Lord Kyuubi

PoR's localisation made a real mess of its difficulty settings to be honest. 'Normal' is effectively the game's easy mode (the actual 'easy' just being the same with more experience) - it's got toned down enemies and fewer complications compared to the so-called 'Difficult' mode, which in practice is your normal/moderate difficulty. Difficult actually has quite a few pronounced gameplay differences, a few of which do reflect on the narrative, so actually I'd wholeheartedly recommend this for anyone playing for story. And to be honest, PoR's just not very hard anyway. Except perhaps the endgame on Difficult, which does have a few troublesome enemies, I'd say the hardest chapter by far is actually Chapter 4, which is quite the difficulty spike at the time, but it soon dies down again. From that point on, it pretty much just gets easier and easier, until the midgame when practically all of your units will be able to one-round almost any enemy, as well as dodging or taking minimal damage from most attacks. As long as you have a little experience in FE, you shouldn't really have much trouble with PoR. Which is a bit of a shame, honestly, I'd have liked a go at Maniac mode, but ah well.

Okay, this all looks very interesting. Could be here quite a while. Anyways, off the top of my head: I agree, this system works best in most cases. If I were to play devil's advocate, I'd say single RNG systems, as well as whatever Fates uses, do have their uses for putting higher value on the Skill stat, which is otherwise a dump-stat, as well as for creating occasional exciting moments when something doesn't play out quite as expected, and the player is forced to adapt to changing circumstances - though just as often you might get frustrating moments when the RNG just screws you over and gets you killed. Overall, yeah, I'd go for true hit as the better system. Sounds fair enough. So do you plan on having weapon rank also affect combat ability to an extent, like in Awakening and Fates when it dictates how much of a weapon triangle advantage you get? So where do support conversations take place - are they on the battlefield like in the GBA games, or do you have a base or preparations menu for them like the later supports? Personally, I would definitely recommend the latter system if at all possible; not only is it more convenient, I also feel it helps the supports feel a lot more natural. Otherwise, fully agreed, I definitely think this is a good system to go for. I'm curious why 'special' units are allowed more conversations though. I would assume said units are already stronger than the average character without such a benefit added on. Hmm. Very interesting, my only concern is how much getting used to will this take? I know a handful of people already found Fates' doubled up weapon triangle annoying and/or confusing, so would having three weapons on each stage just have the same effect? Not so much a criticism as a concern, I just wonder if it's the sort of thing one can just pick up the game and adapt to right away, or would it take a lot of time to adjust to and/or worse, have to be spelled out in a cutscene. One other thing, seems a tad odd that Wind Magic loses to Bows, given that an archer has to pay very close attention to the wind, and small changes can throw their shot right off. Also, Dark Magic beats Light magic, which seems a little counter-intuitive, especially given FE and most RPGs have traditionally had them the other way around. I think making the triangle as intuitive as possible is very important, particularly when you have so many weapon types to remember. Your anima magic variations do this well - it's logical for Fire to beat Ice by melting, and Wind to beat Fire by blowing it out, and then Ice beating Wind I guess is just rounding out the triangle, which is okay considering the traditional Swords>Axes>Lances>Swords does that as well, with Axes beating Lances just because balance. But when you have something openly counter-intuitive, like Bows beating Wind and Dark beating Light, that becomes an issue, and is bound to cause a lot of people to make silly mistakes. That aside, I like the idea of splitting up your magic like that, it gives you a lot of potential for putting forward interesting ideas. From the point of view of being able to get animations for everything, it might be a good idea to group Wind and Ice together and maybe use Thunder as the third magic type, since I believe there's only one animation of each from the GBA games - don't know what fan-made resources are available though, so this might not be an issue at all. One more thing, don't know if you're already doing this or not since you haven't posted weapons yet, but I'd recommend being very careful to make each magic type feel very distinct - think about Awakening, and how Dark Magic in that game all felt very special and unique, while Fire, Thunder and Wind were all practically the same with slightly different stats. That's the trap to avoid falling into. I'm slightly confused by how you've worded this - I'm guessing levels don't reset when you promote in this game? My only concern with that is it would seem to take away a lot of the incentive to not early-promote units, if you can get the same number of levels overall regardless. I guess early-promoting means you get less experience from enemies, but still. A bit curious about your choice to change max levels, but I'm presuming there's a good reason. Not one for world maps myself, but I'd never tell you not to use it. One thing I'd watch out for though is making sure there's a very good reason for it being there, and it's not just a glorified transition between chapters - though from the sounds of things, you've already got this covered pretty well. The other thing is that I'd be careful to have some chapters that flow directly into each other, for story reasons, since otherwise you get some weird moments where the flow of the plot is broken completely if the player heads anywhere other than to the next chapter. Concerning grinding, one thing I'd be careful of is to keep the levels of enemies in grinding chapters quite low compared to the standard level of enemies at the player's stage in the game. The main reasons I say this is that it makes grinding levels more accessible to your weaker units, who need it most, while at the same time discouraging players from simply grinding their strongest units up further into unstoppable powerhouses. It also makes it easier to grind supports, since it's easier to place units appropriately for them if you're not also worrying about getting killed. Sounds a good system to me. So long as supports don't take an eternity to build up like in the GBA games, I've no problem with this system. Speaking personally, I would recommend against it. Avatars lead to a lot of complications, like balancing for lots of different classes, if you offer a choice of that, and writing their dialogue. Even if you don't include them in the plot - and I'd definitely recommend you don't, it's very risky for a number of reasons - there's still supports as you mentioned. You say you're giving personality options, which I feel is definitely a better idea than just giving us either a very bland or predetermined character like in existing FE, but that still comes with a huge workload, and often the closest personality option will still be at odds with what the player wanted to say or think. Even if you give dialogue options, which in itself is an even bigger workload potentially, there's still likely not enough room for the majority of players to act just like they want most of the time. Hmm, overall, I'd say this project shows promise. I'll be back to comment a bit on the classes as well, right now I've no time, but anyways, I do hope something I've said here is of use to you.

I'm in favour of the old Constitution system, though it definitely could've been done better. Having a mostly fixed stat meant weight was always a consideration, and it meant steel weapons wouldn't just override iron as soon as you got access to them, and kept javelins and hand axes from being completely overpowered, even if they were still some of the most useful weapons about. The issue is in balancing it - I feel while it's good for informing about the characters, and presenting some more basis for comparing different characters and their merits or flaws as a unit, it definitely has some balancing issues. Some units are very difficult to use effectively due to their low Constitution, particularly units like Pegasus Knights and Myrmidons, who tend to also have low strength and therefore rely on using high-might weapons, which in turn tend to be heavier and get in the way of doubling. Regarding the other systems, I would say the next best is the strength-based weight system, specifically the way it was used in PoR. Like the Constitution system, it makes weight an important consideration, and means stronger weapons don't just immediately take over from the weaker ones, which would be even more serious a problem given how much money that game gives you. The problem is that you just reach a point where weight becomes meaningless. Once all of your characters have had a chance to level enough strength, there is literally no point in weight being there anymore, which makes PoR's lategame a lot easier than it should be. I feel if they had things like RD's heavier weapons like greatlances and poleaxes, as well as generally giving most things a little more weight in general, it would help keep weight more relevant throughout the game, and less just early-midgame considerations. Sadly though, I don't think the strength-based weight held up at all well in RD. Higher growth rates with mostly lower weights than PoR was already a bad combination, then when you add to that the fact you spend most of the game with second-tier units, weight hardly ever matters at all. Then you just get to the same problem as the games with no weight system, where some weapons are simply better due to having higher stats, and no weights to limit you by, so new weapons simply replace older ones and there's never much reason to use worse weapons except for economic reasons. I think Fates has an interesting take on the weight system with the 'effective speed' idea, and certain weapons having avoid penalties. While it is definitely nice to see this sort of system back, I can't help feeling it feels a tad bland compared to the older Constitution and strength methods. Either way, I'd be happy with this idea moving forward, but I do think a reworking of the old Constitution system could potentially work better.

I'd say the map, with the boss having a visible input throughout. For a final boss, there's not much worse than just standing still in the middle of a stage with nothing else in it and simply allowing yourself to be dogpiled and slaughtered like the Dragon in FE7. To a lesser extent, a boss like Grima in Awakening who just waits at the end of a map and fights you as and when you arrive is not really very good either. To make a really good FE boss, particularly if they're meant to be a final boss, I'd say they shouldn't just have high stats, but should interact with the player all through their map, and have a strong presence long before you actually fight them. For some good examples of this, I'd say the late-game of Fates: Conquest is riddled with bosses like this in the form of the Hoshidan Royals, though admittedly not all of them pull it off well. From Chapter 22 onwards, almost every boss attempts it to some extent, whether it's Sakura with healing and status staves, Takumi with a ballista, Hinoka with the terrible movement-boost dragon veins, and Ryoma duelling Corrin. Those are all basic examples of how bosses can be better integrated into their maps, rather than just feeling like a strong enemy with plot significance dropped on the end. Regarding specifically final bosses, I'd say the best examples are Ashnard from Path of Radiance (hard mode at least), due to the simple fact he has movement 10 and actually uses it, as well as the fact priests come to heal him later on; and the final bosses of Fates: Conquest and Revelation for varying reasons.

Now you're embarrassing me. Hey, you're very welcome! Glad to be of service! Now, let's continue. Well, yeah, Fates in general is like that, but the Swordmaster does probably suffer more from this than most classes. Especially since Iron Swords aren't really an option due to their low might coupled with the Swordmaster's typically low Strength stat. Brave Sword is pretty much your best option in most cases - the defence penalty looks worse than it is, given you should be dodging most things anyway, and most things will two-shot a Swordmaster with or without it, though I'd be careful of running into some very high-damage enemies like Generals or Sorcerers who might manage a one-shot if you're unlucky. Other than that, Silver Sword/Katana works better on a Swordmaster than on most classes because being a primarily Player Phase class means you won't be fighting nearly as many enemies as some units, and as such the debuff shouldn't pile up quite so quickly, though it's still definitely a 'special occasions' weapon either way. Steel Sword/Katana (preferably the latter, due to the +1 speed) actually isn't bad at all as an early-game option. The -3 effective speed just means you need 8 more speed than the opponent to double, which sounds a tall order but shouldn't be a problem unless you're fighting other Swordmasters, or Master Ninjas or something like that, and the -5 avoid (effectively -3 with the katana due to the speed bonus) isn't too bad considering Duelist's Blow will still put you at +25 avoid overall, or more if you've got defensive terrain. Given a Swordmaster should spend every available turn either attacking or running away to safety, there's really no reason not to just carry around five swords, though, which should cover most situations - between a Brave Sword, Killing Edge, Dual Katana, and any effective weapons appropriate for the chapter, you should still have room for a either a forged Iron or Steel Sword as a general-purpose safe pick, or possibly a Kodachi if you think you might face some Enemy Phase action; or maybe stick to four swords and grab a Concoction if you think you might use it, though you'll much prefer having healers keep you topped up rather than using your own turns for that. HP Bane is probably the least harmful overall, I would say, yes. Regarding your Strength, you should be dealing adequate damage to most targets as it is, and -1 shouldn't hinder that too much - generally speaking, Swordmasters shouldn't really be going after high-defence units more than they can help, particularly if you plan on using Gale Force, as not getting the extra kill and subsequent extra turn can be a huge problem. I can't think of what you'd be fighting at 30+ Defence other than Generals - and for them you can use an Armourslayer to get around that problem. Mostly, the combination of your Strength, weapon might and Aggressor will be enough to ensure plenty of damage on most targets, so you'll be best off going after whatever's most dangerous to the rest of your party, to ensure it gets killed before Enemy Phase. Probably your biggest problem is if an enemy has the Wary Fighter skill, stopping you from doubling - though the combination of Death Blow with either a Killing Edge or Brave Sword should still let you do a strong amount of damage to most of these targets. Killing Edge is fine so long as you aren't in any danger on Enemy Phase. Taking a hit, even if you barely live, is absolutely fine as long as there's no-one around who can follow up on that. Hopefully you still shouldn't get hit at all, given you get a combined +45 crit from the combination of Killing Edge and Death Blow, as well as the Swordmaster having an innate crit bonus - for extra points, if you're using Arthur you could stand him near the enemy you're going for since his personal skill will knock down their critical avoid by a lot. And even with the Killing Edge's -10 avoid, you still get +20 overall from Duelist's Blow, plus any terrain, if you don't land a crit. The real trick is to make sure on Enemy Phase, your tanky units are taking and countering all the hits, and your Swordmaster is out of reach - or barring that, has some cover and someone has traded you over to a safer weapon, preferably one that can retailate against anyone you're in range of. So I hope this answered a few potential questions and concerns, and suchlike. Still think you may be giving me too much credit for that first post but hey, if you say it was good, who am I to argue?

Well, I played Swordmaster Corrin in all three routes, so I can confirm it's definitely very usable and fun, but there are definitely some complications. For Boon and Bane, I'd go Speed and HP respectively - Speed is easily your most valuable stat, for dodging attacks and doubling everything, including high-speed bosses like Kotaro and Ryoma in Conquest (don't know which version you're playing, but the principle remains the same). HP Bane I'd recommend simply because it doesn't have as much of an impact on your survivability as Defence and while you'll want to dodge everything, that won't always work in practice, so maintaining okay Defence should allow you to take a hit or two when the RNG goes against you. Magic Bane sounds good for a physical class, but as you say, it also affects your Speed, and on top of that, using a Levin Sword can sometimes be useful. As a Swordmaster, your main purpose will be to 'headhunt' specific enemies that pose a threat to your other units and either kill them off quickly or weaken them for another unit to finish. As such, a Swordmaster is often a good candidate for Boots, for reaching important targets. It's also often worth having Azura sing for you, to either eliminate another enemy, or to retreat out of reach after dealing with your target. For your equipment, I'd say Brave Sword is probably your best, since the penalties shouldn't affect you too much and most things will either miss or two-shot you either way; otherwise, a Killing Edge is nice but watch out for the -10 Avoid, an Iron or Steel Sword/Katana as a general purpose weapon, a Dual Katana if you can get your hands on it, and depending on how your magic turns out, a Levin Sword might be worthwhile. By far the biggest problem with the class, I would say, is its lack of action on Enemy Phase, where most of the fighting tends to go on. None of the ranged swords really suit the class at all, with the Kodachi preventing doubling, the Wakizashi not being able to counter in melee, and the Levin Sword relying on good magic and giving -20 Avoid, and this means your options for counter-attacking are sadly limited. You might be able to pull the odd one or two units that only have melee weapons, but when doing so, you'll want to keep to cover as much as possible, keep some supporting units nearby or paired up with you, and avoid pulling out anyone who can actually kill you outright. Life's not easy for a Swordmaster - something worth keeping in mind is it's never good to write off an enemy's chances of hitting you, and as long as they have any chance at all, plan for the worst. Depends on whether you like gambling, I guess. As for skills, I would say the standard class skills are some of your most valauble. Duelist's Blow is an absolute lifesaver, and pretty much makes the class on its own. Vantage can be useful if you're in a dangerous spot, but it can't really be relied on, especially as a Swordmaster should be avoiding most combat on Enemy Phase anyway - it's sometimes worth having, but there are definitely better skills you could be using. Astra's great when it procs, since it pretty much guarantees you'll take down your opponent, and it can be very good for filling up the shield gauge as well; that said, it does have a rather low proc chance, and you may benefit more from something more reliable like Luna. Swordfaire goes without saying - more damage is always very nice. Aside from that, to quickly go through your suggestions, I'd say Aggressor is definitely a good idea, for more damage output on Player Phase. Life and Death I'd be very wary of, since it probably puts your firmly in one-shot range of most enemies, and even if you could safely lower your health somehow to use it with Vantage, you probably still won't be one-shotting most things, and are then at risk of being killed by their retaliation. Darting Blow isn't really any use, since you should be doubling everything anyway. Gale Force can definitely work, to either attack more enemies in a turn, or to get out of trouble after making a kill. Other than that, I'd recommend Death Blow, +20 crit is very valuable and can absolutely help take down tough enemies more reliably - I'd say it's better for this than Astra because of how high your crit chance can get, though using both in conjunction can definitely work well too. On that note, Gamble's nice for still more crit chance, and the lower accuracy shouldn't really matter to a Swordmaster at all. Quick Draw if you really want to optimise damage output can be an okay option. Well, I think that's pretty much it, can't think of anything else I may have forgotten. Do let me know if I missed anything, hope this is of use to you. Good luck, and watch out for those 10% hits - they do happen more than you'd hope!

Chapter 11 can defintiely be one of the trickier chapters to get all of the loot on - I'd personally recommend doing the following: First of all, you want to bring most of your normal units, plus Lethe. And, if he's managed to level strength and speed at least once (or you think you can level him in the chapter), bring Volke, I'll explain why later. Actually, probably bring him anyway, but especially if he has at least 13 strength and 14 speed. You'll obviously want to start off by killing the surrounding enemies, and moving out for the central house with most of your troops towards the central house, while Lethe moves upwards to recruit Zihark. Rather than sending Lethe directly towards him, though, I'd recommend sending her past the closed house directly north of you - you'll want to keep your distance from this house later on, but for now it's safe, and this path lets Lethe clear out the enemy cavaliers who can otherwise be quite dangerous to Zihark. She should be able to recruit him in just one or two more turns, then have him immediately visit the northmost house for a killer lance. Regarding the other two houses, the lower one containing a dracoshield should be easy enough to get. It's mostly only protected by weak vigilantes who anyone can beat, plus one or two proper soldiers, so just one or two of your less essential units should suffice for that. The house one street up is a lot harder - I believe the thief reaches it on turn 2 if you don't manage to stop him, and the enemy soldiers can sometimes end up walling the place off from you. You'll probably want most of your strong units over here, so you can break through the enemy lines, and then get someone with good movement to either block off the house from the thief or just visit it right away. There is definitely a risk of overextending here, though, one does have to be pretty careful not to leave themselves open, and since all you get from the house is an Elwind, it's definitely not worth anyone's life. Once the houses are done, and the time pressure's off, you shouldn't have much trouble getting the rest of your troops through to the end of the streets, where they can meet up ready to go north towards the objective. There's a priest at the end there - have Volke steal his staff, and then either kill him or just leave him. Make sure Volke still has inventory space, there's another important theft to make if his stats are high enough. Timing's crucial for this next bit - you want to put someone tough with a javelin or hand axe just into range of the boss, so he attacks with his bow. When you do this, make sure Lethe and Zihark are minding their distance from that house I mentioned earlier - the closed one Lethe ran past. They, and all other units, need to be over 8 spaces away, else they're pretty much dead for certain. Though bear in mind Jill will probably be appearing about this time as well, so don't run too far back or she may be a danger. It's probably best to rescue Zihark with Lethe and just hide in the corner. The important thing about getting the boss to attack with his bow is that it leaves his laguzslayer unequipped so that a levelled-up Volke will be able to steal it, which is undeniably very handy. This is the last important bit of loot to pick up this chapter - after this it's just a rush to the finish. You can kill the boss if you want the exp and master seal, but it's not essential and you will really have to hurry from this point forward, so it may be more efficient to just surround him with weak or non-combat units now he only has a bow. Bear in mind that once the boss has been involved in combat, the Black Knight will appear from the aforementioned house, and start chasing you down. It's entirely possible for him to go after Lethe and Zihark up in their corner, and you can quickly find yourself getting trapped between him and Jill, which suffice to say is not a good place to be. You should, all going well, have two or three free turns before he really starts presenting a problem, and that should be plenty to get away if you move quickly. Remember that any unit can trigger the objective, not just Ike, so best is to have mounted units rush ahead to the goal. The objective is guarded by a knight, who you should be able to kill with Titania, possibly needing the assistance of another unit such as Kieran or Oscar. All going well, you should be left at least one spare unit in range to capture the objective and end the map just about in time. So that's my approach anyway. Hope it helps, and good luck!