FE9 0% growths LTC

[PKL]

Who's going to be your boots recipient? Also, moaaaarrr :P

[Espinosa]

Chapter 17-3

Sorry guys, I cheated and called 11 reinforcements instead of 2.

(Funny that you bumped this thread just as I was uploading the video.

Haven't made any progress since last post because busy life - oh, and Tanith is probably getting the Boots though I might change my mind later and return to map 18 giving them to Reyson instead, we'll see).

[Florete]

You know a defend map sucks when you can have only stragglers and reinforcements left to kill halfway in on a 0% growths run. And then you've got Kieran and the Tigers OHKOing enemies, too.

[Espinosa]

Chapter 17-4 in 2 turns. Adept obtained.

Tibarn and guys arrive too late to contribute anything. At least we get Reyson (and Janaff and Ulki I guess). Edited March 14, 2013 by Espinosa

[PKL]

Stefan so good in 0% growths :o and lol @ base falco marcia being able to almost ORKO Oliver...

[Espinosa]

Managed to 6-turn chapter 18 with aku chi's strat (didn't Hawk King say a 5-turn is possible? Probably only with a trained Marcia). The infrastructure was a huge fuss, as usual for me, and I managed to open all the chests and recruit Shinon - actually got done with all that by turn 5. Video to come soon.

Also, I gotta say once you do invest that Laguz Stone to shave off just one turn, the whole map becomes a lot more complicated, since it's not Tanith solo anymore. I hope I won't regret losing that 1 use of the stone later on.

Funny thing is Marcia remains a unit you'd like to continue fielding. She gives Tanith a really quick support, which is okay assuming they're in range (probably not most of the time), but most importantly flight with 12 AS (Jill has 11) has its uses in many maps without needing any good combat, and 9 move is also highly valuable with Canto, as guys like Astrid, Oscar and Makalov aren't promoting ever. In chapter 18 she was really good at just ferrying people.

So in some instances I could say Marcia > Janaff.

Been fiddling around with chapter 19, going to find out if I can 2-turn with the Knight Ring. I'm willing to sacrifice one turn for this item just because it will be fun to play around, like having foot units pass it around for tactical fun and variety. If it's 3-turns minimum I might disregard it and 1-turn the map instead. Just need to find out if Naesala will talk to Reyson before the boss suicides into whomever I place in his range on turn 2.

[PKL]

In a draft where I 1 turned C19 with a Tanith dropped 2 range attacker (since I didnt have enough shove for Tanith to directly attack him). The boss attacked before Naesala did in that EP. Not sure if he would talk to Reyson before boss moves since that might change the AI's priorities.

[Espinosa]

2-turn of chapter 19 with the Knight Ring obtained confirmed.

Janaff (or Ulki if you like) needs to talk to Naesala on turn 1, and Naesala needs to talk to Reyson on the same turn. However, the survival of the participants is ridiculous. An Angelic Robe/Dracoshield helps Reyson's survival but Tanith (no Full Guard) will have to dodge one of the ballistae (seems unlikely even with her sky-high avoid). I'll try to get the video recorded when my schedule frees up, this is going to be a lot of resets, haha.

[Florete]

Talking to Naesala all the way over there on turn 1? This I gotta see.

[PKL]

I'm more curious about Naesala being able to reach Reyson afterwards. Not surprised that Janaff/Ulki can make it there.

[Espinosa]

I'm more curious about Naesala being able to reach Reyson afterwards. Not surprised that Janaff/Ulki can make it there.

Yeah, that's probably the hardest part of the infrastructure for that strat.

Found a way to make my unreliable strategy far more likely to succeed. It involves two questionable decisions, (in order from less to more questionable) giving Reyson a Seraph Robe (I can think of plenty of characters who would want it) and removing Reyson's Blessing skill in order to give him Shade. Reyson is no longer OHKO'd by the dracos (and won't be OHKO'd by a lot of stuff until nearly the end of the game where higher-levelled Warriors and Tigers will OHKO) and there will be a seemingly high chance of them attacking Janaff instead.

Tanith will still have to dodge a ballista (~60-70 hit if I'm not math-failing) though, so I don't know if it's worth it. Blessing restores 10 HP to nearby units, 15 when transformed, which is certainly useful in Paladin rushes (there might be two more of these as Ena will probably take the 4th Laguz Stone) where Reyson is dropped by the frontline attackers.

I'd give Janaff Provoke instead if I could, but it comes next map and we might not have the time to get it in our 2-turn.

Probably a bad idea to remove Blessing, but Reyson might be the best candidate for the Seraph Robe anyway. I hear people on these forums repeating that one shouldn't leave a dancer in range of any enemies, which is certainly true, but sometimes you have to do just that for low turn accumulation. Herons don't mind being hit by siege tomes (most likely they'll be ignored) but being able to take one hit (Reyson's 14 AS is pretty good for avoiding being doubled I think). Everybody also would maybe like one of the two Dracoshields instead, and Ike doesn't really need to walk around the map, even in seize maps - Reyson is the one who should be "on the ground" at all times to function. Ike can just be dropped and refreshed to seize, if needed. Something I learnt from trying to LTC FE6 HM.

Also, I find it hysterical that you can remove Canto in the base menu.

[Chiki]

5 turning 18 isn't possible without Boots Reyson, and may be impossible even then. I've never tested.

[Espinosa]

Chapter 18 in 6 turns with Stoned Reyson.

[ZemZem]

I think it's safe to say that using the C2 speedwings on Titania wasn't wasted at all.

Also good luck making your plans for C19 work without losing a single unit. You're gonna need it, since it requires a bit of luck. But yet, C15 was really lucky for you, and I believe you'll pull this off quite well.

Edited March 17, 2013 by ZMesu

[dondon151]

Probably a bad idea to remove Blessing, but Reyson might be the best candidate for the Seraph Robe anyway. I hear people on these forums repeating that one shouldn't leave a dancer in range of any enemies, which is certainly true, but sometimes you have to do just that for low turn accumulation.

this is only a counterargument in tier lists used to defeat the argument that dancers are bad because they can't take hits.

[Florete]

Dang, that was pretty clever work on Ch 18. Did you know how Shinon would move to heal himself like that?

[Espinosa]

this is only a counterargument in tier lists used to defeat the argument that dancers are bad because they can't take hits.

Fairly sure I've heard it expressed in others contexts too, such as arguing 'how to play Fire Emblem'.

Dang, that was pretty clever work on Ch 18. Did you know how Shinon would move to heal himself like that?

Enemies with Vulneraries/Elixirs will always prioritise healing when heavily injured, and they also prepare themselves for attacking for the following turn, so Shinon retreats right into Ike since Ike is weak. If no one is around, Shinon runs after Tanith while healing himself with Vulneraries each turn - it's really stupid but that's what the AI does.

[PKL]

Lol @ FE9 AI. That shit is sometimes the cause of frustration in draft's earlygame. Whenever you dont ORKO in rout, they go away to the closest healhedge and just...sit there, causing a reset.

Edited March 18, 2013 by CordeliaxFrederick

[Espinosa]

Found a way to 5-turn chapter 21. Hellish chapter as expected... actually worse than any expectations once you get your teeth into it, but highly satisfying when you do figure things out. Reliability isn't a strong point and can't possibly one with the Sleep Bishop literally running around (he covers too much space) and aiming at him being so impractical.

There's also (some) chance that I can get the Brave Sword in the southern area, but I'm having difficulty getting the Energy Drop up north. The enemies create chokepoints and they're very hard to deal with in a timely manner, and all my good fliers are in the other part of the map fulfilling the map objective.

Since I can't get anything done with Volke, I think I'll replace him with Stefan and try rescuedropping him to clear the enemies north. With that gigantic crit chance he seems like the most capable fighter to take on the Warriors that block the road, and the only one besides Tanith/Janaff (absent) who can double the Sage blocking the Energy Ring chest in that room.

After this map, if I do manage to open the Brave Sword AND Energy Drop chests in my 5-turn clear (which comes with much blood and sweat, and I had to be more creative than usual to come up with that strat), I will have no Door Key uses left, and only one Chest Key use. I forgot which door was it that I opened besides Kieran and Brom's cell, was it Statue Frag's door in the same chapter? Wasn't worth it. What was stupider was even bothering with Armorslayer and Counter (facepalm) chests. At least I also killed one of the Chest Key archers in CH10.

There are two more chapters featuring chests after this, one I only linger for one turn in (missing the Spirit Dust) and the other one is the one where you get Resolve, and the chest is out of the way too, yet necessary for the Endgame. I'll have one Chest Key just for it, but no Door Key. FEW says 2 SMs drop Door Keys in the same chapter, Vykan's sticky says it's just one, and I don't remember the details from my last runthrough because this isn't the kind of information you pay much attention unless you go for turns.

But anyway, I'm not even sure I can get to the Energy Drop chest on time by turn 5. I have Muarim and Mordecai both smiting, so that might help (but the road goes like this _/_/_/_/ all the time so Smite doesn't do much), we'll see.

Oh and I know I haven't talked about chapter 20 at all yet. It was pretty difficult to figure everything out but I got both the villages and even the Provoke from the Sniper in my 2-turn. I was too busy playing to comment on it, but when the video is up I'll give it proper description as usual.

[PKL]

Looking forward to the vids. Im surprised you didnt deploy Stefan at all in Ch21.

[aku chi]

Don't worry about Door Keys, you should be able to break the C27 doors without too much trouble. Haar can probably take out a door by himself, and you'll have two solid siege tome users in Calill and Bastian to finish the doors, if needed.

[Espinosa]

I hope so... Isn't axe damage tripled against the doors (or is that in RD which has 3x effective damage)? We'll see how it goes once I get there. Anyway, I'm out of Door Keys right now.

Chapter 21 has been completed in 5 turns and recorded. After getting good rest, I woke up and figured out an actually reliable strategy for the map, which was quite a feat as it involved eating 5 Sleeps during the whole map (sometimes more, sometimes less). It's actually interesting how after spending so much time on a map, I can clearly imagine the process with variations (different characters, options, ideas of infrastructure and procedure) all in my head while doing chores and running errands in the city.

I now hoard 2 Energy Rings, 1 Dracoshield (Tanith took one to help her with survival; sometimes not needed at all due to her great Avo), 1 Speedwings, 2 Arms Scrolls, 1 Secret Book and 2 Statue Frags. I think putting the Energy Ring on something is top priority at this point, but the choice should clearly be reasonable. Stefan taking a Speedwings and both Energy Rings becomes one hell of a bosskiller, doubling and hurting both Bertram and Petrine. +4 attack also results in a huge boost for Brave Sword which I got in this chapter.

I think Stefan is the better bosskiller for endgame than Tauroneo because doubling is that important and having to enter Resolve range can be tough after chapter 21. Time will show though.

[aku chi]

Before you use your Energy Drops and Speedwings, make sure Ena can actually kill Ashnard...

Axes definitely deal bonus damage against doors. I thought is was a flat +20, but it could be a multiplier.

[XeKr]

I think it's that axe weapon mt is doubled, which is consistent with the effective damage multiplier in this game. Brave Axe if no one uses it to fight, should break Doors. For some reason I remember doors not actually having that much Hp, so (forged) Silver and Siege likely works as well. I know in MM the bigger issue is more the max Def generals in the way alongside several Sleep staves, something similar might be true in 0% growths depending on how tame HM enemies are.

Great job so far, I'm particularly interested in how you're dealing with Sleep staves reliably.

[Espinosa]

Marcia needs to dodge a 28/33% accurate Sleep on turn 2; every other sleep induction I am able to treat on time. I think the only luck-reliant aspects of my strat are Tanith dying and Tauroneo failing to enter Resolve range (in my strat, he has at least three opportunities to do so, meaning it's rather hard to fail at that). Should be clearer when I show the map, though.

I'm confirming that axes double in Mt when hitting walls, so forged Silver on AS!Haar should OHKO the walls (not sure how much HP they have; assuming 80 here).

Should I be worried that I'm in chapter 23 and I haven't utilised a single Rescue staff use yet? I think they'll grow more useful when Elincia arrives, as Mist only has 5 range (should be 4 by calculation but 5 is the lowest you can have) and doesn't want to expose herself to enemies to 10 speed and bad durability. I think I could replace some Smiters with a Rescue use in chapter 21, but I don't know what I would do with the saved up unit slot(-s), field Volke and open Parity's chest? Meh.