silver card from Chapter 14 will prove very useful here, and Arena abuse will make the promotion items both effective and affordable, so do so if you have the patience for it.