H4 195 turns

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Pass is shit and didn't exist in FE12.

Use Rescue Staff!

[PKL]

I had one of my allies cast Silence.

[shadykid]

I had one of my allies cast Silence.

I had another Sniper with a forged Silver Bow walk by and one-shot a pegasus

whoops

also fliers can't outmove Horsemen, checkmate

Edited August 4, 2013 by shadykid

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

I have 10 Sage in the team. Doesn't matter

Edited August 4, 2013 by I have a Dragon Boner

[Ema Skye]

/me sends ridersbane Dracoknight after PKL

[shadykid]

/me sends ridersbane Dracoknight after PKL

that does nothing....

*sends Excalibur/forged Shaver sages after PKL*

[eclipse]

If you guys want to be stupid and random, FFtF is thataway.

I'll have to play out Chapter 12 myself (as all I see when I try to imagine it is my units at critical and my healers ripping their hair out). Otherwise, thanks for updating!

[Redwall]

Eh, I don't really mind the off-chatter too much. I appreciate the post though.

So, I redid the playthrough from a battle save in Chapter 16 so that I could use Sirius (who took a Speedwing) instead of Catria in 16x. Although he may well be a dead investment at this point, Sirius' ability to use the Sword Killer as a Paladin (for C20 and C21) as well as his A-ranked Wyrmslayer (for the endgame) as a Swordmaster are kind of appealing.

Although I got a four-turn clear of Chapter 17, because Palla (who took an Energy Drop) and my Avatar are both below their averages in Str, I don't really see a way of doing C17 in four turns without some rigging for enemy stats. The gist of the four-turn clear (one Rescue use and one Again use) is to have Mallesia move four times in three player phases (Feena), using Rescue (Marth), Fortify, Physic (Sniper Palla), and finally Unlock on Sheema's door during turn 3 PP. Luke (Horseman) ORKOs the lower-right Warrior in Sheema's room using the Parthia, and Caeda and Marth team up on the Warrior blocking the left subchamber, aided by the Geosphere (one of them must crit with a Javelin or Wo Dao; the conditional success rate of the Warrior KO occurring given my stats is about 50%). Heath plugs the chokepoint from a position preventing Marth from getting hit with a Longbow. Finally, Palla (Sniper) must be positioned 1L of the inactive Archer, and Linde (Swordmaster) is unequipped and positioned 1D of the inactive Archer during turn 3 PP. Catria (Swordmaster) ORKOs the LHS Sniper with the Devil Sword while staying out of range of the expected reinforcements.

The main problems are that Palla only has 23 Str as a Sniper, so max HP+Def DKs survive with 1 HP, and Heath is dependent on Killer Lance crits against the beginning Warriors, who get doubled but still survive on occasion. I'll probably just submit a reliable five-turn clear.

[eclipse]

Are these numbers with forged weapons?

[Redwall]

The Javelin had +1 Mt, but neither the Javelin nor the Wo Dao had any +Crit. I wound up going for a more reliable five-turn clear instead since I didn't feel like rigging arena growths for MU at the time.

I'm at the start of Ch. 19 now and, in anticipation of the promoted enemy stats in that chapter, rigged a point of Str for MU and a point of Spd for Luke, both of whom were and still are below average in those respective stats. So um, I guess my current team could do a four-turn clear of Ch. 17 just fine. >_> I'll update once I figure out Ch. 19.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Just curious here, are you doing this on a DS or emu?

[Espinosa]

Here is Redwall spending his time outside, so it's most certainly the latter:

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Fire Emblem on Ostrich

Better than Card Games on Motorcycles

So Redwall is weak to Ridersbane and Bows?

[shadykid]

Fire Emblem on Ostrich

Better than Card Games on Motorcycles

So Redwall is weak to Ridersbane and Bows?

how would he be weak to bows, he's not flying

[Redwall]

I'm playing this on a DS while riding an emu.

[Redwall]

Wolfguard get. What a terrible chapter.

[spoiler=Chapter 17 (5/156)]Pretty boring chapter if done in five turns; a four-turn clear with Tomas recruited was possible (and I actually did it) with one Again and one Rescue use, but my team's stats low enough to make the four-turn somewhat unreliable.

I bought an Arms Scroll for Luke, a Dracoshield that I didn't use just yet, and a Spirit Dust for Linde. I also used two Speedwings on Luke. Finally, I forged a +5-Mt, +5-Hit Ridersbane in preparation for the upcoming stages. Probably some more expenses were made that I can't remember.

The idea was to have most of the team head down and keep a Sniper and some backup to handle the Dracoknights. Tomas was recruited on turn 1, and Samson and Sheema were recruited on turn 5.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    18.40 35 17  00  18  17  20  12  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop
Heath    16.52 50 23  10  28  25  17  26  08  E Swd A Lnc       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Dracoshield
Luke      8.51 42 22  01  19  25  11  15  03  D Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x2
Mallesia  6.01 35 03  21  09  18  21  08  09  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria    9.99 43 21  03  25  26  22  16  11  A Lnc E Swd       Falcoknight        Energy Drop
Linde     9.31 43 05  12  29  30  23  09  06  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x2
Palla    12.17 44 24  01  30  26  10  18  03  C Bow             Sniper             Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius    9.45 37 17  01  20  21  11  16  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Seraph Robe; Goddess Icon
Caeda    10.02 47 20  01  22  25  25  17  07  B Lnc E Swd       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena     9.29
Etzel     8.71 32 01  12  15  14  09  09  17  C Tme C Stf       Bishop

Expenses: Lots of stuff (9970 G remaining).

[spoiler=Chapter 18 (2/158)]I used on Heath the Dracoshield I previously purchased.

Credit to mjemirzian for the general skeleton of the clear, which I had read sometime ago. I had to get a bit creative with positioning due to Marth needing the Starsphere (for surviving a Paladin) and preventing the RHS units from wrecking face with it.

Reclasses: Heath (Hero), Luke (Horseman), Mallesia (Sage), Etzel (Bishop), Linde (Swordmaster). Everyone else was in his or her default class tree.

Turn 1: Luke had the Starsphere to start and ORKOed the lower-right Paladin. Marth took the Starsphere and got the Lifesphere. Palla and Catria handled two more Paladins. Heath and Xane blocked the right, while Caeda took the Iote's Shield and moved to a square in range of only one General. Linde and Mallesia headed in range of the Ballistae. Etzel headed towards the cave and healed Xane, who also got healed by Mallesia.

Turn 2: The Caeda thing was necessary to prevent the path to the boss from being clogged. I had just enough firepower to clear the way to the boss while getting all but the Recover staff at a ~80% success rate. Mallesia needed to use Rescue on Marth, of course.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    18.51 35 17  00  18  17  20  12  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop
Heath    16.97 50 23  10  28  25  17  26  08  E Swd A Lnc       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Dracoshield x2
Luke      9.14 43 23  01  19  26  11  15  03  D Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x2
Mallesia  6.49 35 03  21  09  18  21  08  09  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   10.56 44 22  03  25  26  23  16  11  A Lnc E Swd       Falcoknight        Energy Drop
Linde     9.68 43 05  12  29  30  23  09  06  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x2
Palla    12.37 40 25  01  26  23  10  21  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius    9.55 37 17  01  20  21  11  16  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Seraph Robe; Goddess Icon
Caeda    10.39 45 21  01  22  23  25  19  04  B Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena    10.34
Etzel     9.09 33 01  12  15  14  09  10  18  C Tme C Stf       Bishop

Expenses: None (9970 G remaining).

[spoiler=Chapter 19 (7/165)]Pretty annoying chapter if you're recruiting the Wolfguard. I thought a bit while doing H3 about how I'd do this quickly in H4 and came to the rather obvious conclusions that a) I'd need a Falcoknight and b) I'd need a Ridersbane forge, subsequently confirming my conclusions by having a peek at a video description (but not the video itself) of a Lunatic Reverse clear of C19 on YouTube.

I forged a +1-Mt, +10-Hit Poleaxe to clear out Sedgar's cadre. This wasn't perfectly reliable due to WTD, but I could afford to miss once during turn 4 EP (and, if I had done it more smartly, probably during turn 6 EP also); at 83.47% true hit, the probability of getting one or zero misses against three Horsemen is 92.71%.

As his Str was below average, Heath fought once in the Drill Grounds and I reset until he got +Str. He also got +Def, which was nice since it obviated the need for me to buy an extra Dracoshield for him to survive the Paladin Storm.

Reclasses: Every combat unit save for Linde (Swordmaster) and Luke (Horseman) was in a flying class. The staffbots were in staffy classes.

Turn 1 PP: Xane mimicked Heath, who, with a single-use Hand Axe and the Iote's Shield, then flew in range of Wolf and an enemy Horseman near the castle while staying out of range of the Generals. The single-use Hand Axe was to prevent Wolf from dying in the event that Heath scored a crit on the Horseman. Palla moved twice thanks to Feena and equipped a Killer Lance to draw to the left and engage the northernmost Warrior. Catria, who had the Starsphere and the Lifesphere, moved once and equipped a Killer Lance while in range of one Warrior and receiving a Geosphere bonus from Sirius. Everyone else moved up, with the healers treating Xane.
Turn 1 EP: While she doubled Warriors with the Starsphere, Catria didn't score a crit on her Warrior. Palla didn't crit either. Wolf and one Horseman started moving; I think on this attempt, Heath got a Hand Axe crit, but it wasn't necessary.

Turn 2 PP: Xane used a Killer Axe to finish the Warrior that Catria couldn't. Palla (Javelin) and Catria (Lady Sword) teamed up to KO a Silver Axe Warrior to the east. Heath moved twice thanks to Feena, healed with Vulneraries, equipped the Ridersbane forge, and planted himself just in range of the outermost Paladins near Sedgar.
Turn 2 EP: The Warrior previously attacked by Palla died to a crit from Xane's Killer Axe (unnecessary, since it would have died the next EP from Catria's Lady Sword x2, but helpful). The Tomahawk Warrior attacked Palla and took a counter from her Javelin. Heath KOed three Paladins; two of the remaining Paladins headed in his direction, while one headed towards the village (wouldn't have mattered if he joined the other Paladins).

Turn 3 PP: Luke, Linde, Caeda, and Sirius were on hand to handle the two Paladins near the center, though only two needed to do anything in this attempt because of crits. Catria finished the Warrior who attacked Palla. Mallesia used Fortify, allowing Heath to safely KO the last of the initial group of Paladins. Xane traded the Poleaxe forge for Heath's Ridersbane forge. Marth kept moving towards the village.
Turn 3 EP: Thieves moved, Marth got hit by a Ballista.

Turn 4 PP: The Thieves were KOed, with Marth getting one kill and a mediocre level-up. Thanks to Feena, Heath was able to KO the one of the Killer Bow Horsemen with the Poleaxe forge. Luke took the Starsphere from Catria and moved in range of two Horsemen. To survive subsequent attacks from Sedgar, Sirius took the Lifesphere from Catria.
Turn 4 PP: Two Horsemen died to Luke's Steel Bow. All but one of the remaining non-recruitable Horsemen died to the Poleaxe forge. Sedgar and Wolf tinked Heath.

Turn 5 PP: Marth recruited Roshea, who bought two Pure Waters. Sirius used the rightmost savepoint. Xane moved in range of three of Vyland's Paladins. Feena Danced for Luke, who equipped a Silver Bow, used two Vulneraries, and took a Pure Water from Xane. Catria took the Pure Water but abstained from using it. Heath finished the Horseman he missed during the previous EP. Linde ORKOed the Ballistician with the Levin Sword.
Turn 5 EP: Two Paladins died from Xane's Ridersbane forge, while another died to Luke's Silver Bow thanks to the Starsphere. Sedgar attacked Sirius, while Wolf attacked Caeda.

Turn 6 PP: Xane traded the Ridersbane forge to and mimicked Palla to avoid getting KOed by Vyland. Luke and Palla finished the two remaining non-Vyland Paladins. Catria moved northwest slightly and used a Pure Water. Mallesia initially used Physic on either Luke or Sirius, with Etzel healing the other. Feena Danced for Mallesia, who teamed up with Linde moved to trap Wolf, who was adjacent to two mountain tiles, and Mallesia used Rescue on Marth.
Turn 6 EP: Twenty reinforcement enemies appeared. Heath KOed three Horsemen with the Poleaxe forge and weakened a Paladin; I'm 99% sure that had I positioned Heath one square further south, I would have only needed to KO one of two Horsemen (the third wouldn't have been able to attack from 1-range), improving reliability noticeably. It worked out nonetheless. Vyland attacked Etzel, while Sedgar attacked Sirius again. Wolf couldn't attack due to being boxed in by the mountains, Mallesia, and Linde.

Turn 7 PP: Marth moved as close to the castle as he could and used a Levin Sword for some chip EXP. Luke passed the Starsphere to Catria, who KOed from 1-range a Sage blocking the RHS of the castle, barely surviving thanks to the Pure Water. Mallesia healed Caeda with Physic and used Again on Marth thanks to Feena. Caeda took the Starsphere and ORKOed a General blocking the RHS of the castle; Heath took the Starsphere and Lightsphere from Caeda and ORKOed the boss with the Hammer. Roshea recruited Vyland recruited Sedgar recruited Wolf, who chipped a DK for Sirius (who was healed by Etzel) to finish. Marth Seized.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    19.13 36 18  00  18  17  21  12  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop
Heath    19.47 50 26  10  26  23  18  30  05  B Axe A Lnc       Dracoknight        Seraph Robe; Dracoshield x2
Luke     10.73 43 24  01  19  27  11  15  03  D Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x2
Mallesia  8.59 35 03  21  09  19  22  08  09  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   11.73 45 23  03  26  26  23  16  11  A Lnc E Swd       Falcoknight        Energy Drop
Linde    10.71 43 05  12  29  30  23  09  06  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x2
Palla    13.15 40 25  01  26  23  10  22  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius   10.32 38 18  01  21  22  12  16  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Seraph Robe; Goddess Icon
Caeda    10.77 45 21  01  22  23  25  19  04  B Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena    10.34 21                     08
Etzel    10.00 33 01  12  16  14  09  10  18  C Tme C Stf       Bishop

Edited August 12, 2013 by Redwall

[Redwall]

Updated through Chapter 21.

[spoiler=Chapter 20 (7/172)]Luke and Linde each fought once in the Drill Grounds, the former gaining Spd (important) and the latter gaining Mag but not Spd. I bought a Spirit Dust for Linde and used it plus the C19 Spirit Dust on her.

A five-turn clear requires two crits on Hardin from two Horsemen, one with the Parthia and one with the Mercurius, and the two Horsemen need to have a combined 47 Str without the Starsphere; this wasn't happening in this run. A semi-reliable six-turn clear requires one crit from a Hauteclere user near the Berserker Str cap, which I didn't have. A less-reliable six-turn clear with the Fortify obtained was what I got initially: two crits from a Parthia user and a Hauteclere user. After my initial clear, I looked on MagicBarrier16's YouTube channel and noticed some things that I wound up doing to improve reliability noticeably, at the cost of a turn: namely, that the reinforements could be delayed, and that the Fortify could be obtained without sending units to engage the northern Sniper (which is what I did initially).

Turn 1: Mallesia Rescued Midia, who received a Barrier and a Steel (or Iron, I forget) Lance from Etzel. Midia teamed up with Linde, who received a Dance, to finish the Thief. Everyone else moved into the castle.

Turn 2 PP: Luke ORKOed the northern of two Heroes blocking the way with the Parthia and Starsphere. Linde took the Starsphere and positioned herself 1D from Luke. Catria received a Dance and ORKOed the southern Hero with the Sword Killer. Mallesia healed Catria, and Etzel may have used a Barrier on somebody. Everyone else kept moving.

Turn 2 EP: One Hero died to Catria's Sword Killer. Luke chipped a Sniper, who subsequently got partially healed by a Bishop. Someone got hit by a siege tome, but I don't remember who.

Turn 3: Finished off the initial burst of enemies. I waited until turn 4 to open the treasure room to delay the reinforcements.

It was pretty straightforward from here on out. The five chests in the treasure room were opened eventually, while the Fortify was obtained by baiting the northwestern General into attacking, then finishing off the General and sending a 10-Mov unit to ORKO the Fortify Bishop. A seven-turn clear allows for three attacks on Hardin, with only one of them needing to be a crit; with the Geosphere and supports, I was able to bring the reliability of the Hardin kill to 80%. The semi-reliable six-turn clear (which requires a 49% Hauteclere crit) has a lower expected turncount because of the save point, but my team didn't have the stats for that.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    19.80 36 18  00  18  17  21  12  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop
Heath    20.00 55 28  09  24  27  19  24  02  A Axe             Berserker          Seraph Robe; Dracoshield x2; Arms Scroll
Luke     13.75 46 24  01  20  28  13  15  03  D Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x2
Mallesia 10.84 36 03  22  10  20  24  09  09  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   13.26 49 24  01  29  30  23  17  05  C Swd             Swordmaster        Energy Drop
Linde    11.73 44 05  17  29  30  24  09  06  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x4
Palla    13.53 40 25  01  26  23  10  22  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius   10.44 38 18  01  21  22  12  16  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Seraph Robe; Goddess Icon
Caeda    11.49 48 20  01  23  25  25  18  07  B Lnc E Swd       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena    12.42
Etzel    10.91 33 01  12  16  14  09  10  18  C Tme C Stf       Bishop

Expenses: Sold a lot of stuff, then did arena training for Luke and Linde, and bought one Spirit Dust (8852 G remaining)

[spoiler=Chapter 20x (4/176)]I bought one more Spirit Dust for Linde, who fought once in the arena and gained Spd. I also made Luke fight once more in the Drill Grounds, with him gaining Speed (a stat in which he remained below his average). Finally, I sold a buttload of stuff to forge a +3-Mt, +5-Hit Brave Lance to handle Eremiah reliably and to handle C21 a bit more efficiently.

This one was tricky until I realized that a Paladin could stomp through the Generals. The clear presented here is a slight improvement reliability-wise over my initial clear, which was also done in four turns but involved a Killer Lance crit on turn one, something I thought was unnecessary but neglected to improve on. Credit to MagicBarrier16's YouTube video for reminding me it wasn't necessary to crit.

Turn 1: Marth revealed one Berserker, whom Linde ORKOed with a Levin Sword. Heath moved twice to reveal two more, with only one of them to be ORKOed this turn by Luke; the other remained stationary during the EP. Mallesia healed.

Turn 2 PP: Marth revealed a Berserker to be ORKOed by Linde, who received healing beforehand. Catria revealed a Berserker to be ORKOed by Luke's Parthia. Heath (Paladin) equipped the Gradivus and revealed a General. Mallesia healed someone again thanks to Feena.

Turn 2 EP: Both the center Generals were doubled and died to the Gradivus; a crit would have been necessary in the event they spawned an extra point of Def, but even that possibility was salvageable due to Luke's support bonus. An unseen Sniper attacked Heath, while a revealed Sniper attacked Catria.

Turn 3 PP: Heath moved around the unseen Sniper that attacked him to reveal that Sniper as well as another to the north. The first Sniper was KOed by Linde and Marth. Luke moved twice, using a Pure Water on his first turn and ORKOing the northern Longbow Sniper on his second turn. Mallesia used Fortify while staying out of range of the center Sniper. Catria moved next to Heath.

Turn 3 EP: A Berserker attacked Catria, while the center Sniper attacked Linde. A General attacked Luke, who avoided being targeted by Eremiah's Meteor thanks to his Pure Water. Eremiah attacked Heath instead.

Turn 4: Luke, who was healed by Mallesia, took out the Berserker who attacked Catria. Catria revealed Eremiah. Heath ORKOed Eremiah with the forged Brave Lance. Marth moved twice thanks to Feena and Seized.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    20.57 37 19  00  19  18  22  12  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop
Luke     15.38 46 24  01  21  29  13  17  03  D Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x2
Mallesia 12.23 38 03  24  10  22  24  09  11  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   13.36 49 24  01  29  30  23  17  05  C Swd             Swordmaster        Energy Drop
Linde    12.80 44 05  19  29  30  24  09  07  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x5
Feena    12.98

Expenses: Forged a +5-Hit, +3-Mt Brave Lance; bought a Spirit Dust; fought twice in the arena; sold a bunch of stuff, including the C20 Bullion (L) (7914 G remaining)

[spoiler=Chapter 21 (8/184)]Kind of a long chapter. Before starting, Luke took a Dracoshield to be able to survive two Flying Dragon hits. I purchased an additional Seraph Robe for Sirius so that he could take the boss kill. I also sold a ton of BS (some Silvers, some Killers, some Vulneraries, and some effective-damage weapons that would no longer be useful) in order to be able to afford some of the goodies in the Secret Shop.

One turn can be cut with an Again staff; two additional turns can be cut, but both likely require a lot of RNG abuse.

Heath was reclassed to DK, while the other reclasses are displayed in the stat table.

Turn 1 PP: Luke moved in range of two Flying Dragons with the forged Iron Bow equipped. Xane mimicked Catria, who moved north slightly; neither she nor Xane would be attacked since Luke's Luck stat drew the Dragons in his direction. Heath moved in range of a third Flying Dragon with a Hand Axe equipped. Ymir gave his Silver Axe to Caeda.

Turn 1 EP: Luke OHKOed two Dragons, while a third attacked Heath.

Turn 2 PP: Xane finished the Dragon weakened by Heath. A Javelin went to the top of Xane's inventory since the Dragonpike used to finish the Dragon broke. Linde ORKOed the Berserker to the north with a Levin Sword; Marth was ready to take it out with his own Levin Sword if she couldn't finish the job. Catria and Luke moved north to draw in the Swordmaster. Mallesia moved twice thanks to Feena and healed the team. Heath used the forged Brave Lance to ORKO the Meteor Sorceror on the fort.

Turn 2 EP: Two Flying Dragons attacked Xane, while a Swordmaster died to the forged Brave Lance. Notwithstanding Devil Sword self-destruction, Heath would have died without the forge depending on the AI movements since he would have taken an additional hit from the SM's Devil Sword. Another Swordmaster attacked Catria and took a counter. One additional Flying Dragon attacked Heath.

Turn 3: Caeda used the save point. Palla and Catria finished off the two Flying Dragons weakened by Xane, who flew east to bait another Flying Dragon. Heath flew northeast to draw in a different Dragon. Everyone else cleaned up, with Linde moving twice to bait a Berserker.

Turn 4: Heath moved slightly further northeast to bait another Dragon while staying out of range of the Meteor Sorceror. Everyone else cleaned up and healed. Luke used a Pure Water and moved in range of the eastern Meteor Sorceror; I did this since he would have been in range to ORKO a Thoron Sorceror with a Steel Sword, which I thought was a good idea since Luke's Swd rank was low.

Turn 5 PP: Xane and Catria KOed the southeastern Meteor Sorceror, while Luke ORKOed the Thoron Sorceror to the south after being healed with the Fortify. Heath used the Brave Lance to ORKO the northeast Sorceror. Palla used a Javelin to chip the eastern Sorceror. Everyone else moved east while staying out of range of the NE enemies. Minerva positioned herself to visit the village on the subsequent turn.

Turn 5 EP: The Swordmaster died to the forged Brave Lance--he wouldn't have died to an unforged Brave unless a crit occurred--while the Tomahawk Berserker attacked Palla. The other Berserker got hit by a crit, but it wouldn't have mattered since I had enough firepower to take him out on the subsequent PP.

Pretty straightforward after this. Minerva and Marth visited the village on turns 6 and 7 respectively, and Mallesia Rescued Marth on turn 8. I got the Talisman on turn 8, and visited the Secret Shop on turn 7, purchasing two Energy Drops, two Seraph Robes, and three Speedwings.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    22.01 39 21  00  20  20  23  13  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop
Luke     16.94 47 24  01  22  30  14  19  03  D Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x2; Dracoshield
Mallesia 14.36 39 03  26  10  23  25  10  11  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   14.97 48 24  03  26  26  24  18  11  A Lnc D Swd       Falcoknight        Energy Drop
Linde    13.53 45 06  19  29  30  25  09  07  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x5
Palla    14.28 41 26  01  26  23  10  22  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius   11.87 46 16  01  22  24  12  12  03  B Swd D Bow       Horseman           Speedwing; Seraph Robe x2; Goddess Icon
Caeda    13.61 47 22  01  25  23  27  20  04  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena    14.10
Etzel    10.91 33 01  12  16  14  09  10  18  C Tme C Stf       Bishop

Expenses: Sold a bunch of stuff; bought three Seraph Robes (one from the base, two from the Secret Shop), two Energy Drops, three Speedwings (2590 G remaining)

[PKL]

Please tell me your Marth's stat aren't after statboosters. You're in serious trouble vs Medeus lol. Specially because your Marth has like no durability and he attacks before Marth.

[Redwall]

I bought three Speedwings in the Secret Shop, so I'm not worried about Medeus at all. I completed C22 today (five turns, one Again use; needed a crit at 46% on the boss with Parthia, but I had the save point) and got an additional point of Spd for Marth, so I need to use two Speedwings on him at most, with Sirius taking the other.

I'm more worried about C23...not quite sure how I want to approach the boss area, but I think I can figure it out eventually. I can afford to burn two Rescue uses and one Again use for each of C23 and C24, so that gives me a bit of breathing room.

[Redwall]

Nearing the end here. I have four Rescue and two Again uses remaining.

[spoiler=Chapter 22 (5/189)]Pretty sure a four-turn clear with one Again use requires a Gradivus crit at ~19% odds. The clear presented here requires a Parthia crit at ~50% odds after accounting for support boosts and the fact that Horsemen can double the boss; also, the five-turn clear requires two Again uses if the Unlock staff isn't used, but I had it on me here, allowing me to use just one Again charge.

I used two Energy Drops on Sirius and a Seraph Robe on Marth. Luke took an Arms Scroll as a Swordmaster to gain enough WEXP to get to C-ranked swords as a Horseman. I also forged a +1-Mt Levin Sword for Marth and gave him a Magic Bond to allow him to KO the Berserker near the start when assisted by the forged Brave Lance.

The clear is mostly straightforward: move up, fight enemies. Etzel used the Barrier staff on Luke during turn 4 to allow him to survive the Mage Dragons he would face on the next turn. Etzel then used the Unlock staff on turn 5 to open the door. Feena needed to use her max move on all but the first turn in order to allow Luke to attack twice on the final turn: Luke took a +1-Mt Wyrmslayer to ORKO the Mage Dragon blocking the RHS doorway, then ORKOed the boss with a Parthia crit after receiving a Dance on turn 5 as well as a Physic from Katarina after having ORKOed the first Mage Dragon.

Had I the foresight to make a +2-Mt Wyrmslayer, I would have been able to reliably get more EXP for Sirius (who is a bit Str-cursed) on the last turn, but as things were, I needed a Brave crit to ORKO Mage Dragons. On this attempt, I didn't get to attack a Mage Dragon with Sirius on the final turn due to my own bad positioning, but I don't want to redo the level for some EXP that I can't reliably get.

I also got the Fortify staff with Xane (who transformed into Luke and engaged the Sorceror from outside the walls), though I didn't really make any effort to get it until after I initially cleared the level in five turns with one Again use and decided to see how MagicBarrier16 did the level. The new Fortify seems pretty unnecessary given the C14 and C20 staves, but I can always sell it I suppose. Credit to MagicBarrier for the Fortify idea.

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    23.28 47 21  00  21  21  24  14  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop; Seraph Robe
Luke     19.05 49 24  01  23  30  15  19  03  C Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x3; Dracoshield
Mallesia 15.53 39 03  26  10  23  26  10  11  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   15.56 51 25  01  25  24  24  19  08  A Lnc D Swd       Paladin            Energy Drop
Linde    13.53 45 06  19  29  30  25  09  07  C Swd             Swordmaster        Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x5
Palla    14.77 41 26  01  26  23  10  22  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius   13.26 50 20  01  29  30  14  14  03  A Swd             Swordmaster        Speedwing; Seraph Robe x2; Goddess Icon; Energy Drop x2
Caeda    14.09 50 22  01  26  25  25  18  07  A Lnc E Swd       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena    14.80
Etzel    11.68 33 02  13  17  14  09  11  16  B Tme C Stf       Sorceror

Expenses: Bought an Arms Scroll for Luke and forged a +1-Mt Levin Sword (286 G remaining).

[PKL]

Don't worry about Gharnef. Just make sure the meteor dudes target different targets each over the Gharnef batter and make sure to lure Gharnef without letting the Glowers target the Gharnef killer or youre screwed. Then in the next PP, get rid of Gharnef through Starlight chains and the Glower dudes with the other guys and have Marth seize through Again/Rescue. Fortify can help a lot for that last turn final push.

Edited August 24, 2013 by PKL

[Redwall]

Yeah, that was my initial plan, but I feel like there should be a faster way...KoT did C23 in two turns on H3, which is pretty impressive, RNG abuse or not. There's also a guy on YouTube who did it in four turns on Lunatic Reverse, but I've been making a habit of avoiding his videos until after I've made a more-or-less satisfactory clear on my own. Tentatively, I'm planning to engage Gharnef with Linde when he's on his throne, rolling one crit out of two PP attacks thanks to Again; she'll have to receive a Dance to reach Gharnef without drawing in the other Sorcerors.

[Redwall]

Last update.

[spoiler=Chapter 23 (4/193)]I forged a +2-Mt Wyrmslayer to allow Sirius (Swordmaster) to cleanly ORKO Mage Dragons. I used one of my three Speedwings on Marth. Linde took a Resistance Bond.

Turn 1: Sirius moved northwest and used a Pure Water. Catria (Paladin), who received a Barrier from Etzel, used the Gradivus on the RHS Fire Dragon, and Linde (Sage) subsequently finished it with Starlight. Heath (Paladin) moved twice and blocked the right corridor thanks to Feena and used a Pure Water, though Luke (Horseman) ORKOed the bottom-center Mage Dragon with a +1-Mt Wyrmslayer forge in between Heath's two moves in order to benefit from the support bonus. Marth traded the Killer Bow to the top of Luke's inventory, while Caeda (Sniper with Longbow) and Nagi teamed up on the LHS Fire Dragon. Mallesia used Fortify, and Xane transformed into Mallesia. During the enemy phase, the center-right Fire Dragon took a counterattack from Catria's Gradivus and the center Mage Dragon died from Luke's Killer Bow (57% crit rate). It was necessary AFAIK for either Luke (57% crit rate due to doubling) or Catria (19% crit rate) to crit for the four-turn clear to work cleanly.

Turn 2: I used the save point at some time this turn. Sirius ORKOed the left Mage Dragon and blocked the corridor containing another Dragon, while Caeda and Nagi teamed up on the left Fire Dragon. Heath finished the Fire Dragon previously weakened by Catria. Luke and Catria got in position to bait the Glower Sorcerors and center-north Mage Dragon. Healing took place, and it was important for Sirius to be healed to full health. Linde also received a Barrier this turn to survive Gharnef later on. It was again necessary for either Luke (57% on the Mage Dragon) or Catria (19% on a Glower Sorceror) to score a crit.

Turn 3: By this turn, the two RHS dragons were starting to encroach on my units' space. Caeda and Nagi teamed up on the Fire Dragon in the left corridor, with Caeda positioned to take a hit from the RHS Mage Dragon in order to prevent one of my other units from getting ganged up on by the two Dragons. The center-north Dragons were all cleaned up during this player phase, naturally; the reason for keeping Sirius at full health before the end of the previous PP was to survive a Fire Dragon on EP 2 and a Glower on PP 3. During the enemy phase, the two Dragons near Gharnef started approaching, with one of them attacking Marth.

Turn 4: The Fire Dragon blocked the save point, so I had to KO it before saving. Subsequently, Heath moved north to confer his support bonus onto Linde, who received a Dance to reach Gharnef and attacked twice thanks to an Again use; of these two attacks, one crit was necessary (don't recall the odds, but the support bonus helped some). Etzel Rescued Marth for the Seize.

OK, no idea what's up with Luke's stats, but there is a bit of a discrepancy (inconsequential though).

         Lvl   HP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WExp              Class              Boosters
Marth    23.88 47 21  00  21  23  24  14  01  C Swd             Lord               Secret Book; Energy Drop; Seraph Robe; Speedwing
Heath    20.00 53 25  10  28  25  19  28  08  A Lnc E Swd       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Dracoshield x2; Arms Scroll
Luke     20.00 51 24  01  21  30  15  19  03  C Swd A Bow       Horseman           Speedwing x3; Arms Scroll x3; Dracoshield
Mallesia 17.47 40 03  27  10  24  27  10  11  A Stf D Tme       Sage  
Catria   16.36 52 25  01  26  25  25  19  08  A Lnc D Swd       Paladin            Energy Drop
Linde    15.07 45 04  23  23  24  27  06  10  B Tme D Stf       Sage               Seraph Robe; Spirit Dust x5
Palla    14.77 41 26  01  26  23  10  22  03  A Lnc E Axe       Dracoknight        Speedwing; Energy Drop; Dracoshield
Sirius   14.82 51 21  01  29  30  15  14  03  A Swd             Swordmaster        Speedwing; Seraph Robe x2; Goddess Icon; Energy Drop x2
Caeda    14.37 50 22  01  26  25  25  18  07  A Lnc E Swd       Paladin            Seraph Robe; Energy Drop x2
Feena    15.34 
Etzel    12.08 34 02  13  17  14  10  11  17  B Tme C Stf       Sorceror

Expense: Forged a +2-Mt Wyrmslayer, probably sold some things (913 G remaining)

[spoiler=Final (2/195)]I didn't plan this all too well since I had a Rescue use remaining by the end of the level, but whatever. At the beginning of the level, I had 3 Rescue uses (split into two staves) and an Again use remaining.

I sold all my Vulneraries and a bunch of weapons. Sirius fought once as a Sniper in the Drill Grounds and gained Spd, Def, and Str, obviating the need for me to blow a Speedwing on him. Sirius also took a Defense Bond and a Luck Bond. I bought a Dracoshield for Caeda. Marth took the C11 Secret Book, a Speedwing (capping his Spd), and a Skill Bond. I had a Seraph Robe (from the Secret Shop), a Speedwing, and a Talisman remaining, as well as a fair bit of gold and a bunch of weapons, so I didn't need to dig too deep into my goodies.

The level was not too unpleasant. Heath and Caeda made a mini-barricade towards the RHS on turn 1 to allow Minerva to position herself to recruit Maria on turn 2. Sirius didn't need this kind of protection due to his capped Spd (Paladin) and his Def Bond. Two enemies (besides Medeus) needed to be cleared out on turn 2 PP: Nagi finished a Fire Dragon weakened by Sirius' Gradivus, and Luke OHKOed a Flying Dragon with the Parthia.

The Bishops did the following: Maria and Lena used Rescue to pull in Merric and Marth, respectively; Elice used the Recover staff on Marth after his first attack; and Nyna used the Again staff on Marth. Two crits from Marth were needed, of course, but Catria had used the save point. It was important for Heath and Caeda to confer their support bonuses to Marth.

I got all A ranks, surprisingly. Endgame comments:

Marth: Eh, he's Marth.

Heath: Yup.

Luke: He was OK; he needed a lot of favoritism due to being Spd-cursed (three Speedwings, three Arms Scrolls), and also because no one else could make a decent Horseman on my team. He wound up with the second-most kills on my team IIRC.

Catria: Almost as good as (maybe even better than) Palla. While not as great as Palla early on, Catria's "shaky earlygame" can be worked around easily. Even at base Strength, Catria can take either the Rainbow Potion or base-shop stat-boosters to ORKO relevant early-game enemies (Ch. 3x Knights die after 2x Javelins on PP and 2x Steel on EP if I remember correctly; Ch. 4 Hunters; Ch. 5 Dracoknights get doubled but not quite ORKOed; Ch. 6 Mages may require either a RP or a Res-blessed Catria with an Energy Drop).

Palla: Great earlygame, terrible lategame due to her Lck growth making her prone to crit-blicks. She took more boosters than Catria but still got fewer kills. With that said, even with a strong Avatar, Palla fills the second-banana role in stages like C11 that Catria cannot for a long time. Even in Chapter 23, where she can serve as Nagi's Longbow partner, Palla's terrible luck makes her less accurate than someone like Caeda.

Sirius: Mediocre for a long time. I found his earlygame to only be OK, doing meaty damage to C4's boss and C5's Snipers, and distracting some dudes in the C5 boss area. He's OK in the dragon chapters due to good weapon ranks, but falls off immediately after. Boosters and good weapon ranks (+forges) saved him lategame.

Linde: Not a great unit, with a lot less potential than Ryan (whom I was considering using), but she's on average going to be a bit more useful IMO since Ryan needs Speedwings (plural). I had to buy all three of the base Spirit Dusts for her to keep up, which was pretty bad since she was probably Mag-blessed, but on the flipside, no one else needed them, so the opportunity cost (7500 G) wasn't that bad. She nukes enemies very well with Levin Swords at the cost of cutting her Mag growth big time (and subsequently needing Spirit Dusts beyond the two or so freebies). She also saves a turn at high reliability in C15, something that Mallesia can't do without Speedwings. There's also the C11 Speedwing, which isn't otherwise obtainable within five turns without sacrificing more than one booster.

Etzel: Solid unit and can get to Physic status as a Bishop without too much trouble, and as a Sorceror given a few more chapters.

Mallesia: Saves all the turns with Fortify and Physic spam.

Caeda: Better than Sirius IMO due to great Spd and the Wing Spear; Str issues get patched up with Energy Drops.

Thanks all for reading.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Redwall

[eclipse]

Congratulations, and thank you for the explanation! This is the kind of guidance that Yours Truly needs for FE12 drafting.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Congrats

The turncounts are depresingly low