My now completed S rank HHM run

[Florete]

Yep, that's right. I S ranked Hector's Hard mode (Linus/Kenneth). It was quite a challenge at times and extremely frustrating at others (go to hell, Kinship's Bond. And any other Survive/Protect map for that matter) but in the end it was actually a rather fun experience. What's sort of ironic is that I never saw 5 stars in each category at all within the game. I was always missing one Tactics star, and by the time I reached The Berserker and got it, I'd lost a star in Funds. By the time I got that back after Battle Preparations (in which I drained all my money on Elixirs) I was one down in Tactics again (by a single turn). I finished VoD in 15 turns, the 5 star minimum, and then Light in 7 total (5 for Nergal, 2 for Dragon, though the Dragon could have been done in 1 if I'd known what Lyn could do to it), so I ended up with two turns to spare. After my approximate calculations (because I'd forgotten to record the levels coming out of LHM) I was already ~300 over the game minimum for Experience by the time I started Light, so that was no issue.

Females rock in this game, by the way. Quite easily, the 5 most useful units for this run ended up being Priscilla, Serra, Lyn, Florina, and Ninian/Nils, with Raven and Pent being the only real competition.

Also, a big thanks to my wonderful Masochistic Tangerine for helping encourage me through the more difficult parts of this run and being around to give helpful advice.

Stats, if you care about them (not everyone, just the main fighters throughout the game):

Priscilla, lv 20/20
HP:  43 (+Robe)
Str: 22
Skl: 24
Spd: 25
Lck: 25
Def: 9
Res: 27
Anima A
Staff S
B: 152
W: 82

Lyn, lv 20/17.58
HP:  45
Str: 22 (+Ring)
Skl: 27
Spd: 28
Lck: 29
Def: 11
Res: 15
Sword S
Bow A
Florina A
B: 237
W: 161

Florina, lv 20/17.4 (+Body Ring)
HP:  54 (+Robe)
Str: 21
Skl: 24
Spd: 28
Lck: 22
Def: 11
Res: 22
Sword C
Lance S
Lyn A
B: 273
W: 155

Raven, lv 20/16.21
HP:  60
Str: 25
Skl: 29
Spd: 24
Lck: 11
Def: 13
Res: 9
Sword S
Axe A
B: 258
W: 188

Pent, lv --/16.15
HP:  36
Str: 20
Skl: 24
Spd: 22
Lck: 17
Def: 16
Res: 20
Anima A
Staff S
B: 25
W: 15

Serra, lv 20/13.22
HP:  40
Str: 21
Skl: 16
Spd: 23
Lck: 24
Def: 9
Res: 30
Light A
Staff S
B: 73
W: 46

Kent, lv 20/10.43
HP:  43
Str: 21
Skl: 24
Spd: 23
Lck: 9
Def: 12
Res: 10
Sword A
Axe C
Lance A
B: 159
W: 95

Hector, lv 20/9.24
HP:  46
Str: 22
Skl: 18
Spd: 21
Lck: 13
Def: 20 (Spd > Def, lol)
Res: 10
Sword D
Axe S
Eliwood A
B: 235
W: 109

Heath, lv 20/7.14 (This guy was only meant to be an experience sink but turned out really good)
HP:  49
Str: 23
Skl: 20
Spd: 22
Lck: 10
Def: 15
Res: 12
Sword E
Lance S
B: 100
W: 62

Ninian/Nils, lv 20
HP:  29
Str: 2
Skl: 2
Spd: 26
Lck: 21
Def: 11
Res: 16

Since I don't want to list everyone's stats, and the above were my "main" team, I'll just list the levels everyone else got to.

Athos: 20 (Haha. Also, he hit the Dragon with Eclipse at 49 displayed :D)
Jaffar: 16.75
Renault: 16.30
Vaida: 9.25
Karel: 9.10
Hawkeye: 6.01
Merlinus: 20/6
Louise: 4.37
Isadora: 4.09
Marcus: 3.64
Geitz: 3.44
Eliwood: 20.00 (Majorly screwed. Even gave a Dragonshield)
Fiora: 20.00
Legault: 19.40
Matthew: 17.94
Rath: 17.43
Erk: 17.04
Oswin: 16.48 (Did not gain a point of Spd)
Dart: 16.35
Lucius: 16.30
Nino: 16.02 (Almost all in Night of Farewells)
Guy: 15.37
Canas: 12.24
Bartre: 11.60
Lowen: 11.07
Sain: 9.77 (Kinda failed me)
Dorcas: 9.52
Rebecca: 9.01
Wil: 4.61

Did not recruit Wallace, Farina, and Harken.

[spoiler=Turn counts]Note: I did Ch 30 the first time in 7 turns, which by my turn counts (which I have confirmed to all be correct by viewing my Epilogue file) should have put me one under the current turn requirement and had me at 4 stars, but when I checked I had 5 stars. I assumed that I was at the exact turn requirement with that (and one under with the 6 turn clear), and this was confirmed after 31x put me to 4 stars.

Anyway, the first number I listed is the turns I took, the second is the amount +/- the chapter's Tactics number, and the third is the overall turns high/low I was at.

11:  9 (+9)
12:  6 (-2) (+7)
13:  12 (=) (+7)
13x: 8 (+1) (+8)
14:  9 (-1) (+7)
15:  8 (+8) (+15)
16:  9 (+2) (+17)
17:  13 (-5) (+12)
17x: 11 (+1) (+13)
18:  12 (+1) (+14)
19:  9 (-1) (+13)
19x: 11 (+1) (+14)
20:  16 (=) (+14)
21:  6 (-3) (+11)
22:  11 (=) (+11)
23:  16 (+7) (+18)
23x: 15 (-10) (+8)
24:  20 (-2) (+6)
25:  11 (+11) (+18)
26:  12 (+1) (+19)
27:  14 (-4) (+15)
28:  16 (+1) (+16)
28x: 14 (-14) (+2)
29:  12 (-8) (-6)
30:  6 (+6) (=/-1?)
31:  12 (+1) (=)
31x: 6 (+1) (+1)
32:  15 (=) (+1)
F:   5/2 (-3/=) (-2)

Extra notes:

I took more turns on 17x and 24 than I needed so I could use the arena. I'd have done the same with 21 but I drew Oleg in too fast on accident and had to kill him (I didn't feel it would be worth restarting since 24 was still coming).

I screwed up a bit on 20 by forgetting to sell enough stuff for the money required for weapons and staves, leaving me with one Physic and a couple turns more than necessary to buy Killers.

I accidentally overshot my turns taken on 23 trying to get all the hidden items.

27 was when I realized I needed to seriously start cutting turns. I did it the first time in 16, tried again and got 14.

I did not open the 3 northeastern chests in 28x.

30 was done with Priscilla Warping Hector twice and a lucky crit from Hector on Kaim making the kill come a turn faster. No chest items were acquired.

I probably used the arena about 12 times in 31x.

I wanted to finish 32 faster but too many damn enemies spawn in that map. It came to the point where I had to have Priscilla Mage tank the Valkyries after all her Fire and Thunder had run out.

Light was done with Door Keys and the Unlock staff. On the first turn I Warped Lyn to Linus and Lloyd's door, sent Florina up with her (A support), and Unlocked Ursula and Jerme's door with Priscilla after having Athos Barrier her. Athos got a lucky crit with Luna on Uhai, Florina had to kill the Bolting Sage on turn 2 and then be Rescued back by Pent to support Lyn. Linus's Brave Sword could actually kill Lyn exactly (double 22's to her 44 HP) but she dodged once (41 displayed). Warp staff once again got a few people up to Nergal to save time and to have Athos put the Berserk Druid to Sleep. In the end Lyn killed Linus, Lloyd, Brendan, Nergal (unexpected crit), and the Fire Dragon (another unexpected crit).

Next objective: S rank EHM!

Edited December 7, 2010 by Sadistic Fox

[Tangerine]

Yay, congratulations . Knew you could do it!

What's sort of ironic is that I never saw 5 stars in each category at all within the game. I was always missing one Tactics star, and by the time I reached The Berserker and got it, I'd lost a star in Funds. By the time I got that back after Battle Preparations (in which I drained all my money on Elixirs) I was one down in Tactics again (by a single turn).

Haha, that'll happen. More emphasis on your overall score than your chapter-by-chapter score :o. Keeps you on your toes!

Females rock in this game, by the way. Quite easily, the 5 most useful units for this run ended up being Priscilla, Serra, Lyn, Florina, and Ninian/Nils, with Raven and Pent being the only real competition.

Priscilla/Serra are amaaaazing in ranked (or any playmode for that matter). I consider them better than any combat unit. Still surprised you found Lyn so helpful though, but considering how blessed she was early in the game, I can see why :P! When did she cap?

Also, a big thanks to my wonderful Masochistic Tangerine for helping encourage me through the more difficult parts of this run and being around to give helpful advice.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Masochistic Tangerine

[Florete]

Priscilla/Serra are amaaaazing in ranked (or any playmode for that matter). I consider them better than any combat unit. Still surprised you found Lyn so helpful though, but considering how blessed she was early in the game, I can see why :P! When did she cap?

Lyn also came out of her story at something like lv 10, having gained Spd every level (and continued until capped), and by the time she reached 20/0 she was ~5.5 above her Luck average, as well as having a blessing in Str (even after the Ring). The Mani Katti is truly amazing.

When did she cap what? If you mean level before promoting, on Uhai in The Dread Isle. Priscilla level capped at 20/20 on the first turn against the Dragon.

[Tangerine]

Yeah, I meant level, and I remember us talking about it now. Uhai is pretty early for a cap! You used her a lot :P. Though looking at your horrible early game units I can see why you had to rely on her more than usual. That Eliwood was terrible, and 0 speed gain Oswin is just plain awesome.

[Narga_Rocks]

Congratulations on getting that S. Did you also S rank Lyn mode?

And yeah, when I played Lyn mode she came out of it at least level 10 also. At least, she's starting chapter 10 at level 10 and I don't have any other saves to know if she reached 11.

[Florete]

Congratulations on getting that S. Did you also S rank Lyn mode?

No. I wanted to use the stat boosters (and both definitely helped) and Lyn had a Red Gem when I got her back.

[Life]

Congrats Fox! Maybe I'll now get back to my S Rank runs since you've finished an S Rank.

[Balcerzak]

I didn't even know you were working on a run, Fox. I would've loved to have followed along or given my opinion on a few things. At any rate, congratulations on the successful completion.

[PuffPuff]

Your tactics kept going down because of doing Lyn's Mode will combine the amount of turns that you've spent on both her mode and Eliwood/Hectors. Meaning you'd have to do Eliwood/Hectors mode alone to get more extra turns without your tactics going down. Kinship Bond is a bitch, glad for your success on your ranked run. Congradulations.

[Radiant Dragon]

Your tactics kept going down because of doing Lyn's Mode will combine the amount of turns that you've spent on both her mode and Eliwood/Hectors. Meaning you'd have to do Eliwood/Hectors mode alone to get more extra turns without your tactics going down.

Actually, this is false. Your performance in Lyn Mode has nothing to do with your rank in Eliwood/Hector Mode (aside from the Lyn's Gem and returning character's stats).

[Inui]

Good job. I did this a few years back. I found Tactics and Experience to be very annoying but every other rank was free as hell.

[Life]

*looks over your stuff*

What the... how did you not fail Exp? You have 8 promoted units, Marcus is level 3, Rebecca, Wil and Sain are in single digit levels... How is this possible?

I'm looking at my stuff from EHM and I'm in shock. I had 7 promoted units including Nino and all three lords (Hector and Eliwood both start at 1/0), Marcus at like ??/7, most of my unpromoted guys at 14/0+, thieves at 20/0, a lot of prepromotes with a couple of levels... How did you 5* Exp?

[Balcerzak]

I think when I counted it up she had 412.13 gained levels (obviously not exact due to LM issues), out of 400 required for HHM. However, EHM requires 413 gained levels. So despite having some breathing room here on HHM, she would have failed EHM. I'm not sure what else to say. I mean, she put a lot into filler units like Rath and Nino and such, which definitely helped, but yeah a few dudes in the single digits was a bit surprising.

[Inui]

I don't even know why people play EHM. It's HHM with less chapters and characters. At least that's how I see it.

[Florete]

I didn't even know you were working on a run, Fox. I would've loved to have followed along or given my opinion on a few things. At any rate, congratulations on the successful completion.

I started it pretty randomly with the idea of S ranking but not thinking I'd actually make it very far before falling out due to boredom or something (which is probably why I didn't record LM levels). Plus I wouldn't want to do a complete log, especially in earlier maps where I had reset a lot. I feel like that would be too much hassle.

I think when I counted it up she had 412.13 gained levels (obviously not exact due to LM issues), out of 400 required for HHM. However, EHM requires 413 gained levels. So despite having some breathing room here on HHM, she would have failed EHM. I'm not sure what else to say. I mean, she put a lot into filler units like Rath and Nino and such, which definitely helped, but yeah a few dudes in the single digits was a bit surprising.

My calculations had me at about 41,400 experience (414 gained levels) by the end after my estimated LM levels, 1,090 of it coming from Light. I didn't think having a few people in the single digits would be so surprising (and Wil especially I did not want to rely on).

Also, when estimating LM levels, I tried to assume possibly higher as opposed to lower so I wouldn't think I had more experience than I actually did. If anything, my overall experience gained should skew slightly up and not down.

Also, for all who saw the topic soon after I posted, I edited in the Battles and Wins counts if you care.

I don't even know why people play EHM. It's HHM with less chapters and characters. At least that's how I see it.

Perfection's sake? That's my reason for doing it.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Sadistic Fox

[Inui]

I'm surprised at how few battles Kent was in compared to some other units. Pent must have also been mainly a staff user for you, which doesn't surprise since he's one of the best ones, if not the best.

Perfection in a video game? Hot.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Inui

[Florete]

I'm surprised at how few battles Kent was in compared to some other units. Pent must have also been mainly a staff user for you, which doesn't surprise since he's one of the best ones, if not the best.

Perfection in a video game? Hot.

Kent's problem was being very screwed in HP and Def for most of the game. He was constantly 2-4 points behind in each. I kept him because he was offensively very blessed. After comparing my stats before and after Light, I found out I didn't even use him in the final chapter (and even Hector only got 14 experience). Yes, Pent was mostly a staff user, due in part because he doesn't have the CEXP boost Priscilla and Serra do. He also got something like 13 uses out of the Warp staff.

(H)

[Life]

I think when I counted it up she had 412.13 gained levels (obviously not exact due to LM issues), out of 400 required for HHM. However, EHM requires 413 gained levels. So despite having some breathing room here on HHM, she would have failed EHM. I'm not sure what else to say. I mean, she put a lot into filler units like Rath and Nino and such, which definitely helped, but yeah a few dudes in the single digits was a bit surprising.

So basically... S Ranking EHM is harder than S Ranking HHM? Because by your logic, I probably would have destroyed HHM Exp.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Florete]

So basically... S Ranking EHM is harder than S Ranking HHM? Because by your logic, I probably would have destroyed HHM Exp.

Not at all. You need more experience, but you also get more turns (no 0 requirement maps + chapters 11 and 28 have turn requirements) and there's no enemy stat boost (which could make it both harder and easier).

[Junkhead]

I didn't even know that getting Priscilla and Serra up to that level without affecting your turncounts was possible. Very well done. (:

[Narga_Rocks]

No. I wanted to use the stat boosters (and both definitely helped) and Lyn had a Red Gem when I got her back.

I used both and got Blue, though. I suppose it would be hard to use both and get the funds rank. Or if you do what Interceptor did it would be hard to get the exp rank. Maybe impossible to get both at once and still use both boosters.

[Florete]

I used both and got Blue, though.

Yeah, I was actually pretty surprised when I saw the Red Gem since I usually get Blue after using the stat boosters. And it's not like I used the Knight Crest or much expensive weaponry, either. My only guess is that I fell just under the 30-33k required to get a Blue Gem. Not a big deal, though, since the 2.5k didn't effect me in the end. The stat boosts were well worth it. I didn't count, but I definitely recall seeing Florina with 7 or less health more than once (or being within that much from death when attacking an enemy).

[Narga_Rocks]

Yeah, I was actually pretty surprised when I saw the Red Gem since I usually get Blue after using the stat boosters. And it's not like I used the Knight Crest or much expensive weaponry, either. My only guess is that I fell just under the 30-33k required to get a Blue Gem. Not a big deal, though, since the 2.5k didn't effect me in the end. The stat boosts were well worth it. I didn't count, but I definitely recall seeing Florina with 7 or less health more than once (or being within that much from death when attacking an enemy).

I had lots of joy from giving Florina the robe, too. And a draco later on. When a peg gets 5HKOd by dracos with steel lances, I laugh. It's also useful when she's trying to take on 4 of them at once (and she was str blessed so she 2HKOd with killer. It was hilarious. With Lyn support she even ORKOd most of them with iron).

[Tangerine]

I didn't even know that getting Priscilla and Serra up to that level without affecting your turncounts was possible. Very well done. (:

Priscilla/Serra are the only characters coming in every single chapter, and once they promote they get a big EXP bonus on attacks. Plus you usually need to rely on them to get into chapters like Genesis and staff spam with high level staves for the EXP rank. Her Serra is actually really low level, but that's no surprise considering her Priscilla favoritism :P.

[Florete]

Priscilla/Serra are the only characters coming in every single chapter, and once they promote they get a big EXP bonus on attacks. Plus you usually need to rely on them to get into chapters like Genesis and staff spam with high level staves for the EXP rank. Her Serra is actually really low level, but that's no surprise considering her Priscilla favoritism :P.

I wouldn't call it favoritism, I'd say "she was just better." Seriously, where Priscilla could dodge tank 10 enemies without a scratch, Serra would get killed 6 attacks in. She turned to be just not as reliable (she was also rather Spd screwed until the very end where she finally caught up).