Jump to content

When do I promote


Recommended Posts

You can promote practically anytime, since it's FE8 and you're not going to be facing any problems either way. I tend to promote my FE8 units in the level 15 range, though.

Edited by Topazd255
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Asking this because I predict hitting level 20/0 will take a long time without arena/tower abuse; this is especially the case for staffers Moulder & Tasha.

Just like Topaz said,you can promote at what level you want.I usually promoted my weaker chars at level 10 for them to become stronger,but I've promoted those that have weaker exp growth at level 20.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Promote when you think you need to. If you feel that you need the extra bit of power to clear a chapter, go ahead and promote a couple of characters. In my girl's only run of FE8 I ended up promoting Lute and Vanessa at Level 13 in order to clear a particularly difficult chapter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on a bunch of stuff.

- Is this going to be a dedicated postgame run?

- Is the extra stats from promotion necessary?

- Are you in a hurry to clear chapters?

FE8 isn't particularly hard IMO, which is why I'll delay promotion for as long as I think I can, unless I'm on a tight schedule (in which case people promote as soon as I need them to).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always wait until 20 to promote. It's probably not necessary to wait in FE8 since it's relatively easy, but it's a force of habit for me, and FE8's easiness generally means that I don't need the boosted stats and stuff from promoting as badly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FE8 is an easy game, but there are still characters who struggle in 1st tier. Magic units like Lute and Artur appreciate an early promotion because is gives them a much needed durability boost (and for Lute a much needed con boost <.<).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still, what about staffers like Tasha? She's almost 8 levels behind some of my combatants

I guess the aforementioned "whenever" still applies. You can basically promote them anywhere between 10-20 and they'll still end up fine. There really isn't one right answer for when units should be promoted, but you can consider whether or not you currently happen to need their promotion gains at the beginning of every chapter (gains found here) and make a decision taking them into account.

If you're honestly worried, you can go ahead and promote the staff-users immediately to attain peace of mind, it won't hurt them in the long run.

Edited by Topazd255
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may want to promote staffers early, since grinding them is tedious. Stat ups are outright buyable in this game, so you shouldn't worry about losing out on stats by promoting early. I'd still wait 'til 20 for combat units, since grinding them is easy, given they gain an entire level just by killing the boss on the first floor of the tower.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its friggin fe8, the easiest game in the series.

I would argue that FE9 is actually the easiest, since you don't even need to grind to make your units OP in that game plus you can forge on top of that.

On topic, I think it's best to simply wait until your units start having trouble with their unpromoted stats, or you feel you need the other perks of promotion (extra weapons, move, etc.).

Edited by Radiant Dragon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would argue that FE9 is actually the easiest, since you don't even need to grind to make your units OP in that game plus you can forge on top of that.

On topic, I think it's best to simply wait until your units start having trouble with their unpromoted stats, or you feel you need the other perks of promotion (extra weapons, move, etc.).

I dunno about that... FE9 enemies actually had something resembling stats. And FE8's promoted enemies were mostly outstatted by freaking non-promoted enemies unless you were playing on hard mode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the biggest issue with FE8's difficulty is they give you the three best units in the game by chapter 2. Past chapter 2, most of the units are pretty underwhelming, aside from like, Artur, Gerik, Saleh, Eph!Duessel and Cormag. I still think FE9 is easier though, at least FE8 has some enemies that hit hard. FE9 enemies just have a lot of defence, and FE9's player units as a whole are a LOT better because of BEXP.

As far as promotion goes, I'd say it depends on the unit. Someone like Gerik or Cormag with fantastic bases can afford to promote a little earlier since they gain a LOT from it (Cormag needs the extra speed and Gerik axes or extra movement) whereas someone like Forde who's bases are honestly pretty terrible could stand to wait a few more levels past 10 to get a few extra levels. Healers should almost always be promoted ASAP (or not at all really) since the game is shorter than most and they fall behind in levels fast, and lots of promotions of magic users give them D Staves at worst, which is good enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dunno about that... FE9 enemies actually had something resembling stats. And FE8's promoted enemies were mostly outstatted by freaking non-promoted enemies unless you were playing on hard mode.

Father and Son alone is harder than anything FE9 has to offer.

I'd also recommend whenever you feel it would be particularly beneficial. If you think promoting them will help a lot in the next chapter, go for it. If not, you still can, but I don't really see any reason to.

The biggest thing to consider for healers is that they'll be able to attack, or rather counter, enemies once they promote. If them not being able to fight is of particular concern, promote them ASAP. If not, I don't see a couple of points of magic making a big difference for healing. Maybe if they get a staff boost, but I don't remember if FE8 has those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dunno about that... FE9 enemies actually had something resembling stats. And FE8's promoted enemies were mostly outstatted by freaking non-promoted enemies unless you were playing on hard mode.

It applies to FE9 too on each difficulty (maybe except MM). Second tier units have even worse stats than first tier units, because they are prepromoted. For example a level 1 helbardier = level 11 soldier.

In FE8 HM the enemies will have better stats than in FE9 HM.

Gorgons and arch mogalls have very high magic and can even almost one shot one of your units unlike any sages or bishops in FE9.

Edited by The Taninator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dunno about that... FE9 enemies actually had something resembling stats. And FE8's promoted enemies were mostly outstatted by freaking non-promoted enemies unless you were playing on hard mode.

Why wouldn't you play an easy game like FE8 on HM?

For the TC, promote when you get to level 20, or are in the dessert map. You'll know why, when you get there. If you use both Moulder and Natasha, I can imagen your staff bots gain EXP. If you would use only one, you could spam expensive staffs like Torch, Rescue, Warp etc just for the EXP. With two, it gets more frustrating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why wouldn't you play an easy game like FE8 on HM?

For the TC, promote when you get to level 20, or are in the dessert map. You'll know why, when you get there. If you use both Moulder and Natasha, I can imagen your staff bots gain EXP. If you would use only one, you could spam expensive staffs like Torch, Rescue, Warp etc just for the EXP. With two, it gets more frustrating.

I was just mentioning it, really, since honestly, I think that the circumstance mentioned below should NOT happen, EVER.

It applies to FE9 too on each difficulty (maybe except MM). Second tier units have even worse stats than first tier units, because they are prepromoted. For example a level 1 helbardier = level 11 soldier.

In FE8 HM the enemies will have better stats than in FE9 HM.

Gorgons and arch mogalls have very high magic and can even almost one shot one of your units unlike any sages or bishops in FE9.

Given that magic got noifed in FE9, that's not a fair comparison... Also, I specifically meant that FE8 promoted enemies tended to have their base stats outside of hard mode (at least, as far as maingame goes, given that you don't see very many high level promoted enemies in FE8).

Edited by Levant Caprice
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the biggest issue with FE8's difficulty is they give you the three best units in the game by chapter 2. Past chapter 2, most of the units are pretty underwhelming, aside from like, Artur, Gerik, Saleh, Eph!Duessel and Cormag.

As far as promotion goes, I'd say it depends on the unit. Someone like Gerik or Cormag with fantastic bases can afford to promote a little earlier since they gain a LOT from it (Cormag needs the extra speed and Gerik axes or extra movement) whereas someone like Forde who's bases are honestly pretty terrible could stand to wait a few more levels past 10 to get a few extra levels. Healers should almost always be promoted ASAP (or not at all really) since the game is shorter than most and they fall behind in levels fast, and lots of promotions of magic users give them D Staves at worst, which is good enough.

I get that promoting healers ASAP lets them gain EXP easier through combat participation, but will gimping on stats negatively impact them too much? (assuming no postgame CC)

e.g. Can Valkyrie Natasha effectively use the S-rank Ivaldi? (Bishops like Moulder/Artur shouldn't have it because Slayer, & horse promotion is preferred for main campaign)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get that promoting healers ASAP lets them gain EXP easier through combat participation, but will gimping on stats negatively impact them too much? (assuming no postgame CC)

e.g. Can Valkyrie Natasha effectively use the S-rank Ivaldi? (Bishops like Moulder/Artur shouldn't have it because Slayer, & horse promotion is preferred for main campaign)

gimping on staves won't negatively impact them too much, no. You can use stat boosting items, of which there is an infinite amount available to you through enemy drops and secret shops, to make up for any gimped stats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get that promoting healers ASAP lets them gain EXP easier through combat participation, but will gimping on stats negatively impact them too much? (assuming no postgame CC)

e.g. Can Valkyrie Natasha effectively use the S-rank Ivaldi? (Bishops like Moulder/Artur shouldn't have it because Slayer, & horse promotion is preferred for main campaign)

I just find if you're playing for the main game (if you plan on doing the creature campaign you can just wait until level 20 or spam torch staves in a skirmish or something) that they fall behind in levels too quickly (especially Natasha) and just lose their usefulness. As a result, their stats will be too low to do much more than heal anyway, so I just think you're better off using at least one of Artur/Lute/Saleh since they can heal pretty well with good combat.

I honestly don't think there's enough time for Natasha to hit S Light to use Ivaldi in the main game (without skirmishes or the tower anyway) but even so, her speed is pretty mediocre and she's weighed down by it quite a bit (it's not too heavy but her con's bad) so the only real benefit is the +5 defence, you have other units that kill stuff better regardless. I actually think going Bishop is more beneficial for Natasha during the main game too since her offence is already pretty bad, but slayer can at least help mitigate it a little bit and Valkyrie's only have 1 more movement in FE8 anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get that promoting healers ASAP lets them gain EXP easier through combat participation, but will gimping on stats negatively impact them too much? (assuming no postgame CC)

e.g. Can Valkyrie Natasha effectively use the S-rank Ivaldi? (Bishops like Moulder/Artur shouldn't have it because Slayer, & horse promotion is preferred for main campaign)

If you want to get an healer to use Ivaldi, use Moulder. He starts out as a level 3 Priest. So he ONLY needs 700 EXP to promote. Natasha comes later and needs 900 EXP to promote. Natasha joins during chapter5, Moulder could already hit level 4 and maybe be a bit higher. I think he will get at least get 3 heals every chapter? So that would be 33EXP for three chapters. But probably more. Also, Moulders gets another 2CON upon promotion. So he can use Ivaldi without speed loss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...