[Old] Concerning Secret Elixir Battles

[Neophyte Ronin]

From my understanding, in Vanilla Tactics, as you progress through the chapters, enemy formations mature and become diverse.  Mandalia Plains features Black Chocobos, Vampire Kitties, and Gabbledegacks in Chapter Four, for example, even after the initial formations consisted of Red Caps, Yellows, and Red Panthers.

In Plus Edition, Encounters are fixed and only change according to point of entry.  Beginning in Chapter Four, there are also instances featuring hard-as-nails enemies.

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One example is in Bervenia Volcano, where the one thing you will wish to bring is a boatload of fire elemental absorption, protection, or just 100% Magic Evasion with an Aegis Shield and watch out you don't get caught casting or charging.  That brawl is sinister without otherwise revival-sandbagging your unit, unless you equip appropriate protection.  I was caught unawares because I expected a routine battle against the Ahrimans and their cohorts who spam Death Sentence and require Abilities or Equipment that circumvent that; I don't like female-only-with-ribbons battle formations if I can avoid it.  Anyway, I stuck through, hammered the little punks and scored me an Elixir for my troubles.  That fight was terrible, so don't assume you're just fighting what you think you'll be fighting.

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The above statement is doubly true: the fire-themed formation featured Knights that didn't have Maintenance (for once), but Monster Skill.  The horrifying multi-elemental shot that Bombs and their ilk send your way should be enough to make any player wizened.  Also, a few Knights had Solidify or Float paired with Elemental, with the ability to cast Lava Ball.  Without death protection it will eventually kill your party.  A combination of Instant Death and Fire Protection will help you secure victory.  I approached from Zeklaus Desert when I encountered these fiends; they approached from all angles of the field, too.

If you manage to pull off the impossible and show off your unit at its best, you get acquainted with an Elixir or two.  That compensates for all those times beforehand, when human enemy units would stumble upon and collect them right before your eyes.  If you're really spot-on, you might be able to drag a few of the monster carcasses with you.  However, Dome's modified monsters (ones with hidden stats) cannot be poached, just so you know.  These are nowhere near the fights where a single opponent is twenty levels superior to your unit.  No, they're much further down the spiral, and yet they are appropriate practice before delving into the Deep Dungeon.  Thankfully, thematic as they are, figuring out the gimmick puts you that much closer to victory.

The question is: are these fights relegated exclusively to battlefields available only to Chapter Four, or...

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...after I discovered a Revenant with hidden stats and a super-dose of Health while approaching Yuguo Woods from the east/south (if you read certain medieval-era maps, North is the left point, not the top), felled easily after casting Berserk to negate its Incorporeal power and used gallons of Arise Spells...

...do we have to pour through prior battlefields from every angle until the new formations are found?  The phenomenon seems centered on Chapter Four, when new tough formations arrive, so I figured I'd ask before I go hiking across the world again looking for something to kill.  Is this phenomenon widespread or not?

[Dome]

You should be able to get the elixir battles only during chapter 4

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The volcano fight is one of the hardest XD Try the mandalia plains one, or the one at poeskas lake ;P

[matticus23]

You should be able to get the elixir battles only during chapter 4

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The volcano fight is one of the hardest XD Try the mandalia plains one, or the one at poeskas lake ;P

Are these battles a one-time thing or can you earn multiple elixirs by encountering the same battles more than once?

[Dome]

You can do them as many times as you want

[matticus23]

You can do them as many times as you want

Excellent

[Neophyte Ronin]

Yeah, just don't be ridden ragged and be forced to use one or two just to finish the battle.

[Otabo]

Yeah, I had to do those battles quite a few times to boost my Elixir stock (I'd been saving them all game and haven't used a single one) just for DD, because I knew for a fact that'd I'd be using them down there.