FoxyGrandpa

As someone who (sadly) prefers female units to males, I don't really feel the free male units get shafted that much (at least not that much compared to females). Higher availability alone makes them way easier to get a few copies of, which fixes potential stat deficiencies, and its much more fun to pimp them out with premium skills compared to a unit who's already built for you out of the box. A 4 star focus like Narcian is hella easy to get too (on average you should get him in around 35 orbs iirc) which is great for both fans of the character and players who want to experiment with his weapon on other units. If anything, I feel the female units have been getting shafted more, in the sense that there is no way to feasibly acquire most of them without spending over a 100 orbs on average. If Bernadetta was 4 - star focus lance cav with SIlver Lance+, I would have been way more incentive to spend orbs and try to +10 her. But since she's a 5 star focus, I can't expect to feasibly get multiple copies of her without opening my wallet The main issue I take with most of these free units is that some of their kits are purposely made to be crap. Like come on, IS clearly knows that stuff like Silver Lance+ and Obstruct are crap skills that we've had in the 3-4 star pool for years, yet they still give it to these units. It comes off as being petty. If it was a skill that was bad, but not easily accessible, like Feint skills, it wouldn't be as bad.

Not gonna lie, I wasn't interested in investing into Bartre at first, but his artwork is great. If his stat spread is unique (something similar to summer Helbendi) I might invest into him. That being said, that inheritable sword is insanely good. A light version of Attack / Def Bond 4 with a condition that's easier to fulfill? Yes please! Would make a cool alternative to Slaying Edge on someone like Valentine Conrad.

Probably will just free summon on Blue and dip. Narcian is generic, but looks hilarious. And Est would be a fine addition to my collection since I have both of her sisters. Fir and Fae are cute, but I don't really need anymore one off units. Bartre could be cool, but it depends on which class he his. Hoping he's a dagger infantry / flier cause we already got Itsuki and Altina this year as free units this year. EDIT: NVM turns out he's an infantry Sword. Most likely won't use him over Itsuki and Astram then.

So I've been holding off doing a Maddening run of the game since the cut exp really bothered me (I like using a bunch of characters on most of my playthroughs). However, my hard mode runs of the game have been getting increasingly stale, so I'm planning to start a maddening NG+ run soon. Here are a few questions before I start: Are "unoptimal classes" (i.e. Mage Ingrid) still usable on Maddening? Do green units get their stats scaled up? With a moderate amount of grinding (i.e. two weeks worth) is it possible to use 15 - 20 units during a play-through? Assuming you scale up your professor level to A+, do the DLC auxillary battles yield decent EXP (enough to raise a few character's level by 2)? How much worse are siege tomes and ballistas when compared to hard mode? Do paralogues yield decent EXP?

Well, I didn't necessarily have predictions, but there definitely were some expectations I had based on the pre-release material: - I thought fully explorable dungeons and towns would be a feature like in SoV. Turns out this wasn't true. The monastery is nice and all, but more having dungeons and towns would have helped the game's atmosphere. - I thought that there would have been build-up to each month's boss map (i.e. you fight some random general that lonato controls during the month before fighting lonato himself). Again, would have been nice for world-building and would have given his death some more impact. -I thought maps in the second half of the game would be much larger (around the size of shadow dragon / tharacia maps). Would have given the game greater scope. -I remember seeing some leak that said abyss would be post-game maps for each story. In hindsight, given NG+, this doesn't make sense -I thought there would be more interactions between the 3 main lords. I also thought there would be a "golden path" where all the lords team up to defeat the slither. This didn't happen. There are quite a few more expectations I had, be these are the main ones

While I like Three Houses more than Fates, Fates will always hold a special place in my heart for being the first FE game I bought on launch day. And I agree that there are a number of things it does better than 3 houses. Gameplay-wise, I really loved a ton of the general systems present in Fates because it allowed for so much freedom during combat. Offensive pair ups were really fun to use due to how they interacted with certain weapon types like Brave weapons and allowed for some clever strategies to dispatch of enemies (i.e. using an offensive pair up with a Bow unique to defeat a flier). Its pretty easy for a new player to understand, yet drastically affected gameplay & how offense and defensive tactics were approach. I've seen people complain about certain systems in the game, like Silver Weapons decreasing your own attack, or weapon ranks being hard to grind, but a lot of these complaints look at these systems in a Vacuum rather than seeing it in the context of the game. Weapon Ranks actually aren't that difficult to grind when making use of pair up and Silver weapon's higher might & lack of speed penalty makes them more useful with offensive pair ups rather than just individually. Three Houses' design seems more like a hybrid of Shadow Dragon and Echoes. It gives you a TON of flexibility in customizing your units & places a higher emphasis on stats over skills. Its skill floor is a lot lower than Fates, where you needed to think about how to approach certain scenarios, but its skill ceiling is also lower. That being said, divine pulse + enemy indicators makes it much easier to just casually play. Narrative, Three Houses just blows Fates out of the water. I think my biggest problem with Fates is that it tries to have its cake and eat it too. The existence of things like the Invisible Kingdom, Deeprealms, etc. undermines the conflict of the main game just to justify a golden path and child units, respectively. I would have rather the castle be present in Hoshido / Nohr depending on which route you choose & get attacked by enemy soldier of the opposite kingdom. The Hoshidan sibling aren't really your siblings only to justify S-supporting them. Honestly, some of the world-building that actually is present is kind of interesting, like Garon having multiple wives, Beruka's father killing Oboro's parents, etc. but its really undermined by all of the in-cohesive shit that it feels pointless. Three Houses has a plot that's also filled with details, but a lot of these details are consistent with each other, so it makes the world feel stronger. The Ashen Wolves's side story for example, is a ridiculous concept on paper. A secret 4th house? But the plot justifies it in a way that makes sense (its a slum that the church overseas but doesn't particularly care for) and it adds layers to the world that weren't there otherwise.

Well, Tier 4 A-Skills like Mirror Stance 3 or Distance Defense 4 also have around 2-3 effects which synergism very well with DC weapons. That being said, Camus and Xander specifically need refines since their stat spreads are outdated. Something simple like +4 to all stats would do wonders for them.

Does Resplendent Ike have a niche or is he still outclassed? How much do the stat buffs to his speed, def, and res improve his magic tanking potential?

So, Cindered Shadows is the first time I've ever used an Armored Unit in this game (not counting Glibert because I've always turned him into a Wyvern Rider), and it certainly left a good first impression. Edelgard was soaking up hits from the Assassins on these maps almost effortlessly and did around 20 damage in retaliation with a Iron Sword. In most of my Hard Classic, a majority of the characters I've used pretty much had no tanking potential in enemy phase unless they relied on dodge tanking, so seeing a character effortlessly take out Assassins was a pleasant surprise. Do trained Armor knights normally have this kind of tanking potential in enemy phase, or was this an exception due to Edelgard being a Royal?

That's a fair point. Leon is more emotional & vain, which is understandable given his brief backstory of losing a friend he loved. Since Yuri is a house leader and assassin, he certainly has better composure, and is more intelligent. He also doesn't show his emotions as often, but his supports with Dorothea and Bernadetta shows that he does let them get the better of him from time to time. Between Yuri & Leon, I also like Yuri more. However, Leon's still got some of his own charm that make him an entertaining character.

Yuri easily. Dude is basically the "Lord" of Cindered Shadows. He's got a pretty slick design, and I find his pretty-boy, flirtatious personality pretty charming. I loved Leon in SoV and Yuri has a similar personality. As the House Leader of the Ashen Wolves, Yuri has a lot of cool little details that make him fit in nicely with the other Lords. Within Cindered Shadows itself, he wields Swords as his primary weapon type and is Infantry, contrasting nicely within the other Lords' classes in that mode. His growth total is also one of the highest in the game, similar to the other Lords. As a unit in the main story, I like him for similar reasons that I like Ingrid. His balanced growths let him work as both a physical and magic unit pretty nicely. Having 4 weakness in learning talents sucks though. Only issue I have with the character is that his backstory has way too much going on. Individually the pieces are fine, but together it just confuse me too much and has me asking a lot of questions. Was Yuri an Assassin before or after he was adopted? When did he become Bernie's friend? He's a double double agent? I feel they should have given some of these traits to another character in the Ashen Wolves house because this is a bit too much to process. Also, why does he not have a support with Ashe despite having 2 different battle conversations?

Tobin's refine isn't that bad for him, since he wants points in every stat, but I honestly wish the guy got more than just +4 to all stats (which is becoming more & more boring as an effect considering IS gives it to damn near every unit nowdays). If his weapon was given just one more effect (something like Guard or Sudden Panic) it would have let him at least carve a niche among the plethora of stronger sword units. The fact that Gray, who was already better than Tobin, gets two effects on his base weapon, while Tobin gets only one, just adds salt to the wound.

Biggest issue with MS is that you never, ever want to use swords aside from Levin since Magic is safer and does more damage. Getting an exclusive combat art like Flamberge (user strikes with magical damage twice in SoV) would give MS a reason to use swords and make up for its middling speed.

From my exp, Mortal Savant and Dark Knight are about on par w/ one another. Both are great classes for offensive spell casters thanks to black tomefaire. Mobility-wise, MS is slightly better than DK due to the ridiculous amount of terrain that only hurts cavalry units. DK makes up for it w/ hit and run utility, however, which makes them a little better in combat. In terms of weapon ranks, DK's is a bit steeper, which makes it more difficult to have them specialize in another skill like Authority. The lower reqs also make it easier to get early, which is a plus.Given how much stronger Black Magic is compared to physcial weapons, having access to swordfaire isn't that big of a selling point I feel, but it does make Levin Sword+ is a cool option for Mages without 3 range spells like Ignatz.

Top Tier Three Houses Fates Shadows of Valentia New Mystery of the Emblem Great Shadow Dragon Binding Blade Blazing Blade Underwhelming Sacred Stones Genealogy of the Holy War Awakening As for the calendar system, I like it, but I wish the game did more with it. Frankly, one of my biggest gripes with the game is the monotony of weekend activities. You either listen to 10 diffident supports, talk to every NPC in the monastery, or do 3 auxillary battles in a row. I don't have an issue with any of this stuff individually, but I wish the game spread these activities out more. Letting you switch between explore and auxiliary battles , sprinkling out the explore conversations over the month, etc. would have helped break the monotony. Also, I may be in the minority here, but I wish dungeon exploration was in this game instead of auxillary battles. It would have helped the game's world building by quite a bit.

Maid / Butler Requirements: B Swords, A Faith Class Abilities: Swordfaire, White Magic Uses x2, White Magic Heal + 10 Class Mastery: Soothing Light This class is white magic class that keeps most of the supportive capabilities of the bishop while being a component promotion for Sword Units. The class mastery skill is from the Saint class in Shadows of Valentia, which restores 5 HP to adjacent allies. War Monk Requirements: A Magic, B Brawl Class Abilities: Fistfaire, Black Magic x2, Black Tomefaire Class Mastery: ? Another offensive magic class, but this one brawls instead of using Axes since we don't have enough brawling Master classes. Not sure what the Mastery ability should be.

Wait, recruited units bases are based on their growths? I was always under the assumption that their base stats were predetermined and not based on any random variables. I guess my Ignatz was just super stat blessed because he had around 23 strength when I recruited him on my first playthrough. In that case, this strategy seems feasible only on Hard since those bases seem way to low to be salvagable on Maddening.

I don't plan on playing Maddening anytime soon, but something I'd like to point out is Ignatz is one of few units able to immediately promote into an advanced class (Assassin) if you recruit him on the last month of part 1. Given that EXP gain is severely cut in maddening, this might be a useful consideration when ranking him.

Cyril- I didn't particularly like this guy, but seeing all the hate he gets made me develop a soft spot for him. The dude grew up in a pretty shitty situation, so his devotion to Lady Rhea for granting him a better, if somewhat difficult life, is understandable. I like his high growth rates and all-around decent weapon proficiency too, letting him slot into a variety of roles rather well. Ignatz- Again, a character I didn't really care for until I saw his low ratings in various polls. If I'm being honest, I really resonate with his philosophy of troubling himself instead of others. His tendencies are rather relatable too, like hiding what he's doing, and feeling indebted to his parents. In-game, I like how versatile he is. I've ran him as an Assassin, Wyvern Lord, and Mortal Savant, and he's done well in every class thanks to personal skill. Annette- As someone who doesn't talk to girls that much, I was surprised by how much I loved Annette's more plain, bubbly, and hard-working attitude and aesthetic compared to other characters in the cast. She's beautiful on the inside, and would be an awesome person to have as a friend. Felix- Thought he was a bit of a jerk honestly, and as someone who takes other people's words at surface value, a lot of his comments to Dimtri and others stung. But I liked him a lot more when I realized his rebellious personality was nothing more than a facade to hide how much he cared for others. On my Golden Deer run, I was shocked to see how regretful he was when Dimitri had died, and throughout my second Blue Lions run, he legitimately gave the impression that he didn't want Dimitri to die. I wish he had more interactions with Rodrigue though. As a unit, he's bonkers. He felt mediocre as a Swordmaster, assassin, and Mortal Savant, but as a Sniper / Bow Knight, he really shines. While the Aegis Shield drastically cuts his AS, he's still able to double reasonably well, and being able to potentially halve damage gives him a solid enemy phase.

That could be the case, but I never got the impression that he particularly cared about being "honorable", especially in his support with Dedue. He's more interested in simply doing the right thing, like Marth, Roy, etc.

This is super sick. Looking frward to watching this.

These new Hero's in-game sprites look sick. I especially love L'arachel tossing the bottle up and down and the fiery effect on Rolf's bow. Illyana being in the game is a nice treat too.

I liked Claude's paralogue since it was one of the few chapters to feature yellow units, though its a shame they didn't contribute more. Felix's paralogue was cool too since you were helping his father in a middle of the battle, but saving the villagers was annoying. I liked the conversation between him and his father at the end too. The demonic beast paralogues felt uniquely, especially Sothis's paralogue since you had a limited amount of divine pulses, were separated from the rest of your units,, and this was fairly early in the game so you were underleveled. Marianne's paralogue was similarly intense, but the fog of war mechanics annoyed me a lot.

Yeah, defense maps are my favorite as well. Chapter 10 in Conquest specifically is one of my favorites because of how many twists it through onto reinforcements. Haven't played Tharacia or Hector Hard Mode, but the defense maps in those games look really fun too. I'm really disappointed with Chapter 12 in this game, since it set itself up to be a defense map, but ended up not delivering and just ended up being a standard "kill the boss" mission. Outside of defense missions, I'm a fan a big open maps with some difficult to pass through terrain to hinder Cavalry movement and strategically placed reinforcements that give some of the slower units like Armor Knights something to do in the back (no ambush spawns though). Maps in Three houses generally follow this trend, but have a bit too much impassable terrain for infantry and Cavalry units, which is part of the reason that fliers are way too good in this game.

I wasn't comparing them to Lyon, but rather the one-off villains in Sacred Stones like Gheb.