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There's a reason why I like Jade calling him out. That being said, I feel like too many of the supports lean into a character's gimmick. Alfred/Amber is a prime example of this.

This battle sucked. Decided that Team Tank Dragon With Four-Letter Names was the way to go. Duo Duma (Armor March scroll), Fallen Rhea, Summer Nifl, and Nils were able to get past this. I kept everyone together so Duma/Rhea could keep everyone safe. Used Duma's Duo Skill when Gotoh got his health down. Summer Nifl was able to blow up squishy units with no fear of retaliation.

Off to Far from the Forest with you.

Is it Griftlands if it doesn't involve backstabbing in some way, shape, or form?

Let's answer this backwards! This is a game. It's okay to make mistakes and not play ideally. I'm bumbling around and haven't totally screwed myself out of anything on Hard. If you want to try something, take a deep breath and give it a shot! Save in a different slot if you're going to make a major decision. I still use forged Iron weapons and I'm pretty far into the game. They're cheap. Don't be afraid to save before starting a map and back out if you're just short a stat threshold. You can cook a meal for temporary stat boosts or use tonics for more predictable temporary stat boosts. For cooking, stick with meals that have sparkles next to them, because you really don't want to go into a map with stat penalties (okay, maybe twice if you're going achievement hunting).

I don't know about "best", but if I can be bothered to replay this game, I'm going to have a very bizarre class path for Alfred. Going through two unpromoted classes will be a bit painful, but I think it'll fix his stat issues somewhat. Which would be Noble -> some other unpromoted horse unit -> Paladin -> Avenir. Also someone talk me out of making Louis a Hero. Please.

Only if I can ORKO them. Otherwise I'm taking unnecessary damage. Plus Louis isn't the most accurate guy in the army, or he may be preoccupied with someone else. Override is situational at best. If I use Sigurd, it's for the extra movement. Though that Ridersbane is a lance, so it's useful on units who don't wield lances naturally.

That's a good question. Since there's very little news on hacking, I'll leave it here for now. It may move in the future and I'll reply to this topic if it does.

I don't think I'm qualified to write a definitive guide on this, but I should be able to give out some pointers. What to expect out of a skirmish If you're looking for the Awakening Normal mode skirmishes, you're out of luck. At best you can bring one unit that can do some chip damage/kill stealing, but this is very map-dependent. You're in for a fight, and some of those fights are a nightmare. Before the skirmish Scout the map. I prefer maps that give me choke points, so I can bring a couple of tanks and let them take the brunt of the attack. Bandit's Hideout is probably the most "open" map I'll do, unless I'm feeling really cocky. If the map enemies look like a pain (say, an even mix of flying units and mages), I'll skip it. For specific maps: Obstruct is a 500G staff that can disrupt enemy formations. Freeze is more expensive and has less uses but it can also help in a pinch. Cook something! You want stat bonuses and you want them now. Forging is a permanent way to increase offense. Forged Iron weapons go a long way. So does a forged Initiate scroll. Don't underestimate passive healing. One emblem in particular is good with this, but it shows up rather late. Rings and emblems If you're lucky enough to get Eliwood's S-rank ring, put it on someone. It's saved more than a few runs for me! Snag Emblem skills when you can! Some are pretty darn good, like Canter (Sigurd). Micaiah's healing skill is great for staff users, and the Bld buffs from Leif can be used on units who are weighed down by most of their weapons (hello axe users). Of the later emblems: As for the emblems themselves, I like to mix up weapon types. That is, shove Marth on someone that doesn't naturally have swords, because breaking is that good. For more specific examples: During the skirmish Most enemies will stick to Iron/Steel/Silver. I don't remember if mages use wind attacks (but I remember that one jerk with Elfire that nearly ruined a run). The time crystal exists for a reason. Pay attention to what happens, especially if someone dies. You may be able to change the result if you mix up your actions. Don't use it to rig levels. Be prepared to toss your plans into the trash. Things move fast and you need to move faster. Archers can usually take a single melee hit. Useful if you need to withdraw your tank to heal them. Sword units can also distract thieves and other ranged attackers if you position them right. Because my strategies revolve around physically tanky units, enemy mages die first. Thieves are next because poison is only good if I'm applying it. Engage on the first turn if you must. The goal is to survive. Don't feel bad about blowing your once-an-engage attack on a thief, because again your goal is to survive. Use anything and everything to win. That includes expensive staves and healing items. The skirmishes are usually harder than the story battles. Thieves suck. Mages suck. A fist to the face will prevent them from countering once. Do not underestimate Chain Strike, especially against armored units. --- There's probably a bunch of other things that can be added, so have at it! I'm currently on Chapter 17 and am using skirmishes to bring up a couple of units. I'm also raising far more units than I should hence why I'm doing so many skirmishes.

The difficulty tends to spike on Hard. That is, it'll feel easy for a bit and then you get a curveball out of nowhere. Though if you really want to gauge yourself versus the difficulty, queue up some skirmishes.

Best: I made Jean work. He'll sometimes get benched just so everyone else can get some experience. I've also turned Amber and Jade into, well, something. I don't know how I got them to work, but I did. Not the best: I couldn't figure out what to do with Framme so she was benched. Jean could break stuff, which was more than she could do.

I forged Jean's scroll ASAP and had him steal kills. The scroll is also useful for breaking thieves. Thieves annoy me. And for good measure, I slapped Micaiah on Jean. As a result, he's one of my strongest characters. I put him on the bench to give another staffbot a chance to shine. Zero's ending really stretches out, so good luck finishing it in time for Azure. I'm in the "love the game despite the aesthetics" club. I'm thinking so hard that I don't have time to get mad at the character designs. Much of it is my fault for trying to be aggressive in a game that wants me to turtle.

Clanne/Jean is far cuter than I thought it would be. Hope the A support doesn't ruin everything!

I ate a crit at a very low percentage and I was able to replicate it after rewinding. I think the RNG stays the same, so you'll need to deviate from your original course of action.

Doing Hard/Classic. Everyone that isn't a designated tank feels really squishy. Other than that, I've been able to keep mostly everyone I want to level up to speed.