TWrex

Literally just switch to a Silver sword though. This is what I don't understand, Zelestia's stat growths and base stats are even between Mag and Str so she can easily switch between the two to always target an enemies weaker defense stat. The addition of the passive makes her do less damage that she otherwise could by switching to physical damage. With mixed bulk enemies you will see such a small damage increase that it's not worth the decreased damage you would deal to mages and armored units using a physical and Levin sword respectively.

I've been using Zelestia in my most recent Maddening run and I'm really struggling to figure out a use case for this unique class passive. Soulblade makes it so whenever she is using a Sword it will calculate the damage using an average of the opponents Def and Res. In theory this sounds great since it will allow her to still do okay damage against Generals and Great knights who sport very high def but very low res. However in practice given Zelestia will have a Mag stat that is equal to her Str stat along with having access to Tomes you would be better served just attacking with a Tome or even just a Levin sword without her class passive up. On the flipside if facing a high Res but low Def unit this passive would be useful if she was locked to Levin Sword but given she has access to swords and a good Str stat you can just switch to a physical sword and use that to target their lower defense. I genuinely don't understand what the point of this passive is given Zelestia's stats and weapon proficiency and it actively makes her a weaker Levin Sword unit once you get it. Am I just an idiot or is this passive really that poorly thought through.

These refine effects are kinda oof. I'm not sure why IS thinks adding a bunch of conditional stats to these older units is going to help them, at best it only makes them conditionally on par with newer units. Like compared to Mareeta, Gray is only marginally better with all effects active yet Mareeta has the benefit of both a slaying effect and NFU in her kit. And you can't even use the availability argument since Gray is five star exclusive as well. Tobin's is laughable given his abysmal stat-line. These units need utility or more unique effects in order to stand out and be worth it in any capacity, or at the very least if you are going to do flat stats make them higher and tailor them to the type of unit they are. Celica's worked because it focused strictly on making her a good nuke/sweeper by giving her 14 to both ATK/SPD, Gray's does not because he doesn't need +8 to his RES or arguably his DEF. We need more cool stuff like Wrath tome (Tailtiu) or built in Mircacle (Seliph), instead of X Condition -> +X to all stats.

Why would you be happy about paid DLC having less content in it? This seems like a really weird take.

Yeah the whole enemy teleports to get out of a losing situation is really obnoxious from a storytelling standpoint. It goes hand in hand with the whole "win in the game lose in the cutscene" shtick that game devs love to use sometimes. That shit gets mad annoying as it feels like I'm not being rewarded for winning and it is made doubly annoying when they have the villain act all superior and smug in the cutscene as they warp away despite me having just kicked their ass. Like for Three Houses I push Edelgards shit in like 3 times throughout the story and yet every time we square off she's confident she'll win. Like have you not paid attention the past 3 times we squared off and I've completely destroyed you and your entire battalion. XBC2 was notorious for this shit as well.

People probably aren't clamoring about Hubert because he is only available in a BE run so unless you played that route you probably never used him and thus don't talk about him much at all. I think most people rate Lysithea better because of Darkspikes, which is good for killing Death Knight if you choose to do so, Seraphim for Monsters, and Luna for high Res targets. Luna may have a lowish hit rate but this can be circumvented with link boosts. Personally I would also prefer having the option to use Luna over not having the option. Having access to Warp is also beneficial in a lot of peoples eyes as it allows you to skip certain maps just by yeeting a character to deal with the commander. Hubert is also barely bulkier than Lysithea and given he will be doubled just like her he probably doesn't tank any unit that Lysithea also couldn't tank. You mentioned her combat prowess so do you think she is incapable of dishing out the same amount of damage in a single round of combat as any of the other top tier units? If so what top tier units are capable of dealing a similar or higher amount of damage as Lysithea in a single round of combat? She certainly can't enemy phase so yes this is a weakness to her but as a Mage she is one of the few units who is capable of fighting a target in enemy phase without threat of dying since they won't be able to retaliate assuming you position her correctly and especially so if you use Thyrsus on her. And I'm talking strictly from Maddening in terms of difficulty. Also remember when people speak of a Tier List it isn't simply "which units are good and which are bad" but "how do these units stack up against one another in terms of usability in the game". If other mages are being ranked below her it is due to her being essentially the best mage in a lot of peoples eyes and if people in general believe that mages are weaker overall in Maddening then she is most likely only placed highly to dictate that she is arguably the best mage and thus should be the only one people consider. Also I apologize OP for getting so off topic I just find the discussion very engaging. As for general tips my advice would be the following: -Don't try to keep all of your main house units even in levels. Pick a few units from your house that you think will be good and focus exp on those units with the rest in supporting roles and look to replace them with recruits from other houses. Since other units will auto level it is easier to have them keep pace by just recruiting them with their already gained levels then trying to keep your entire house up. -That said do not entirely neglect all of your house units. If you have never cleared the game before or are playing a new route there will come a map where you MUST use all of your original house units and they will be scattered. My advice is to look up this chapter (13) and see where your units will spawn. Take note of where the units you decide to abandon will place and comprise a strategy accordingly to keep them alive. I advise setting the units you abandon as Adjutants to allow them to get levels which can help in this map if you care to keep them alive during it. -Gambits are extremely useful if not for damage for utility. Landing a gambit attack prevents hit units from moving for 1 turn allowing you to stall if you need to. Other useful gambits like stride and Impregnable Wall will allow you to survive certain scenarios you may otherwise not be able too. -I recommend not bothering with Auxiliary battles and instead go with seminars early if you want or only Exploring. Reduced Exp in Auxiliary battles make them less beneficial than just exploring and getting motivation up + potential statboosters from gardening. -If you don't plan on using a dedicated bow unit I recommend carrying a few with your units anyways. Being able to safely chip down enemies can be extremely helpful as units in Maddening will hurt. -Don't be afraid to take it slow. There are only a few maps where you are on a time limit the rest you are free to conquer at your leisure. Don't feel like you are failing if you are not completing it quickly, take your time and go at your own pace to ensure victory. -Money isn't much of an issue so don't be afraid to spend it. Use up weapons durabilty through combat arts as they can easily be replaced/repaired. -Plan out your units class pathways in advance. Hitting your class ups on time can really help thanks to the modifiers they provide. General recommendation is if a unit can easily become a Wyvern Lord, make them one. -Kind of specific, but if you are planning on doing Manuela and Hanneman's paralogue I recommend training Manuela so she can change into a Pegasus Knight. This allows you to easily place her out of range of enemies on her map keeping her safe while you work your way over to her. -Let Gilbert die early in Chapter 5(?). Gilbert isn't the smartest and may get in range of the archers in the middle of the tower thus aggroing them. This makes things dangerous as they will rush you down instead of sitting put preventing you from planning your approach. Also look up how the ambush spawn in this chapter works as it can easily catch you off guard if not prepared for it. -Don't be afraid to end a map early if you are struggling to take out all of the enemies. As long as you aren't skipping every map you should be able to keep your units even in terms of levels. And this post is getting obscenely long so I'm going to stop there. Sorry for the wall guys, this game is just really fun and I like talking about it.

What about her combat prowess is being overrated? She is capable of one-shotting enemy characters in the midgame, I've done it quite a few times. No she cannot one shot everything in the game, I don't know of many characters that can in Maddening however. Lysithea arguably has the best offensive spell list, the only one who would come close I would argue is Dorothea with Meteor but she has 20 less mag growth. As for Hubert his base stats are extremely similar to Lysithea's if you actually look at them and his growths are pretty identical too so I don't see how he is any better in the early game? Maybe we have a disconnect about what makes a top tier character in this game. What things do you think make a high tier character in this game? Out of those things what is it that Lysithea is missing to make her not a toptier?

So what exactly is it that you think Lysithea is being overhyped on? Do you think she is overhyped on being the best mage? What units are better than her and why are they better? Does she really receive a deafening amount of hype on any boards discussing unit tiers, particularly maddening? I'll admit I'm not someone who has perused this forum a lot but of the discussions about unit tiers it seems like most people consider her good but not broken or anything. To me it seems like Lysithea's weaknesses are low movement and not being able to enemy phase. Personally low movement doesn't seem like much of a detriment in Maddening difficulty as turtling seems like a better strategy overall, there aren't many if any units in this game who are able to tank more than like 2 enemies without dying so having big movement doesn't really help as much since you should keep your units grouped up anyways. Not being able to enemy phase does hurt but again since most units can't tank more than a few enemies at once this also feels like not a huge issue. I don't know maybe it's just the way that I play that I find her valuable? My strategy in Maddening thus far has been using ranged units to safely chip down enemies then send in my physical units to clean up without getting hurt and Lysithea fulfills this role perfectly. Yes other mages can do this as well but she seems to be the best one at it thanks to her spell list and growths. I mean I guess you could sub her out for any other archer unit who can enemy phase while still providing chip damage but compared to my Shamir, Claude, and Leonie none of them have been capable of one rounding an enemy yet like Lysithea has. The only exception to this is against fliers where they gain bonus damage or Claude and his Failnought. I mean I guess if I could only pick one character to solo the game with Lysithea would be at the bottom of my list but that's not how I'm ranking my characters. Lysithea serves her role as a long range nuke well and I consider her just as useful as some of my physical units. Basically her direct competition would be comparing her to my archers and where she lacks an enemy phase she makes up for it with a stronger player phase. What specifically do you think is being overhyped about her?

What characters exist in this game that CAN one shot those enemies? You act as if Lysithea is the only one who can't and therefore she is a bad unit which is absurd. She's decent in the early game for providing chip and good in the midgame since she can one shot a good chunk of enemies. Her spell list is also arguably the best one in the game thanks to things like Dark Spike for Death Knight, Luna for any High Res boss, Seraphim for extra damage against beasts and warp for utility. Her direct competitors are Dorothea, who has a lower Mag growth and Annette who doesn't have any standout spells but does have excellent Rally utility. Basically if you are going to run a mage on your comp Lysithea is arguably the best one at that role. Like why exactly do you think she is bad or overhyped?

She struggles early game due to her spells weighing alot and indeed having poor accuracy but she becomes a powerhouse once you get her leveled and into the advanced classes. Lysithea is one of the few characters in my squad who is capable of one-rounding enemy units in Maddening mode since she doesn't have to worry about doubling and instead just nukes them. Access to Seraphim also makes her very helpful in taking out monsters as again she can just one-shot a health bar on them most of the time leaving your other units open to do other things. Lysithea has come in clutch in many instances for me where there is a stupidly fast unit that would take at least two units to kill where she can just nuke them by herself. I could just be unlucky but I don't have any other unit on my team who is as reliable at this except for my Gauntlets Byleth. Now a large amount of her viability comes from Thyrsus but even without it I would think she is still very good. This also ignores her having warp which can allow you to circumvent some tricky situations by just yeeting someone to the boss and killing them.

Honestly it's not so much Corrin's idiocy that bothers me so much as it's the Norhian siblings idiocy that bothers me, at least on the Birthright path. I don't understand how the siblings can claim to care for you so much, or at least Camilla and Elise do, but then are so quick to call you traitorous scum and try to kill you. This is especially infuriating when King Garon has tried to kill Corrin three times before the decision to side with Hoshido comes around; Once when Corrin refuses to execute Rinkah and Kaze (Which this one I can sorta let slide because you did directly disobey the King and show mercy to your sworn enemies.) Once when Hans tries to kill you at the bottomless canyon under orders from King Garon. Once when King Garon gives you a self destruct sword that would've killed Corrin if it wasn't for Mikoto. So despite these attempts on Corrin's life and their explanation of this to his Nohrian siblings they simply call him traitorous scum and try to kill him. I mean what the actual fuck?! Corrin's basically like "Look dads trying to kill me, can you really call me a traitor for not wanting to return to the guy who has tried to have me killed three times now?" and the siblings are basically like "But you sided with Hoshido therefore you are scum." How can they possibly claim to care for Corrin if they aren't even willing to listen to what they have to say? I mean I can understand not siding with him but the fact that they try to actually kill him after everything that has happened is ludicrous.