ruruo

I wouldn't change it, but instead have a better master class with sword proficiency. Something like an equivalent of a Trueblade from Tellius? They can get back the sword crit bonuses, and maybe a buffed version of 3H's astra. Or maybe for Bow Knight to require swords, and also give Swordfaire, so for the class to be more of a Nomadic Trooper equivalent?

I've tried once on Dimitri for sword and hp/str/spd growth on an old run. ngl, doesn't shine enough to tempt me to keep a character there like Assassin, and sadly, I also don't find Sword + Axe lending itself to progress onto any of the master classes too well. Say, if I wanted axes for wyvern master, there's already wyvern rider with will also net me flying. Grappler, I find better for a character going into War Master, and just tutor axes. Pity as it's one one my favourite classes from some of the GBA/3DS titles. The critical animation on the gba was so dope.

My favourite chapters are 13 , 18, 21 and 22. They're the ones I find most memorable, and still enjoy on replays. 13, I find fit thematically very well with AM, it's just so dark and desperate, and the difficulty reflects that, and puts in the mood of what to come. I tend to use full house students on my runs, which I think makes my runs for this chapter a bit more balanced and fun. 18, is just really satisfying. Whether it's one turning Cornelia or killing all the golems for argarithium. It feels great clearing this map, it embodies Dimitri's return to his senses for me. After 18, I like the two endgame maps. But I also think it's because on those last maps, I feel free to stop worrying about exp or finishing builds. All my best units and Dimitri are let loose, and I can have some fun. The weaker AM ones for me is 14 and 15. They felt a little like filler to me. 14, I think was kinda similar to 12, and 15 reminded me of that Dorothea paralogue. It was also kinda over quick depending on when the boss decided to charge. I also always somehow forget about Ch 20 too...

AM final map. A war master had 4%hit and 7% crit on Ingrid. He crit her

I loved my Annette on my AM run ❤️ It's not anything too original, I had her as Valkyrie/Dark Knight depending on if I wanted the extra spell range. Kept her grounded for better battalions and adjunct Gilbert. Focused on Reason and Authority early game (with only C in Faith), then built her towards Axes (A+) for Lightning Axe abuse towards late game to secure ohkos. Had so much fun with it Some pics:

Thanks! That puts it into perspective. I might still get it to play around with, but not hold too much expectation for it. Will do~ I just hope he turns out useable. With Lorenz, he's so balanced I'm just unsure what his role is going to look like if I build him as a DK. I feel at best he's going to end up doing is chip damage, back up healing, and carrying a support battalion. Sounds good then, in that case I think it should be ok. There's Wyvern Ferdinand, and I'm expecting Leonie to get pretty fast too, so hopefully it'll work out. With M!Byleth I was thinking of playing around with a EP build later using QR+Alert stance+Fist Avo+Avo Battalion (+retribution).

@Azure loves his Half Elves Thank you for the feedback! It's is much appreciated, as I'm not too familiar with using the VW students. (I usually let Claude keep his buddies on most runs, as I like seeing them on maps). How does this line up sound? Dunno if it's too many archers and mages? M!Byleth: Soldier > Brawler > Grappler > War Master/(Wyvern Lord) That's pretty cool for skills to be transferable! I definitely want to master War Master to unlock QR to possibly play around with on other runs. I can buy back decent weapon levels for Lance and Flying from the previous run (Falcon Knight F!Byleth), War Master gives him axes, so I think unlocking both classes is feasible if I'm in need of another flier. Claude: Soldier > Brigand > Archer > Wyvern Rider/Master (?) > Barbarossa / (Sniper?) Dipping into Soldier to pick up reposition. Will rank up on flying for Alert stance+, I think, if it's worth it. Any chance to keep Sniper as a option open for HV on Claude or is keeping to Barbarossa better? Hilda: Gonna go the Wyvern route then, and maybe also pick up Hit +20. ngl I think it's more likely I'd adjunct her to Claude in part 2. Marianne: Monk > Mage > Bishop > Valkyrie > Dark Knight Dark Knight it is! Ignatz: With Raphael Adjunct} Soldier > Brigand > Archer > (Dark Mage?) > Sniper > Bow Knight Sounds good, Sniper/Bow Knight it is! I've read about dipping into Dark mage for Poison strike. Would it be worth it? Lorenz: Monk > Mage > Warlock/Paladin ? > Dark Knight Alright, I'll go down the DK line like Marianne (minus Valkyrie) but if his stats screws up as badly as his hair, he'll be dancing. Would it be better for him to drop into Paladin or Warlock for an advanced class? Leonie: Soldier > Brigand > Peg Knight > Wyvern Rider > Falcon Knight. Yeah that sounds great! I can do the Falcon Knight option, with bow access. I did it for my F!Byleth in the previous run, and yeah, it's really good! Lythesia: Usual Germory/Valkyrie Linhardt: Bishop Ferdie: Swift Strikes - Wyvern Balthus: Grappler/War Master Yuri: Soldier > Brigand > Archer > Sniper (Constance:) Mage > Peg Knight > Dark Flier/Germory (ngl I kinda worry about Dark Flier's lack of magic growth bonus as I think it screwed up Annette on a run, where she only had about 30 mag at lv 45) (Dorothea:) Dancer, unless Lorenz screws up. Constance and Dorothea are backs up picks in case I'm not using Hilda or dancing Lorenz

recently just completed that NG AM run. Finding it hard to just drop the game after that experience. Any tips for some of the GD students and M!Byleth for a VW Maddening NG+ run? Claude Default class M!Byleth I've always used F!Byleth on previous runs, so for M!Byleth I'm not too sure what to do. It would be nice to use a male exclusive class, and I heard he makes for a pretty decent War Master. Are skill masteries from genderlocked classes accessible to the other Byleth on NG+? Think it might be fun having Darting Blow + Gauntlets on a War Master if it is possible. Going to miss that Pegasus though x'D. Hilda Adjunct to Claude? I think Claude might do well with that extra boost, but I do really like Hilda, tempted to just use her. Marianne I'm thinking going magic+swords for a more offensive build maybe ending in Mortal Savant or Dark Knight? Not too sure. Ignatz The traditional Bow Knight path or Trickster for magic access and Foul Play utility? Raphael Adjunct to Ignatz? Lorenz I'm also not sure what to do with him. I find his stats and growths to be so balanced that if it screw up, it hurts. See if he's fine until Ch10, otherwise Dancer? Leonie Bow Knight or Falcon? ... In terms of recruits, again not 100% sure yet. I've just did a couple BL runs back to back, so might opt out of BL students to give other characters a chance. At most I'm thinking of Mercedes as a dedicated healer. Maybe as options: Balthus I think he has some good lore with the deers, probably would take him down the natural War Master route. Yuri Sniper Hapi/Constance extra magic/heal support Linhardt as a dedicated healer, extra warp + access to Leonie's paralogue Flayn/Mercedes Healer Petra Another Dancer or Flier option Ferdinand I like Ferdinand von Aegir, and I cannot lie. Dorothea Dancer Seteth Another Flier + SS option.

Yeah, I totally agree. For all he has done, the reason in the supports for Annette's forgiveness so lackluster and tropey. That could be anime training from hell...x'D. The worst thing Gilbert did to Dimitri imho, is also to leave the Kingdom. Although, I'm not sure when he left the Kingdom, but I assume it was straight after the assassination That would mean, the 'important' people around a young Dimitri after his parent's death, would likely be his Uncle and uuuh... Cornelia 💀. It's so hypocritical of Gilbert, who was known for his chivalry. When it mattered the most, he abandoned his country and his future king. Maybe if Gilbert stayed, he could have helped Dimitri sway enough support to prevent the massacre that followed, or at least helped restore Faerghus to a more stable position.

Hm.. I think the only characters that really rubs me the wrong way are Bernadetta, and Catherine. There are also some who I don't really care for but will reserve judgement, since I've barely interacted with them. Poor Cyril whom I've never had a support conversation after multiple playthroughs of this game lol. I find him quite sobering and grounded. I can see a person running away from their shame, guilt or troubles, by making frustrating, questionable life choices the way Gilbert does. I like the direction they went with him, and I think his supports add to AM, but yeah, he's sooo frustrating at the same time. I just want to slap some sense into him. The weakest part with his supports is how easily he gets let off by Annette, imho.

Thanks! This has been so much more fun than expected. Yeah, while boosts are always nice, getting them is so disproportionate on NG Maddening. Always ready for singalongs! Annette's so good though, I feel like she shines so much on Maddening, going into Part 2, I don't feel like she's dropping off at all. She's like a swiss army knife. Both of them are Lv.1 EO Byleth. The difference is one is from a older Hard NG+ playthrough (where I really didn't bother building that much, left her in that class, she's the one with Weight -3 and Authority prowess), who inspired the Maddening Byleth (where I did bother to pick up important skills like Darting + Death Blow). The Maddening one has awful random C - D - ish weapon skill levels, and is at Lv 23. Sorry if that was confusing, it's more of a NG+ Hard comparison with the screenshots, I wish I had a normal Byleth at around LV 27 to compare differences. Ah cool, I did progression exactly as mentioned x'D. So I used the EO class to level up to 21 to bypass beginner/intermediate classes, and picked up Death + Darting Blow via grinding auxiliaries, before reclassing to Assassin for Dex + Spd. The idea was to secure str + mag stats, then catch up on dex + speed via Assassin. I was hoping to push for enough mag to use magic weapons effectively.. but I don't think it'll happen. With EO, I agree with where you're coming from, I didn't see it working out as well on Maddening either compared to on Hard.

Just cleared Ch13. Ahh.. Yup.. not worth it haha. My Byleth was under-baked at Lv 23 lol, but I think the extra base stats made up for it.. Getting those gains on Ch 11 The first 20 levels were easy to catch up to. Early on you get a level per kill, but it starts to plummet around Lv 20. I think if I were to redo it, I would get the Exp Gem before doing Ocean View to feed more levels in Byleth. I did the opposite, as I thought I could catch up fast enough in Ch12, which wasn't the case. On Hard HG+ you can definitely catch up quicker and the pay-off was better. For Comparison: Hard NG+ Byleth at Ch13 I Maddening Byleth at Ch 13 I (Maddening Byleth as EO at Lv 27 for reference) The NG+ Byleth was also a Ch 11, Lv 1 Byleth. I think she was was speed blessed or Maddening Byleth was speed screwed x'D. How do they compare to a normal Byleth? On Recruitment: Far more painless than expected for students. Esp. if you're only after 3-4. I managed to recruited Lythesia, Ferdinand, Lorenz and Dorothea* before Ch11, getting it to B support isn't too much of a stretch. And even with C+ it's not too bad. It's recruiting Faculty that's more annoying as they have a level requirement. * For Dorothea, there was a point where I couldn't decide who I wanted as a dancer. So I last min recruited Dorothea for a dancer by dumping gifts on her like 2 weeks before the White Heron Cup, and it worked lol. I ended up not continuing with that file in the end, because I found it difficult distributing battalions between 4 fliers (Sylvian, Ashe, Ingrid and Ferdie). There's not many with decent bonuses or Gambits 😕 . For Faculty, you can't recruit until Ch 11 which brings the issue of their Paralogues. For Ch 11, there's technically three free weekends. But you will have two weekends if you want to do faculty paralogues. I lost a weekend to Oil and Water as I thought it would be nice to get the exp gem On Maddening I missed Sword and Shield of Serios, Secret Trader (DLC) and Black Market Scheme (DLC) for part one. On Hard NG+ run I never got the Exp. Gem as I missed Oil and Water. Thoughts on chapters: The hardest part, for me was 100% early game... Ch 1 - 7 were rough. Chapter 5 was super tedious, I don't think I've ever spent that many turns on a single FE map before. Dedue is awesome. One of the things I found super fun was making more use out of Dedue and Annette. Annette is lowkey MVP, loved using her rallies. Sothis' Paralouge: Memories of the Red Canyon. I a really hard time on this, granted I did stubbornly do it asap on the month it was available. It was nice having the gem early, but it didn't feel essential, so I think it ok to wait a little later for it if needed. Yuri + Constance's Paralogue: Cursed Relic. I did this map late, with three fliers + Pally Dimi, which I'm sure made a difference. Even then, I had 2 resets on this map trying to find the balance. It's pretty comfortable when none of the crazy gets triggered. But if everything gets triggered, it's hell. Ch 13: I wanted to test waters going through this chapter with both Dimitri and Byleth footlocked, to get a feel for it. I had expected to go back and re-jig things from start of Ch 10. Surprisingly, Swordbreaker on Dimitri, some bushes, and Valkyrie Annette with Caedeus staff cracked it for me. Annette with the magic range and canto made the biggest difference. It would have been a lot harder to work out do if she wasn't picking off weakened enemies. On turn 1 I equipped the Fetters (On Byleth), and the March Ring (on Dimitri) from the convoy. If I were to redo this, I would give them those items on Ch 12. I think it's possible to get away with it using Reposition, and it if one of them used Shoes of the Wind, and the other with March Ring. The craziest part of this map for me was the first 4-5 turns T_T. The enemy aggression levels seem to be similar on Maddening and Hard. The main difference I felt was, there's a lot more Pass on swordies, and the enemies were much stronger. I found it be ok to take it slow. Overall it took 26 turns. Bushes Annette and Mercedes's Three Squares Lastly, for anyone curious, my team at of the start of Ch 14

I have Gilbert on my list. I liked him after doing all of this supports on a second playthrough. He a very grounded character, and I appreciate him a lot for it. I think he's one that quite often missed, because, it's normal to be salty over losing Dedue. And I think he comes across as quite boring without going into supports.

@Shanty Pete's 1st Mate @Owns Thanks guys! Ferdinand was offered to the White Heron Cup >:)

It's changeable, but for now: 1. Dimitri 2. Felix 3. Hilda 4. Dedue 5. Seteth 6. Ferdinand von Aegir 7. Annette 8. Dorothea 9. Gilbert 10. Ashe

I'm at the point in the game where I need to pick a dancer, but it's honestly been giving be a headache. I've asked around but haven't made a definitive choice. My full endgame team is Byleth, Dimitri, Felix, Annette, Ingrid, Mercedes, Sylvain, Ashe, Ferdinand, and Lythesia. Of them I had planned for either Ingrid or Ashe to be the dancer, since they're more prone to getting stat screwed. Atm they've doing ok on Ch9, I'm comfortable with where they're at, and feel like it'll be a waste to put them into dancer, so I feel a little lost over what to do. I think, I'd rather keep to these 10 characters, since most maps only allow for max 10 deployment. I think Ingrid could be good since she has access to Thoron and Physic. Thoron can help with setting up linked skills with Felix and Sylvain. Atm, she's doing ok for str, so feels a waste to turn her into a dancer? I've had good experiences with her on endgame chapters. Ashe could also work, since he's usually the most lacking in the Lions, and also has access to Physic. But his str is also ok atm, and he's also the only one I'm planning to run into Sniper. Lastly I could go a little chaotic and use Ferdinand lol. He doesn't have good support links other than Mercedes, so I could just delegate him to dancing only, and keep main units as in-house as a theme. It again just feels like such a waste too since he's a natural WL.

Yay thanks, I'm glad someone is also curious about this too :'D I'm saving two early recommended Lv 10. Quests in the hopes that Byleth's bases + Rally + Flayn will get her going after feeding some kills. So far, just finished up Ch7, on 2nd week of Ch 8 month. Recruitment has not been as horrific as expected. Gift + meals spamming worked out. I have everyone I want (Lythisia, Lorenz and Ferdinand). Lythisia joined late Ch6, and I'm pretty relieved to nab Ferdinand late ch 7. Turns out with C+ support, only 9 dex is needed, and Byleth has exactly 9 base dex x'D. Lorenz joined first week Ch 8 via B support. Main quests has been going good so far. It's been a lot of fun relying on gambits, skills and rallies more often. Paralogues seem to have high recommended levels. I have only completed the Red Tales of the Red Canyon asap out of stubborness for that Knowledge Gem (that was an experience haha...). The rest, I might wait a little later.

For avo stacking I also thought of Ferdinand too. For in house, maybe Ingrid could make use of it. She would using swords if you're going towards the Falco Knight promotion, it'll stack with Alert stance, and she tends to gets a lot of speed too. If turning Ingrid into a dancer, getting her Faith up to C gets her Physic, and her talent in Riding helps with getting Mov +1. Otherwise I think sticking with Flayn is a good choice.

Yes! Sorry, fixed it up ^^ Yup, it's more for the min/max to see if it'll give a decent pay off. I'm probably having a more difficult first half experience, but hopefully the 2nd part will balance out as much easier.

Following up from the "questions" thread, in case anyone was curious: I started the keep Byleth Lv1 until forced Enlightened One promotion. run a few days ago on Maddening NG, and just cleared Ch 5. Quite comfortable to proceed. It's probably not worth the hassle, but I'm curious over what it's going to be like on Part 2. I have done this for Byleth (and Dimitri, kept him to Lv 1 until Ch13) on Hard NG+ which is why I'm trying it on Maddening. At best, it'll get decent results for the 2nd half and Ch13. At worst, so long as I catch up levels for Byleth it should be ok. Hopefully. Not keeping Dimitri to Lv 1 on Maddening because I don't want to deal with not using two good units early game, or deal with Lv4 Dimitri on Chapter 13. I am using DLC. Not using online. Not sure if I'm going to do any of DLC paralogues (I will try, but I'm not 100% confident I can pull through some them.) So far, it's manageable. Getting to Prof Level C was much faster than expected. Also skill levels are building up faster too than expected for students, since maps are taking longer (which is really nice). Peg Knight certification requirements are lower that I remember, so setting up the flier ch13 contingency plan is a-ok. ---- Yup. Recruitment is looking to be an issue, I don't think there's a way to recruit faculty until CH11 where Byleth can start gaining levels. For normal students, it's possible to level up skill requirements, and get the C support quickly, but I might not be able to meet some stat requirements even after lowering from supports. I have thought maybe I could use stat boosters, but it might reduce the bonuses I will gain upon EO promotion. Skill levels are also looking to be an issue on Byleth (might wait until I'm a bit further in to say for sure). I am taking advantage of the DLC to pour the renown from CS clear into the statues, and use the sauna lol. Only just started putting more focus on raising skill levels via faculty on Byleth. We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping to get recruits in by Ch 8-9 if I am meeting stat requirements. The nice thing is that there's a use for Mission Assist.... At least I can borrow who I can't have x'D;;; It still builds support points, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can get some B supports, so they can volunteer themselves and I don't have to worry about stat requirements. ---- Most of my main units are around Lv 11 after Ch5. Been trying to take advantage of Byleth for professor's guidance. Not sure it's actually making a difference as the exp multiplier is harsh. This also makes me a little concerned about Byleth catching up on levels, we'll see. I might have set Dedue up as adjunct too early. Kinda worried about the Duscar paralogue (he's only Lv 7), but again.. we'll see. I did plan to set him up as Adjunct asap as I know I won't be fielding him on part two. But ngl, I kinda forgot about his paralogue :< After getting a feel for early Maddening. I'm thinking about putting Ingrid into dancer afterall, and Ashe into Sniper. Maybe get the WR/WL certification to keep a flying option open for him, but I think he might be better off with the extra range + Bowfaire + Hunter's Volley, and carry a support battalion than WL. Another Dancer option I have in mind is Yuri, he also has access to Silence, but I don't be able to have a dancer on Ch13. Contemplating on dropping Ferdinand, as his B support locked to post-timeskip. I could keep Ferdinand as a Paladin, or take Seteth instead for the other swift strikes user, as he's immediately available as WR.

For Ashe I think I prefer: Commoner->Fighter->Brigand->Thief for earlier classes for Steal to go with his Locktouch. ngl, While I see it working with Bow Knight, I would prefer to send him down the Wyvern route, with bow as a main weapon. Not essential, but it's fun. He can act more independently to steal/snipe chests. On AM you can steal stat boosters on the Silver Maiden Paralogue, and Ladislava's Aurora Shield. If he ends up being str screwed, there's Seal Def from Wyvern Rider which also stacks with Waning shot at A in Bows. It's definitely fine for Normal/Hard. I also think this probably works best on AM. There's a bit of investment, and I don't remember many notable things to steal on other routes.

@Moltz23 Ahh okay that makes so much sense with the exp drop @Dark Holy Elf Yeah, thanks for writing this. You make good points and put into perspective about keeping Byleth to Lv1. I don't want to play catch up with masteries, and it's not like I can use renown since it's NG. On my last Hard run I kept Byleth to Lv1 until Ch11, and Dimitri Lv 1 until Ch13. It was surprisingly painless, even for Ch13, but I don't think I can get away with it on maddening. I could try it and see what happens for Byleth, but I'm leaning towards not doing it. Really reassuring to know that monastery isn't that essential. I like this game, but after multiple playthroughs monastery sections drive me loony lol. @Garsoba Thank you so much for typing that up. It's good to know that Professor Lv C+ is enough as a minimum. That sounds very reasonable, and doable. May I ask why it's essential to have Byleth as a Flier by Ch13? I was initially thinking of keeping her as EO. Atm, rough plans for end classes: Byleth as Falcon Knight. Could also just get her Peg Knight Certification by Ch13, and keep as EO for rest of the game? I do want the EO mastery at least. Dimitri standard Great Lord (maybe Bow Knight or at least enough in Bows for Curved Shot. I quite like him in his default class) Felix as Bow knight (with Sniper mastery to have the option of either Hunter's Volley or extra range/mov). I have heard great things about War Master Felix, as mentioned tho, it's tempting. Annette as a Valkyrie (Stride+Rally+Chip Damage) Sylvain as WL, or if working through a bane isn't so bad, maybe Bow Knight Sylvain? Mercedes as Bishop Recruited units it'll likely be Lythesia + Lorenz (There's also Hapi as another option for Warp, but it's hard to match Lythesia for power, and I don't want to replace Annette.) And Ferdinand. I've had good runs with him being both Bow Knight and Wyvern Lord. I think I prefer him as WL, but it makes more sense to have him as a Bow knight without the bane and Sylvain as WL. Additional flier and dancer between: Ingrid and Ashe. I've had both good and bad experiences with Ashe with the bow Wyvern build. I could set him up as WL, and if he turns out wonky before getting there, keep him as a sniper. As a dancer I like the idea of Ashe having access to Physic, and Waning Shot on paper, but never tried it. For Ingrid, it's more I'm worried maddening enemy stats making her useless with her low str, and don't need to worry about it if she's a dancer. Hm.. I think a lot of folks are going to use bows... Could try and see how far I can cope with not using Byleth on this run, but idk. I think Dark Holy Elf has a point about missing masteries on beginner and intermediate class. I can see myself being too lazy to play catch up. I don't want to be unprepared for difficulty spikes either.

How grindy do you find the class progression/customisation? For example, I've read about people picking up multiple intermediate mastery skills (getting Death Blow & Hit+20), or things like making sure units gets Weight -3 in heavy armour. ngl I'm not sure if I will be that into grinding for certain skills set ups. Even some of my current NG+ units from multiple runs have quite basic setups. I think the one of the main things that's holding me back is monastery usage, all the busywork (fishing/sidequesting/food/tea time) and earning skill points for promotion. I'm not sure how reliably I can grind skill levels for classes without putting investment into monastery, or if I need to spend loads of time fishing to earn professor levels, or go on auxiliary battles to grind for skill levels via broken weapon(??). etc. etc.. The plan so far, is to keep class promotion quite basic (maybe use breaker skills to re-invoke the weapon triangle?). I'm open about using DLC for classes (mainly for Valkyrie), maybe the Fetters for the Dancer or Dimitri for a pseudo mounted unit. I would want to use everyone in the main house apart from Dedue, and recruit 2 more main units from other houses (10 unit core). Love the guy, but Dedue will be on adjunct duties since he come back so late. I'm also thinking about keeping Byleth to Lv1. until Ch10 for EO bases, then just Pegasus ---> Falcon Knight. I'm not sure how realistic this whole plan is so far. Would it help if I listed class progression plans for the units?

What's the general consensus over Maddening now that over a year has passed? I'm considering doing an AM NG maddening run, but I've read many mixed views about how maddening in 3H being quite poorly balanced. For the record I really enjoyed, and completed conquest lunatic, but dropped awakening lunatic quite early on.