The Lunatic Club

[Czar_Yoshi]

Every chapter went fine, without much problems, even the evil chapter 2 fell within 2 tries.

The chapter I got stuck on was the Mila tree. I could have rushed the boss, but I wanted to kill all the reinforcements without losing one of my units. Apparently that is impossible.

The only things that are technically impossible in this game are that way due to movement constraints (like one-turning Cht.3). Cht.16's reinforcements can all be taken care of through knowledge of their spawn locations and proper preparations with minimal risk, even on Lunatic+ nogrind (though it can sometimes be difficult to get all the Thieves safely if your team isn't strong enough).

Thor: Don't forget that you can just reclass to Tactician right off the bat to get Veteran. Useful if you forgot to pass it down, or wanted to pass down a herder to get skill instead.

[Thor Odinson]

I considered it and decided that dealing with T1 caps for another 10 levels and buying another seal isn't worth saving an extra < 30 minutes of my time going through 12 and 13 again

Edited September 10, 2014 by Thor Odinson

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

At that point in the game, T1 caps are perfectly viable and I find it to be well worth the accelerated EXP gain. Granted, Lucina's Magic is generally poor enough that I wouldn't want to put her through Tactician. I usually reclass her to Cavalier and then promote to Paladin, myself.

[Thor Odinson]

It's more like because MU gave her bases so high she's gonna cap soon and it'd be a waste of exp

Not that they're bad caps for the time, just i don't exactly want 10 near 0-stat levelups

Like seriously she came in being strictly superior to Chrom it's pretty baller

also see: no bows for another 10 levels

Edited September 10, 2014 by Thor Odinson

[Terrador]

Speaking of people running L+: I managed to break down C5 with a strat inspired by Interceptor's, ad-libbed C6 and C7 pseudorushes, and now I'm waiting for an Anna shop for a Master and Second Seal that I rather sorely require. IT'S HAPPENING.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Cht.8 has both a Master and a Second, you know.

[Terrador]

...welp, I forgot that was that map! I know where I'm headed next, then! Paralogue 3 can wait!

[Thor Odinson]

Aaaaaand L+ beat.

Hardest part is definitely earlygame. Midgame is practically a breeze with overlevelled avatar and difficulty picks up again lategame when the caps caught up, but it wasn't unmanagable.

Thank god for elixirs.

[Kreekakon]

Thank god for elixirs.

Elixirs are the greatest when you don't have life replenishing skills, and it's inconvenient to expose your healer for fear of him/her getting sniped off.

[Thor Odinson]

Yeah. I figured I could've actually passed Sol to Morgan and let him go Merc->BK->Warrior instead of Archer->Sniper->Warrior (though Bowfaire is nice to have), which would've made my life a lot easier.

But I didn't, so elixirs it is.

[Zoran]

I just got through Chapter 1 on Lunatic+ with a +Mag/-Def Avatar who has met all the benchmarks for Interceptor's Chapter 2 clear! I was a little short on support points with Chrom going into chapter 1, so instead of using Avatar + Frederick I had to do multiple fights with Avatar + Chrom, which was pretty harrowing with a -Def Avatar. Eventually I lucked out so that none of the Fighters had Hawkeye, and Avatar had 10 Speed, so he could double them with Chrom's support.

I'm pretty excited about this file. I might use it for a no-grind run as well as an endgame-oriented grind run.

Unit      Level   Class        HP   ST   MG   SK   SP   LC   DF   RS
Robin     10.23   Tactician    28   09   13   09   12   10   10   06
     C Tomes
Lissa     03.72   Cleric       18   02   05   06   05   10   04   04
     D Staves
Chrom     01.55   base
Frederick 01.15   base
Sully     02.00   base
Virion    02.00   base

[Kreekakon]

Good luck with your run Zoran!

[Czar_Yoshi]

That Def isn't bad for a Def flaw, but you're still going to have a nightmare trying to do L+ nogrind with -Def. See if you're still feeling up to it after clearing Cht.3 and then beating your head against Cht.5 for a while (it requires Avatar to be able to tank without Fred for an optimal clear).

[Interceptor]

I just got through Chapter 1 on Lunatic+ with a +Mag/-Def Avatar who has met all the benchmarks for Interceptor's Chapter 2 clear! I was a little short on support points with Chrom going into chapter 1, so instead of using Avatar + Frederick I had to do multiple fights with Avatar + Chrom, which was pretty harrowing with a -Def Avatar. Eventually I lucked out so that none of the Fighters had Hawkeye, and Avatar had 10 Speed, so he could double them with Chrom's support.

Nice work. I think I'll start working on something more comprehensive to get people from Prologue to Ch4, since you're not the only one who ran into an issue with getting Chrom to C-rank. Maybe a specific number of combats in Prologue needs to be mandated, too.

Good luck with your run!

That Def isn't bad for a Def flaw, but you're still going to have a nightmare trying to do L+ nogrind with -Def. See if you're still feeling up to it after clearing Cht.3 and then beating your head against Cht.5 for a while (it requires Avatar to be able to tank without Fred for an optimal clear).

That'll definitely be a heavy lift. I wonder if it's worth considering an alternate path for Robin, like going through Cavalier first (still has Sword access, but also has Lances and better defense).

Aaaaaand L+ beat.

Hardest part is definitely earlygame. Midgame is practically a breeze with overlevelled avatar and difficulty picks up again lategame when the caps caught up, but it wasn't unmanagable.

Congrats on the clear. Agreed about the difficulty curve.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Interceptor

[Zoran]

Thanks for the input, guys. I cleared chapter 2 and chapter 3 in one go each, and I've actually gotten ridiculously Defense-blessed. My Avatar is at 15 Defense at level 17, which is +10 from base. On average, a +Mag/Spd/Lck/Res & -Def Avatar should get about 5 Def in 16 levels.

Unit                Level   Class        HP   ST   MG   SK   SP   LC   DF   RS
Robin (base)         1.00   Tactician    19   06   07   05   06   04   05   04
Robin (after Ch. 1) 10.23   Tactician    28   09   13   09   12   10   10   06
Robin (after Ch. 3) 17.27   Tactician    33   13   17   13   16   14  *15*  09
Expected Value                           32   15   17   13   15   12   10   09

The probability of getting at least +10 Def in 16 levels like I just did is less than 1%. Haha.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Zoran

[Terrador]

Congrats on the one-go clear and the lucky Avatar! Both are pretty extraordinary, and should set you up well for the second half of earlygame. Ishtar, my L+ Avatar, has only 20 (19?) Def as a Dark Flier in Chapter 13 at 20/15/11. Lategame is gonna get harder sooner with -Def cutting your cap and stunting future growth; make sure to not neglect Morgan and Lucina! Best of luck, and a bit of personal experience advice: an untrained Chrom becomes an awful liability, so give him enough levels to function!

But you probably knew all that already. TL;DR congrats and good luck!

[Irysa]

Huh, so apparently Risen are actually not too hard to beat on Lunatic after all even relatively early. <_<

I got bored waiting for them to despawn off Longfort (C3) so I could buy a Str Tonic, so I just tried it out. My Robin + Lon'qu can annihilate the bottom half since all the Revenants are super slow, and you can choke the guys from the top with Fred unequipped until the bottom is cleared out., then have Robin kill them all in the choke. Their hitrates are pretty bad too, only danger is Vengance (fuck that skill lol)

Of course, since it's a no grind run I won't actually go with that, but I thought Lunatic Risen were supposed to be like lololo unbeatable, or is that just Lunatic+?

Edited September 13, 2014 by Irysa

[Terrador]

Lunatic+ is presumably the real issue, because they all aggro at once and have skills that sharply reduce your durability. Once you get into a bow class or can string two durable units together for tradechaining, it gets more manageable. They aren't unbeatable, but they might as well be, as they can't really help you grind when you need it the most!

E: Also I'm gonna drop some crap in a giant spoiler!

Lunatic+ Team (Chapter 15)
 
Name Class Level (CL) HP STR MAG SKL SPE LCK DEF RES RATING
 
Chrom Great Knight 7.15 (04) 60 32 03 31 28 32 31 11 168
A Sword, A Lance, B Axe ||| Dual Strike+, Charm, Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
S Ishtar, B Lissa, B Lucina, C Frederick, C Morgan ||| Lord 10=>Cavalier 19=>Great Knight
 
Ishtar Assassin 8.08 (34) 62 36 26 41 46 33 21 19 222
B Sword, C Bow ||| Veteran, Solidarity, Ignis, Rally Spectrum, Galeforce [Rally Movement, Lethality]
S Chrom, A Frederick, B Lissa, B Lucina, C Anna, C Morgan ||| Tactician 20=>Grandmaster 15=>Dark Flier 15=>Assassin
 
Lucina Bow Knight 8.73 (08) 72 37 17 36 39 35 24 16 204
B Sword, C Bow ||| Dual Strike+, Aether, Galeforce, Veteran, Armsthrift [Patience, Charm, Solidarity, Rally Skill]
B Ishtar, B Chrom, C Morgan ||| Lord 10=>Tactician 10=>Mercenary 10=>Bow Knight
 
Morgan Hero 2.78 (04) 59 30 15 33 35 30 26 18 187
C Sword, E Axe ||| Veteran, Solidarity, Galeforce, Armsthrift, Patience [Rightful King]
C Ishtar, C Chrom, C Lucina ||| Tactician 10=>Mercenary 11=>Hero
 
---
 
Lissa Sage 4.42 (00) 34 07 25 19 17 22 11 16 117
E Tome, A Staff ||| Miracle, Healtouch
B Ishtar, B Chrom, B Frederick ||| Cleric 20=>Sage
 
Anna Trickster 2.88 (00) 37 13 19 24 22 28 10 11 127
C Sword, D Staff ||| Movement+1, Locktouch
C Ishtar ||| Trickster
 
Olivia Dancer 6.42 (00) 22 05 02 13 12 06+04 04 03 049
D Sword ||| Luck+4
No Supports ||| Dancer
 
Henry Sorcerer 1.00 (00) 36 08 18 18 11 11 17 09 092
C Tome ||| Hex; Anathema
No Supports ||| Dark Mage 12=>Sorcerer

Frederick is above his bases, and no longer is deployed.

Tharja and Cherche are both at their bases, and could see deployment in the future.

Nowi, Panne, Gregor, and Lon'qu are at their bases, and no longer being deployed.

Virion, Stahl, Vaike, Sully, Miriel, Sumia, Kellam, Donnel, Ricken, Maribelle, and Cordelia are dead or retired.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Terrador

[Czar_Yoshi]

Huh, so apparently Risen are actually not too hard to beat on Lunatic after all even relatively early. <_<

I got bored waiting for them to despawn off Longfort (C3) so I could buy a Str Tonic, so I just tried it out. My Robin + Lon'qu can annihilate the bottom half since all the Revenants are super slow, and you can choke the guys from the top with Fred unequipped until the bottom is cleared out., then have Robin kill them all in the choke. Their hitrates are pretty bad too, only danger is Vengance (fuck that skill lol)

Of course, since it's a no grind run I won't actually go with that, but I thought Lunatic Risen were supposed to be like lololo unbeatable, or is that just Lunatic+?

The Lunatic Risen aren't scary for their bases, they're scary for their growths. They have ~30+ across the board in stats once they promote (around Cht.7, I think), and can be capping multiple stats by the end of Cht.11. Early on, though, they're still tame enough to get your Avatar a few levels (unless you run into a pack of Mages. Early Mages are a pain unless you have a high-leveled +Res support).

[Terrador]

Chapter 21 in one turn.

MAN THIS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE RUN I JUST BREEZED THROUGH ONE OF THE UGLIEST MAPS IN THE GAME~

And it's done, even after losing Basilio in C23. Good times. Goooooood times.

---

I do believe I need to give some shout-outs here, because VERY few people (if anyone) have beaten L+ without some strategical talk with other players; I'm not one of those, and I need to shout out some folks!

-Interceptor: His strat for Chapter 5 was the inspiration for my own, which is to say I skimmed it then reinvented the wheel and realized it afterwards! The idea to go heavy on bows saved me a TON of tradechaining and heartache, and made killing Grima SIGNIFICANTLY easier. For these enormously important ideas, thank you.

-Lumi: She was my sounding board for strategies and class paths, and my go-to for knowledge of reinforcements and the like. This run would have been much, much more frustrating without her help, and she also informed me that Morgan was better than I gave him credit for in my first Lunatic run, which ABSOLUTELY saved it. Many thanks!

And finally, a minor shoutout to Czar_Yoshi for reminding me about the Second Seal and Master Seal in Chapter 8, which saved me a fair bit of waiting for Anna shops. Thank you!

Edited September 14, 2014 by Terrador

[dudedudedudeo]

Max Stat/Limit Breakering + getting 99999 renown + complete inventory (99 of everything but Regilia cuz OCD) on my Lunatic+ file.

So fun

Only problem is this was a no-grind, and i wasnt able to pass down gale force to any male units besides brady since i got inigo and owain during the game D:

Already got all my supports so :D

[Blaze The Great]

Working on Lunatic in Awakening. Currently at Chapter 6, kind of unsure on a good strategy...

[Czar_Yoshi]

Train your Avatar, train your Avatar, train your Avatar, and don't train more units than you need. Five pairs total (including children, though you can bench parents to free up more room) is kind of the upper limit of what you want to train (you can get away with more, but the difficulty sharply rises above there), I usually take four pairs (Chrom, Avatar and their wives, and their children at A).

Cht.7 is a very good place to train Chrom if he's falling behind thanks to mostly Axes/Wyverns and lots of advantageous terrain. Also consider using Panne (as a Wyvern) and Nowi (as a Manakete), they're both incredibly powerful in Lunatic.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Czar_Yoshi

[Blaze The Great]

Yeah I have gotten past it now. Just beat Chapter 9 and the current group I am using is:

Chrom Level 19 Lord

Annilese (Avatar) Level 19 Mercenary

Miriel Level 3 Troubadour

Lissa Level 1 Sage

Frederick Level 6 Great Knight

Cordelia Level 12 Pegasus Knight

Lissa will be dropped probably around the middle of the Valm arc. Chrom, Annilese and Miriel are all permanent fixtures of the team. Cordelia and Frederick are questionable, probably not.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Dump Fred, but if you've gotten Cordelia this far you should probably keep her. She has an easy Galeforce passdown and if you decide you don't need her later after all, she can easily be retasked to a flying Staffbot, something you can never have too many of in Lunatic.

If you're building support between Fred and Cordelia, get them to S before you drop him (but don't give him any kills anymore) since his level is high enough to pass down Luna.