My attempt at HHM S-rank

[Paper Jam]

A couple of facts that I learned about Battle Before Dawn:

1. As in many holdout chapters, the enemy reinforcements stop coming when you beat the boss. I might have gotten more experience if I had not made a beeline for Ursula and killed her on turn 6... but on the other hand, I'm not exactly starved for experience anyway.

2. The thieves' AI in this chapter is extremely simple:

A. Plunder the chests.

B. If there are no chests to plunder, head for the stairs to escape.

C. If there are no chests to plunder and the stairs are blocked, do nothing.

Knowing this, I not only got the loot that they stole, but also a couple of extra lockpicks. Not that I need them, but I like to have them.

Of course, I got practically everything else I could get as well: the other two chests, the Earth Seal... I'd say that my Assets are pretty good. I think I missed a Door Key, but I don't need those anymore.

Nino got a few level-ups in this chapter, and I anticipate quite a few more level-ups for her in the next chapter.

I'm keeping track of my characters' stats and experience, as well as my assets and turn count, but I think I'll save that information for when/if I get to the final chapter.

Next up: Night of Farewells.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Paper Jam

[Kngt_Of_Titania]

You will LOVE Nino for your EXP rank. Trust me. Having done this challenge before, she feels like the best thing since sliced bread if you're on the borderline of a 5 star.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Kngt_Of_Titania

[Paper Jam]

It's been more than two months since I got to chapter 28x and roughly a year since I started this whole crazy adventure, but I honestly couldn't be bothered to do things more quickly. I don't enjoy rushing myself through things like this.

A couple of random thoughts...

Who would have thought that being on a water tile would make you LESS likely to get hit by a Bolting?

Kngt_of_Titania was right about Nino. Thanks to her, I got quite a bit more than the required experience to S-rank this particular chapter.

I'm now less than 4,000 experience points shy of the overall 5-star Experience requirement, 14 turns above par for the 5-star Tactics requirement so far, and about 90,000 gold away from the overall 5-star Funds requirement (though not for long...)

I've got so many level 20 unpromoted guys, and my Assets are so good, that I might splurge a little on promotions in chapter 29. If my math is correct, I can use up about 130,000 gold's worth of promotion items (or anything else, really) without putting a dent in my Funds rank. (I think it'll be Lyn, Eliwood, Priscilla, Florina, Kent, Bartre, and Lucius... and that's only 90,000 gold.)

[Paper Jam]

My calculations indicate that as of the beginning of chapter 31, I'm only about 1,000 experience away from the overall 5-star requirement. And funds are pretty much a non-issue too; after promotions, I still have a 5-star Funds rank. I'm 8 turns above par for 5-star Tactics (which will go down to 6 turns above par because the turn count for chapter 31 and 31x is effed up), and combat and survival are a non-issue.

All that I'm really worried about now is getting Bartre up to level 5 promoted before the end of this chapter so that I can recruit Karla, but he's already level 2 promoted. An extra three levels can't be too hard to get.

I must say that Cog of Destiny on HHM is completely insane, and I am quite relieved to have completed it. I almost wish that I had bought more Javelins in Four Fanged Offense just for Cog of Destiny. Almost.

[Paper Jam]

At last, I've reached the Final Chapter, and here are the stats of all of my characters going into said chapter.

Unit stats:
Name--------Lv.-HP-Str-Skl-Spd-Luc-Def-Res
Serra*----20.00-40--25--16--26--29---7--30
Jaffar*---20.00-40--20--25--26--13--16--13
Athos*----20.00-40--30--24--20--25--20--28
Renault*--16.04-43--12--22--20--10--15--18
Raven*----11.59-54--25--27--25--16--15--10
Priscilla*10.38-32--25--19--19--25--11--19
Eliwood*---9.94-43--26--18--24--19--13--13
Lyn*-------9.27-41--22--26--26--29---9--12
Vaida*-----9.15-47--22--20--13--11--22---7
Harken*----8.44-42--23--21--18--12--16--11
Sain*------8.39-43--24--13--20--12--14---6
Pent*------8.18-34--19--23--19--14--11--16
Hector*----8.11-47--23--21--24---9--21--10
Nino*------7.37-37--22--21--24--21--11--22
Karla*-----6.93-30--14--21--19--16--11--12
Kent*------6.37-44--18--22--22---9--12--10
Florina*---5.57-39--18--16--22--17--11--11
Bartre*----5.52-51--25--17--14--11--17--11
Canas*-----5.33-36--20--18--20--11--12--18
Hawkeye*---4.96-50--18--14--11--13--14--10
Fiora*-----4.86-37--18--20--21--11--11--16
Lucius*----4.24-36--23--21--20---8---7--22
Louise*----4.19-28--12--14--17--16---9--12
Guy*-------4.13-47--20--20--22--18--13---8
Isadora*---3.59-29--15--13--18--10---8---7
Geitz*-----3.28-45--19--14--14--10--11---4
Marcus*----1.78-31--15--15--11---8--10---8
Matthew---20.00-33--16--12--20--12--10---3
Dart------20.00-42--20--11--14---6--10---4
Nils------20.00-27---1---0--29--22--11--20
Rath------19.55-36--16--15--20---8---9---5
Erk-------19.36-31--16--13--18--11--12--11
Heath-----19.29-40--19--18--17--13--15---5
Wil-------17.86-31--16--13--16--13---7---7
Lowen-----17.71-38--18--13--14---9--17---6
Farina----16-60-27--12--15--16--14--13--13
Rebecca---16.58-28--14--14--18--11---4---3
Oswin-----14.69-33--18--12---8---3--16---5
Legault---12.35-28---9--14--17--10---9---4
Dorcas----11.04-37--14--10--10---8---8---1

I guess the last few chapters weren't quite as maddening as Cog of Destiny. If nothing else, I appreciated that Victory or Death was a Seize mission rather than a Rout mission. I didn't do as much fighting near the end of that chapter as I could have done, but I'm confident that Experience will not be an issue.

In fact, I still have 5 stars across the board, and I'm pretty sure that I can afford to spend 15 turns in these last two chapters if I have to. And I'm sure I won't have to.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Paper Jam

[pianime94]

OMG, you're awesome, can't wait for the end result