Lunatic efficiency playlog (no galeforce?) (Up to Chapter 14)

[Chiki]

If this is an efficiency playthrough, then Chrom should have a lot of chances to grow, especially by being the Avatar's pair up partner. And I think you should train him for Grima.

Also, a lot of maps can't be one turned with just Rescue. 10 can't. 13 and 14 don't need Rescue to be one turned. 16 can be one turned with Rescue. 17 can't be one turned without Galeforce. 18 and 19 can probably be one turned. 20 can't be one turned. 21 can't be one turned. 22 probably can. 25 can probably be one turned with a Falcon Knight Rescue user with high magic.

[XeKr]

Chrom only got to 12/1 in Redwall's run and his Str looks blessed too (21 Str at 12/1 where 11 is the personal+Great Lord base. There may be statboosters in there.). I'm unsure how many more levels is feasible without slowing down by a bunch.

Anyways, I might have a bit more exp than his run, but probably not by much (optional paralogues).

Edited June 12, 2013 by XeKr

[Redwall]

Yeah, in my playthrough, Chrom got the C8 Energy Drop and both the C6 and C13 Secret Books. Still a bit Str-blessed, but I guess that was made up for by my Avatar being Mag-screwed.

Hmm, I'd expect EXP to be scarcer in this run than in mine since you're skipping all Paralogues besides Morgan's, and since you don't have Galeforce for those extra player-phase kills. Slightly more turns will be spent in C20 and C21 compared to a run with Galeforce, allowing for more EXP in those chapters, but generally I'd still expect EXP to be hard to come by.

[Chiki]

Does Pavise activate on attacks from your partner?

[XeKr]

Nope. Really great for Lunatic+ too.

I may end up taking more turns to satisfy my reliability cravings, so hopefully there's enough exp. >_>

[Chiki]

All my calculations were wrong lol, but it looks like one turning Grima should be possible with the Celica's Gale Avatar and a decent Lucina. You'll need to Rescue Olivia near the boss though to get two rounds, but it should be doable.

[XeKr]

Hmm…rambled for quite a bit on this chapter. I don’t anticipate other earlier chapters to be this long. It’s too much work…

[spoiler=Chapter 3: 5/23]

Okay, let’s be honest here. I spent way too long looking for a consistent 4 turn to no avail. The gate bonus for the boss is really annoying. I think +Mag Avatar can (probably) do it, with a few decent level ups (4 attacks on the boss, plus 4 chances for at least 1 Frederick Dual Strike, it’s 70%ish with the right stats. If 2 Dual Strikes are needed, the success chance plummets to 25% or so) . An alternative is Frederick getting the bosskill, with Avatar joining in on a Dual Strike in 2 chances (maybe 40%ish). But I don’t really like either.

Moreover I had some other silly misconceptions like the door has to be open on turn 2 (it doesn’t), which led to planning some fancy convoy/trading stuff that’s unnecessary. Because it is so consistent, however, I'll still be noting this strat.

So it’s a 5 turn strat that’s fairly complex early on. Avatar gets a kill almost every turn and the boss. Chrom gets a few kills. We even pick up the Hammer most of the time. I will admit that it’s convenient that my Frederick could double and oneround Archers with Sumia (2/3 Spd level ups, for 12+4 Spd. Not enough for the Soldiers though. The Str doesn't matter as much, just needs a bit more chip to finish enemies.). I’m not going to bother developing strats/contingencies for those kinds of cases as they’re quickly becoming overwhelmingly numerous.

Regardless, because Kellam is on the left, it’s more convenient to head up the left. He has the Javelin and some nice +Def for us to use. Frederick again needs to do the bulk of the work, being mobile, durable, and damaging. Stahl and Sully are useful for their high move. Miriel does some nice chip. Sometimes people should be paired, sometimes not, to preserve flexibility in movements. Everyone is useful. We fill Avatar’s inventory with random unused items so she can send the Door Key to the convoy (unneeded, but I did so).

So initial positioning is such that after Chrom talks and Pairs with Kellam, they can trade Frederick the Javelin, then Switch and Transfer Kellam to Sully. (I have Miriel starting out in the way, but she can move anywhere to the side). Sully then moves next to Avatar and Transfers over Kellam. Avatar with Kellam (unequipped) moves into range, barely, of the Knight on the left. Sumia (unequipped) Pairs with Frederick and they move adjacent to an Archer, diagonal from the Soldier and attack the Soldier with the Javelin. This blocks the Archer’s movement slightly, giving a bit more space. Stahl moves to the left of Chrom, Virion to just below Chrom. Lissa far left.

In general, an Archer (usually with the Door Key. A lot of the following is superfluous if Frederick kills the Door Key Archer first) survives on the forest while the other is dead. The Soldier is at low health and the Knight is damaged. Thus, Miriel chips the Knight. Sully kills the Soldier (Bronze Lance for accuracy). Avatar moves below Frederick, Transfers Kellam for Sumia, and kills the Archer (Bronze Sword for accuracy) and sends the Door Key to the convoy if appropriate. Chrom accesses the convoy for the Door Key, trades it to Stahl on his left, then Pairs with Virion below him. Virion with Chrom heads over to the Knight, who Chrom kills with the Rapier. Stahl moves left and trades Frederick the Door Key. Frederick with Kellam, heads up to open the door, equipping the Iron Axe. With Kellam, he won’t die even if everything hits (he dies if Sumia is the pocket unit instead).

Turn 3, Avatar with Sumia moves next to Stahl, Switches in order to Transfer Avatar to Stahl so they can reach and finish the Knight. Frederick moves out (in range of left Merc, Fighter, but not the right ones. Within 5 spaces of Avatar), equipping the Silver Lance and healing with the Elixer. Everyone else moves up but out of range.

It should be possible to open the door on turn 3 instead, then rush Frederick out for a similar result. That’s a lot easier in nearly every way. >_>

It is at this point that it is possible to try and pursue the 4 turn clear. Miriel Pairs with Sully and they kill an enemy in the way if necessary. Avatar moves next to Frederick, Switches to Stahl to Transfer Avatar over. Frederick with Avatar can try something to kill the boss (requires Dual Strikes either way). Note the way that feeds Avatar the kill may sacrifice Miriel/Sully. Note the Hammer enemy prevents finishing with Frederick on enemy phase, or else it would otherwise be a reliable 4 turn.

The 5 turn is similar, instead just turtling for an extra turn. Avatar moves up and kills something with Thunder. Frederick heals again, if necessary, so the Hammer won’t oneshot (it’s inaccurate as well if he equips the Iron Sword). Sully moves to a position 8 tiles from the boss. She can be in range of the Archer but not the other enemies. Others stay out of range. Turn 5, Miriel chips the Hammer Fighter for Chrom to kill. Frederick hits the boss with the Silver Lance twice. Frederick has ~93% true hit on the boss, and must hit both times. Avatar moves out, then Sully moves out, Transfers Avatar to her, Switches, and then Avatar finishes with >90% true hit and hitting 1 of 2 attacks.

I’m not exactly sure how reproducible this ending portion is, due to random enemy movements. However, there should exist many other simple positionings to 5 turn that revolve around both Frederick and Avatar getting attack chances on turn 5 player phase. Turn 3 is fairly free to do whatever setup is necessary for such a result.

tl:dr, but this strat sets up a foundation for a 4 turn or pretty reliable 5 turn. It’s a little dangerous to try and go for 6 turns since the enemy pincer attack is closing in. I think 5 turns is reasonable, or else it might take much, much longer.

Edited June 13, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

How can such a short chapter result in so much writing? There goes my plan of shorter write-ups. >_<

But more seriously, this chapter is quite hard if accounting for random skills and random enemy movements (in addition to all the misc. hit rate RNG and such). The strat itself is quite simple, but requires some thought/explanation in its conception.

[spoiler=Chapter 4: 5/28]

There exists a 3 turn (just be super aggressive with Frederick) but it's quite unreliable on the survival front. Requires a few Dual Guards or magical dodges. If Avatar had C support with Chrom and enough Spd to double, I'd give it a more serious go. As is, her damage output is too low to fight competently and Frederick can't really kill everything reliably.

The 4 turn is much, much better off. It's actually fairly reliable, but requires a little minor luck for survival and for all enemy skills and positionings to go perfectly. If I had saved Elixer/Silver Lance uses, it would be even better as well. If Celica's Gale is allowed, things are a bit easier. I don't think I could have 4 turned with the enemy configuration/positioning I ended with, however.

We can do a few misc things to account for random enemy skills, random movements, etc, and therefore 5 turn with high reliability. The main key to the strat is to use trading to rearrange the inventory which can allow different weapons to be used on player and enemy phase. This allows a Silver Lance use to oneshot the Mages (should have the Str on average, tonic if necessary) and the ability to still switch to a ranged weapon for the Short Axe enemies or the Hammer for the Knights.

Frederick with Sumia should double the Fighters (11+4 Spd, just 1/3-4 level ups) and one-round them with an Iron Sword (again, tonic if necessary). Chrom uses a Def tonic to survive a Knight hit, which can be useful in a few marginal cases near the end of the chapter. Avatar uses both Str and Def tonics. Vaike Str Tonics. He has an important role in this chapter.

First to deal with the Steel Axe Fighters. Frederick with Sumia orkos. 2 Avatar attacks + 1 Vaike attack can just kill. Hp+5 spawns seem rare, but they do prevent Frederick from the orko (unless Sumia Dual Strikes), and require more chip elsewhere. If one is observed, Chrom and Avatar should be unpaired so there are more player phase attacks available. Turn 1, everyone huddles in the middle of the stage, with Frederick positioned to counter one of the Fighters and Avatar the other.

Turn 2, some combination of Chrom/Avatar/Vaike finishes the Fighters, taking advantage of Veteran if possible. Lissa should be positioned so Vaike can use the +10 Hit Support bonus on his attack. His true hit here is 92%. It is possible to use a more accurate attack, like from Stahl/Miriel/Virion, but I think, on average, Avatar gets less exp since there are less cases for him to take advantage of Veteran. They also don't deal as well with cases of Hp+5 and such which require more damage. Vaike has the highest Att of the fillers, can also take hits better due to his high Hp, and just barely avoids being doubled at 6 base spd. He does some serious chip with the Hammer, if necessary later on. In addition, the AI starts moving weirdly if other characters are used. I'm not sure if it's coincidence or not, but it seems consistent (-ly weird). Basically, from my limited testing, it seems more flexible and works better to use Vaike here.

Frederick should Silver Lance a Mage. He should barely be in the range of a Short Axe enemy, but not in range of the other Mage. Someone should rearrange his inventory so Orsins Hatchet is equipped. Lissa can do this or she can heal someone if another unit has a free action. Note it's actually better in this strat if Frederick does not orko with the Hatchet (unequip Sumia), as it allows Avatar or someone more kills.

Turn 3, there is variable positioning in terms of the other Mage, and the Knights. The Mage does need to get Silver Lance'd this turn. In one of the possible configurations (and if Frederick is at near full health after a Lissa Heal), it's possible to also aggro Marth this turn and try for the 4 turn that way. It is also possible to try for some fanciness, where the Silver Lance breaks against Marth so Frederick Hammers down the Knights. In general however, it's more consistent to not aggro quite yet and take the extra turn. This also ends up feeding more kills to Avatar. She Pairs with Chrom and takes a Fighter kill this turn, while being in range of one of the Knights. Frederick kills the Mage and someone rearranges his inventory to equip the Hammer.

Turn 4, Frederick should kill the last Fighter. In the case it has Hp+5, Frederick should lure Marth with the Silver Lance equipped such that he is free turn 5 to attack the Fighter for someone else to kill. Depending on how things in general work out, Marth should probably always be lured Turn 4 by Frederick or by Avatar with Chrom (or maybe even something like Sumia with Def Tonic and Vaike). As for the other Knight that was left alive earlier, with averagish Mag, Avatar should kill the Knight in 4 hits (between last turn and this turn) or Chrom has a nice chance to Dual Strike at least once with his Rapier (80%ish). Or don't Pair and fight separately if more chip is needed. Or the Vaike can contribute a little chip too. Clean stuff up, chip Marth down (beware Luna accidently killing), feed the bosskill to Avatar by turn 5. A lot of different things can happen, but I'm pretty sure they can all be dealt with.

Have some stats/stuff as well.

Name      Class        Level     Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord           /02.82  21   7   1   8   8   6   8   1        
Avatar    Tactician      /10.74  26  11   8  10  13  10  12   8
Frederick Great Knight ??/05.32  33  16   2  13  13   7  16   3
Lissa     Cleric         /02.87  18   1   6   4   4   9   3   4  

Supports:
Chrom: C Frederick.
Avatar: C Lissa. C Stahl.
Frederick: C Chrom. C Virion. C Sumia.
Lissa: C Avatar.

Skills:
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle

My Avatar's Spd has gone on a ridiculous run these few chapters (from a point below average to 7/9 which is 9% or so). Def is kinda suffering though. Mag is bleh, but we won't need that soon.

Probably reclassing to Wyvern now, despite "wasting" 74 exp (if only there were 1 more kill somewhere...Or I could have fed Chrom...). Ah well, we're not super duper optimized here. >_>. Need to take a closer look at Chapter 5 as well since maybe Elwind is more useful.

EDIT: Where apostrophes go? Should be fixed, hopefully.

Edited June 15, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

This. Chapter. There’s no chance of this one being very short. <_<

However, the end result is fairly simple and very reliable. In theory enemies could do random movements to block certain tiles, but I never saw it happen and am far too lazy to reset and test to see if it does happen.

[spoiler=Chapter 5: 6/34]

I believe that 4 turns may be doable with sacrifices and/or amazing luck. Ricken and Maribelle are maybe sac'd to aggro the boss and Wyverns early. Lon’qu and Chrom get some crits and block the southwest fort. Frederick with Sumia, Avatar with Kellam/someone cleans the top. Probably most feasible with Grandmaster Avatar or some other strong mage class like Dark Mage or if using Celica’s Gale.

5 turns is more iffy, since a Wyvern reinforcement appears in the top right during that enemy phase, far away from the others. A Myrm also spawns from the middle left fort who no one can really double and oneround. Finishing on turn 5 player phase is a tall order as there’s likely not enough 1-2 range to kill everything in time. A 5 turn would basically be a 4 turn except for a few misc. enemies. None of it seems that reliable to me.

I do not have Rescue and I refuse to sacrifice units. Therefore I’m pretty pleased with the reliable 6 turn here, especially since Avatar got a bunch of kills and nice levels. It is not easy at all to save Maribelle/Ricken while still trying to clear quickly. The crux of the strat is a Frederick with Sumia charge, using terrain and triangle advantage to deal with the enemy density. The goal is to get to the upper level fort (in range of the 3 immobile foot units) by turn 3. Spd benchmark is quite easy, as just 11 Spd is needed for Barbs/Wyverns since C Sumia gives 5 Spd. Also, Frederick gets a few levels before fighting the boss, where he needs 12+5 Spd. It is useful if Frederick onerounds the Dark Mage with a ranged weapon and onerounds Wyverns with an Iron Sword, which may require around average str and/or forging a tiny bit. Meanwhile, Avatar with Kellam and Lon’qu with Chrom clean up the bottom, save Maribelle+Ricken, and deal with any misc. enemies.

So then, Avatar reclasses to Wyvern. Her weapon levels and Mag were too low to do good damage otherwise. Plus, Wyvern gives some really nice Hp, Str, and Def. The flying and Move also proved useful when flying around to clean stuff up.

Note my Avatar’s blessed Spd had little effect this chapter because I paired her with Kellam, not Chrom (who she needs to double). She was too fragile with Chrom Pair Up and Lon’qu needed it anyways to double. She did need to double a Dark Mage, which requires 12 Spd. However, if my stats were more like the average, I could have just used Stahl’s C rank Pair Up for +2 Spd, -2 Def for nearly the same result.

Str and Def tonics to Frederick, Avatar, Lon’qu. Forged +1 Mt on a Bronze Axe (was so Avatar + Chrom could oneround Barbs, but was unnecessary in the end. Still good against the Dark Mage and to cleanly 2hko Wyverns if no Str procs). Forged +1 Mt on an Iron Sword so Frederick could oneround Wyverns even if he didn’t proc Str. Also brought Miriel, Virion, Lissa.

Turn 1, Sumia flies Frederick to a forest SW of the Dark Mage in the middle. Frederick just kills the Dark Mage with Orsin’s Hatchet. Nosferatu has very low hit, ranging from around 10-20% true hit if there’s Anathema. The Barbs are also quite inaccurate, at 25% true hit or so. It is clear that the fort tile is safer, but that position doesn’t allow Frederick to reach the forest next turn and then the upper level fort on turn 3. Nosferatu could hit, but Frederick would just finish on enemy phase or Luna/Dual Strike would happen anyways. Thoughout the chapter, Frederick “could” die if hit by absolutely everything but he often has triangle advantage and forest/fort terrain (plus Outdoor Fighter), reducing hit rates to very low numbers.

Avatar with Kellam flies to a cliff tile in range of a bottom Barb but not other enemies. Ricken Pairs with Maribelle. Others stay put. Lon’qu with Chrom goes to the forest tile in range of another bottom Barb (the more bottom one). I don’t really like the variation that puts Lon’qu in range of all 4 bottom enemies. He would have a sizable chance of dying, especially if Anathema or Hex spawns.

Turn 2, Frederick heads left into another forest tile (I think he can get blocked by enemies here, but it should be very rare) . He equips the Iron Sword and heals with a Vulnerary. The configuration near the bottom shouldn’t matter. Avatar kills the Dark Mage. She kills comfortably even if hit by Nosferatu and can still survive if other stuff all hits from the other enemies. Lon’qu finishes a Barb if he didn’t crit earlier, or else stays in the forest. Ricken and Maribelle head down a bit while out of range.

Turn 3, Frederick goes onto the upper level fort and equips the Levin Sword (Renown), healing if necessary. Because there are so many Axe enemies, this is by far the safest weapon for him to use. It’s not like the lesser damage really matters either, as Frederick won’t oneround Wyverns with 1-2 range anyway.

Ricken and Maribelle run down to the bottom level, chipping the Myrm if possible, and Avatar with Kellam blocks the chokepoint to protect them and heals with a Vulnerary. Chip with Virion and Miriel and finish the bottom Myrm with Lon’qu or Chrom. I do suppose with Avoid+10, there is some chance this Myrm won’t die though it should be quite rare, Heal with Lissa whoever is hurt, probably Lon'qu. In theory, an earlier Wyvern can move into a position that blocks Maribelle/Ricken rather than heading more toward Frederick. I never saw it, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t sometimes randomly move that way. Ah…silly AI…

Within the next 3 turns, Frederick cleans up the north, using a ranged weapon for counter the Dark Mage/Hand Axe Barb/boss and then an Iron Sword if necessary to oneround Wyverns. Ricken, Miriel, Virion, Chrom, Lon’qu deal with a reinforcement Barb easily, block the southwest fort, then deal with a reinforcement Myrm from the middle left fort (there’s so much chip around that it’s nearly guaranteed to kill it). Avatar cleans up a few enemies, then heads left to try and grab some Wyvern kills Frederick is leaving behind.

During cleanup, there’s a Myrm that Avatar has up to 6 chances to 2hko at around 70-80% true hit depending on Avoid+10. She would like to heal on her turn so she could take on more Wyverns for more exp, but if desired, she can spend player phase for more attack chances against this Myrm. Safest case scenario is still 99% of her eventually killing in time for the 6 turn, but giving up quite a few Wyvern kills. Of course, it’s probably better to play greedy to get more exp for Avatar. It’s still 93% chance (2 hits in 4 attempts) or so to 6 turn while getting tons of exp. If failed, it just ends up taking 7 turns I suppose…

Honestly my play near the end wasn’t that great. There were a few kills I could have fed to Chrom but failed to do so because I chipped with the wrong units and in the wrong order. Lon’qu got those kills instead. My hope is I won’t need Chrom to do anything substantial. >_>

It’s hard to envision a reliable 6 turn with Tactician Avatar and without Rescue or sacrifices. I imagine the strategy structure would be significantly different, depending on how strong Avatar actually was. Players like KoT have shown a (much less reliable) 5 turn in that context so I’d imagine something similar in rushing up the right side would be used. To be reliable, it’s possible many more turns would have to be taken.

Pegasus Knight could do similarly as this strat. However, the Att difference is 6 after bases, Str+2, and Bronze Axe’s 1 more mt (even more against Axe enemies). The Def difference is 4 against Axes, with 3 less Hp as well. Pegasus Knight could possibly double without Chrom, however, with 5 more Spd. Because of the durability difference, it’s likely a different strategy would be used for a reliable clear.

+Def Asset is finally proving its worth, as Avatar can now take a good number of hits while finishing off many enemies that Frederick weakened.

Yay stats.

Name      Class         Level     Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord            /02.92  21   7   1   8   8   6   8   1        
Avatar    Wyvern Rider  10/05.09  33  20   5  13  15  13  17   5
Frederick Great Knight  ??/07.58  35  18   2  15  15   9  18   4
Lissa     Cleric          /03.21  19   1   7   5   4  10   3   5  
Lonqu     Myrmidon        /05.79  20   7   1  13  14   8   8   2
 
Supports:
Chrom: C Frederick.
Avatar: C Lissa. C Stahl.
Frederick: C Chrom. C Virion. C Sumia.
Lissa: C Avatar.
 
Skills (I include the stat bonuses in the above stats):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle

Levels were amazing across the board. Though none of the stat blessing has mattered quite yet. Avatar is entering goddess-mode. Supports are building strangely slow. Still want to get Chrom to Charm and promotion if possible, so I’ll now focus a bit more on feeding him kills.

Edited June 15, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

Wasn’t too bad. Tried too much silliness to 3 turn. Probably tried every single character at some point.

[spoiler=Chapter 6: 4/38]

It’s a quite clean 4 turn with some small 5 turn chance and some small chance of death. Fed kills to Panne and Chrom where possible, which was not often. Tried a bunch of stuff, including silliness like Ricken!Levin Sword!Frederick to try to 3 turn (not enough 1-2 range weapon uses otherwise), but this ended up the most consistent. The main issue that prevents 3 turns is only having 2 competent fighters, plus Validar 2hkoing anyone who fights him so it’s dangerous to attack him on player phase. ORKOing him is hard, but I suppose it is doable with a strong forge. Expensive, and other stuff will still likely be unreliable. 3 turns looks doable with Killing Edge crits though.

Frederick and Avatar take Str and Def tonics. Lon’qu takes a Str tonic. Kellam carries a Def Tonic with him. The setup is Frederick, Sumia, Kellam, Maribelle with Chrom on the left. Avatar, Stahl, Lon’qu, Ricken, Lissa on the right.

Essentially, Frederick thins out the middle, then routs the left. Avatar solos the whole right side. Her Pairing with Stahl has several advantages. The Spd guarantees my Avatar can double Cavaliers and Validar (note this is probably not necessary as it appears Wyvern!Avatar can be expected to 2hko with Hand + Iron, maybe forged). The +10 Avoid from C support helps a little against the Dark Mages. The Spd on these Fighters/Dark Mages is otherwise pretty low so Avatar and Frederick should have no problems meeting the benchmark. Units like Panne and Lon’qu can do quite heavy damage too. Chip units are also useful, particularly against the Thieves.

Turn 1, Frederick with Sumia kills the Fighter in the middle. Maribelle heals if he was hit. Chrom moves to the right edge of the left Fighter’s range with Kellam adjacent for some small Hit bonus. Lon’qu, Ricken, Lissa all head left. Avatar with Stahl flies down to attack a Thief. She has 85% true hit (less in subsequent turns with a Hand Axe instead of Bronze) to 2hko and 35% Dual Strike which also kills if she hits at least once. She has pretty much the entire duration of the chapter, maybe 5 attacks total, to kill, so very likely overall (probably easily >99%).

Turn 2, Lissa moves to give Ricken a hit bonus. Ricken kills the Thief (97% true hit or so) next to Frederick if Sumia did not Dual Strike and kill it. Lon’qu and Chrom are available if necessary. I have no idea why I didn’t feed this kill to Chrom. Maybe he didn’t kill or he’s inaccurate and gets orko’d in return so it’s too dangerous or something. >_>

Regardless, Frederick with Sumia attacks the Dark Mage with Orsin’s Hatchet, one-rounding cleanly unless hit by Nosferatu (even if hit by Nosferatu, can Dual Strike or Luna). Overall very likely to kill. Though tricky, there’s still contingencies if that Dark Mage doesn’t die too, which just revolves around more chip from the various other characters. Chrom moves adjacent to Frederick, rearranging his inventory so he equips a Sword. Maribelle hides behind some units and heals Chrom. Panne pairs with Kellam, they move next to Chrom with Panne in front, who takes the Def tonic from Kellam and uses it. Now Fighters can’t 2hko (gives flexibility to her actions, as she can safely attack them on player phase). Others huddle in the middle. Avatar heads down (stay in range of the Thief if necessary), equipping a Hand Axe (just got D rank last turn) and heals with a Vulnerary.

In hindsight, I should have also traded away Sumia’s Iron Lance afterwards so she couldn’t Dual Strike and kill Thieves accidentally I got a bit unlucky when I did my run and Sumia did Dual Strike, taking a few of Chrom/Panne’s kills. Though, this did make it a little more straightforward to 4 turn at the loss of some exp.

Turn 3, Frederick is healed by Mend, and kills a Dark Mage with a Bronze Sword, which kills even if he’s hit by Nosferatu. Chrom recruits Gaius and Pairs with him. They head toward the treasure chest and Separate (Chrom is in range of a Dark Mage here). Panne kills an enemy in the middle, with Lon’qu and Ricken to help out if necessary. Avatar heads further down into Validar’s range and heals.

Turn 4, Lon’qu attacks the Dark Mage who attacked Chrom with his Killing Edge. If he doesn’t crit, Chrom grabs the kill. Panne finishes a Cavelier nearby. Frederick can be healed by Mend again, then heads far left into the remaining enemies’ range and kills a Cavelier with Orsin’s Hatchet (exactly 6 uses left for 3 enemies). If that Fighter spawns Hp+5, Frederick needs Dual Strike help (about 57% for 1 in 2 chances). Avatar finishes Validar. Gaius nabs the Secret Book.

It is possible for more enemies to be left alive than noted here. Or depending on how growths go, some enemies that are borderline killed manage to survive. Can usually have some combination to finish them between Chrom, Ricken, Lon’qu, Panne, (I don’t think Lissa did anything, so could bring Virion or something for chip too) or could always forge some mt on stuff too.

Therefore the only real RNG is that last Fighter who may have Hp+5, and Avatar’s survival. It’s mainly the 2 Dark Mages that are the most dangerous, with around a 3hko at 50% hit for Elthunder, and 32% true hit for Nosferatu (I think this is with Anathema, but unsure). Various other enemies can chip her at middling hit rates. Validar does huge damage, over 20, but by that time the other enemies are mostly cleared out. It’s hard to really know her chance of death, but it’s probably <5% as a conservative estimate.

This map would be particularly hard to rout without a strong Avatar that can take on one of the sides by him or herself. Pegasus Knight might actually have an easier time because of the higher Res and no hit rate issues against the Thieves. Durability against Fighters may be a small concern though and she may not cleanly oneround as easily. Grandmaster should clear pretty easily, though unpromoted mage classes could run into durability issues.

Name      Class         Level     Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord            /03.14  22   8   1   9   9   7   8   1        
Avatar    Wyvern Rider  10/09.38  36  23   6  13  16  15  18   7
Frederick Great Knight  ??/08.65  36  18   2  15  16   9  18   4
Lissa     Cleric          /03.55  19   1   7   5   4  10   3   5  
Lonqu     Myrmidon        /06.12  21   7   2  13  15   8   8   3
Maribelle Troubadour      /03.88  18   0   5   4   6   5   3   8
Panne     Taguel          /07.10  29  12   2  14  15  12   9   3
 
Supports:
Chrom: C Frederick.
Avatar: C Lissa. C Stahl.
Frederick: C Chrom. C Virion. B Sumia.
Lissa: C Avatar.
 
Skills (Stat bonuses from skills and weapons included in the above stats.):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle
Lonqu: Avoid+10
Maribelle: Resistance+2
Panne: Even Rhythm

Really want to train Chrom but Panne is currently the priority to see if she can reach Wyvern for Chapter 9. Nice Mag and Res level Lon’qu. ^_^

Also, in much unrelated hilariousness, Frederick with Sumia actually doubles Gaius, as I found out when trying to head down the left initially. However, nothing particularly stands out so far as stats are averaging out. Don’t think any strategies have been seriously affected yet by RNG in growths.

Edited June 19, 2013 by XeKr

[PKL]

So, efficiency now also doesn't visit paralogues? Sigh

[Chiki]

So, efficiency now also doesn't visit paralogues? Sigh

Why should they? For completion's sake?

[XeKr]

One can play efficiently with or without Paralogues. There's no set way to do it. I simply choose to consider them optional, like Challenges/Skirmishes. In my mind, allowing them introduces some iffy ground, particularly wrt children paralogues.

Note there's plenty of other arbitrary decisions I make such as not sacrificing units even though that could potentially save turns. I probably will recruit Tharja, even though she may be expected to cost turns and not save any. Simply because I dislike seeing the death quotes. >_>

Edited June 19, 2013 by XeKr

[Chiki]

Agreed. Doing Paralogues for completion's sake is just a waste of time. It's like unlocking every chest in a chapter. Worthless.

[PKL]

I see Paralogues as part of the game is all. I don't agree with just skipping them outright. It just feels wrong.

EDIT: Oh and it kinda goes against efficiency. Since you miss out on a Rescue staff, an early Killer Lance and buyable 1-2 range. You also miss out on experience, which hinders reliability.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Peekayell

[XeKr]

But it takes turns no? We could stay around in maps and farm reinforcements and one could argue by not doing so we’re losing exp and hindering reliability. But we’re trying to have a somewhat optimized mix of low turncounts and high reliability, across the game.

I’m obviously going to Paralogues if I think they help expected turncount, such as Morgan’s.

Others may think it feels wrong if we Rescue chain all the bosskill maps. Or it feels wrong if we don’t get all the chests. Or it feels wrong if Chrom never promotes. Etcetc. None of that feels wrong to me, but something like sacrificing units does. Again, it’s no big deal, just a decision players personally make during their playthroughs. There have traditionally been various clauses used by efficiency players such as "Recruit all" or "All gaidens but 19xx", etc, for players to use if they so wish.

Edited June 19, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

I really like this new backup save function. Finally get to play around and test some stuff while keeping my other files. Also, before I was worried I would forget to pass the right skills with Lucina/Morgan when the time came...

Anyways, these chapters are quite straightforward.

[spoiler=Chapter 7: 3/41]

The 2 turn is feasible, but requires a bunch of luck. Avatar probably has to avoid/Dual Guard a Silver Bow shot (like 80+ true hit) and needs to get lucky against the boss with Chrom (or Ricken or something) Dual Strikes.

3 turns is quite lenient, but a bunch of stuff can happen if trying to feed people kills. I’ll just go over a few things to note instead of a very detailed step by step.

Avatar Pairs with Stahl yet again (my C2 clear was clearly prescient to build those support points. >_>). She needs the Spd to double Archers/Barbs, plus likes the +Def and +Avoid from C support. I suppose my Avatar has somewhat above average Spd, but it should be possible to Pair with Sumia, Lon’qu or Chrom instead if necessary to meet the 18 Spd benchmark for Barbs. My Avatar’s Def is a bit below average too, at 7/17 level ups which sort of evens out.

Frederick Pairs with Sumia but it doesn’t seem to really matter. He could Pair with Chrom or anyone with +Spd, but I’d rather build support points.

We bring both Lon’qu and Kellam for Panne. Panne can sometimes take 2 hits with Kellam and Def tonic, or she can double and do heavy damage with Lon’qu Pair Up. Depending on how things shake out, both can be useful. Also bring Maribelle for a little healing, Ricken for chip. People take tonics as necessary, mostly Def tonics.

The tricky enemies are the Thieves who are hard to one-round, the Archer and Short Axe Barbarian with 2 range, the Wyvern with the Concoction, and the Boss with lots of Hp/Def.

• Firstly the Thieves can have Underdog which can reduce Avatar’s hit rate to somewhat low values (70% true hit or so at worst in a forest). Basically Frederick just needs to tag along to help Avatar out if she misses and if Stahl doesn’t help out with Dual Strikes. She usually 2hkos (but 1 hit puts them in Stahl’s Dual Strike range), but with a Str tonic and if lucky with some Str procs, Avatar can ohko them too. Try to avoid fighting adjacent to forests if possible as well.
• The 2 range enemies need to be planned for. One Archer can be killed turn 1 and the middle one lured with Frederick. Obviously their Silver Bows hit Avatar a bit too hard so she can’t really lure them. This still gives 2 full turns to clean them up. Avatar can equip a Hand Axe when heading over the right to deal with the Short Axe Barbarian (she still easily one-rounds other Barbs and Wyverns).
• A top Wyvern has a Concoction and weakened enemies definitely like to use it to heal up. He needs to be lured and killed before enemies start trading around the Concoction.
• It is beneficial to aggro the boss early so he can be chipped on Turn 2 enemy phase to allow a clean 3 turn finish. Avatar can easily do this with careful positioning first turn (as aggro behavior of some of the right Wyverns is coupled with the boss).

All that being said, Turn 1, Avatar with Stahl kills an Archer while in aggro range of some right Wyverns. Usually Frederick with Sumia heads up to weaken a Barb and lure the Concoction Wyvern and middle Archer with a Levin Sword (there are cases if Avatar misses for him to finish the Archer too). Panne gets into position to grab a kill on enemy phase.

A bunch of things can happen depending on Dual Strikes, Luna, misses, etc. In general, Frederick and Avatar head right, prioritizing the Archers and Thieves, healing with Concoctions if necessary. It’s fairly straightforward to clean stuff up and feed kills to Panne, though the exact number will vary. Panne should Pair with Lon’qu or Kellam depending on what she needs. She’s healed by Maribelle as necessary and Ricken provides chip. Chrom may be able to steal a few kills too, but he didn’t end up with any in my run.

There’s lots of variance, but as far as I can tell, it can all be very reliably dealt with by a bit of thought and properly adapting. Theoretically Panne or Chrom could even nab the bosskill in some cases. Not that consistent though. Not going to really optimize this for exp b/c it’s just not that interesting. Honestly Frederick could probably reliably 3-4 turn this chapter by himself. <_<

RNG wise. It’s mostly minor hit rate and avoid stuff. Tantivy helps a little when Avatar gets it. Frederick cleans up and does whatever he needs to do depending on how the RNG goes (beware the Hammer, mostly). As long as Avatar doesn’t face Archers, she faces just a 5-6hko at 50% hit from the strongest enemies, the Wyverns (who may get Str+2 or Tantivy) and a few Barbs (with worse hit). This is further alleviated by Def growth procs throughout the chapter. She probably doesn’t really face that many enemies per turn in total, and can heal with the Concoction in between turns, so it’s not a big issue. Frederick has Swords, Outdoor Fighter, Sumia support, possibly Forest terrain, so he really has no problems at all.

Durability is probably more of a concern for Pegasus Knight and Tactician/other Mage classes if they are used instead.

Too lazy to copy stats. For reference, Avatar is level 10/13.72, Panne is 8.37.

[spoiler=Chapter 8: 5/46]

The 4 turn with all 3 villages is quite doable, but requires Dual Strikes because Avatar can’t double the Myrms. In addition, it’s riskier durability-wise for her. Avatar would also have to Pair with Gaius for the move necessary, so even less Def and Avoid.

Note that 3-4 turns may be possible if forgoing the Second Seal village. In a sense, a secondary combat unit like Panne "costs" turns (or in non-Renown cases, Avatar reclassing over promoting costs a turn). However, I believe Panne will have some contributions later on that other characters cannot reliably replicate.

An overview: We need all the slots available for this chapter. Avatar needs Stahl (this support is amazing) for the Spd to double Caveliers. Stahl also gives a nice +3 Def and +10 avoid. They charge the middle, then go for the Second Seal. Frederick with Sumia routs the left and visits the Master Seal village. Ricken, Cordelia, Lissa, Chrom do various actions to get Panne and Cordelia some exp up top. Also they grab the Rescue staff, which we put to use in this very chapter. Tonic up as necessary.

Turn 1. Frederick with Sumia heads to a magic square on the left, 2 tiles below a Fighter and attacking him (doesn’t matter too much if Frederick kills this phase or not). My Frederick with a Str Tonic and +1 mt Hand Axe cleanly onerounds the Dark Mages (an average Frederick may not, but Dual Strike or Luna can help, ~80% for at least 1 proc). Avatar with Stahl flies far down. Ricken chips the top Fighter, who Panne with Kellam finishes (this kills even if Fighter has Hp+5). Lissa heals Panne from the right. Cordelia with Chrom (the Spd prevents the Myrm from doubling) goes 2 spaces below Panne, blocking off the Myrm and Dark Mage. She can tank both these enemies.

Turn 2. Frederick Switches to Sumia, heads down and kills a Cavalier if one is left alive (actually can delay this a turn as well if too many enemies survive Turn 1, which is rare). With a Def tonic, Sumia can survive a Silver Lance on enemy phase as well if both Cavs are alive. Of course, if Frederick just gets a Dual Strike or Luna, those Cavs are all gone. Avatar flies down to chip a Myrm while in range of a bunch of stuff. Panne with Kellam goes adjacent to Cordelia with Chrom, Switches to Kellam to Transfer Panne over. Cordelia with Panne flies to the Dark Mage, who Panne kills (even if hit by Nosferatu). Kellam can survive a round with the Myrm and Panne won’t die either if attacked. Ricken and Lissa head a bit toward the village.

Turn 3. Sumia flies near the Master Seal Village (in range of a middle Cav if necessary). Switch to Frederick, equip a 1-2 range weapon, and heal. Avatar flies near the boss/other Dark mages depending on how safe it looks. Panne finishes the Myrm (do various chip if necessary). Lissa heals. Ricken moves closer to the village.

Turn 4 and on. Ricken visits the village. Lissa moves adjacent to him, trading for the Rescue Staff and Rescues Panne with Cordelia (maybe shouldn’t burn this use, but we’ll see…). They head down, and Separate to gain a bit more move. Turn 5 Cordelia can fly Panne down to grab a few remaining Myrm kills as durability allows.

In the meantime, Frederick has tons of time to clean up his area and visit the Master Seal Village. As for Avatar, the boss has ~32% true hit, Nosferatu Mage has ~16-30% true hit, the Arcwind Mage has around 56-73% hit. The boss only has Hex which shouldn’t come into play. The other Dark Mages seem to rarely have Anathema, which leads to the higher end of those hit rates. The other enemies chip her and do little damage. It depends on the enemy positioning, but Avatar’s chance of death shouldn’t be that high as long as she doesn’t face both the boss and the Arcwind Dark Mage in the same turn. Even if facing both in the same turn, it’s probably still ~20% death at worst.

Offense wise, Avatar cleanly onerounds things she doubles, including the boss. Avatar’s accuracy on the Myrms isn’t the best, ranging from around 80-90%. However, she gets multiple chances to hit them and it can actually be beneficial if she misses some hits (but not too many) so that Panne and Cordelia can grab a few more kills. She has 3 turns to clean up most of the bottom and grab the Second Seal. Easy transition to a 6 turn if more safety is desired, but 5 is very doable in most circumstances.

It’s probably harder to 5 turn reliably (with the villages) without a flying Avatar. Pegasus Knight may have an easier time here, with more Res against the magic and more Spd to possibly double the Myrms. A reliable 4 turn may be possible in that case.

Name      Class         Level        Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord               /03.14  22   8   1   9   9   7   8   1        
Avatar    Griffon Rider 10/16/01.00  44  28   7  22  23  20  24  13
Frederick Great Knight     ??/09.98  36  19   2  16  16   9  19   4
Lissa     Cleric             /04.39  20   2   7   5   5  11   3   5  
Lonqu     Myrmidon           /06.12  21   7   2  13  15   8   8   3
Maribelle Troubadour         /04.10  19   1   5   4   7   5   3   9
Panne     Taguel             /09.57  31  14   2  16  17  13  11   3
Cordelia  Pegasus Knight     /07.30  25   9   3  13  14   9   8   8
 
Supports:
Chrom: C Frederick.
Avatar: C Lissa. B Stahl.
Frederick: C Chrom. C Virion. A Sumia.
Lissa: C Avatar.
Panne: C Kellam
 
Skills (Stat bonuses from skills and weapons included in the above stats.):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2, Tantivy
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle
Lonqu: Avoid+10
Maribelle: Resistance+2
Panne: Even Rhythm
Cordelia: Speed+2

Promoted to Griffon, despite wasting 59 exp (again…).

Frederick’s Str is slightly blessed, which gives him a few clean orkos he otherwise wouldn’t have. Dual Strikes/Luna/forging could compensate in those cases (plus in this chapter he has tons of leniency turnwise to clean his side). Panne’s levels are ridiculous so far, but it has yet to matter as her stats are still too low to do anything substantial. Avatar’s stats seem to be leveling out, but lolVeteran.

My exp optimization definitely wasn’t the greatest, but I have a hard time seeing how to feed Panne those last 2 kills, to get to her reclass, in a reliable manner. She probably has to nab one of the bosskills somehow. Oh well, we’ll just reclass her next chapter or so.

Both Panne and Cordelia are higher priority for kills over Chrom at this point. At this rate, I think I may just end up Pairing Lucina with Say’ri or something, xd.

Actually a little concerned if Chrom and Avatar will marry or not. >_>

Edited June 21, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

To clarify, my Avatar is named Avatar. But maybe she should be named Veteran.

[spoiler=Chapter 9: 4/50]

I don’t really see a way to reliably 3 turn this while still recruiting Libra. The main issue is Chrom is paper, so the area needs to be nearly completely clean for Libra to recruit himself on turn 2. That’s not easy in itself, clearing a safe place for Chrom, but then there also seems to be too many enemies spread out around the bottom to finish on Turn 3, including the stationary boss. Plus, some of those enemies are Killer Bow Archers, leaving Frederick to be the only competent fighter to clean most of that up.

Alternatively, it is possible to aggro this bottom right group with Frederick Turn 1, by moving into the bottom Mage’s range (SE from the Archer). However, that can’t really be cleaned up to recruit Libra in time. Plus, even if trying to clear that stuff, the bottom left corner has a few enemies that only Avatar can really reach to kill in time, yet she also needs to fly over to Hammertime the boss (unless relying on Libra criticals or something)

I admit I didn’t try that hard to 3 turn this though, as I’m recruiting Tharja. >_>. In hindsight it may be doable with aggroing the bottom early, then recruiting Libra on turn 3 player phase.

The reliable 4 turn is pretty simple, though it can require some adaptation in the later turns. It’s possible to recruit both Libra and Tharja very consistently, while not using any Rescue uses.

Bring Avatar, Gaius, Frederick, Sumia, Panne, Kellam, Cordelia, Lon’qu, Ricken, Lissa, Maribelle. Everyone has a role to play.

First, the nearby Archer and Mage should be dealt with. The Archer hits Avatar really hard and the Mage is very mobile in the Desert and also hits stuff very hard. Avatar with Gaius kills the Mage from its left (this is in range of a few left Soldiers). Frederick with Sumia kills the Archer from its right. My Frederick cleanly onerounds this Archer with a Str Tonic, but a slightly more average Frederick could use a forged Hand Axe or rely on Luna/Dual Strike.

Panne with Kellam goes in range of 2 Soldiers and a Wyvern (if the Wyvern spawns Str+2, play safer). With a Spd tonic, she doubles and does heavy damage, onerounding the Soldiers with a Kellam Dual Strike. Cordelia/Chrom, Ricken/Maribelle, Lissa/Lon’qu Pair up and move to just out of enemy range.

Turn 2. Avatar flies down to kill an Archer near Libra (Gaius gives just enough move no matter how the Archer is positioned, plus allows enough Move to do whatever action is necessary next turn). Frederick goes down onto a fort and kills the Mage. Ricken usually has to kill a Wyvern here. Cordelia may have to kill a Soldier (Spd tonic + Chrom allows doubling at base Spd). Panne usually can reclass to Wyvern this turn (if she kills at least 1 Soldier, which is around 90% likely), if not, she grabs a kill. At the same time, Panne and Cordelia should block Ricken from getting attacked by a Wyvern. Lissa heals or just moves closer.

Turn 3 and on. Different things can happen, but in general, Avatar, Frederick,and Panne clean the bottom while luring Tharja (leave someone with 1 range so they don’t counter and kill her). Maribelle and Lissa do some healing, with Lissa transferring Lon’qu to Panne so she doubles more stuff as a Wyvern. Cordelia flies down to drop Chrom off in a safe place for Libra to recruit himself, then maybe tries to grab a few kills (Cordelia can usually take a hit here from anything even against the Silver Axe Wyverns, with a Def tonic. Chrom just barely cannot even with a Tonic). Chrom reaches Tharja and recruits her. I had Chrom Pair with Tharja so they could Switch and Transfer Chrom to Avatar so they fight the boss together (and got C support, ending my worries about their marriage).

To be the most reliable, it seems the Hammer is required for the boss (kills even if Pavise activates every time). Luckily, it was obtained way back in C3. Maybe the Killer Axe is the next best option or alternatively a magical Avatar can also work. There’s obviously a safe transition into a 5 turn if desired.

If using Grandmaster Avatar, the strategy structure would be very different to deal with the lack of flying. A reliable 4 turn may still be possible, though the bottom left enemies will be troublesome. Dark Flier should be pretty similar to Griffon, except with worse durability. Shouldn’t be a huge deal this chapter, however. It does not seem like Wyvern!Panne at the start of this chapter would be expected to cut any turns, but I’m not too sure. May help on the reliability front slightly.

Avatar is 10/16/03.03. Panne is 10/01.50. Cordelia is 08.16.

;_;

[spoiler=Chapter 10: 2/52]

A short chapter, but lots of work was done to optimize reliability. The result works quite well.

As far as I can tell, it doesn’t seem possible to reliably get the Seraph Robe Thief, along with the Bullion(M) and Master Seal. With some luck, could maybe burn an extra Rescue use to do it. But instead we’ll focus on the latter 2 items.

To reach the boss in 2 turns without Anna, it is necessary to take advantage of knowing where Rescue Staves send units. For this chapter, blocking the south and east tile essentially gives more effective move to your units, as they are Rescued to the west tile. Avatar also needs +1 Move to reach the boss in time. This positioning needs to be combined with something that allows reliably getting the items.

It appears the Frederick with Sumia is the only unit that can survive heavy enemy phase pressure. Therefore they need to head up to the Bullion(M) Thief. Frederick has A support which is 6 Spd, +2 from a Tonic, and so he should reach the 22 Spd necessary to double the Thief. He could ohko the Thief as well with enough Str if somehow lacking the Spd. This leaves Gaius to Pair with Avatar for the +1 Move.

It is somewhat hard to kill off the Master Seal Thief, as it is fairly dodgy with Underdog+high Spd and too fast to double for most units. We can use a Tharja and Cordelia combination to do so. Cordelia then needs Kellam to survive the enemy phase. So Tharja and Cordelia Pair, then Cordelia goes onto the fort to the west (this blocks the south space for Libra’s Rescue) and drops Tharja to her west. Kellam walks up to Pair with Cordelia. Panne with Lon’qu blocks the east space, so that Libra can Rescue Avatar with Gaius to a tile to his left. They fly way up to kill some stuff (cleanly oneround everything with a Str Tonic and regular Hand Axe). Chrom and Maribelle move a little closer.

Turn 2, Maribelle pairs with Tharja for the +Hit from support and Tharja chips the Thief. Cordelia finishes (use accurate stuff like Wind/Iron Lance). Panne grabs a kill and Libra hopefully sets up a kill for Chrom.

Avatar flies to Mustafa. It turns out that with a Str tonic, she is still 4 mt short of cleanly onerounding (3 mt if she procs Str this chapter, but that doesn’t always happen). It’s necessary to finish on player phase or Chrom/others would die. Because it’s so expensive, Avatar instead uses an Energy Drop, then forges the previous +1 Hand Axe to +2. If Avatar had even worse Str, she probably could use both Energy Drops.

This map does not appear possible to 2 turn without a promoted and flying Avatar, though I could be mistaken.

Name      Class         Level        Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord               /03.71  22   8   1   9   9   7   8   1        
Avatar    Griffon Rider 10/16/04.84  47  31   8  24  24  21  25  13  Energy Drop
Frederick Great Knight     ??/11.22  39  21   2  18  17   9  20   4
Lissa     Cleric             /04.78  20   2   7   5   5  11   3   5  
Maribelle Troubadour         /04.76  19   1   5   4   7   5   3   9
Panne     Wyvern Rider     10/02.12  34  19   2  15  13   9  15   2
Cordelia  Pegasus Knight     /08.63  26  10   3  14  15   9   8   8
Libra     War Monk         ??/01.57  40  15  16  13  14  11  12  17
 
Supports:
Chrom: C Avatar. C Frederick.
Avatar: B Stahl. C Chrom. C Lissa. C Gaius
Frederick: S Sumia. C Chrom. C Virion. 
Lissa: C Avatar.
Panne: C Kellam
 
Skills (Stat bonuses from skills and weapons included in the above stats.):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2, Tantivy
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle
Maribelle: Resistance+2
Panne: Even Rhythm, Strength+2
Cordelia: Speed+2
Libra: Miracle, Healtouch

I can already see Spd benchmarks are going to be an issue (even next chapter, no one is close to doubling Gangrel). I’ll still try to train Chrom for Lucina so Avatar can have Say’ri. Or maybe Gregor for Avatar, Say’ri for Lucina. Dunno really. Probably Paladin Frederick for Panne or something.

;______;

Edited June 23, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

It occurred to me that there seem to be a few cases in this game where NPCs or other characters join after the chapter if not recruited during. If Libra is similar, that could be another potential avenue for the reliable 3 turn in C9. Though still probably not if recruiting Tharja.

Also, for C10, I probably could have paired Avatar with Frederick and figured out some other way to obtain the Bullion(M) on turn 2. It would probably be less reliable, but save the Energy Drop and some money. I don’t think it’s a huge deal, as the Energy Drop gives +1 damage on the final boss regardless of who it’s used on.

But seriously. Wow Gangrel. Literally 32 mAtk, 29 Spd. 74 avoid (Lucky Seven is silly). Griffon!Avatar is very sad.

[spoiler=Chapter 11: 3/55]

It feels like Dark Flier Avatar can easily 2 turn this but I dunno. There are a few tricky enemies since the 3 groups (melee, mages, Gangrel) are pretty passive unless getting into range. Some enemies on the side don’t aggro as a group either and the Thief is passive.

A strategy for tackling this map centers around dealing with Gangrel and his ridiculous stats (plus some promoted enemies). A highly reliable 3 turn is quite interesting with Griffon Avatar, even though I originally would have been fine with 4. I only pursued it because the 4 turn felt too “easy” since there were just a few enemies left after 3 turns, even with minimal planning. This strat is nearly a reliable 2 turn, but that Thief is too annoying. It is probably possible to 2 turn if really desired at the loss of much consistency (probably with a some Gregor/Lon'qu crit as Redwall suggested in his run).

Realistically, an Avatar with ~30 levels gets ~18 Spd, or ~23 Spd with +Spd Asset above class bases after tonics. With a Spd Pair, +Spd Grandmaster or Griffon Avatar can probably be expected to double Gangrel. However, +Spd Avatar probably gets less exp earlier on as well and it’s a bit borderline on the stat. +Def/Mag asset Dark Flier with a Spd Pair can also probably be expected to double, but again less durability.

However, against Griffon, Gangrel gets 54 avoid from stats, 20 from Lucky Seven, 15 from triangle advantage, 10 from negating Avatar’s Axe rank. So….he’s pretty dodgy. And he chips her pretty hard at perfect accuracy. Avatar would love to have Tharja to reduce enemy avoid, but she needs 4 Spd plus a tonic to double the Hero. Even with Tharja, her hit rate on Gangrel is still quite bad particularly at 2 range with no Hex.

I found it’s best to have Frederick with lots of tonics on a fort do the majority of fighting first turn. He has the Fort Def/Res/avoid boost, Outdoor Fighter, Sumia’s support, triangle against several enemies. Most importantly, he has somewhat decent accuracy on Gangrel with Lances. Frederick can 2hko Gangrel with a forged Javelin/Steel Lance combination. To save some money, we can use the fact that both Luna (17%) and Sumia (65% Dual Strike, just ~60% hit) with an Iron Lance do 5 damage. That leaves just 3 mt to be accounted for when forging, which is fortunately pretty cheap. Avatar has a few additional chances in later turns even if Frederick fails to kill Gangrel. It’s far more reliable to give Frederick at least that ~75% chance of killing (of at least 1 Luna/Dual Strike in 2 chances) rather than not forging and relying completely on Avatar to hit a 30%ish attack. Even given losing so a lot of exp (almost a full level).

Durability is still somewhat an issue. Frederick faces around 80% hit from Gangrel, but everything else ranges from 20-30% hit. Several of those have to hit for Frederick to die. It’s a very borderline survival such that something like Mag+2 spawns on the Mages can influence how many attacks he can take. There are many combinations but together, it’s probably around 10% estimated chance of death. This could be mostly prevented with Ward, but Rescue is needed to put Avatar into position first turn. Note Ward requires C rank staves, which only Libra has. He’s also the only one with competent Rescue range.

There’s still the Hero and Sage to deal with. By this point, even Frederick with S Sumia can just barely fight them well. Units like Panne, among the strongest non-Veteran fighters, can barely take on a single unpromoted enemy at a time. It’s up to Avatar to do most of it. The general scheme is, she’ll start out in the left, then head to the middle to clean up some enemies. Finally she’ll kill off the Thief. Meanwhile Frederick tanks the middle, is Rescued back and heads right to fight off some mages.

So Olivia and Rescue both need to be used for Frederick and Avatar to get to the right places during Turn 1. Olivia starts pretty far back, so she needs to Pair with someone for more effective move. We’ll couple this to Gaius’ movement toward the left chest, as we definitely want that Bullion(L). Olivia needs to Dance each turn, but Gaius needs to continuously move left so they need to separate at some point. He has only 5 move, so Stahl is a useful ferry for him. Stahl with Gaius Pair Up is 1 tile short of safely getting to the chest without Olivia, so she needs to be free for Turn 3.

In addition, we still want Panne and Cordelia to get what little exp they can (which is not much). There’s pretty much just the single mage on the right with attack range that won’t also aggro the Sage (which obviously they can’t handle). A Javelin counterhit allows Panne to easily finish that mage the next turn. Cordelia can get crit here, especially if Focus spawns here, but it’s rare.

A summary of the setup and Turn 1 movements to get this all to occur: Bring Avatar, Frederick ,Sumia, Gaius, Stahl, Libra, Cordelia, Panne, Gregor, Kellam, Tharja, Maribelle (or Lissa works too). Frederick pairs with Sumia, who flies him down. Olivia Pairs with Gaius who runs down, Switches to let Olivia dance for Sumia. Sumia goes onto the middle fort and Switches to Frederick with the Forged Javelin equiped. Stahl runs down and Transfers Gaius to him. Libra Rescues Avatar with pocket Chrom down. They head down and left to Hand Axe the Hero while in range of many left melee enemies. Hit rate can get shaky from ~65-80 depending on Patience, but Avatar should have tons of chances to kill and I think there are some complex contingencies if needed.

Cordelia with Gregor (unequipped) flies down and to the right edge, Switches to Gregor, who drops her into the Mage’s range. (this setup is so Panne can finish next turn without aggroing the Sage). Panne/Kellam and Maribelle/Tharja just move down near Cordelia. Tharja helps marginally with Anathema. I was going to explore the option of her using a +Spd Pair and Nosferatu to tank more stuff, but she needs a Spd tonic and the shop is blocked. Oh well. >_>

Turn 2, Frederick attacks Gangrel with Steel, hopefully killing. Libra Rescues him and Olivia Dances. Frederick then heads right. Maribelle heals Cordelia and Panne kills the mage nearby. Avatar goes into the middle, importantly in range of all the Wyverns. Can be more aggressive with Avatar here, but I would try to avoid the Arcwind Mage and Sage combination which is quite dangerous. I find it’s better to have Frederick shoulder slightly more of the load and additionally allows that Sage kill to be fed to someone else.

Turn 3, mostly everything should be dead. Stahl/Gaius/Olivia get the Bullion(L) chest. A few different things can happen to clean up the right side. Panne kills the Sage if it’s weak enough (usually if Frederick got a Spd proc. This is also a bit risky as she is onerounded in return. Can play safer if desired.). Libra uses Ward on Cordelia. Cordelia (Gregor allows her to double) can head down to Javelin the Arcwind Mage (barely avoiding the ohko with Ward). If Cordelia gets a Gregor Dual Strike, great she gets more exp. If not, Frederick finishes. If Frederick does not get Spd (or is less Spd blessed than mine), he needs to hit the Sage again on this turn. A Rescue use may then be needed to save Panne in that case. Or just feed that kill to Cordelia instead of going down toward the Arcwind Mage. Frederick can still finish on enemy phase. Alternatively, there are cases where a Wyvern heads over to that side. Usually in that case Panne does some tanking with Kellam (3hko). Basically, various stuff can happen but I think it can be dealt with.

For most of these plans, if stuff doesn’t work, there’s usually not a large chance of death so there’s usually an easy transition into a 4 turn clear. I estimate the expected turncount to be sub4 for this chapter, so I think it’s certainly worth it. As a side note: burning through Skill/Luck tonics can marginally improve reliability, but it does quickly add up if buying for the whole team. At this point I’m trying to be conservative with gold as possible.

Dark Flier probably just an easier time here and can get much more exp (however, she may have less exp from earlier clears as well). Griffon runs into the (massive) issue of Axes vs. Swords and Lucky Seven/Patience, which is quite the problem. However, Dark Flier may run into more durability problems if trying to solo it all. Using Javelins may help against the Mercs, Silver Sword Hero and Gangrel but Fighters, Wyverns, Arcwind will still all hit hard. The extra Res does help but Avatar doesn’t fight too many mages in my strat (and they’re pretty inaccurate if not the Arcwind ones). Still, something like Tharja Pair Up would be very useful because Dark Flier doesn’t need a Spd Pair, and Tharja gives Anathema/Hex and evens out the Def gap. This is probably around the time the Pegasus Knight class progression becomes a superior option to the Wyvern route.

Name      Class         Level        Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord               /03.92  22   8   1   9   9   7   8   1        
Avatar    Griffon Rider 10/16/07.53  47  33  10  26  27  23  28  13  Energy Drop
Frederick Great Knight     ??/12.51  40  22   2  18  18   9  20   4
Lissa     Cleric             /04.78  20   2   7   5   5  11   3   5  
Maribelle Troubadour         /05.20  19   1   5   4   7   5   3   9
Panne     Wyvern Rider     10/03.43  35  20   2  15  14  10  16   2
Cordelia  Pegasus Knight     /08.74  26  10   3  14  15   9   8   8
Libra     War Monk         ??/02.42  41  15  17  13  15  11  12  18
 
Supports:
Chrom: C Avatar. C Frederick.
Avatar: B Stahl. C Chrom. C Lissa. C Gaius
Frederick: S Sumia. C Chrom. C Virion. 
Lissa: C Avatar.
Panne: B Kellam
 
Skills (Stat bonuses from skills and weapons included in the above stats.):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2, Tantivy, Deliverer
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle
Maribelle: Resistance+2
Panne: Even Rhythm, Strength+2
Cordelia: Speed+2
Libra: Miracle, Healtouch

The high stats of my Frederick finally helped a bunch, particularly Spd. It allows potentially doubling the Sage with a proc in this chapter, and avoids the double from Gangrel. If Gangrel doubles Frederick (actually fairly likely on average), it may be too difficult for Frederick to tank him. May then require Ward, which is less Rescue available for positioning. With dedicated focus, it may have been possible to get Lissa or Maribelle to C Staves for Ward, which would alleviate that concern. With lower Str, it may require more forging for the Gangrel kill (or hope for an Avatar hit. Sumia can also switch to Steel for +3 damage, -5 hit, helping a bit).

I probably shouldn’t be switching between Lissa and Maribelle for Staff use as I have been. Don’t really know who’s better though. Might start sticking with Lissa since her Mag is better and she has higher promo gains.

At this point, Panne is basically Cherche with no Axe rank. >_>. Exp is so scarce. I think I may go to Anna’s paralogue sometime for Anna herself, some items and the exp for Lucina/Panne.

Edited July 1, 2013 by XeKr

[Redwall]

Are you still planning on using Morgan as a Rescue-bot? If you're recruiting Anna, it seems like her Paralogue should be enough to make him a serviceable combatant in Chapter 15 and beyond.

[XeKr]

I was originally thinking that if Morgan gets ~70 exp per Veteran+Rescue spam, he could eventually be a decent fighter with Celica’s without swallowing kills from Panne and Lucina. In addition to being a 7-8 move Rescuebot with decent Mag. However, iirc I tested this sometime and Veteran doesn’t actually work like that, so I may indeed change those plans.

At this point Panne isn’t going to contribute much to routs if she doesn’t get more kills and I think Lucina needs as many as possible (for the most reliability). Cordelia needs a few more kills so she can start Rescue-spamming up to Rally Speed (may be needed for Pheros. Yen’fay is a huge problem in several respects too). Avatar also needs kills to keep up for the midgame bosskills.

It mainly depends on how fast Lucina can snowball, which I’m still unsure about. I suppose I could stop training Panne and have Dark Mage Morgan take a bunch of kills in Anna’s paralogue. Maybe easier since Nosferatu makes him immediately competent (even still, there’s 35 atk, 14 Spd Barbs, 28 atk, 20 Spd Myrms and such, from a glance). There’s a few other misc issues though such as Morgan having bleh base Mag from lowlevel Chrom and Griffon Avatar, not having enough Second Seals, and not enough really good +Spd Pairs.

We’ll see. I originally planned to train Panne because she doesn’t directly compete for kills with Lucina for several chapters. I didn’t want to split too many kills between Lucina and Morgan, but still wanted the extra combat unit and flier. I expected Panne to snowball quicker than she is currently doing. As it stands, I’m still babying her as Lucina/Morgan’s recruitment nears. This could likely be improved with better exp optimization but oh well. <_<

So uhh, probably Morgan will go something like Tactician (get a few kills here) -> Grandmaster (for helping C15 rout) -> Priest/Sage later. Or maybe just Dark Mage -> Sorc if there’s enough exp and I can get both the Bullion and Seal on C14. Maybe possible with convoy shenanigans as there’s apparently a chest key in that chapter. Still don’t want to split exp too much, as I’ve already overestimated the exp available even with conservative estimates.

[Blademaster!]

Huh, I was curious if you were going to be able to 2 turn chapter 11.

[XeKr]

Positioning wise, 2 turns is fairly straightforward with 2 competent combat units. However, Avatar with a Hand Axe has 41 disp hit and doesn't double Gangrel. She also just 3hkos the Hero at 55-65 disp hit (needing +6 Spd to double). I don't see any way to 2 turn given how reliable I want these strategies. The expected turncount would probably be far worse.

I do think Dark Flier can do it. She goes down the mage side then goes for the Thief, while in range of all of Gangrel's group. Frederick does most of the work on the left (maybe he aggros the middle first turn). Frederick may require forges/Luna/Dual Strikes for the Wyverns and still durability may be a concern for both he and Avatar.

[XeKr]

Literally requires an even number of Hand Axe uses to 2 turn. I mad.

[spoiler=Chapter 12: 3/58]

2 turns is somewhat possible with Griffon Avatar. The Silver Bows aren’t forged and Avatar’s Def is so ridiculous with Kellam that she can tank the whole map (my Avatar’s Def is a bit above average at 17/30 procs, but she doesn’t really come close to dying in all my attempts. The majority of the map and even the boss tinks and forged Silver Swords do like 6 damage. Most other stuff is inaccurate too.). The primary thing that prevents the 3 turn is the upper left Paladin who is too hard to 2hko on enemy phase. It is possible to do some shenanigans and trade Kellam a Beast Killer obtained in this chapter (the one from Renown is useful forged to help clean the bottom). Obviously his Dual Strikes aren’t reliable at all though. Perhaps if Avatar had a high support rank with someone else that could use the Beastkiller/Rapier and didn’t need the Def, it could work better. Someone like my Chrom doesn’t really work too well because his att and hit are terrible and Avatar does want the Def from Kellam. It is possible though, if not too reliable.

In addition, I was semi-joking above, but it just so happens that Avatar cleanly onerounds and 2hkos most of the enemies. The enemy density is so high that her weapon breaks in the middle of her attacks, so enemies consistently manage to live. As she flies across to the other side, the enemy ranges then don’t all overlap so she can’t rout them all. With an even number of Hand Axe uses, she won’t run into this problem. But that requires ridiculous foresight. >_>

The bottom can be cleaned in 2 turns (though not super consistently) and I burned a bunch of money to try and set it up. Most of the setup is still used the same way since the bottom left group rushes your initial position and there’s a Beast Killer Paladin in there. This dude has 65 atk against Beasts, which demolishes basically all the competent characters. Also he has 22 Spd and high defenses. Some S rank Dual Strike trickery is needed to deal with him.

Deploy Avatar, Kellam, Frederick, Sumia, Cordelia, Lon’qu, Panne, Gregor, Libra, Tharja, Olivia. Avatar, Cordelia, Tharja get Def tonics. Libra, Tharja get Mag tonics. Avatar, Frederick, Cordelia get Str tonics. Forge a Hammer +2 mt and give to Libra. Beast Killer +2 mt and give to Frederick. Forge +1 mt on Chrom’s Rapier. Gregor holds onto a Master Seal. Make sure Avatar’s inventory is full and has lots of Hand Axes. The initial positioning is carefully set to allow the following actions. The movements need to be very precise and are fairly complex throughout because we want Cherche to promote and need to trade around some stuff. Also need to Transfer around the +Spd pair ups for reliability and such. It ends up working quite well.

Turn 1. Kellam moves into Avatar, pairing up, and they fly above the Short Spear Knight and diagonal from the Beast Killer Knight nearby, killing it. Send the Beast Killer to the convoy. Olivia dances for Avatar, who then flies way up to a magic square in range of all the top right enemies.

Chrom convoys and trades Cordelia the recently gotten Beast Killer, then Pairs with Panne nearby. Gregor moves to that same spot, trades Cherche the Master Seal and waits. Cherche moves over to Libra, trades her regular Hammer for Libra’s forged Hammer, then promotes to Griffon. Cordelia takes pocket Lon’qu and waits in the range of a bottom left Cavelier (Def tonic prevents ohko. Lon’qu allows doubling). Panne moves a bit right and drops Chrom off. Sumia moves to the right. Frederick moves in range of another bottom left Cav, equipping a forged Beast Killer which will ohko. Tharja, with Nosferatu, moves above Gregor in range of the Short Spear Knight (This position for Tharja also gives Anathema for a lot of the bottom fighting next turn). Libra Rescues Olivia to safety (Mag tonic gives just barely enough magic from base).

Enemy phase, Avatar kills a bunch of stuff. Frederick and Cordelia will both kill a Cav on enemy phase and Tharja will weaken a Short Spear Knight in range for Chrom to kill. The Knight ignores Frederick despite the fact he has a 1 range weapon.

Turn 2. Chrom kills the Knight that Tharja weakened with his forged Rapier. Frederick moves to the left tile adjacent to Cordelia, Transfers Lon’qu, which allows him to double and weaken a Cavalier with a Javelin. Panne flies over and Transfers Lon’qu to her, giving a very reliable kill on that Cav despite Axes vs. Swords (only has to hit 1 of 2 chance at fairly high chances, 90%+ hit).

Cordelia Pairs with Gregor who is next to her. Sumia flies to where Cordelia was, rearranges Frederick’s inventory so the forged Beast Killer is equipped, then attacks the Paladin with a Javelin. Olivia dances if necessary, but Frederick needs to Dual Strike at least once (>90% success overall). Gregor moves above the Paladin, switches to Cordelia, who Beast Killers (~90% true hit) and finishes this Paladin. Cherche moves left of Cordelia, Transfers Gregor (Griffon promo gain and Gregor just barely allow her to double) and onerounds a Cavelier with the forged Hammer gotten from Libra (also in range of a Knight). Tharja blocks off Cordelia from getting hit, healing if necessary (Def tonic prevents ohko). Libra does some healing. Avatar heads far left to a magic square in range of a bunch of stuff, healing with a Concoction or Elixer if necessary.

On enemy phase, Avatar kills more stuff. A Knight attacks Tharja while another Knight runs into Cherche’s Hammertime. If Cherche was hit by a Cavelier, I suppose it's possible for both Knights to attack and kill her. However, they seem to prefer attacking Tharja and the chance of all 3 hitting against the weapon triangle, and +10 avoid from Support bonuses (Gregor paired, Cordelia adjacent) is pretty low.

Turn 3. Chrom finishes a bottom Knight that Tharja weakened on enemy phase. Everyone else helps Panne get 2 kills on the right side and Cordelia a little exp up to level 10. Avatar cleans the top. It’s all very lenient this turn.

For reference, the potential 2 turn would just go something like this. Frederick equips a Steel Lance first turn but goes to the same place, Gregor Pairs with Cherche instead of staying in that safe spot. Everything else is mostly the same. On Turn 2 Frederick still goes left of Cordelia, takes Lon’qu and chips the bottom leftmost Cavelier with a Javelin. Cordelia kills the Cav that Frederick weakened on enemy phase. Sumia goes adjacent to Frederick (where Cordelia was), and tries to get 2 Frederick Dual Strikes with Olivia’s help. Cherche with Gregor flies to kill the left Cavelier with the Hammer, also in range of the Knights. Libra with Tharja goes right to Hammer the Knights (needs +Def from Pair Up to not be 2hko’d). Others do the same things. It’s a bit annoying Cordelia blocks Sumia’s position, which lowers the success rate greatly, but I didn’t really find a rearrangement that still cleans up the bottom fast enough. Also, some misc stuff can happen like the left Knights going around the other way, which will also ruin this 2 turn.

Dark Flier can do similarly for this chapter, though probably requires Dark Knight Tharja for +1 move. The Hp difference is 3, Def difference is 4-5 which very quickly adds up given the enemy density. Dark Flier may not consistently 2hko with Javelins, so would likely use Tomes instead which has no triangle advantage. Axes have triangle against a lot more stuff like the Knights too. Overall Griffon has much better durability, both concrete and avoid. Notably, Dark Flier wouldn’t have weapon triangle/Tantivy against the forged Beast Killer up there which is very threatening (it's about 23.5% true hit on Griffon who has triangle and Tantivy). For these reasons, it’s expected that Dark Flier needs to slow down for reliable clears.

Name      Class         Level        Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord               /05.29  24   8   2  10  10   8  10   1        
Avatar    Griffon Rider 10/16/13.70  52  38  12  30  30  26  30  16  Energy Drop
Frederick Great Knight     ??/12.76  40  22   2  18  18   9  20   4
Lissa     Cleric             /04.78  20   2   7   5   5  11   3   5  
Maribelle Troubadour         /05.20  19   1   5   4   7   5   3   9
Panne     Wyvern Rider     10/05.09  37  22   2  16  15  11  16   3
Cordelia  Falcon Knight    10/01.00  32  13   4  19  20  11  10  12
Libra     War Monk         ??/03.07  42  16  18  14  15  12  12  18
Cherche   Griffon Rider    12/01.51  36  20   2  18  17  10  17   5
 
Supports:
Chrom: S Avatar. C Frederick
Avatar: S Chrom, B Stahl. C Lissa. C Kellam, C Gaius
Frederick: S Sumia. C Chrom. C Virion. 
Lissa: C Avatar.
Panne: B Kellam, C Lon’qu
 
Skills (Stat bonuses from skills and weapons included in the above stats.):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2, Tantivy, Deliverer
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle
Maribelle: Resistance+2
Panne: Even Rhythm, Strength+2
Cordelia: Speed+2, Relief
Libra: Miracle, Healtouch
Cherche: Strength+2, Tantivy

Avatar got over 6 levels fighting mostly unpromoted units as a 10/16/7 Griffon Rider. Lolveteran.

I don’t think any stat growth discrepancies really mattered here. Any issue could probably be solved with a bit more forging regardless. Avatar may not double the boss which requires 28 Spd. However, she could possibly Pair with Stahl for +2 Spd, -2 Def, +10 Avoid (it might be that this avoid is actually better than the Def, but then again, I never saw Avatar die). She also gets plenty of attack chances on the boss so it really shouldn’t be a problem even if not doubling.

Cherche is surprisingly good. Panne is almost getting good. Cordelia promoted, yay. Even Chrom got a bit of exp.

Some musing about a few future turncounts now that things should start really speeding up. I’m mostly worried by Yen’fay atm, as it may require some preparation for him, so this helps me get some planning straight. I may be overly optimistic about some of these.

C13: Easy 1 turn. Get Silver Axe if possible. Dance for Panne to get kills.

P12: Hopefully 1 turn. Dance for Avatar if need, else Lucina. Boss needs 34 Spd or maybe save everyone with Rescue Staves. Could delay I suppose.

C14: Easy 1 turn. Dance for Lucina

(P4: Maybe to train Lucina/Panne and get Anna/chests. 3 turns?)

C15: who knows. Start building Say’ri support?

C16: Should be 1 turn with Hammertime. Needs Dance to reach boss.

C17: 2 turns most likely. Boss requires 39 Spd, so probably Avatar with Say’ri.

C18: 1 turn ideally. Likely requires Griffon Avatar with Say’ri and Rally Speed. Need to stay Griffon to ignore terrain. Could probably Avatar solo for 2-3 turns? Or Lucina/Avatar for the 2hko? May go with that instead as accuracy with Axes won’t be great on Yen’fay. I’d still like to try meeting the Spd benchmark and see.

Misc: Lucina is first priority for exp when she arrives, training Lance rank. Panne is next. Chrom is high priority so Lucina has a good Spd Pair. Others should spam Rescue as money allows. At some point need to build support between Avatar and Lucina, though the Renown Seed of Trust helps.

It’s quite possible taking more turns to train could pay off later on. Difficult to find a good, safe place to do so though. Anna’s chapter seems the best bet as the enemies are fairly tame and she + the Arms Scroll/Bullion could improve turncount/reliability.

[XeKr]

Surprisingly not trivial chapters to do very reliably while maximizing exp/support points. Though I got a bit lazy in the end. <_<

[spoiler=Chapter 13: 1/59]

Hard to reliably get the Silver Axe without using up Olivia on Avatar, which means Panne is giving up kills. I prefer giving her more exp so no Silver Axe.

Henry chips a southern Fighter with Elfire. Maribelle Rescues Tharja down a bit, who chips a different southern Fighter with Wind. Panne with Frederick kills a Fighter, then is Danced for and kills the other one. Requires 18 Spd, which she has with a Tonic and Frederick Pair Up. I wanted to try to build their support if possible, but obviously other Spd pairs could be used if necessary. Base Griffon!Cherche with a Spd Tonic doubles and weakens a left Fighter. Cordelia and then Lissa chain Rescue Chrom down, who then gets that kill. All the hit rates are very high, easily >90% disp hit so even more true hit.

Libra Rescues Avatar with pocket Kellam up. She onerounds the boss cleanly with a Steel Axe, no worries about Counter. 51 atk is needed to oneround cleanly. Kellam, Tonics, and Skills give 8 att, Killer Axe (if necessary) gives 13 after weapon rank bonus, which means just 30 Str is needed or 19 str growth procs in around 36 levels. Should be very easy to meet the benchmark as Wyvern gives ridiculous Str growth, plus there are the Energy Drops available and forging if necessary.

For reference, here’s Lucina’s bases.

Name      Class         Level        Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Lucina    Cavelier         10/01.00  36  18   5  17  16  17  16   6        

Avatar is 10/16/14.00. Panne is 10/06.15.

[spoiler=Paralogue 12: 1/60]

I didn’t try too hard, but I think Olivia is necessary to 1 turn this, meaning she can’t be used for getting Lucina an extra kill.

Sumia ferries Gaius to the nearby Bullion chest. Panne with Lon’qu kills a Mage. Frederick chips a Myrm. Lucina with Chrom kills the Myrm. Lissa, Cordelia spam Rescue. Libra moves above Panne, Rescuing Olivia up. Avatar with Kellam flies over to Morgan and recruit him. Switch and Transfer Avatar to Morgan, who moves up, Switches and Avatar kills a Myrm. Olivia Dances for them, and Avatar flies all the way up to the boss.

My Avatar cleanly onerounds the boss with a Killer Axe. In general, 54 atk is needed. Morgan, Tonic, Skills give 6. Killer Axe gives 13. Which leaves 35 Str needed. Forge and Energy Drops could be used as needed. Or could do something like rely on a Crit or Morgan’s Celica’s Gale, which is around 80% likely. 34 Spd is needed to double and Morgan/Tonics give 5. So 29 Spd, or 19/37 procs. I’m sure some Rescue shenanigans can get Avatar up there with a +Spd pairing, though it could hinder the exp gain of the others. Or could just probably delay this Paralogue if really necessary (if going for a Lucina-centric second half).

Note that if passing Galeforce, Morgan’s recruitment will have to be delayed slightly. Something similar like Redwall’s run would probably be good, where taking an extra turn somewhere gets Galeforce before C15. Dark Flier obviously has no trouble 1 turning this.

Avatar is 10/16/14.63. Panne is 10/06.78. Lucina is 10/02.00.

[spoiler=Chapter 14: 1/61]

Lucina takes Naga’s Tear. The main other candidate is Avatar who may want the Spd (she should be on pace for enough, but you never know). Though I think Lucina wants the stats now plus favoritism.

Something was blocking the Mag/Res tonic shop, so I had to play around with some positionings to get it all done reliably. Notably, Lucina needed more Res to survive 2 mage attacks, so Libra needed to be available for Ward. Lissa and Cordelia have super-small Rescue range too, which restricts positionings greatly.

It is surprisingly tricky with these limitations and the limited deployment slots to reliably get Lucina 2 kills, plus Panne and Morgan each a kill (plus open up a clear path to the boss). Both Lucina and Morgan should have pocket units to take advantage of Veteran. Avatar does not need a pairing and it’s just 10 exp anyways, which does free up a slot. Cordelia should be deployed to get Rescue exp. Gaius needs a helper to get to the Bullion chest. It seems possible to get the Second Seal, but gives up reliability/exp. Besides, I expect Morgan to be a short term contributor for the C15 rout and he’ll be a better fighter promoted rather than reclassed. It could potentially be useful for Paladin Frederick or something, but w/e.

Anyways, Cherche chips a Knight on the left. Morgan with Henry kills that Knight. After getting Ward by Libra, Lucina with Chrom goes far left to kill a Mage (Str tonic for clean one-rounding). Cordelia Rescues Olivia a little left, who Dances for Lucina who kills another Mage. Lissa Rescues Gaius to the right a bit, who then grabs the Bullion chest. Panne with Lon’qu kills a Mage on the left ship, which clears the way for Avatar to Hammer the boss (who doesn’t have Pavise). It would probably be ideal for Panne to do this instead, but she requires a few more attacks to get to D rank Axes.

There are numerous other objectives that I choose to prioritize less than giving Panne, Lucina, and Morgan as much exp as possible. Among them, building Panne/Frederick support, building Avatar/Lucina support, giving Chrom exp, and some Second Seal chests.

Of these, the Avatar/Lucina support is the most worrisome, as I don’t really know when there will be time to build it. There are a lot of small optimization decisions like this that are difficult to tackle.

Name      Class         Level        Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Statboosters
Chrom     Lord               /05.96  24   8   2  10  10   8  10   1        
Avatar    Griffon Rider 10/16/14.83  53  39  12  30  31  27  31  16  Energy Drop
Frederick Great Knight     ??/12.76  40  22   2  18  18   9  20   4
Lissa     Cleric             /05.98  21   3   7   6   6  12   3   5  
Maribelle Troubadour         /05.20  19   1   5   4   7   5   3   9
Panne     Wyvern Rider     10/07.35  39  24   2  17  17  12  18   4
Cordelia  Falcon Knight    10/02.02  33  14   4  19  20  11  10  12
Libra     War Monk         ??/03.99  42  16  18  14  15  12  12  18
Lucina    Cavelier         10/04.00  44  21   7  20  19  20  20   9  Naga’s Tear
Morgan    Tactician          /10.85  32  17  12  16  16  14  14  12
 
Supports:
Chrom: S Avatar. C Frederick, C Lucina, C Morgan
Avatar: S Chrom, B Stahl. C Lissa. C Kellam, C Gaius, C Lucina, C Morgan
Frederick: S Sumia. C Chrom. C Virion. 
Lissa: C Avatar.
Panne: B Kellam, C Lon’qu
Lucina: C Avatar, C Chrom, C Morgan
Morgan: C Avatar, C Chrom, C Lucina
 
Skills (Stat bonuses from skills and weapons included in the above stats.):
Chrom: Dual Strike+
Avatar: Veteran, Solidarity, Strength+2, Tantivy, Deliverer
Frederick: Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa: Miracle
Maribelle: Resistance+2
Panne: Even Rhythm, Strength+2
Cordelia: Speed+2, Relief
Libra: Miracle, Healtouch
Lucina: Dual Strike+, Charm, Aether, Veteran, Discipline
Morgan: Veteran, Solidarity, Rightful King, Deliverer 
 

Blahblahexpoptimizationblahblah

Avatar da gawd. Are we sure that’s –Luck flaw?

Lucina pls.

I do think I should go to Anna’s paralogue since Lucina/Panne are still kinda weak and don’t have 1-2 range. If they are both competent for C15 (ideally both will be promoted and with 1-2 range), they can start to snowball and get tons more kills/levels without babying (especially during the few chapters I’ll have to 2 turn or more like C17 or C20). It depends on how many turns P4 ends up taking. Or if I can already reliably 3 turn C15 without training I’ll maybe just move on. In addition, there’s still a few other really hard chapters later to keep in mind like C20, C23, C24, which are heavily impacted by the snowball effect.

Anyways, the general skeleton plan is Avatar goes Hero after C18/19, Lucina goes GK or Paladin depending on her Spd. Panne goes Griffon. Morgan goes GM then Priest/Sage (or possibly just stay GM for the routs as Celica’s probably does some hefty chip). I’d welcome others’ thoughts on this and everything else.

However, this run is now on indefinite Civ 5: BNW hiatus. Thanks for reading what’s done so far; I will definitely be coming back to it …eventually >_>.

Edited July 9, 2013 by XeKr