Kyne

You've managed to nail the easing into and out of the initial motion but I still think the ending of the slash itself is a little jittery. Sorry dude, don't give up, though. Animation is fucking difficult. I've felt like you do now when I was doing stick figures. I wanted to be the next Terkoiz. Needless to say that it never happened, but only because I stopped trying.

Yeah but didn't Wyverns start using axes instead? if so, then it really starts mattering a little less, especially when you keep in mind that the Pegasus knights generally have low physical defense and high res (at least they did in the GBA games, I haven't played Fates, only watched let's plays) while the Wyvern Lords are the ones with basically flying armorknight status, in which case, the new-found WTA helps them very little. In Fates in particular, with new stuff like the kinshi(Kishin? don't remember. Flying ostrich thing.) knight that can also use bows, and the wyverns switching to axes, I believe the WTA on Lances wouldn't matter much. You also have to keep in mind that the archer would be the one initiating on the mage and generally one-rounding them because the mages' physical defense is paper. In fact, the archers would generally have to engage themselves on anything because they always have that "problem" of having no melee option. That was kind of what I liked about them, in a game where I can get away with placing one guy with a hand axe in a bush and just murdering waves of enemies that way, the archer allowed me and NEEDED me to do something with him on my turn. It gives me agency, so to speak. If he needs to get into throwing axe range just to shoot one arrow, with the exception of the longbow which happens to be REALLY BAD in the way of might and weight, that kinda turns me off from using the archers. As an unrelated issue, Fates made archers good at the game, (but not in a way that I like, sue me) and Takumi makes all other obsolete, and not even because of his stats.

On the animation thing: I've noticed a little something about your style. It's very start-and-stop. A motion has very little easing and is done really quickly. If it were me animating that guy raising his sword into the air, it would take him a little longer than that, and would have a "heavier" feel. Your style is a little different. It's not necessarily wrong or anything, just somewhat uncommon. It, to me, makes the animation feel a little "floaty and weightless". Like the hit in question lacks power. Maybe it's just me, though. I would personally add a bit more wind-up to their motions and a bit more easing OUT of the motions as well. Like, when he finishes his swing, it's just two frames, one still with the trail and the other without it (the finished swing). If it were me, it'd have 2 more frames at the end of his body bending a little more downward, to account for the force being transferred to the ground. Anyhoo, different styles I guess. Plus, it's still a work in progress so I shouldn't judge too much.

The only way I see bows being part of an effective "triangle" is not having them in a triangle and simply giving them the weapon triangle advantage when attacking from afar, given that they are specialized ranged weapons, and disadvantage when used to defend from melee. This would give them an edge against mages and hand axes/javelins. It would also make it clear that an archer belongs at the back. Also, Fates making them able to attack in melee with shit like pointblank pisses me off. IT'S A BOW. If the only way you can make bows good is by making the other ranged weapons worse (tomahawks and shit) and making the bows capable of melee, there's something wrong with bows, and your weapon system basically devolves to: "Can it attack in both ranges? If yes it's good if not it's not as good unless it's stats are much better." IMHO, bows should all be 2-3 range or something, so they can be the most EFFECTIVE ranged weapons in the game, as they SHOULD BE by virtue of being bows. I've tried to hack this into fe7 but these games are designed around bows having 2 range so the game just wasn't built for that. If the game were balanced around the bows with 3-range, I think the archers can fulfill their actual purpose of sniping people. It might also help them kite a little better with the use of stuff like mountains. Rant: Over.

Ah thanks a lot! It's embedded now!

It's still floating up a little too much. The end of the cape that isn't attached to his back should basically stay stationary in the same spot in the air while the body drops and the gradually drop down, but it should never go upward in any way shape or form. The only times in which clothing "rises" like that is when the character is falling a much larger distance, like jumping off a flight of stairs. The character in question barely looks a foot off the ground so the cape really should be moving that much. Try to find reference of people with capes or long dresses or something jumping straight up and see how the cloth reacts when they fall back down. It's a weird thing to look up, i know, but it really helps.

Like 1-third done with the attack animation. This stuff is difficult, especially because I'm doing both the male and female versions at the same time. (I'm afraid of making the male and then not being able to replicate the female properly) Thank you for reminding me that I created this, lol, I've been neglecting this thread! Here's what my sheet is looking so far: I'm still not too used to doing motion blur so I'm leaving it for last, and excuse the extra space, I'm accounting for what I'll probably have there in the future. I use a separate sheet for actually building the sprites, and only plop them on that one after I fully recolor them, to make sure that this sheet only has the colors of the sprites and the background. That way, when I copy out the female, there will be 16 colors for sure on the male and 16 colors for sure on the female.

This is actually a REALLY good idea, and would help me exemplify the disadvantage that daggers have on spears... until the dagger user closes in. Now as for the length thing, I could probably just change the names/icons of the weapon triangle to mean "1 range, 2 range and three range", but the problem then comes that I have essentially removed the weapons themselves. In essence, to do that I'd have to replace them with 1-range weapons, 2-range weapons and 3-range weapons. This would mean that a merc would be able to use any weapon that has a, for an example, 2-range setting. The problem is then solved by simply using the weapon locks as I initially thought. Lock a specific type of swords to the mercs and all that, though I'm unsure of whether I'd have enough locks to do that or if perhaps I'd have to figure out how to make more. In essence, to execute your idea I'd have to: -Ignore the spear, axe, sword triangle and change it to the three different melee ranges (Hand-to-Hand; Melee; Mid-range) -Change the weapons around to be of the different types (If spears were replaced with 3-range weapons, then a greatsword would have to be classed as a "spear" and certain shorter spears (like some types of javelin) would be 2-range or so.) -Make all classes that use a melee physical weapon capable of using all melee physical weapon types they need; (If Cavs can use Lances and 1-handed swords, then they have to get 3-range (previously spears) AND 2-range weapons (previously axes)) -Rework all the weapons, (I had expected this so no biggie) -Lock certain weapons to certain classes via the weapon locks, the systems that lock preferential weapons like the mani katti, to their respective characters, without overlapping. (If Heroes can use greatswords and two-handed axes, it's likely they could use 2-range AND 3-range weapons, so it'd be safe to lock a 1-range weapon like a dagger the same weapon lock, and the Hero still would be able to use it.) The only thing that I'm unsure of is whether or not I can do the thing you mentioned of the attacker having WTA. I'd have to look around rom-hacking forums but I'm sure there might be a way. Thanks a lot for the idea, man! I really appreciate it. And sorry for the late reply, I haven't been here in a few days.

See, I was gonna ask if he just swapped hands with the weapon, but it is now that it is exactly what he's doing. It is REALLY smooth, good job man! I will say, during the dodge animation, the his right foot (seen from HIS right) appears to rotate based on the heel of his foot, whereas you'd usually rotate based on the front of the foot, and lift your heel up a little. Also, the legs get really thin during the jump, which makes it look like his legs are rectangular instead of being cylindrical as they should be. It's like, they were supposed to be a soda can but they turned into juice boxes. Thicken them up a little bit during the jump I'd say.

Alright, if you want more people to come over and see this, you might want to include the fact that it is a pick my edit in the title, just so people know what it is if they are interested. Let me start you off, though. Something easy: Marcus now has Xander's growths from Revelation. Everyone's busted in Awakening and Fates so to make your journey a little easier (and also because I like Marcus) now Marcus is busted from the start as well. Have fun!

You're steadily improving and I'm really digging these "metroid-esque" sprites. I also really like the separation of the lower and upper body for firing but depending on the gun you might have some issues with lighting. See when a gun fires there's an explosion which should (in theory) light up your character's body. This means that if the legs and upper body are separate then you can only shade in the new lighting for the upper body. it shouldn't be an issue though, since most guns are rather dim in their explosions. Also that latest update on the blue sword dude looks neat. I can definitely tell where Agro was going though. FE sprites tend to be a little less animated. Unless it's a large motion like jumping forward, a lot of the body parts tend to stay still. I'm likin' this though, keep at it.

Even then I'd probably still say Ryoma wins due to the swordmaster crit bonus which you just KNOW is gonna happen. Sucks for me, though. I love the concept of an armored paladin on his armored warhorse. Seeing that getting beat by some shmuck with a sword that can barely even tickle a fully armored knight because "LOL SAMURAI GREATEST WARRIOR HE HAS CRITS KATANAS CAN SLICE TIME AND SPACE" just annoys me. I think katana fanboys have ruined the samurai for me because whenever I hear about them now I just get peeved. I used to think they were so freaking cool before anime was a thing in my life too, lol.

I've been conducting some research for a few months now on weaponry because I'm a freaking nerd. So far I'm only including swords because this topic is FUCKING HUGE. PLEASE CORRECT ANYTHING YOU SEE IS WRONG BECAUSE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SPEWING TRUTH AND I ALREADY MESSED UP WITH THE RAPIER (though that was because I was trying to balance game design and realism and failed to convey that. Now I'm trying to think up of all the advantages/disadvantages of a weapon to work it into game design.) BTW: This is going up eventually. I'm not too concerned with how popular/unpopular this thread is or how popular the idea of HEMA and how medieval and renaissance weapons were actually used is because this is being made for 2 reasons: A- Fun. B- Me getting comfortable with Nightmare. Anyway: SWORDS. **Greatswords** Pros: -Ridiculous power due to the mass in the blade. -Versatile. They are faster than they would seem, are good at both thrusting and cutting and are good primary weapons, unlike virtually any sword that is shorter than it. -Half-swording makes them surprisingly good short-range weapons. As if they were a shorter spear. -Massive crossguard and the second set of quillons makes them REALLY good at parrying. -The Japanese Nodachi in particular was used to counter horsemen by sweeping at the horse's legs AFAIK, so it seems appropriate that the other Greatswords would be good for it as well (unless they are thrusting oriented swords). -The range, agility, power and good defense of the Greatsword makes them the best sword for countering spears. The way they were (suposedly) used against pikes suggests that they might be well used to counter spears. Not as good as other Polearms, but then, Greatswords are sort-of sword-shaped polearms anyway. -Range. HOLY SHIT RANGE. -Much like two-handed Cutting Polearms (like the Dane Axe), they can defend narrow passages by simply blocking an entrance. -Can use longsword techniques which makes them good dueling weapons (as the longswords were). -They look badass. -Pretty good 1 on 1 weapons. -The Mordhau (In english: "Murder Stroke") makes them decent at combating armored opponents. (In essence, you grab the BLADE of the sword with both hands and slam the crossguard/pommel onto your opponent, effectively turning the sword into an improvised warhammer. Not as good as an actual warhammer, but decent enough. Perfectly safe as well if you know what you're doing. Not exclusive to greatswords (longswords dit it as well and you COULD do it with the others, but Greatswords/Longswords/Arming swords did it better in general.) -As long as all opponents are in front of you, the greatsword is great at holding multiple foes at bay, since no one wants to get in its range, and they kind of HAVE to in order to attack the swordsman. (unless they have polearms, bows, or greatswords themselves) Cons: -While lighter than thought by the general public, still pretty hefty for a sword, and as such is pretty hard to stop a swing. As such, followthrough cuts should be mostly used instead. -Actually require a lot of training. More than longswords I would argue. Maybe I'm wrong though. Still, a lot of training. -Not exactly the easiest things to carry around. Then again, most primary weapons weren't easy to carry and would have to be discarded (even if temporarily) if a secondary weapon became more appropriate. -Require a LOT of room, and as such can't be used in tight formation too effectively or in tight spaces (corridors, etc). -Expensive to make. A lot of steel in there. -Still not as good at hacking as a pollaxe or dane axe, not as good at thrusting as a spear and not as good at blunt force trauma with the mordhau as a warhammer or even as an axe. -Exclusively two-handed so no shields allowed. -While half-swording makes it better than most polearms at close-quarter fighting, it's still worse than a one-hander if the foe is within arm's reach. **Thursters**(Rapiers, Estocs, Smallswords, etc...) Pros: -While just as heavy as any other one hander, the point of balance is REALLY far down the blade.(like almost on top of the crossguard) -Relies more on stamina(slow twitch muscles) than strength(fast twitch muscles). -Thrusting takes a lot less effort to pierce soft armors like gambeson than cutting does, which means, again, less strength required. -While it's unusual to see rapiers paired with shields due to the dueling nature of the weapon, it's a one-handed weapon so it CAN be paired with a shield if need be. (Excluding the Estoc, which I'd group with the rapiers for the purposes of this hack.) -Thrusts are harder to block with a weapon than cuts and in my (inexperienced and probably somewhat uninformed) opinion, just as hard to block with shields as cuts are. -The hand is VERY well protected. -Blade as long as a longsword's, weight of a one-hander, magnificent point of balance, profiecient in the hardest maneuver to block and amazing hand protection means it's basically the perfect melee weapon for an (unarmored) duel. (When not against a spear. Those are OP as shit.) -Stupidly easy to wear. Like most swords were. -The blade being so light makes it easy to redirect for feints. -The Estoc actually was an anti-armor weapon. It was basically a really long spike with a longsword hilt/crossguard. Cons: -Just as likely to lose to spears as any other sword shorter that a greatsword. -Reliance on the thrust rather than being a "cut-and-thrust" weapon (though it can still slice. It just can't hack) makes it predictable at times. -Built around dueling and self-defense, which means it's not well suited for war or skirmishes, in which people are likely to be wearing at the very least gambeson (which for the rapier might not be THAT bad) and varying levels of hard armors. (which basically counters it as well as most swords). (Again, exclude the Estoc.) -Built for taking on one opponent at a time (DUEL) so fighting multiple people with it is hard. (Though, fighting multiple people is hard in general) -Light blade makes it hard to block/parry/deflect heavier weapons or particularly strong swings with unless done basically flawlessly and with the "strong" (lower half) of the blade rather than with the "weak". (upper half) -Despite what Fire Emblem tells you, actually REALLY WEAK against both armored units AND cavalry. (Dat Estoc Tho.) -The Estoc in particular, was a sort of "two-handed rapier" which, while useful if covered in steel, is two-handed and therefore does not allow a shield. -The Estoc also has the weakness of not having an actual edge. Again, it was a really long and slender spike with a longsword-like handle and cross-guard. -The rapier is really light so you can "beat" the blade to the side pretty hard (unless you miss,lol), which lets you move in without getting skewered. **Backswords and Sabres** (I previously referred to this category as just sabres) I'm considering backswords to be any single edged, one handed, cutting-oriented straight sword. (Falchions; the ACTUAL Claymores, which were one handed basket-hilt swords; some viking swords; some Dao; etc...) Also, I'm considering Sabres to be any CURVED single-edged sword. (Messers, Cavalry Sabres, Katana, some Cutlasses, some Dao, etc...) Pros: -The Sabres slice like a motherfucker. (slice, not cleave.) -The Backswords cleave like a motherfucker. (but don't slice as well as a sabre.) -Since the Backswords cleave well, they also apply really good blunt force trauma to things they can't cleave through, like some Gambesons and basically any mail. Kinda just skid-off plate, though, as do most if not all swords. -The sabres are better for cramped spaces such as alleys since the sword's curve makes it take up a smaller "length" of space. I think I might need a drawing to illustrate this. -The Sabres can work around stuff like shields using thrusting techniques, due to the curve. (Short note: according to my research sabres should have a little less might but higher hit rate and vice versa for the backswords.) Cons: -BAD against armor, as it counters basically any cutting sword. -More often than not, a heck of a lot shorter than thrusting swords like the Rapier. -The Sabres HAVE to use the finnicky thrusting techniques on enemies that don't have a shield as well because the curve means that you have to curve your stabbing as well. **Daggers** (They are not good for combat. Only used historically as finishers, after another weapon did the brunt of the fighting. Thieves are still gonna be a utility class rather than combat.) Pros: -There's a shit-load of types of daggers. Thursters like the Rondell Dagger and Slicers like the Baselard, and even throwing knives. This means variety. Cons: -Yes most of the kills against armored units came from daggers but that's because there was another big armored dude subduing the first one to the point where he could pull up his visor and jam a dagger in his gullet, or they were wrestling. -Yes Rondells are the best Daggers to use on armor, but again, the victim would basically already have to be subdued or you'd have to be wrestling. -Yes throwing knives hurt... but they can't pierce even soft armors like Gambesons, aren't always guaranteed to hit with the blade unless you are a god at throwing from all ranges, and, finally, even if you do hit your opponent in an unprotected area, IT WON'T GO DEEP ENOUGH. It won't cause a severe enough injury to even immobilize a limb let alone actually kill someone. It CAN kill someone, if you are incredibly lucky, but it can't kill someone reliably. -Range. I mean really, don't bring a knife to a swordfight. Or rather, do, but have it around JUST IN CASE. **Broadswords"" Pros: -Average at everything. There doesn't appear to be any real weakness to them. Better range than shortswords an daggers, effective strikes, alices AND thrusts, allow for a shield... Cons: -Average at everything. There doesn't seem to be any specific advantages to them. -They can cut, but, unlike Backswords and Sabres, generally isn't gonna lop off limbs. (unless you REALLY power your cuts and/or your edge alignment is godly.) -They can thrust well enough, but don't have as much range or point control, both of which give AMAZING advantages to thrusts, as the "rapierish" weapons do.

The "Rig" was a "skeleton" of sorts that I animated to get an idea of what to do with the actual sprites. I took them down because they were outdated. I'm doing it without the rigs this time.

Animating is REALLY hard to get into effectively, at least to make full custom sprites that don't suck it's hard to get into. To splice them together isn't as hard. You could perhaps try to request someone to do it for you but given how hard it is, I don't know how many people would want to.

Define Double Sword. A "sword" with two blades, one on either side of a hilt, or a dude wielding two swords? If the latter, I think ghast station has one on his Bloodlines hack for the main character, but I'm pretty sure that it's not been distributed.(And I don't think it would ever be, given that it's the image of his hack.) That's the closest to a "sword dual wielder" type dude you have around. If you meant the "sword with two blades" then no-one's ever done it short of an animation for Eirika Great Lord. I have no idea where to find it though, since I only saw it in a japanese hack and I was told that it was stolen from american rom-hackers. Not sure how true that is though.

I haven't played Fates but I' guess Ryoma because of Astra and Crits. Now, I've been hearing that Xander is a huge wall of a man that has a ridiculous amount of defense (and I think the Siegfried gives him Defense) so perhaps the crits and astra are worthless because Ryoma might just deal 0 damage anyway, but I doubt it. You mentioned that they can only use the Siegfried and the Raijinto so no beast-killing weapon for Ryoma or Wep Triangle for Xander but what about reclassing and skills? Are they allowed to have skills from other classes other than their original ones and/or straight up just reclass for better stats and more level ups? It's important to mention.

I understand that's not how rapiers work, (durr) however, game balance dictates that I have to do something to make them good. If I just made them about as useful as a normal rapier would be (not very in the battlefield, as it was mostly a dueling/self-defense weapon) I'd basically have to remove it due to how weak it would be. The dagger is, obviously, the best weapon to FINISH an armored target, but not to fight them, as that would be the warhammer, the mace, the spear or the almighty Pollaxe. (one of my favorite weapons btw.) I figured that, by simply saying "Eliwood is so skilled that he can aim in between gaps in armor every time" I could make rapiers useful. Truth is, in a battlefield they are not. Now, since I can't/am not skilled enough to just make him a sword swing animation (Although I think there's one already, but it's still with the rapier, which is inherently dumb. While the Rapier can cut you wouldn't want to do so, since it's not what it was built for) I can't really just give him another weapon (short of just giving him one of the fan-made spear animations). EDIT: While editing the main post I though of giving the Rapiers a buff against unarmored infantry a la swordslayer (which, btw, wouldn't work on spears because they are spears), since that would be a little more accurate, but that might be a little busted. What do you guys think? Thank you folks for pointing it out though, I don't know why I didn't point it out in my little "realistic point of view" thingy-ma-bobber but I will edit it to point it out as well. Again, it's a question of "how much realism do you want, and how willing are you to make certain things imbalanced in the name of realism?". It's a fact that you need less force to pierce rather than cut because you focus the force onto a MUCH smaller area (aka, a fine point) which is why thrusting was the best method of attack to get past chainmail and soft armors like the Gambeson (which really doesn't get the representation it deserves. Those things could sometimes stop arrows.) As for the balance issue, I'd basically have to come up with some good gimmicks to make all weapons useful (which, you are right, will be difficult) but I think it can be done. For an example, low might weapons that ignore armor are really useful because while they don't hit that hard, they deal reliable damage (see: Luna) and high might weapons hit really hard but they might not have that utility that sometimes comes in clutch(short of countering spears and horses). It's gonna be a huge effort but I think I can do it with enough dedication (and, hopefully, once I have a playable version of this out and about, constructive input from you good folks). The specialization is exactly my point, though. I've seen people complain about how the faster and bulkier units are often the best ones since they get the best of both worlds while the strictly bulky ones are slow as sin and the fast ones can't properly use the more powerful/heavy weapons. This way, I'd like to work the army into having plenty of units at its disposal that each are good at doing specific things that they will be built to do, the same way real weapons would have been, instead of always using the same units/classes because they have a ridiculous advantage in bulk and speed over the others. I'd also hopefully balance the girls into being more useful since people complain about con rendering some female characters into being worse than the men. (although that IS accurate. Again, game balance.) As an aside, I'd also like to mention that I was thinking of giving the Lance users the Heavy spear (since cavalry charges were known to be able to pierce chainmail with a cavalry lance, although it would shatter on impact) while also giving the polearm users something like a war-scythe, which was used to counter cavalry. (to the extent of my knowledge, that is. If you guys find any more historical inaccuracies, please point them out, as historical accuracy is the entire point of this hack) It could create an interesting situation where you could risk your cavalier to deal with an armorknight, but I'm not too sure how willing to use that people would be. Also, if you guys have any suggestions for weapons used historically that you might want to see added, or any more categories that you think I should add/categories I should remove, then please say so. I'd like to see how realistic I can make the game while also making it fun to play rather than just realistic but boring/frustrating. Cheers for the criticism guys! Keep it up.

Oh that makes sense. So only the totals are fixed. Okay, that means we at least don't have to worry about getting screwed out of a good character.

Aren't the growth rates fixed though? As in, they have "growth rates" but the levels are fixed. Like they always get 1 attack point every, for an example, 3 level ups? If so then your Roy should be as good/bad as anyone else's.

****WARNING!! YOU'VE FOUND THE GREAT TEXT WALL OF PORTUGAL! TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU DISLIKE READING!**** So I've been checking out some topics about weapon weight and a lot of people seem to want it back (me included. Build system plz.) but a lot of others seem to not want it. I understand their concern especially on the Constitution system of the GBA era, but I think that the problem isn't so much the system's design, but the amount of realism GBAFE has. See, it has enough realism to tell you that women are weaker and smaller than men, which, for the large majority of the world, is true. But it doesn't have enough realism to tell you that there's a shit-load of different types of axes, a shit-load of types of spears, a shit-load of bows and a mega-fuck-ton of types of swords. I mean there's a LOT of swords. I was giving this some thought as I was working on adding these "sub-types" to a GBA game as a bit of a "rebalance hack" and was going to base it on the classes in question. Think about it. Let's use infantry sword classes in GBAFE as an example. Thieves are the lightest and weakest ones. Least suitable for combat. They appear to use daggers in combat. Myrmidons and Lyn appear to be the average build for an actual human being. They strike a neat balance of speed and strength. Not too much strength and a lot of speed, but a nice strength cap as Swordmasters nonetheless. They appear to use saber-like swords in battle. (though the Myrmidons have straight and apparently double-edged swords) Eliwood/Roy/Eirika appear to be average sized as well but they focus more of finesse than raw strength and cutting motions. They use Rapiers, and it's a fact that you need less force to stab something that to cut through it. Finally, the heaviest kind of infantry sword class is the Mercenary. They have balanced stats all around but you'll notice that when it comes to swordsmen, they are the strongest of the bunch. Gerik and Deke sit at a really good 13 con which makes them HUGE when you take 8 Con as the average person (judging by artwork) Raven and Ogier seem a little small in comparison and Harken does too to some extent at 11 con promoted but he's still larger than average. Echidna only has 9 con promoted but she's a woman so she's still larger than average. They are also the hardest hitting ones (barring crits) with strength bases, caps and growths larger than the others. They appear to use Greatswords/Longswords (art style makes it seem like a weapon as large as yourself isn't even all that) and promoted heroes kinda just use the same sword but in one hand. Keeping this in mind, what if the different classes straight up just used different types of swords (Daggers, Sabers, Rapiers, Greatswords, etc...) and each were catered to each class's needs and strengths. The spoilers contain my older ideas. This is my rather small-scale research based on youtube channels like Skallagrim, Scholagladiatoria, Metatron, Lindybeige and others, as well as my own search through HEMA websites such as wiktenauer and some thorough googling. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CORRECT ME ON ANYTHING THAT YOU SEE WRONG. Also, please provide sources if you'd please. **Greatswords** Pros: -Ridiculous power due to the mass in the blade. -Versatile. They are faster than they would seem, are good at both thrusting and cutting and are good primary weapons, unlike virtually any sword that is shorter than it. -Half-swording makes them surprisingly good short-range weapons. As if they were a shorter spear. -Massive crossguard and the second set of quillons makes them REALLY good at parrying. -The Japanese Nodachi in particular was used to counter horsemen by sweeping at the horse's legs AFAIK, so it seems appropriate that the other Greatswords would be good for it as well (unless they are thrusting oriented swords). -The range, agility, power and good defense of the Greatsword makes them the best sword for countering spears. The way they were (suposedly) used against pikes suggests that they might be well used to counter spears. Not as good as other Polearms, but then, Greatswords are sort-of sword-shaped polearms anyway. -Range. HOLY SHIT RANGE. -Much like two-handed Cutting Polearms (like the Dane Axe), they can defend narrow passages by simply blocking an entrance. -Can use longsword techniques which makes them good dueling weapons (as the longswords were). -They look badass. -Pretty good 1 on 1 weapons. -The Mordhau (In english: "Murder Stroke") makes them decent at combating armored opponents. (In essence, you grab the BLADE of the sword with both hands and slam the crossguard/pommel onto your opponent, effectively turning the sword into an improvised warhammer. Not as good as an actual warhammer, but decent enough. Perfectly safe as well if you know what you're doing. Not exclusive to greatswords (longswords dit it as well and you COULD do it with the others, but Greatswords/Longswords/Arming swords did it better in general.) -As long as all opponents are in front of you, the greatsword is great at holding multiple foes at bay, since no one wants to get in its range, and they kind of HAVE to in order to attack the swordsman. (unless they have polearms, bows, or greatswords themselves) Cons: -While lighter than thought by the general public, still pretty hefty for a sword, and as such is pretty hard to stop a swing. As such, followthrough cuts should be mostly used instead. -Actually require a lot of training. More than longswords I would argue. Maybe I'm wrong though. Still, a lot of training. -Not exactly the easiest things to carry around. Then again, most primary weapons weren't easy to carry and would have to be discarded (even if temporarily) if a secondary weapon became more appropriate. -Require a LOT of room, and as such can't be used in tight formation too effectively or in tight spaces (corridors, etc). -Expensive to make. A lot of steel in there. -Still not as good at hacking as a pollaxe or dane axe, not as good at thrusting as a spear and not as good at blunt force trauma with the mordhau as a warhammer or even as an axe. -Exclusively two-handed so no shields allowed. -While half-swording makes it better than most polearms at close-quarter fighting, it's still worse than a one-hander if the foe is within arm's reach. **Thursters**(Rapiers, Estocs, Smallswords, etc...) Pros: -While just as heavy as any other one hander, the point of balance is REALLY far down the blade.(like almost on top of the crossguard) -Relies more on stamina(slow twitch muscles) than strength(fast twitch muscles). -Thrusting takes a lot less effort to pierce soft armors like gambeson than cutting does, which means, again, less strength required. -While it's unusual to see rapiers paired with shields due to the dueling nature of the weapon, it's a one-handed weapon so it CAN be paired with a shield if need be. (Excluding the Estoc, which I'd group with the rapiers for the purposes of this hack.) -Thrusts are harder to block with a weapon than cuts and in my (inexperienced and probably somewhat uninformed) opinion, just as hard to block with shields as cuts are. -The hand is VERY well protected. -Blade as long as a longsword's, weight of a one-hander, magnificent point of balance, profiecient in the hardest maneuver to block and amazing hand protection means it's basically the perfect melee weapon for an (unarmored) duel. (When not against a spear. Those are OP as shit.) -Stupidly easy to wear. Like most swords were. -The blade being so light makes it easy to redirect for feints. -The Estoc actually was an anti-armor weapon. It was basically a really long spike with a longsword hilt/crossguard. Cons: -Just as likely to lose to spears as any other sword shorter that a greatsword. -Reliance on the thrust rather than being a "cut-and-thrust" weapon (though it can still slice. It just can't hack) makes it predictable at times. -Built around dueling and self-defense, which means it's not well suited for war or skirmishes, in which people are likely to be wearing at the very least gambeson (which for the rapier might not be THAT bad) and varying levels of hard armors. (which basically counters it as well as most swords). (Again, exclude the Estoc.) -Built for taking on one opponent at a time (DUEL) so fighting multiple people with it is hard. (Though, fighting multiple people is hard in general) -Light blade makes it hard to block/parry/deflect heavier weapons or particularly strong swings with unless done basically flawlessly and with the "strong" (lower half) of the blade rather than with the "weak". (upper half) -Despite what Fire Emblem tells you, actually REALLY WEAK against both armored units AND cavalry. (Dat Estoc Tho.) -The Estoc in particular, was a sort of "two-handed rapier" which, while useful if covered in steel, is two-handed and therefore does not allow a shield. -The Estoc also has the weakness of not having an actual edge. Again, it was a really long and slender spike with a longsword-like handle and cross-guard. -The rapier is really light so you can "beat" the blade to the side pretty hard (unless you miss,lol), which lets you move in without getting skewered. **Backswords and Sabres** (I previously referred to this category as just sabres) I'm considering backswords to be any single edged, one handed, cutting-oriented straight sword. (Falchions; the ACTUAL Claymores, which were one handed basket-hilt swords; some viking swords; some Dao; etc...) Also, I'm considering Sabres to be any CURVED single-edged sword. (Messers, Cavalry Sabres, Katana, some Cutlasses, some Dao, etc...) Pros: -The Sabres slice like a motherfucker. (slice, not cleave.) -The Backswords cleave like a motherfucker. (but don't slice as well as a sabre.) -Since the Backswords cleave well, they also apply really good blunt force trauma to things they can't cleave through, like some Gambesons and basically any mail. Kinda just skid-off plate, though, as do most if not all swords. -The sabres are better for cramped spaces such as alleys since the sword's curve makes it take up a smaller "length" of space. I think I might need a drawing to illustrate this. -The Sabres can work around stuff like shields using thrusting techniques, due to the curve. (Short note: according to my research sabres should have a little less might but higher hit rate and vice versa for the backswords.) Cons: -BAD against armor, as it counters basically any cutting sword. -More often than not, a heck of a lot shorter than thrusting swords like the Rapier. -The Sabres HAVE to use the finnicky thrusting techniques on enemies that don't have a shield as well because the curve means that you have to curve your stabbing as well. **Daggers** (They are not good for combat. Only used historically as finishers, after another weapon did the brunt of the fighting. Thieves are still gonna be a utility class rather than combat.) Pros: -There's a shit-load of types of daggers. Thursters like the Rondell Dagger and Slicers like the Baselard, and even throwing knives. This means variety. Cons: -Yes most of the kills against armored units came from daggers but that's because there was another big armored dude subduing the first one to the point where he could pull up his visor and jam a dagger in his gullet, or they were wrestling. -Yes Rondells are the best Daggers to use on armor, but again, the victim would basically already have to be subdued or you'd have to be wrestling. -Yes throwing knives hurt... but they can't pierce even soft armors like Gambesons, aren't always guaranteed to hit with the blade unless you are a god at throwing from all ranges, and, finally, even if you do hit your opponent in an unprotected area, IT WON'T GO DEEP ENOUGH. It won't cause a severe enough injury to even immobilize a limb let alone actually kill someone. It CAN kill someone, if you are incredibly lucky, but it can't kill someone reliably. -Range. I mean really, don't bring a knife to a swordfight. Or rather, do, but have it around JUST IN CASE. **Broadswords"" Pros: -Average at everything. There doesn't appear to be any real weakness to them. Better range than shortswords an daggers, effective strikes, alices AND thrusts, allow for a shield... Cons: -Average at everything. There doesn't seem to be any specific advantages to them. -They can cut, but, unlike Backswords and Sabres, generally isn't gonna lop off limbs. (unless you REALLY power your cuts and/or your edge alignment is godly.) -They can thrust well enough, but don't have as much range or point control, both of which give AMAZING advantages to thrusts, as the "rapierish" weapons do.

Most of you folks haven't mentioned Gerik for Sacred Stones. Wasn't he kinda popular? I'd wager he has a chance. I'm also not aware of how many dancers there are in the game (I only know of Olivia and Azura atm) but if there aren't many the Tethys could make an appearance.

Well skills might be unlocked at different rates. If you had feel like it your Gordin might have Vantage and Attack + 3 once you unlock them for him so it's probably randomized for enemy heroes or put there specifically for the sake of map design.

I do understand where you're coming from since at times the RNG can be frustrating to deal with but not having dodge in a main series would basically kill the difference between classes like the Myrmidon and the Mercenary, essentially making the Myrmidon a kind of "one use nuke" that you'd have to heal after every attack due to them not being able to dodge the heavy damage they will likely take and the Merc is probably still gonna hit harder, if perhaps being a little slower. Also keep in mind that while most of the stuff in FE is fantasy to the max and completely detached from reality, having "a chance" to hit or dodge adds realism. Your skill with a sword makes you more likely to hit your target, but their speed makes them more likely to dodge. I say that it was a necessary change for the mobile format, but you'll never see it in a "real" Fire Emblem game. It's just too core to the game.

Heya folks! I'm having a bit of an issue changing character's recruitment around. Like say, for an example, imagine I want Isadora and Marcus to swap places, how would I go about it? I've tried to go to the individual chapters they join in as a test and simply changing the character number that is "loaded" but when I tried to go on Eliwood's route that way Marcus joined instead of Isadora and he "joined" as a green Unit. I've also tried to simply go on the character editor and changing Isadora's Character number to Marcus' and vice versa but the Isadora was the one to join as a Green Unit. Help?