Experiment 626

I pretty much just ignore the DLC/specialist classes outside of the actual skill items for all the 'main' characters. However, I *love* using Niles/Orochi's special Capture ability, and thus, I'll use those re-classing items on my generic prisoners/named bosses to build some truly unique secondary characters! Currently on my Conquest!hard play through, I've got on the go; - Haitaka the Spearfighter boss of Ch9 w/rend heaven, heavy blade, vet intuition, strong repost, rally defense - Ariyoshi the Swordmaster, caught as a Samurai in Ch14 iirc, w/*Pass, astra, vet intuition, vantage, heavy blade - Kazunari the Basara, caught as a Diviner in Ch11 iirc, w/*Miracle, aether, vet intuition, tomefaire, heavy blade I also captured Kumagera on Ch14, but I'll likely just keep to skills from his class tree & the beginning ones he has like Certain Blow + Counter-Magic. I'm also just starting to work on grinding up a captured Sorcerer (Konrad) & Adventurer (Virgil) from the Shura chapter. Konrad came w/Inspiration, while Virgil w/Seal Strength. I'll probably try to give the Grandmaster class to the Sorc, while I'm up in the air with how I'll train the Adventurer. I'm also aiming for some later generics, such as a Pass/Bowbreaker Falcos & Kinshi's from Hinoka's chapter, and there's some fine looking Generals/'Zerkers from the Iago/Hans chapter I'd like to imprison!

Thanks a bundle Phazon! Just picked it up now. :)

Does anyone have Jakob w/Aptitude? (and an open throne for easy seize since I'm just beginning a new game!)

Benny + Beruka will absolutely destroy Iggi's speed - both its actual growth rate, and t nasty negative modifier. I'd probably also pair up Peri + Leo... Forrest really, really wanted a magical mom, (ie: Nyx or Elise), but with what options you have left, Peri is probably the lesser of greater evils here.

Bowbreaker is pretty much mandatory on *every* flier you intend to use a lot! It trivialises bow users quite nicely, though you're still by no means invincible to them. You'll still need to play smart and be careful about positioning, as all it takes is a single lucky hit to cripple/nuke a flier.

You can capture basically any generic unit during the main story and/or during skirmishes (though the latter is not an option in Conquest!) As long as the enemy are not 'specialist' units, such as Faceless or Kitsune/Wolfskin, and/or they're not labeled as "Invader" (ie: the invisible ghostie dudes), then you can attempt to capture units. You can also capture most of the 'bosses' that show up during Museum Melee if you have that DLC map, though they tend to overall be more useful on Birthright playthroughs since most of the good ones sport Nohrian classes.

Jakob + Elise is way better than say Jakob + Peri, since Jakob will actually get use out of the Partner Seal when he marries Elise, whereas Peri iirc, will just pass him the Cavalier class which he already has. Myself, I went with Nyx!Dwyer and am building him into a Malig Knight. (I love Maligs!) He should turn out pretty beastly. @OP: don't forget to make use of Nile's Capture ability!! It looks like you've already missed out on the game's best capturable boss in Haitaka (Ch.9 boss - hot damn does he make Ch.10 soooooo much less of a headache!!) But you should still have a chance to nab Kumagera, the boss of Ch.14, who's another real gem. (Oni Chieftain who comes with Certain Blow + Counter-Magic, which can build in to a sweet, sweet diversionary crit monster!) Also, Ch.14 has capturable Samurai's w/Pass, which can help make for a solid front line melee unit. Later chapters include things like the infamous 'Rallyman', Spearmasters w/additional seal skills and/or Amateratsu for heal bots, Falco Knight w/Pass, Kinshi Knight w/Bowbreaker... These guys can really help round out your overall party, especially if you've been horribly RNG screwed on some of your own characters.

Mozu is a horrible mother for Ophelia! (when looking to optimise stats + mods at least) On Conquest, Ophelia wants Elise no.1, otherwise Felicia or a +Mag Corrin. On Rev, Ophelia can go full-on crazy murder machine with Orochi as her mother, while Rhajat can have Nyx for a mom. Marrying a Nyx!Rhajat on Rev makes a pretty insane Kana. If you go the female Corrin, choose +Mag/-Luk as your boon/bane, then some good pairings would be; - Felicia!Asugi (lots of good growths, and +6!! Mag/ +4 Skl/ +2 Spd & Res/ +1 Def - Elise!Dwyer (HP/Def growths are hurting, but overall not bad, and you get +1 Str/+5 Mag/+1 Skl/+4 Spd/+3 Res, while both Luk + Def take a small negative mod) - Sakura!Forrest (overall growths are the worst of the three by far, but +8 Mag means Kana will pretty much destroy everything he touches with relative ease! Just don't let him get hit is all... :P )

Both Scarlet & Camilla suffer from being pre-promotes which makes them notably weaker than your other 1st gen units. (ie: they effectively 'miss out' on at least 10+ levels of exp + promotion bonuses) Even a Lv20 Elise promoted will likely be a better lv1 Malig Knight than Camilla overall! Once Camilla gets going she can become really good, and obviously, she's one of, if not the single 'best' mother on the Conquest path outside of Corrin herself. Scarlet meanwhile is 'good' as a Wyvern Lord, but again, because she's a pre-promote, she's never as good as say, Beruka until you're just about hitting your stat caps anyways. (and being a pre-promote, she *might* have to use an Eternal Seal or two if you actually want her to hit all her caps - just depends on how RNG screwed/blessed you get with her!)

IIRC, you want to focus on boosting Mag as much as possible, since Kana is best as a magical kid. Thus, you should go for a boon/bane combo that overall buffs Mag AND choose a mother/father with decent Mag modifier, yet who won't completely tank Skl/Spd growths. With your chosen boon/bane however, I'd personally go for a Leo!Shigure pairing. Kana's overall mods will be; Mag/Spd/Res +2 Skl +6!! Def -1 And his growths will instead be a decently even; HP - 35 Str - 40 Mag - 30 Skl - 48.3 Spd - 43.3 Luk - 41.6 Def - 30.8 Res - 26.6 Only sore spots there are HP and Res, while Def/Mag are also on the lower side of things.

Ch.11 iirc has some generic Archers w/Counter skill that Niles can Capture. Sure as a guest unit there's no supports, but Statue abuses exist, so you can still make him pretty dang over powered. He'll have access to Kinshi Knight naturally for Air Superiority + Amateratsu for some AoE healing, and then of course the Sniper skills... Add in maybe Aether and/or Veteran Intuition and you can build a pretty solid unit.

If you're not completely averse to (ab)using the My Castle features, you can always make ANY character quite usable by simply getting Aptitude on everyone... Likewise, it can be a much easier way to get the right 'breaker' skill on certain characters in order to cover their main weakness/s For example, Tomebreaker on Charlotte/Arthur means they'll no longer get completely destroyed by every single enemy mage in existence! And yeah, I definitely second the idea of planning out ALL your pairings & buddy seals ahead of time - it'll save you soooooo many headaches.

I've been using a number of captured + generic's on my current Conquest/Hard play through... Haitaka is easily head ad shoulders above and beyond any other possible boss/generic units you can capture. Still, some other good ones I've found include; - Kumeraga from Ch.14 Natural access to both Counters is awesome on an Oni Chieftain. He's basically becoming a beefier & overall deadlier Charlotte for me. (note: I did transfer him first to my Rev file in order to grind/give him some stat boosters - namely Secret Books + Speedwings to boost his otherwise lamentable Skill/Speed) Counter/Counter-Magic/Death Blow and a forged Horse Spirit + a decently forged axe turns him into a one-man wrecking ball! (and he doesn't instantly fold to magic like Charlotte will without serious save scumming/Tomebreaker shenanigans!) - Diviner w/Miracle from Ch.11 Saved scummed him on my Rev file + used a few stat boosters to make leveling him in CQ easier. Ended him as a Basara w/Miracle, Rend Heaven, Tomefaire, Heavy Blade, Veteran Intuition. Again, another beast. He also ended up with epic Luck growth, making his Miracle skill actually worthwhile! - Samurai w/Pass from Ch.14 Pass is imho, one of the best overall skills in the game. Again, save scummed his levels on my Rev file, plus a couple stat boosters to pull up his defense... Astra, Vantage, Heavy Blade, Veteran Intuition, Pass. 'Nuff said! He's turning into almost as good a dodge tank as freaking Ryoma! I can't wait to get further into my run, as I've got my eye on things like 'Rallyman', the innate Bowbreaker or Pass Kinshi/Falco Knights from iirc Ch.23, and there's some good Nohr path generics to capture on the hated 'Iago + Hans battle royal' chapter! (General w/innate Counter-Magic anyone?!)

Well, after seeing a dad not give a flying rat's fart about his 4 year old daughter pulling her pants down, sticking her finger in bum, wiggling it around, then licking off the 'not actually rocky road ice cream' at the local mall today, it doesn't surprise me one bit that people routinely act like giant donkeycaves and think themselves clever or funny. I mean, seriously, myself and the dozen plus people who saw this happen were ready to throttle the idiot father, who watched this happen, and then just casually went back to haggling over getting himself a better cell phone deal!

Okay, so here's my planned, insanely crazy Sorcerer Sakura build; Sakura w/Wary Fighter + Life or Death + Miracle + Inspiration + Tomefaire Job: abuse her passive skill alongside Inspiration for amazing damage mitigation on the front line. For offensive tankiness, she gets a 4+ Nosferatu tome. Tomefaire + Life or Death adds a further +15 damage, while Wary Fighter prevents follow-ups and Nos + Miracle keep her healthy.