Should Third Tier Promotions Return?

[Sentacotus]

The mythical third tier seen in Radiant Dawn. Do you think it should return? If so why?

I for one really liked the third tier in RD. Granted that was a game without grinding but it gave me further incentive at the endgame to keep using units and leveling them up. That was also when units got their second weapon type if I recall correctly. I also think it might limit second seal abuse as they decrease experience gained in the long run which you would want to use to level up third tier units. It also promotes having specialized units meaning that if you know you want a certain character to be a beast sword user it might be best to keep him/her on the Myrimidon->Swordmaster->Trueblade track.

My only fear is that I have no idea how this would work and balance with the new Awakening features like pair up and part of the reason there were third tiers in RD was because the game itself was so damn long.

[Ownagepuffs]

Third tiers yes pls.

[B.Leu]

Depend. A big fat depend. We don't know anything about FEif yet, if it takes the Awakening way or a more classic way.

Didn't they already did this "decrease experience" the more you use class change in FEA ?

For me, if we can change into a crapton of classes at will, I don't see the point in having third tier classes.

Edited January 18, 2015 by B.Leu

[alatartheblue42]

Third tier FTW!

And if there's a world map/grinding area, still keep reclassing, but make it so that you can only get one tier three per unit. Multiple occult skills would be way too op.

[Missile]

Pair up is actually even more broken than T3, so combining the two will be not pretty to watch.

Even without that, it was still a little broken IMO, I liked that but it was not handled well and the promotion T2 to T3 was not as game changing as T1 to T2, that was just T2 on steroïds.

[Klokinator]

Yes.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Klokinator

[Gaia]

Maybe if they make the T2 skills into T3 skills, or have something like only one skill per tier, sure. It would help a sense of progression. Also, only if they get rid of reclassing.

[Baldrick]

Oh, Jotari, this thread's perfect for you~

I don't particularly like the idea of a third tier, since it'd either cause stat inflation or be a formality. It wouldn't be a dealbreaker or anything though.

[Flying Shogi]

Maybe if they make the T2 skills into T3 skills, or have something like only one skill per tier, sure. It would help a sense of progression. Also, only if they get rid of reclassing.

I like this idea. How did units get Mastery skills? I never played RD but I think they would gain T3 skills the same way like they did in RD.

Would they also include the portrait changes as well? Did everyone get portrait changes in FE10 or only some characters got it?

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Yes, it's a better alternative than the endless reclassing. I think a maximum of 60 levels for an unit is alright.

[nocturnal YL]

A three-tier class system would be welcome if:

• ​They don't lose balance due to IS's utter inability to process general stats above 30
• The game is either infinite or gives everyone enough time to level up (I like you,Tormod, I really do)
• Everyone is treated more or less equally regardless of class type (no more 30- or 40-level classes)

I like this idea. How did units get Mastery skills? I never played RD but I think they would gain T3 skills the same way like they did in RD.

Would they also include the portrait changes as well? Did everyone get portrait changes in FE10 or only some characters got it?

In Radiant Dawn, mastery skills are given automatically to beorc, and throung the Satori Sign for laguz. In Path of Radiance, they need an Occult Scroll for that. They have both pros and cons: some units may lose 5 net capacity upon class change in FE10, but outside of those cases they don't have to choose between mastery and unit-specific skills.

Only Ike, Micaiah and Sothe get portrait changes.

Edited January 18, 2015 by nocturnal YL

[TwinBlade]

I really loved the third tiers in Radiant Dawn, the art designs were phenomenal, they were overpowered though.. I always wished Radiant Dawn had you fighting t3 enemies, but you only ever fought Four T3 units I believe. Lekain, Hetzel, Sephiran, and Levail I believe are the only ones. Black Knight is t3 level too of course. And they're so late in the game they don't really stand a chance against your level 20 t3's and level 30+ laguz. So I guess if there's t3.. I really hope the enemies are as well. And I want a lot of them!

Let's see, reclassing would be a bit of an issue. I'd like reclassing to be handled as T3-back to t1 just to force you into grinding so it's not giving away fast skills. Of course they could always go to T2 but that's too easy I feel as though. I just want it to have a long drawn out story like Radiant Dawn so at least t3 would make sense. Endgame enemies should be T3 ONLY otherwise T3 and pairing up is going to assure you a guaranteed working strategy every chapter. And that's not what Fire Emblem should be about.

[Knight]

Yes, if stat caps are going to be as high as they are. It's also a good reason to lower growths so yeah, sure.

[EmblemF48]

Third tiers would honestly benefit the game more in my opinion. What made them so good in Radiant Dawn was how they conveyed a sence of progression in comparison to something like Awakening where all you had to show for all your hard work were big stat numbers and broken skill sets. I think it'd make things a lot more interesting if they kept third tier but didn't hand out the third promotion items like candy.

I also may or may not be imagining Kazahana as a Trueblade being an adorable machine lf death.

[Knight]

How do you think it would work with branching promotes? Would the classes branch further upon reaching third-tier, or would the 2nd-tier class promote to either a 3rd-tier version of itself or the other 2nd-tier class option?

[Ϲharlie]

I've never seen third tier promotions as anything other than a gimmick, but I wouldn't be opposed to their return.

[Hong]

Aside from a villager/trainee type of deal with FE2 and FE8, don't see much point in more vertical scaling. I think everything that can be improved about a class can be done in one promotion. Anything else should be horizontal scaling, IE branching promotions.

[riariadne]

If it's done well. Radiant Dawn did not, because they were for almost all intents and purposes player only, and every mastery skill was "randomly kill this enemy you were probably going to ORKO anyway because your stats are way higher than those of a bunch of tier-2 enemies" (except whispers had "randomly don't kill this enemy sometimes").

Besides, if it's going by Awakening class caps and such which is likely, what would a third tier really bring to the table? There would have to be a lot of cool skills for third tiers to sell me on it.

[Knight]

I forgot to mention enemy 3rd-tiers are a must, yeah.

[Anacybele]

I LOVED third tier classes, of course I want them back! RD gave them such beautiful designs too, from the Gold and Silver Knights to the Seraph Knights, to the 100% badass Reavers (specifically Boyd for me though, since I only ever made him a Reaver. :P). I liked them all, pretty much!

[Aura Of Twilight]

The third tire classes were one of the things that I really liked about RD. Along with being an indicator of how far the characters had progressed, the designs were simply beautiful. I'd like them to return if possible. One idea that could work is that while characters can still class change, they only get to have specific abilities depending on their final class. For example, Shinion only had the deadeye skill because he was a Marksmen. Alternatively, like RD and other games, characters could just have one single class that they can be a part of. I'l like some customization like what was in Awakening, but as long as the third tier classes make sense within the game, I wont really mind what happens.

[HowTragic]

Yes yes a thousand times yes.

Return of Trueblade [insert Mia-like character here]

[Anacybele]

Pff, if I want a Trueblade that's similar to one of the ones from Tellius, then Zihark-like character plz. :3

[Aiddon]

eh, can't see them coming back, especially since reclassing kinda made them irrelevant from a gameplay perspective. That and I just found reclassing/class branches to be more interesting because it made for tons of experimentation with characters and skills.

[saifors]

Yes it puts in more variety to the gameplay and hopefully there'd a long campaign to accompany it.

Edited January 18, 2015 by saifors