Fire emblem three houses taking fort merceus

Fort Merceus, known as the Stubborn Old General, located in the eastern Adrestian Empire, is a fortress city that serves as the capital of the County of Bergliez.

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Fort Merceus, said to be impregnable, guards the approach to the Empire's capital of Enbarr, making it a vital strategic asset in times of war. As the seat of House Bergliez, the city prospers from the territory's abundant agriculture and fishing.

Characters at Garreg Mach Monastery

The Empire, Kingdom and Alliance decimated each other at the second battle at Gronder Field while the Knights of Seiros licked their wounds after capturing the Great Bridge of Myrddin. For better or worse, this left Edelgard injured and vulnerable, while you were able to recover your strength. Moreso, you're the only force in Fodlan left who can realistically challenge Edelgard, and you'll need to do so quickly, before Edelgard can recover.

Enbarr beckons, but along the way is Fort Merceus. You can't ignore this stronghold, and you can't leave it behind you, so you must capture it. En route you'll stop at Gronder Field, where Seteth will reiterate what you already know, before Ferdinand and Caspar arrive and fill you in on the details. Looks like you're using subterfuge to get inside the fort, which is your only option given the strength of the defenses. One complication arises however: the fort is currently under the Death Knight's command. Respond to Seteth with "We've beaten him before." to gain some Affection, after which you'll find yourself back at the monastery for some last-minute preparations. Replenish your Battalions, pass some Certification exams, repair your weapons, then start the battle.

Most of the foes on the map aren't all that unique or interesting, being a collection of Paladins, Swordmasters, Dark Mages, Dark Bishops, Fortress Knights, Assassins, Archers, Warriors and Demonic Beasts - it's a diverse bunch, but their stats and abilities shouldn't be a surprise to you. Of the rank-and-file it's worth noting that there are only two Archers and four casters on the map at the start, meaning fliers should be relatively safe, and you should be free to prioritize high PRT units. Again, however, the numerous stairs on the map, will be an impediment to cavalry.

There are several units worth looking out for on this map, the most obvious being the Death Knight lurking in the center of the map. While his stats are high, as usual, they should be unexpected, nor should any of his abilities, which haven't changed much since the first time you fought him. He's got high ATK and can counterattack regardless of range, and his PRT and RSL are both decent, but not great. He's got a Dark Seal and should fall easily enough at this point in the game. He's also not keen on moving at first, so you can safely ignore him at the start of the fight.

The two enemy generals include a Bishop at the north-center of the map and a Warrior to the west-center. The Bishop has higher ATK and RSL than the other casters on the map, but neither are remotely high enough to be threatening while the Warrior is much like your average enemy Warrior - high ATK, moderate PRT, otherwise unimpressive. Other than that, there are two Assassins on the western edge of the map that have a Killing Edge and a Venin Sword (high CRIT and poison damage, respectively), while the two Dark Mages each man a Fire Orb, which is a magical siege weapon that has massive range. Perhaps worrisome to those with incredibly low RSL, but the base ATK of these Dark Mages isn't high enough to inflict much damage under the worst circumstances.

If you're fast and give fliers Chest Keys you can claim the Speedwing and Aurora Shield from within chests.

As for treasure, there are two treasure chests on the eastern edge of the map, the Warrior-General will drop a Brave Axe and a Swordmaster north of your starting position yields an Evasion Ring. Give your fliers Chest Keys to get these chests - the northern chest contains an Aurora Shield while the southern one yields a Speedwing.

Your objective for this fight is, of course, the Death Knight. Fair enough - you can prove your superiority over him once again, and in the process humble the "Stubborn Old General". All your forces - the standard ten units - start out in the southeastern corner of the map, while the Death Knight is in the center of the fort.

The matter is complicated somewhat by four reinforcement spawn zones, as follows:

• Northwest: Paladin
• North-center: Armored Knight
• Southwest: Dark Mage
• South-center: Fortress Knight

You may have noticed - if you've played the Verdant Wind route before - that this battle is very similar to their Taking Fort Merceus mission. So much so, in fact, that the previous few paragraphs were able to be copy/pasted from that mission to this one without much alteration while remaining entirely accurate. This is a bit odd considering this chapter has the name "The Impregnable Fortress", which is identical to Azure Moon's Chapter 20. This mission is, in some ways, a weird mix of the two, as you won't have Claude and his reinforcements in the northeastern corner of the map, but the Death Knight also won't flee on turn four like in the Verdant Wind battle, opting to remain in place like in the Azure Moon map.

There are some caveats, however - like in the Verdant Wind mission the Death Knight will make his escape if you set foot on the stone square he occupies, if you capture all four reinforcement zones or if you kill too many enemy units (in particularly, he seems keen to bolt if you kill three of the four units manning artillery - the ballista and the Fire Orbs). The time limit isn't as severe as in the Verdant Wind path, but the Death Knight is still flighty, and because of that you should still be working towards the goal of taking down the Death Knight, and ensure you have units in place to do so when the time comes.

At the start of the fight you should split your forces into two groups - one should head north along the eastern edge of the map, claim the treasures and clear out the enemies, while the other should head west along the southern edge of the map. Again, the enemies in your way are fairly unremarkable, the only thing you even vaguely have to be wary of are the Archers manning the two ballista flanking the Death Knight. They'll probably out-range your fliers, but while using the ballista their ATK is low enough that it won't be surprising if your fliers just shrug off most or all the of the damage. Kill them to protect your casters, while your casters can return the favor with two Fire Orbs to the northeast and northwest... just be wary of inspiring the Death Knight to flee by taking out too much artillery.

Your main goal at this time is to simply clear out enemies and secure treasure, while also encircling the Death Knight. It may seem like you should be going after the reinforcement zones, but they're a secondary objective, at best. You probably don't want to bother sweeping the entire map to cut off all the enemies, so just knocking out the ones on the way should suffice. To remove a reinforcement zone, just move a unit onto one of the blue tiles - if said unit has "Canto", they don't even have to end their turn on said tile.

Once you've reached the eastern and southern flanks of the Death Knight (and perhaps the northern, if you really want to be thorough), mass up your forces at the end of the platform he occupies, and on your next turn, throw the kitchen sink at him. Again, the Death Knight is fairly powerful and can counterattack regardless of range, so take him seriously... but he's not that much stronger than normal foes anymore. Nothing like he was back in Chapter 4, in any event. One or two strong units should be able to easily take him out, and do so without suffering casualties. Take the Death Knight down on turn four or five if you're capable and you'll win the battle... and secure a Dark Seal. Not bad.

After the fight you'll witness some scenes. Were... were those missiles?! Whatever the cause of the calamity from the skies, the effects on Fort Merceus are devastating. How do you fight against something like that?

Worse yet, the Death Knight got away again!

Back at the Great Bridge of Myrddin, the Knights of Seiros will react to Fort Merceus's annhiliation, after which a new plan will be decided upon. Whatever you say doesn't matter (although you can take credit for the idea, if you wish!) - the main body of your forces will retreat to Garreg Mach, while a chosen strikeforce will continue on to Enbarr. It's risky, but if the strategy succeeds you'll gain the element of surprise, and since time is of the essence, it's really the only option.

So ends Chapter 17. The way to Enbarr is now open, and despite the strategy laid out earlier, you will, in fact, return to the monastery and piddle away another month there.