The fight starts your party off in two camps. The one that Serenoa automatically starts with should be stacked with the bulk of your deployable forces. Leave three or four fജor the side with the cardboard boxes. Remember those boxes for l✱ater.

We recommend placing Frederica here as well as Erador and Corentin. Erador's role will be to rush up and act as the human meat shield he's always been, blocking off the enemy melee units who will pour out from the boat and head to that side. Corentin will aid in this endeavor by setting up Ice Wall. That said, keep his TP up somewhat because he'll soon be needed for another tactic.

Let's talk about Serenoa's side of the equation for a bit before moving back to Frederica's. Consider having Hughette and Archibald here with him. Archibald's role is to step forward brazenly and get a few good shots in on those early Bowmen in Thalas' employ. He's frail, though, so have your chosen healer ready to keep him going a few rounds.

As for Hughette, this will sound odd right now, but have her fly up to the elevated area above where your parties start out. Don't take her all the way to where she'd be situated above Frederica's squad, but instead, just shy of the midpoint. Here's why.

Several turns into the fight – early enough to cause some real wrinkles in an unprepared setup – Erika appears up in this area, a bit closer to the side with the boxes. She has several reinforcements with her, and she's looking mighty thirsty to slaughter some House Wolffort folks. Hughette can immobilize a couple of these units and take pot shots at Erika since she'll be in decent range.

Remember those boxes? Wooden crates? Cargo? Whatever you want to call them? Before Erika arrives, have your team pummel them into pulp for some free experience points. Experience is experience, right? But why wouldn't you want to spend your time more valuably, killing Aesfrosti soldiers, you may be wondering. The answer can be seen in the screenshot above; if you allow Erika to spawn and spend a single turn waltzing in that party's direction, she'll coat the whole area in oil and those boxes will go up in enough flames to slaughter your team wholesale.

Don't let that happen.

Now, we'll rely on Corentin a little more. If Julio was brought along and can reach everybody's favorite research-obsessed ice mage in time, tap him for some extra TP. The goal here is to unleash some ice spells centered on Erika and damaging her team as well. Try to give Frederica a free hit in before it's over for Mean Twin Two. You'll be cheering for Serenoa's betrothed when that delicious dialogue triggers.

All-the-while, have Serenoa and other heavy-hitters on his side steadily break through the enemy lines. You'll want to prolong the fight as much as necessary until the Elite Healers, Bowmen, and Shieldbearers are all spent. The goal is to board the s🌼hip and eliminate Thalas only when as many troops of his are dead ⛄and dusted as possible.

The ideal scenario is to make it so that it's simply Thalas and that lone Bowman who hangs out above the ship via the ladder. A single ambush unit isn't going to cause much distress. Nor will Thalas once he's cornered, for that matter. Don't underestimate him, per se, but so long as you've brought the bulk of your remaining forces with you, you should be able to wipe that smirk off his face for good in just one more turn.