Walhart's FE9 0% Growths Hard Mode Enemy Recruits Only Video LP!

[darkkfan]

I'm a follower of this topic and a fan of your playthrough already, but I have a request. When you get a chance, would you consider updating the second post of this topic containing the pictures and information about the characters you are using to include their promoted stats and information as well? Given that certain characters like Oswin and ORCAR have already promoted and there is a possibility of promoting others as the playthrough develops and master seals continue to become accessible that it would be nice seeing how the promotion gains and new weapons influence how strong these characters are now.

Yes, good idea. I had thought of that earlier but for some reason didn't do it. I am updating the characters section right now. Thanks for speaking up, and keep the requests coming people.

I also don't know what to do about weapon ranks. They change every few chapters, but I can't upload new pictures for every chapter. I guess I'll just add it/the changes at the end of each chapter section from now on.

Update: Character section and ratings updated. Generic White Halberdier now has a name and a better sprite.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Walhart

[darkkfan]

Chapter 13 video uploaded. It's a bit on the longer side (14 minutes), especially compared to the last chapter, but I didn't want to cut anything out. As expected, the midgame has been quite easy so far. I expect difficulty to pick up again lategame. So yeah, kinda like FE13 Luna+ (at least according to most people, my experience with FE13 Luna+ differs due to Avatar underuse), this run of FE9 has killer earlygame, and promises to have a relatively easy midgame ending in a difficult endgame.

[darkkfan]

Chapter 14 video is up (10 minutes). Sorry for the delay, I've been busy lately. I'll start working on chapter 15 tomorrow at some point.

Views have picked up a bit after hitting an all time low a few chapters ago (16 up from 9 a few chapters ago), so it seems I haven't lost everyone's interest. There is still a huge drop-off compared to the first few chapters (the first few chapters had like 30-50 views!). Like I've said, I couldn't care less about youtube views except for the fact that they indicate how interested people are in the content.

So, for those of you who have stuck with me so far, I thank you and I encourage you to keep watching. I know I've said this before and I hate to sound like a broken record, but feel free to tell me about what you do and don't like. For those of you who stopped watching after the first few views, I encourage you to tell me how to improve them (I promise I won't hold it against you) and I encourage you to give them another shot. If I'm overreacting and I'm not losing people's interest then tell me that, and I'll stop whining about it.

Again, sorry about posting another "wah, no one likes my videos" comment. I do realize that the audience for this kind of thing is limited and is generally a pretty quiet group. It's just, if there's something I can do to regain people's interest I would like to do it!

Thanks and enjoy!

Edited July 8, 2013 by Walhart

[NTNP]

As one of the 6 who have watched the newest video, I can honestly tell you that I am looking forward to the next chapter. I check on SF about once a day right now to see if you've posted any updates about this play through so at the very least you've got one fan.

[darkkfan]

As one of the 6 who have watched the newest video, I can honestly tell you that I am looking forward to the next chapter. I check on SF about once a day right now to see if you've posted any updates about this play through so at the very least you've got one fan.

Great to hear! Apparently there are few others like you too! A big thank you to you guys.

I'm not going to stop making these any time soon no matter how few people watch them, it's just a bit discouraging to see the views steadily decreasing.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Steadilly decreasing and then it will never be conquered

Just like Lunatic+

Which is easier than FE8 EM

[darkkfan]

Steadilly decreasing and then it will never be conquered

Just like Lunatic+

Which is easier than FE8 EM

You sure know how to motivate a guy...

Don't worry, I will definitely finish this one at least and then get back to Luna+, assuming I can still pull off the Luna+ one since it isn't looking great (all those early promotions have come back to bite me in the ass).

Edited July 8, 2013 by Walhart

[darkkfan]

Chapter 15 is up. It's just over 8 and a half minutes. Beginning chapter 16 now.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

How many chapters are ther in FE9>_>

[Espinosa]

One of Jill's Draco friends from C11 would've been really useful in chapter 15...

[PKL]

Yeah...or a Sage

[darkkfan]

One of Jill's Draco friends from C11 would've been really useful in chapter 15...

I know! I wish I had realized that ravens could open chests, and I probably could have done without a thief. Luckily, Chapter 15 was really easy.

Yeah...or a Sage

Yeah, for some reason there aren't any good magic users until Chapter 17-3. You can bet I'll be picking up that sage, though.

Update: Chapters 16 and 17-1 are complete. They took me extra long since I had to play through all of the chapter 17 subchapters (and by "play through" I meant just stomp with the BK) and then levelmod to chapter 23 to recruit a level 4 sniper and then levelmod back to 17-1. This was all because the game doesn't let you recruit enemies on rout maps.

Anyway, videos coming either really late tonight or tomorrow around midday.

Edited July 9, 2013 by Walhart

[darkkfan]

Sorry for the delay. Chapters 16 and 17-1 are up! Woot woot! Also updated the characters section with a sneak peak at my next couple recruits, including my original character who is actually a not-terrible splice for once!

Edited July 11, 2013 by Walhart

[darkkfan]

Ok, so chapters 17-2 and 17-3 are complete. I've run into a dilemma on 17-4, namely who to recruit? I decided to ask you guys what you think. I've selected the best candidates and added pros and cons below. It's possible that I've overlooked something, so feel free to point it out if I have. Thanks!

General (C Lances, E Swords):

Pros:

-There is only one other knight class unit in my party (Oswin)

-Different battle model than Oswin

-That DEF is always nice

-kinda resembles a dismounted Walhart

-Generals are fun and pretty cool

-Short Spear is decent

-Decent res to protect against mage spam

Cons:

-Stats aren't that much better than Oswin's

-DEF-tanking alone isn't that great when everything doubles you and mages exist

-Everyone uses lances on my team and they aren't that great

-Low Move

-There's a chance I'll be getting one other General before endgame

Halberdier (C Lances):

Pros:

-Solid all around stats

-Different battle model than Jarod/Hoplight

-Short Spear is decent

-Probably won't be getting any more halberdiers

-Halberdiers are cool

Cons:

-Very slight stat difference compared to Hoplight and Jarod

-Already have two halberdiers

-Lots of Lance Competition

-No secondary weapon type

Pegasus Knight (C Lances):

Pros:

-no female units on my team

-sprite already exists; I don't have to make one

-high move

-can promote; stats are higher than shown

-great speed

-not many other chances to get PK's (if I don't get this one i probably won't be getting any later)

Procon: PK's are good for 0% growths LTC'ing. Unfortunately, I'm not playing for turns.

Cons:

-Steel Lance is garbage

-terrible HP, poor durability

-stats are equivalent of about 5 levels below other candidates

Paladin (C Axes, E Lances):

Pros:

-great stats overall, good speed and hp

-good mobility

-can be the "gold knight" to lancelot's "silver knight"

-short axe is decent

-with c axe rank can be first competent axe user

Cons:

-really similar to Lancelot (exact same models)

-only slightly better stats than lancelot

-I will definitely get at least one other Paladin before endgame

-Paladin is a boring class

-Axes have bad hit rates and Paladins have low skill=even worse hit rates for Axe Paladins

What are your thoughts, SF?

Edited July 11, 2013 by Walhart

[Espinosa]

I would say the Short Axe Paladin (caused me a lot of headache on my 0% growths run) but you really need a proper flier, preferably several. Grab the Peg Knight and promote her.

This run reminds me of the first couple of chapters of H5. Your stats don't impress anyone but chipping in and proper positioning do the job.

[NTNP]

Paladin or Pegasus, either one would work but the General (while cool looking) isn't going to be that useful and the Halb is replicated a couple times over now. Also another consideration is, are you planning on getting one or more wyvern units in the next couple of chapters? If you are, skipping the Pegasus is fine. But if you aren't going to or aren't sure, then I'd recruit the Pegasus.

[darkkfan]

This run reminds me of the first couple of chapters of H5. Your stats don't impress anyone but chipping in and proper positioning do the job.

Yep, that's a perfect description of the earlygame. Lately, I've been picking up one out of the few promoted units on each map, so my stats have gotten better than the enemies on average. So it's kind of become the reverse, especially with 17-3, where I actually have better stats (all my guys are promoted and none of the enemies besides the one I claimed for recruitment), but the enemy positioning still makes it surprisingly difficult.

As for who to recruit, thank you to the two of you for posting, hopefully others will give their opinions too!

Can someone remind me again why having fliers is so important? I don't remember much about the next few chapters. I knew the PK was going to be a popular choice but I'm not sure why.

For those of you asking, here's a tentative plan of my recruitment. I've tried to keep it secretive until now, but with only a few chapters left I might as well just post it here. The levels are approximate (from here) and approximate stats can be found here.

Here's the plan (might switch if anything weird happens with weapon levels like with Lancelot's lance rank):

Edited version:

17-4: 17 PK

18: 20 Fighter

19: 1 Wyvern Lord

20: 19 Wyvern Rider or 3 Sage

21: 6 Swordmaster or 7 Warrior

22: 10 Tiger (not sure if Feral)

23: 11 Cat (Feral)

24: 7 Berserker

25: 10 Warrior or 3 Wyvern Lord

26: 12 Paladin or 11 Swordmaster or 11 General

27: 12 Tiger (pretty sure feral)

28: 15 Red Dragon (feral)

Keep in mind that I only get 1 more master seal (but not until chapter 21) and that BEXP is banned, making the only way to promote someone to feed them kills until level 21.

Looking at the stats, Wyvern Rider's/Lord's stats are ridiculous. I mean, they can be like 5-10 levels behind other classes and still have competitive stats. No wonder the highest level one that appears for the enemy is only level 3!

Edited July 12, 2013 by Walhart

[Espinosa]

In a normal game, fliers enable you to skip portions of the map, completing maps sooner. I'm not sure how dedicated you've been to using stat boosters and teaching skills, but besides that there's little reason to stay for a long period of time on a map.

Then again, in a normal game, fliers and whom they carry (Stefan or Ike for example) are really able to fight by really outperforming the enemies in terms of stats and equipment, which is not the case for you. The advantage of a flying unit over all else should be obvious though, and the WKs/WLs you can recruit in the next chapters where they're surprisingly common are terribly slow (10 AS promoted iirc), while your instapromoted Falcoknight should double many enemy types for a very long time from now.

Also, if you want to use any staves (Rescue etc.) with that same earlygame Priest, I advise promoting ASAP. You're not getting out of C staves ever unless you promote.

[darkkfan]

In a normal game, fliers enable you to skip portions of the map, completing maps sooner. I'm not sure how dedicated you've been to using stat boosters and teaching skills, but besides that there's little reason to stay for a long period of time on a map.

I've stockpiled nearly all the skills and boosters and will figure out who to use them on as soon as I have my endgame team planned and straightened out. Alternatively, when the game starts getting hard again.

Then again, in a normal game, fliers and whom they carry (Stefan or Ike for example) are really able to fight by really outperforming the enemies in terms of stats and equipment, which is not the case for you. The advantage of a flying unit over all else should be obvious though, and the WKs/WLs you can recruit in the next chapters where they're surprisingly common are terribly slow (10 AS promoted iirc), while your instapromoted Falcoknight should double many enemy types for a very long time from now.

Right, the advantages of someone like Haar are obvious, but someone like Marcia would only be useful in an LTC context. Although this would presumably apply to this PK too, I can definitely see your point about the SPD issue (although 10AS for an unpromoted Wyvern Rider really isn't that bad considering I was just thinking about getting a General with 7 AS!). Maybe I should reboot this with LTC once I'm done! Although, now I'm thinking about doing this with FE8 too, not to mention I really need to get back to that FE13 playlog!

Also, if you want to use any staves (Rescue etc.) with that same earlygame Priest, I advise promoting ASAP. You're not getting out of C staves ever unless you promote.

Oops, I should have made that more clear. He already promoted immediately following the last chapter (17-1). Thanks anyway for the tip though, I didn't know that part about the C Staves!

Edited July 11, 2013 by Walhart

[PKL]

That Pegasus looks actually good. Recruit her. Your units are severely lacking in spd, res and flight. Her promoted wont even be so bad.

Also, don't be another Snowy :P. Marcia is the best unit even if we don't take LTC into account. The advantages of flight are more than just for LTC. She can kill stuff at 1-2 range better (Javelin forges) and faster than most units and supports Tanith for fire earth goodness.

Edited July 11, 2013 by PKL

[darkkfan]

That Pegasus looks actually good. Recruit her. Your units are severely lacking in spd, res and flight. Her promoted wont even be so bad.

Ok, since everyone seems to love PK's, I guess I'm going to recruit her. I probably shouldn't count your vote since you're a bit pro-PK biased XD

Also, don't be another Snowy :P. Marcia is the best unit even if we don't take LTC into account. The advantages of flight are more than just for LTC. She can kill stuff at 1-2 range better (Javelin forges) and faster than most units and supports Tanith for fire earth goodness.

0% growths Marcia is useless without LTC, especially without BEXP. That's what I meant.

[NTNP]

Reasonably, with one or two fliers (for maps such as the cliffs or Ena's map) are going to allow for a lot of variability in how you accomplish objectives in the game. Having more than two probably isn't neccesary though so either both wyverns or a wyvern+pegasus would be a good choice. Otherwise, your team should be fine as you have it planned out. Plus since you only have a single "promotion" worthy character left in the form of the pegasus/wyvern you recruit in the near future it isn't going to be that big of a deal in that regard.

[darkkfan]

Chapters 17-1, 17-2, 17-3, and 17-4 are now up. They are all relatively short (6-9 minutes). First post was too long so I moved them to the second post. Also updated character ratings.

I took everyone's word for it and recruited that PK. I'm gonna give her a deployment slot in Chapter 18 over some of my veteran team members (Oswin, Jarod, Hoplight) as a sign of faith, but I must say I don't have much confidence in her.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Walhart

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

I suggest the PK mostly because its stats are pretty solid all around

[darkkfan]

I suggest the PK mostly because its stats are pretty solid all around

Yeah, and when the RNG spawned her when I reset to do the chapter she actually spawned with better durability so meh... I recruited her.