Should branched promotions return?

[Strawman]

I love reclassing and grinding a lot.

But especially with the Griffon Rider, i think it could be better to not have it in such an unlimited capacity with this game along side branching promotions. Griffon Rider had a somewhat decent mechanical concept with its emphasis on mobility and pair up. But there was no reason to stay in the class, and galeforce existed, and the thief line had movement skills too, and when you have access to all that through reclass it really hurt them.

However, I still thought Awakening's unlimited reclass and large number of class possibilities and grinding for children was fun. It just hurt some of the classes and helped others.

[Irysa]

A combination of DSFE reclassing and Awakening's class sets would be more interesting I think. Individual class sets have kinaesthetic worth to them in defining a sense of individuality, but the overall flexability or optimal choices between them are a bit wonky and you can't really freely access them all on demand. I also think being able to essentially get all the skills a char has in a class pool is bad and skills should be class or character tied.

For example, it makes complete sense to me that Chrom can ride a horse if he wants to, it simply follows logically. However to me, I think that he should be able to fight on foot too if he wants to...so that kind of ability to choose whether or not he goes into battle mounted at the outset of the fight can be compelling if the situation calls for it. However the ridigity of Awakening's system denies that so you basically just opt to get a Horse and thats that until you get another ton of levels.

At the same time something odd like Kellam's ability to become a Thief sort of adds hilarity and enriches his character a bit more, but mechanically speaking it doesn't really add anything to the game besides some skill pool nonsense. If say there were a tactical reason you may feel a bulky thief appropriate for what you need to do on a map then it would be nifty to be able to dip in and out as the needs demand.

Ideally you can accomodate both, so that relcassing allows for greater tactical flexability, whilst the sets allow for unit pros and cons. Even personal, non class based skills could be incorporated into it. Off the top of my head, I can envision something such as an early healer who would have no access to Troubador/Valkyrie lines for mounted healing in their reclass set, but instead had access a personal skill such as Shade to allow them to not require Canto to preform their duties without a Physic Staff. Or additionally, access to Sage with Rally Magic or some other equivilant upon promotion, increasing their utility.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Irysa

[Melissa]

I want third-tier classess

[DomesticHausCat]

Definitely hoping that it stays the way it is in Awakening. Class customization in Awakening made for some good times!

[Wayward Alchemist]

I like Branched Promotions, but I hate the class overlap. I think we need a few more unique, viable classes to fill the gaps. I think each base class should be able to promote into one class that can only be accessed by THAT CLASS, and one class that is shared, but since it has a different starting class, it's stats will be different depending on who promotes into it. I really do like Reclassing, but I want fewer options for some and more for others, like Cordelia and Donell, respectively. I think three is a good number for every unit except MU, because customization is good. But the problem is, MU will be perpetually broken in virtually any game it is implimented in, and I think it's going to be a series staple, with two consecutive games, and questionably three with the Lord character in If. That's just my two bits worth, feel free to discuss.

[Philranger]

I like Branched Promotions, but I hate the class overlap. I think we need a few more unique, viable classes to fill the gaps. I think each base class should be able to promote into one class that can only be accessed by THAT CLASS, and one class that is shared, but since it has a different starting class, it's stats will be different depending on who promotes into it. I really do like Reclassing, but I want fewer options for some and more for others, like Cordelia and Donell, respectively. I think three is a good number for every unit except MU, because customization is good. But the problem is, MU will be perpetually broken in virtually any game it is implimented in, and I think it's going to be a series staple, with two consecutive games, and questionably three with the Lord character in If. That's just my two bits worth, feel free to discuss.

With your first idea of a unique class and a shared class, I like it and would like to see it. This is how FE8 treated Cavaliers/Knights and Pegasus Knights/Wyvern Riders. Unfortunately to make this work you have to have class pairs which results in some odd one offs that don't necessarily fit in together with other classes. That's fine with Lords as they usually have their own unique promotion anyway. But then you get into a situation like who do you pair the Mercenary class with? Does it go best with the fighter sharing Warrior, does it go best with the Archer sharing Bow Knight, or Myrmidon sharing something else? Then some classes like Barbarian throw all of it off. Of course some new promoted classes would fix those issues.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Philranger

[GamerX51]

I really don't want IS to get rid of the second seal system OR restrict my class choices beyond the character's given class sets. They make this series so much less harsh for casual players. Sometimes I get the feeling that the FE series veterans on these forums don't really understand or empathize with newbies like me and just how badly the RNG system can screw you over in FE.

I first played FE when I was 15. It was Blazing Sword, and I was really enjoying the game.... that is, until the RNG system decided that it didn't like me anymore and started screwing me on every other level up. It got so bad that I literally couldn't finish the game because none of my characters could survive even nominal encounters, even though I was making all the "Right" decisions tactically. Needless to say I threw the game down in frustration and didn't play another FE game until I discovered the Fan Patch for FE12, and found that I was no longer completely at the RNG system's mercy, and could get the stat gains I wanted with a little bit of planning and effort. When FE 13 came out, I was ecstatic upon learning that you could re-class back at level one and get new level ups, because it meant that I could now get the exact stat gains I wanted whenever I wanted in exchange for a little grinding.

This system is what finally enabled casual players like me to enjoy this series, and taking it away or restricting it in any way would alienate large numbers of new players and make it much less likely that they'll be picking up the next game in the series.

[Wayward Alchemist]

With your first idea of a unique class and a shared class, I like it and would like to see it. This is how FE8 treated Cavaliers/Knights and Pegasus Knights/Wyvern Riders. Unfortunately to make this work you have to have class pairs which results in some odd one offs that don't necessarily fit in together with other classes. That's fine with Lords as they usually have their own unique promotion anyway. But then you get into a situation like who do you pair the Mercenary class with? Does it go best with the fighter sharing Warrior, does it go best with the Archer sharing Bow Knight, or Myrmidon sharing something else? Then some classes like Barbarian throw all of it off. Of course some new promoted classes would fix those issues.

I see what you are saying. It would create lots of problems, but like Barbarian, there could be something other than Warrior, and then Fighter could piggyback that and drop Hero so that that is Merc exclusive, and so on. I think classes that are so closely related like Fighter and Barbarian, SHOULD have a shared link. But there is a flaw in that reasoning, too, because Merc and Archer are nothing alike, so we would have to get some new base classes, too, now that I think about it.

[Philranger]

I see what you are saying. It would create lots of problems, but like Barbarian, there could be something other than Warrior, and then Fighter could piggyback that and drop Hero so that that is Merc exclusive, and so on. I think classes that are so closely related like Fighter and Barbarian, SHOULD have a shared link. But there is a flaw in that reasoning, too, because Merc and Archer are nothing alike, so we would have to get some new base classes, too, now that I think about it.

That exactly.

Just using the Awakening base classes (excluding Villager, Dancer, Lord, Tactician, Taguel, and Manakete) I came up with these ideas. It would require some fairly drastic changes to current promotions and some classes being tweaked as well.

Pair 1: Knightly Folks

Cavalier >> Paladin

Knight >> General

Share Great Knight

Pair 2: Swift Swordsmen

Myrmidon >> Swordmaster

Thief >> Trickster/Rogue (Personally I'd like to see Trickster replaced by Rogue. It never made sense to me to give thieves staves, Rogues working similarly to how they did in FE8)

Share Assassin

Pair 3: Flyers

Pegasus Knight >> Falcon Knight (give them swords again instead of staves)

Wyvern Rider >> Wyvern Lord

Share Wyvern Knight (just like FE8, WK is a kind of medium between the two. FKs are fast but weak, WL are strong but slow, WK is in between. Maybe give them access to the full weapon triangle.)

Pair 4: Offensive Magic

Mage >> Sage

Dark Mage >> Sorcerer

Share Dark Knight (Maybe give them staves instead of swords? Definitely let them use Dark magic, it's in the dang name)

Pair 5: Healers

Priest >> Bishop (or whatever female name equivalent like Sister or Nun, uses light magic and staves)

Troubadour >> Magic Rider (Very similar to the Dark Flier in Awakening. Pegasus mounted but using light magic, but replace lances with staves).

Share Valkyrie (Same as it was in Awakening. I'd say give it swords, but then it's basically the Dark Knight)

Pair 6: Axe Fighters

Barbarian >> Berserker

Fighter >> War Monk (Replace staves with light magic, could potentially call it Paladin)

Share Warrior

Pair 7: Other foot units

Mercenary >> Hero

Archer >> Sniper

Share Bow Knight.

[Irysa]

*snip*

I understand that whilst not everyone is willing to put the time or effort into such strategies, but prior to FE12 and 13, basically every game in the series is completely beatable even if all your levelups suck as long as you keep your prepromotes alive and utilise your resources fully. People play through the games with level up stat gains disabled entirely in hacks! FE7 in particular has a lot of good prepromoted units to use, character bases go a really long way in that game. In a bizzare way, FE12 and 13 became slightly more RNG dependant than their predecessors due to the fact that growths are so critically important to completion of the game, but because the growths are higher this is less of an issue, usually.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Irysa

[BrightBow]

I guess I am in favor of branched promotions. I just want a system were the characters don't just magically loose all their abilities but can instead learn new ones, so that would be close enough.

Oh, and it's about time we go back to characters keeping their individual palettes for reclassing. Fire Emblem must be the only series who has trouble with that sort of thing in this time and age. I guess in the worst case scenario, they could do it like C&C Tiberian Sun and simply integrate a few elements into the design whose job it is to be of a certain color.

I really don't want IS to get rid of the second seal system OR restrict my class choices beyond the character's given class sets. They make this series so much less harsh for casual players. Sometimes I get the feeling that the FE series veterans on these forums don't really understand or empathize with newbies like me and just how badly the RNG system can screw you over in FE.

I first played FE when I was 15. It was Blazing Sword, and I was really enjoying the game.... that is, until the RNG system decided that it didn't like me anymore and started screwing me on every other level up. It got so bad that I literally couldn't finish the game because none of my characters could survive even nominal encounters, even though I was making all the "Right" decisions tactically. Needless to say I threw the game down in frustration and didn't play another FE game until I discovered the Fan Patch for FE12, and found that I was no longer completely at the RNG system's mercy, and could get the stat gains I wanted with a little bit of planning and effort. When FE 13 came out, I was ecstatic upon learning that you could re-class back at level one and get new level ups, because it meant that I could now get the exact stat gains I wanted whenever I wanted in exchange for a little grinding.

This system is what finally enabled casual players like me to enjoy this series, and taking it away or restricting it in any way would alienate large numbers of new players and make it much less likely that they'll be picking up the next game in the series.

I would bet most casual players went through their first Awakening run without wrapping their head around Second Seals. I mean, it's bad enough that Fire Emblem requires items to promote in the first place, but needing yet another item just to be able to raise a unit past lv 20 is the very definition of making things unnecessary complicated. And that's coming from someone who got into RPGs through Gothic and Baldur's Gate. Other games like Dragon Quest IX also allow you to get back to lv1 but you can still go all the way up to lv99 in your current class. The game doesn't just suddenly stop your progress like Fire Emblem does.

And Awakening is basically the only game in the series were bad level-ups can stop you in your tracks. In every other game, you would just bench that unlucky unit and use one of your most recent recruits. But Awakening makes things more complicated since it almost stops giving you new units before the game's halfway point. There are 28 units that join before in the first 13 chapters and only 4 that join in the remaining 13 chapters of the game (and you don't even get Tiki in a story chapter). Compare that to Radiant Dawn, were you can get no less then 14 new units in the last part of the game (not counting Stefan/Pelleas/Lehran since they are hard/impossible to get) which is only 7 chapters. And since it's RD, in addition to that, there are also certain returning allies who weren't allowed to die before Part 4, Elincia, Geoffrey and Lucia.

But more importantly, in Awakening it's only after this halfway point that enemy units scale like crazy, turning the units on the bench quickly completely useless without requiring the player to waste lots of time farming. Ironically enough Awakening is the first game in the series to adjust the stats of recruited allies according to the difficulty, something that would have been really helpful in past titles, especially FE12. But that doesn't help much when there aren't any new recruits available in the first place.

But as I said, I am in favor of class choices. Just not in this needlessly annoying fashion. My lv21 Paladin Sully is just like she was when she was still lv20, yet now I suddenly need to get her another 9 levels before I can reclass her into Great Knight? Just No.

Edited January 29, 2015 by BrightBow

[Philranger]

And Awakening is basically the only game in the series were bad level-ups can stop you in your tracks. In every other game, you would just bench that unlucky unit and use one of your most recent recruits. But Awakening makes things more complicated since it almost stops giving you new units before the game's halfway point. There are 28 units that join before in the first 13 chapters and only 4 that join in the remaining 13 chapters of the game (and you don't even get Tiki in a story chapter). Compare that to Radiant Dawn, were you can get no less then 14 new units in the last part of the game (not counting Stefan/Pelleas/Lehran since they are hard/impossible to get) which is only 7 chapters. And since it's RD, in addition to that, there are also certain returning allies who weren't allowed to die before Part 4, Elincia, Geoffrey and Lucia.

Comparing any of the modern (GBA and onward) non-remake Fire Emblems with Radiant Dawn will result in a discrepancy like that just based on sheer roster size. RD has a staggering 73 playable characters. Seriously none of the others even come close. The only one that might that we've actually gotten in the states is the FE1 remake with a boatload of replacement characters or ones that you can only get if you've let a certain number of your units die.

Awakening has a roster of 43 (not including SpotPass characters like Aversa, Emmeryn, etc.) That puts it ahead of FE8 (34 not including creature campaign), and on par with FE7 (44 although that includes some characters that you can only recruit one of i.e. Harken and Karel and Wallace and Geitz) and FE9 (46 including all of Giffca, Tibarn, and Naesala). I agree that the pacing of recruits could have been better in Awakening, but that's mitigated that by being able to recruit the Children at pretty much any time after Chapter 13.

[Irysa]

Ironically enough Awakening is the first game in the series to adjust the stats of recruited allies according to the difficulty, something that would have been really helpful in past titles, especially FE12. But that doesn't help much when there aren't any new recruits available in the first place.

FE6 and 7 do this too btw, unless you meant entirely neutral recruited allies?

Otherwise I pretty much entirely agree with your post.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Irysa

[BrightBow]

Comparing any of the modern (GBA and onward) non-remake Fire Emblems with Radiant Dawn will result in a discrepancy like that just based on sheer roster size. RD has a staggering 73 playable characters. Seriously none of the others even come close. The only one that might that we've actually gotten in the states is the FE1 remake with a boatload of replacement characters or ones that you can only get if you've let a certain number of your units die.

Awakening has a roster of 43 (not including SpotPass characters like Aversa, Emmeryn, etc.) That puts it ahead of FE8 (34 not including creature campaign), and on par with FE7 (44 although that includes some characters that you can only recruit one of i.e. Harken and Karel and Wallace and Geitz) and FE9 (46 including all of Giffca, Tibarn, and Naesala). I agree that the pacing of recruits could have been better in Awakening, but that's mitigated that by being able to recruit the Children at pretty much any time after Chapter 13.

I'm aware RD wasn't the best example, but the poster listed it as his favorite and I did not want to risk using a game as an example that he is not familiar with.

With that said, the number of overall characters changes absolutely nothing about the problem of Awakening throwing all the characters at you at the very beginning and consequently makes benched units unusable once the enemies start growing in stats. Like, PoR has basically the same rooster size as Awakening with 43 (only counting one of Ena/Nasir and Tibarn/Naesala/Giffca respectively for obvious reasons) and the game still allows you to recruit 17 characters between chapter 16 and chapter 29. PoR grants 17 vs Awakening's 4.

(For the above, I'm counting P to chapter 15 as the first half here and Ch16 to Ch29 (aka: the finale) as the second half. I'm not counting Tormod and Muarim for the second half even though they are only available from ch16 onwards because this site just so happens to list them as recruited in 15.)

FE6 and 7 do this too btw, unless you meant entirely neutral recruited allies?

Not quite. I excluded those games because those recruits are only stronger because the games fail to distinguish between recruitable enemies and actual foes. (Or at least that's what I would assume, given that NPCs aren't affected. Awakening is the only game so far who did these kind of adjustments on purpose.

Edited January 29, 2015 by BrightBow

[Philranger]

I'm aware RD wasn't the best example, but the poster listed it as his favorite and I did not want to risk using a game as an example that he is not familiar with.

With that said, the number of overall characters changes absolutely nothing about the problem of Awakening throwing all the characters at you at the very beginning and consequently makes benched units unusable once the enemies start growing in stats. Like, PoR has basically the same rooster size as Awakening with 43 (only counting one of Ena/Nasir and Tibarn/Naesala/Giffca respectively for obvious reasons) and the game still allows you to recruit 17 characters between chapter 16 and chapter 29. PoR grants 17 vs Awakening's 4.

(For the above, I'm counting P to chapter 15 as the first half here and Ch16 to Ch29 (aka: the finale) as the second half. I'm not counting Tormod and Muarim for the second half even though they are only available from ch16 onwards because this site just so happens to list them as recruited in 15.)

You're not accounting for the Children characters. You can't recruit any of them until after Chapter 13 (which is the halfway point). That's 12 additional characters right there. So it's really Awakening's 16 vs 17 for POR.

[Melissa]

I personally want to see third-tier classes return, though, that might give some characters more options than others

[BrightBow]

You're not accounting for the Children characters. You can't recruit any of them until after Chapter 13 (which is the halfway point). That's 12 additional characters right there. So it's really Awakening's 16 vs 17 for POR.

Well, I did count Lucina. It's just that she is recruited before the halfway point. (Edit: Well, she is recruited in the first 13 chapters, like I said but only at the end of it, meaning she is only playable in the second half of the game. Of course, if she counts because she joins at the end of the half-way point, so do Tormod and Muarim. Either way, Lucina's recruitment marks the point when the game's supply of fresh recruitments comes to a hold and when the enemies start scaling like crazy.)

Them technically being separate characters means very little, or else I could just as well count Nasir/Ena, Tibarn, Giffca, Neasala all aseperate. But just like you don't get all those guys, you are not getting all 12 children because you were not using 24 units before reaching their Paralouge, not even close. In order to get all those support levels, you would have to spend hours of farming and like I said, once I assume we spend hours farming, complaining about Awakening forcing the player to farm doesn't make a lot of sense. You will get maybe... I don't know, four maybe? I had less then that but that was because Sully's support partner had to get benched.

Since it requires an max-support between units of different genders to even unlock the Paralouges, you need to keep your team about even-gendered. Quite a few of the women show up around the half-way point anyway, meaning we are already deep into the second half by the time they build their supports to S. And since I was talking specifically about the scenario of replacing allies who can't keep up, chances are their potential parents are not building support points anymore because they are are either no longer used or already dead.

But the biggest issue is that all the kids are being underleveled, which is more of a problem then in the other games because of the massive stat scaling. Which of course means you have to be either really good and are therefore no casual player (personally I have no idea how you should use someone like Gerome, who is level 10 with no supports in chapter 17 at it's earliest). Or you have to spend time farming, which was the very reason I lamented the lack of units in the second half of the game: Because the units gotten in the first half can't be used without farming.

Edit2: Okay, scratch all that because I really missed the mark up there up there, sorry about that.

The point of Awakening not having any new recruitments isn't important and I shouldn't argue that or else this train of thought leads completely away from the topic. What is important is that the pre-Awakening games had tons of new recruits who could pick up the slack for those who might fall behind, meaning there was not any dependency on good level-up and therefore no reason to reset the level back to 1 or to quit the whole game. At least I can't see any in FE7, or at least before the final chapter with it's super hard bosses but definitely not in "nominal encounters". Although, ironically enough like GamerX51 I had to restart FE7 but it was all the way back in Lyn mode.

And you are not literally resetting to level 1 anyway, you are essentially just changing the displayed lv to 1 and EXP gains will in fact be lower then they would be otherwise because the game knows your actual level. So IS could just raise the level cap already, something which FE4 and RD already did, so it's not even a significant break with tradition.

Edited January 29, 2015 by BrightBow

[feplus]

One of the strengths of the Fire Emblem series is its emphasis on units as valuable individuals, not cannon fodder. This uniqueness comes to the fore not only through support conversations, but also through gameplay: Matthew has personality not only as a character, but also as a frail thief; Gilliam has personality not only as a character, but also as a slow, stout tank. It takes me out of the experience to see Kellam as an assassin, or the proud Panne using a wyvern mount, or the shy Olivia chopping enemies up as a swordmaster.

Yes, these class branches are optional. I'd gladly sacrifice customization for cohesion.

Sacred Stones got this system exactly right. Its small cast is a strength: each unit gets a fair amount of screen time, each unit is well-developed, and each unit is mostly indispensable. Trainees aside, you're only getting one knight, one troubadour, one mage, one monk, one wyvern rider, one mercenary... if you're careless in battle, you're losing more than just a personality. Furthermore, the branching path system conforms to each character's identity. While it makes little sense to see Chrom as an archer, it makes perfect sense to see Gilliam as a great knight, or Neimi as a ranger, or Lute as a mage knight. Sacred Stones blends customization and cohesion in a way Awakening and the DS games did not.

Through its branching plot paths, FE14 provides the perfect opportunity to mix Sacred Stones' polished class system with the unit variety of other games. Assuming there is a Western, Eastern, and Neutral path, each selection could present the player with 20-25 units and, say, 10 units exclusive to each branch, bringing the total playable character count up to 40-45. Seems like the best of both worlds. Get rid of second seals and restrict infinite leveling to postgame.

Edited January 30, 2015 by feplus

[Respite&Nepenthe]

Personally I never really like any game that has reclassing but I never liked it in Awakening because It allows you to break the game by maxing your characters and while I may sound hypocritical 'cause I do max my characters I still would prefer it if we had no reclassing.

I definitely, definitely, definitely want Second Seals. I know it can make you ridiculously overpowered if you keep re-classing, re-classing, and re-classing, but that's the kind of thing I live for. I've unlocked all skills from all classes (including Outrealm skills and classes) for every unit, and have placed them in their optimum class, with optimum skills, with optimum mates.

Now, when I pass by people on Streetpass, I can be like, "BOW BEFORE YOUR NEW GOD!"

Hah, but on a more serious note, it's just easier that way. If it's done in the way you suggest, there needs to be an item (albeit a difficult to acquire one) where you can undo your choice in branching and restart.

[NekoKnight]

Hey folks, forum newbie here.

I've actually been thinking of a greatly revamped version of the Awakening class/skill system but I'm not sure what board would be appropriate to post it. Would here be okay?

As far as this thread topic is concerned, I think branching promotions should remain a series mainstay and be based on a setup like FE8. Sacred Stones allowed the player to customize their army while maintaining the identitiy of each unit. If my character has a wyvern, I damn well want them to keep it. I think excessive reclassing really cheapens the value of your characters so second-seals should be rare until endgame, or perhaps your second playthrough. I like the idea of each base class having a unique promotion in addition to a shared promotion.

[BlueLore]

Hey folks, forum newbie here.

I've actually been thinking of a greatly revamped version of the Awakening class/skill system but I'm not sure what board would be appropriate to post it. Would here be okay?

As far as this thread topic is concerned, I think branching promotions should remain a series mainstay and be based on a setup like FE8. Sacred Stones allowed the player to customize their army while maintaining the identitiy of each unit. If my character has a wyvern, I damn well want them to keep it. I think excessive reclassing really cheapens the value of your characters so second-seals should be rare until endgame, or perhaps your second playthrough. I like the idea of each base class having a unique promotion in addition to a shared promotion.

Yeah it would be ok if you post it here.

Overall I am myself working on a class-lineup that I'd actually like to see,but somehow don't manage to finish it.

[ckc22]

I wouldn't mind a change if just to get away from the grindy skill system - part of the fun is coming up with different skill combos but it's so hard to do that because of how much grinding it requires. I'd like to see a more friendly skill system - if they decide to drop 2nd seals and go with a branching system in addition to that I'd be fine with it.

I think what I'd ideally like to see is a class system ~ around Sacred Stones.

Skill wise I think every advanced class should have an "inherent" skill attached to it that isn't otherwise obtainable by other classes (to avoid Awakenings: grind around pick up all useful skills, return to class with high stats scenario). Allow for each character to have like 3-4 additional skill slots that can be filled with skills from scrolls.

(This is really all very unlikely imo: I think we're going to get a game that is very very similar to Awakening mechanics wise.)

Edited February 1, 2015 by ckc22

[Honey Bunny]

Personally I'd like a system where every class gets one skill that has to actually affect how the unit behaves (no +2 stat stuff). I think some skills work as is like Veteran on the Cavalier, but there'd have to be some skill rearranging and buffing. This skill would then be kept upon promotion while gaining a new skill from the promoted class. In addition to this every unit would have a personal skill to not only add to their personality, but to differentiate them gameplay wise from enemies of the same class.

Though there's a small chance that a system like that would be used because this game is using Awakening's engine.

[thanibomb]

I don't mind either way. I didn't like some of the branch promotions in Awakening (Gryphon Rider), but it did offer a lot more variety and reusability of certain characters.

[NekoKnight]

Here is the new class/skill system I designed to make each base class have a unique promotion as well as a shared one, and have skills to better define their role. There are plenty of new classes and skills to balance things out.

First the class break down. Two base classes share a single promoted class (the middle one). Themed group names for no reason in particular.

The Lord

Lord (Sword) > Greatlord (Sword and Lance)

The Lancers

Soldier (Lance)/Squire (Lance)

Dragoon (Lance)/Sentinel (Lance and Bow)/Templar (Lance and Sword)

The Knights

Cavalier (Lance and Sword)/Knight (Lance)

Paladin (Lance and Sword)/Great Knight (Lance, Sword and Axe)/General (Lance and Axe)

The Swordsmen

Thief (Sword)/Myrmidon (Sword)

Trickster (Sword and Staff)/Assassin (Sword and Bow)/Swordmaster (Sword)

The Mercenaries

Mercenary (Sword)/Archer (Bow)

Hero (Sword and Axe)/Ranger (Sword and Bow)/Sniper (Bow)

The Mountain Clan

Barbarian (Axe)/Gryphon Rider (Axe)

Berserker (Axe)/Sky Hunter (Axe and Bow)/Gryphon Knight (Axe and Sword)

The Dragon Cult

Dark Mage (Dark tome)/Wyvern Rider (Axe)

Sorcerer (Dark tome and Staff)/Dark Drake (Dark tome and Axe)/Wyvern Lord (Axe and Lance)

The Holy Warriors

Light Mage (Light tome)/Pegasus Rider (Lance)

Bishop (Light tome and Staff)/Seraph Knight (Lance and Light tome)/Falcon Knight (Lance and Staff)

The Magi

Mage (Anima tome)/Tactician (Anima tome)

Sage (Anima tome and Staff)/Mage Knight (Anima tome and Sword)/Grandmaster (Anima tome and Dark tome)

The Healers

Priest (Staff)/Troubadour (Staff)

War Monk (Staff and Axe)/Saint (Staff)/Valkyrie (Staff and Light tome)

Others

Dancer

Taguel

Manakete

Next are the skills for all the classes which I retooled to give each class a different feel so even classes that share weapon types are quite different to use. Red skills are new ones and Bold skills are old ones that I reworked.

[Lord]Dual Strike+: Adds 10% to the Dual Strike rate

[Lord]Charm: Hit rate and Avoid +10 to all allies within a 3 tile radius

[Great Lord]Aether: Attack twice consecutively, with the first strike having a Sol effect and the second strike having a Luna effect. Skill/2%

[Great Lord]Rightful King: Adds 10% to Skill activation rates

[Recruit]Aptitude: Adds 20% to all growth rates during Level Ups

[Recruit]Underdog: Hit rate and Avoid +15 when user's Level is lower than the enemy (promoted units count as Level +20)

[soldier]Defender: Resistance +1 and Defense +1

[soldier]Iron Nerves: Take 50% less damage from critical hits.

[Dragoon]Defensible Position: Doubles the effect of terrain bonuses.

[Dragoon]Lancefaire: Strength +5 when equipped with a lance .

[sentinel]Quick-draw: Able to counter-attack with Bows at melee range for 75% damage.

[sentinel]Last Stand: Strength, Magic and Speed times 1.5 when health is under 50%

[squire]HP +5: Maximum HP +5

[squire]Escort: Stats +1 when paired up.

[Templar]Feedback: When hit by a Magic attack, enemy will be stunned. (Skill*2%)

[Templar]Mana Burn: Damage increased by an amount equal to Enemy Magic*0.5

[Cavalier]Discipline: Weapon experience x2

[Cavalier]Canto: Unit may use the remainder of its move after an attack.

[Paladin]Launcher: Paired allies may move immediately after separating.

[Paladin]Aegis: Halves damage from bows, tomes and dragonstones. Skill%

[Great Knight]Luna: Ignores half the enemy's Defense or Resistance. Skill%

[Great Knight]Dual Guard+: Adds 10% to the Dual Guard rate

[Knight]Defense +2: Defense +2

[Knight]Phalanx: Defense and Resistance +1 for each adjacent ally

[General]Rally Defense: Defense +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[General]Pavise: Halves damage from swords, lances, axes (includes magical variants) and beaststones. Skill%

[Myrmidon]Avoid +10: Avoid +10

[Myrmidon]Vantage: When HP under half, always attack first during the enemy's Turn

[swordmaster]Astra: Deals 5 consecutive hits with half damage. Skill%

[swordmaster]Swordfaire: Strength +5 when equipped with a sword.

[Assassin]Pass: User can pass through tiles occupied by enemy units

[Assassin]Lethality: Activated ability (x2) Instantly defeats an enemy. Can't miss.

[Thief]Locktouch: Open doors and chests without the need of keys

[Thief]Movement +1: Movement +1

[Trickster]Acrobat: All traversable terrain costs 1 movement point to cross

[Trickster]Born Lucky: Critical Hit and Critical Avoid increased by an amount equal to the user's luck.

[Mercenary]Armsthrift: Attack does not reduce weapon usage. Luck*2%

[Mercenary]Disarm: Unequips enemy weapon. Skill%

[Hero]Sol: Recover HP equal to half the damage dealt to the enemy. Skill%

[Hero]Axebreaker: Hit rate and Avoid +50 when the enemy is equipped with an axe

[Ranger]Rally Skill: Skill +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[Ranger]Bowbreaker: Hit rate and Avoid +50 when the enemy is equipped with a bow

[Archer]Skill +2: Skill +2

[Archer]Prescience: Hit rate and Avoid +15 during the user's Turn

[sniper]Longbolt: Activated Ability (x2) Attack across the map with a bow. (Range = 2 + Strength*0.5)

[sniper]Bowfaire: Strength +5 when equipped with a bow

[Fighter]Gamble: Hit rate -5, Critical +10

[Fighter]Trade Blows: Can't be double hit.

[berserker]Wrath: Critical +20 when under half HP

[berserker]Axefaire: Strength +5 when equipped with an axe.

[sky Hunter]Deliverer: Movement +2 when paired up

[sky Hunter]Lancebreaker: Hit rate and Avoid +50 when the enemy is equipped with a lance

[Gryphon Rider]Brave Heart: Strength +1 and Speed +1

[Gryphon]Flock: All stats +1 when within 3 tiles of another (flying) allied unit.

[Gryphon Knight]Rally Movement: Movement +1 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[Gryphon Knight]Counter: Returns damage when attacked by an adjacent enemy (except damage that KOs the user)

[Wyvern Rider]Strength +2: Strength +2

[Wyvern Rider]Predator: Hit rate and Avoid +15 against (flying) enemies.

[Wyvern Lord]Rally Strength: Strength +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[Wyvern Lord]Ire: Fire a ranged blast (damage = strength) when you are unable to counterattack.

[Dark Drake]Cursed Weapon: Weapon hits reduce enemy skill and resistance by 50% for 1 turn.

[Dark Drake]Daunt: Enemies within a 3 tile radius have their Hit Rating reduced by 10.

[Dark Mage]Hex: Avoid -15 to a+ll adjacent enemies

[Dark Mage]Anathema: Avoid and Critical Avoid -10 to all enemies within a 3 tile radius

[sorcerer]Vengeance: Deals (user's Max HP - Current HP)/2 extra damage. Skill*2%

[sorcerer]Tomebreaker: Hit rate and Avoid +50 when the enemy is equipped with a tome

[Pegasus Rider]Speed +2: Speed +2

[Pegasus Rider]Relief: Recover 20% HP at the start of the user's Turn if no units are within a 3 tile radius

[Falcon Knight]Rally Speed: Speed +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[Falcon Knight]Swordbreaker: Hit rate and Avoid +50 when the enemy is equipped with a sword

[seraph Knight]Blessed Weapon: If the enemy's resistance is lower than their defense, this attack deals magic damage. Skill*2%

[seraph Knight]Sanctified: Allies within 3 tiles have their critical hit rate increase by 10.

[Light Mage]Faith: Critical Avoid +15

[Light Mage]Blinding Light: Enemies damaged by user's attacks have their Hit rate and Avoid reduced by 15 until the end of the next turn.

[bishop]Smite: Deals double damage to Monsters

[bishop]Crusader: Heal 30% of damage dealt to enemies.

[Mage]Magic +2: Magic +2

[Mage]Charge: After selecting Wait, next attack will deal 50% more damage.

[sage]Rally Magic: Magic +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[sage]Tomefaire: Magic +5 when equipped with a Tome

[Mage Knight]Ignis: Adds (Magic)/2 to Strength when dealing physical damage and (Strength)/2 to Magic when dealing magical damage. Skill%

[Mage Knight]Lifetaker: User recovers 50% HP after they defeat an enemy during the user's Turn

[Tactician]Veteran: Experience gain x 1.5 when paired up

[Tactician]Solidarity: Critical and Critical Avoid +15 to adjacent allies.

[Grandmaster]Fear: Afflicts enemy with the Fear status making them unable to move (but still attack) for a turn. Skill*2%

[Grandmaster]Rally Spectrum: All Stats +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[Priest]Miracle: Damage received is reduced by 50% (Luck%)

[Priest]Healer: Restores an extra 7 HP when healing allies

[War Monk]Rally Luck: Luck +4 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[War Monk]Renewal: Recover 30% HP at the start of the user's Turn

[saint]Staff Mastery: All staves have +1 range.

[saint]Divine Favor: Enemies will choose other targets if available.

[Troubadour]Resistance +2: Resistance +2

[Troubadour]Healing Touch: Restores status condition of units adjacent to the user at the beginning of the next turn. User is immune to status conditions.

[Valkyrie]Rally Resistance: Resistance +2 to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

[Valkyrie]Battle Revival: When paired up, will restore herself or ally to full health if either is ko'ed once per battle.

[Dancer]Luck +4: Luck +4

[Dancer]Special Dance: Strength, Magic, Defense and Resistance +2 for one Turn for the unit who receives the user's Dance

[Taguel]Cornered: Critical hit +5 for each adjacent enemy.

[Taguel]Horseslayer: Deals 1.5 damage to (mounted) units.

[Manakete]Magic Scale: Return damage when hit by a magic attack. Skill*2%

[Manakete]Wyrmsbane: Deals effective damage to (dragon) units.

By the Goddess, that took forever to type and format...

Edited February 9, 2015 by NekoKnight