[FE9] Anyone want to do a draft?

[AgrusKos]

Chapter 3: 4 turns

For the first few times I did this map, Gatrie!Shinon kept getting attacked (damn forced deployment!) but I changed up my strategy and found a reliable way of clearing the map. The only annoying bit is if Marcia dies. :(

Titania managed to grab the hand axe (which was necessary to kill the boss in one turn because her Str is too low for the Steel Axe to OHKO). Weirdly, I noticed that Ike gained +Def when he hit level 5 when previously it was just +HP and +Str. I really need to read how this fixed mode works.

Ike: Level 5

Titania: Level 2

Don;t know if you've checked already, but it's thoroughly explained here: http://serenesforest.net/path-of-radiance/general/fixed-mode/

The bands don't really make much of a change, but they're nice to have. Knight Ward is ridiculous though.

EDIT: I didn't mention this in the rules and there's no way to enforce it, but I'd prefer if people didn't manipulate the BEXP. if you want to give BEXP to units, please give it all at once, and remember the BEXP rules given at the beginning!

Edited June 11, 2015 by AgrusKos

[SwordofAeons]

I've never actually played Fixed Mode before, but doesn't that preclude BEXP abuse?

*reads link* Oh, that abuse. Those are pretty modest gains outside of the 50+ rate/ increment 1 case; I wouldn't have the patience to do it, anyway ;)

[KP 2010]

Ah thanks for the link. I'll read it later. Sorry, what BEXP abuse are you talking about? Do you mean reseting to change level up gains?

Chapter 6: 4 turns

I'm really beginning to love Titania lol. Anyway, I basically just had Oscar and Boyd etc. play hide and seek in the forest, while Titania stormed the map with Ike. Luckily, she levelled up and gained the +Str she needed to OHKO the boss, otherwise I would have had to play this map the long way.

Also, I didn't realise how poor Ike's damage is. :(

I'm so happy that these last few maps have been so easy and have not required me to have to manoeuvre the undrafted units to avoid combat.

Uh oh, chapter 7 is a rout map and I only have Ike and Titania zzz. Also Ike's Iron Sword broke. :(

Edited June 11, 2015 by KP 2010

[LordRuby34]

Time for the next few chapters.

Chapter Two - Rescue: 4 turns

Turn 1: Rhys trades his vulnerary to Ike. Oscar trades the Paladin Band and his vulnerary to Boyd before rescuing Rhys and hiding in the corner. Boyd moves in front of Ike and trades him the Fighter Band before equipping the Paladin Band. Ike moves into the northwestern area and equips the Fighter Band. On the Enemy phase the three Ike is attacked by both Fighters and the Mrym, dropping him to nine HP after the weaker fighter misses. The nearby fighter to the east runs foreward and attacks Boyd, hitting him for eight.

Turn 2: Boyd moves south of the enemy fighter and kills him with the Iron Axe, leveling up and gaining both speed and strength. Ike burns the last use of his original vulnerary. Oscar is in the corner, still outside the range of all enemies. On the enemy phase the three units in the west attack Ike, both fighters missing unnecessarily. Ike kills them and puts the Myrm down to two HP, gaining a level in the process. Boyd is attacked by a fighter and a bandit. He's hit by both, and kills the bandit, but misses the second attack on the enemy fighter. Boyd is at five.

Turn 3: Titania appears. Boyd cleans up the enemy he missed last turn, Titania kills the bandit the she appeared next to and cantos towards the boss and his friends. A bandit runs up and kills himself on her while an enemy fighter moves closer.

Turn 4: Titania kills the closest enemy fighter with her steel axe and cantos into the range of all remaining enemies. They all suicide onto her during enemy phase. There was a brief scare when she missed the last myrm with the first hit of her steel axe, but she OHKOs him anyway.

This strategy was fairly reliable, Ike needed to dodge one attack at some point, and Boyd could only miss once.

Chapter Three - Pirates Aground: 2 Turns

Preperation: Ike gains the steel sword and the robe. Titania trades one of her axes to Boyd.

Turn 1: Shinion moves north and kills the bandit in front of the drawbridge with his steel bow. Titania moves next to him and kills the other one. Gatrie moves east and attacks the fighter down to five HP with the Iron Lance. Ike full moves north and uses the Robe. The hand axe fighter and mrym attack Shinion in melee, the weakened fighter and archer attack Ike, who kills the fighter. The southwestern Bandit suicides onto Gatrie.

Turn 2: Shinion moves forward and attacks the hand axe fighter for 20. Ike finishes him off and recovers the hand axe. Titania trades Ike for the hand axe, equips it, and full moves into the range of the boss. Gatrie grabs the Elixer from Nasir. On the enemy phase the archer shoots Ike, one Myrmidion runs away from Marcia, and the boss attacks Titiania. She misses the first attack and then critblicks him off the map.

This one took several resets. Titiania only has a six percent critical chance against the boss, which makes this unlikely to result in a turn two clear. However, the strategy is not risky. No units are in any danger of dying, and the rate of a turn three clear is close to 100%. I decided to play the map 10 times to shave off a turn because the map was so short. I am unlikely to do this on a map that lasts even one turn longer.

Total Turns so Far: 13

Edited June 11, 2015 by LordRuby34

[KP 2010]

Chapter 7: 11 turns

This map was terrible for me because I only have Ike and Titania. Ike does piddly damage and is 2-3HKO'd which means he has to use vulnerary on his turn. Eventually, I found a way for Titania to go round the map so that none of the undrafted units entered combat.

I cannot wait for Lethe and Marcia. :(

Ike: Level 9

Titania: Level 6

Chapter 8: 8 turns

Ike had a chance for some self-improvement. Managed to nab the red gem and Titania killed the boss.

Ike: Level 12

Titania: Level 6

Total: 48 turns

Edited June 11, 2015 by KP 2010

[Ema Skye]

Yeah Chapter 7 is really tough. Especially with just Ike and Titania.

Prologue: 4/4

standard

Ch.1: 3/7

Titania goes up and gets Seraph Robe then kills boss. Ike sees lots of combat.

Ch.2: 4/11

Ike covers the ground until Titania arrives and goes up.

Ch.3: 3/11

Shinon would've saved a turn here. Oh well. Hand Axe crits for dayz.

Ch.4: 2/13

standard Titania stomp.

Ch.5: 6/19

sup defend mission?

Ch.6: 5/24

holy crap this map is messy. Not as awful as the next one though.

Ch.7: 7/31

hardest map in the game imo. Mia doesn't do much yet because her attack is awful (she did get a level from wearing a soldier down though!). Fortunately my Ike is super beefy.

Stats at Ch.8 Base:

Unit     Lvl   HP   Str   Mag   Skl   Spe   Lck   Def   Res
Ike      11    29   11    2     11    11    11    12    4
Titania  6     38   15    5     17    16    12    14    8
Mia      11    23   11    2     14    17    9     8     5

Significant Resources:

Seraph Robe (Ch1): Obtained but unused

Speedwings (Ch2): Obtained but unused

Ashera Icon (Ch5): Skipped

Miracle (Ch7): Skipped

[LordRuby34]

Chapter Four - Roadside Battle: 2 Turns

Preparation: Soren and Rhys stay in the back, Gatrie takes the south spot, Shinion the middle, and Titiania the north. She equips the Thief Band for value.

Turn 1: Shinion attacks the nearest Mrymidiion with his Iron Bow, knocking him down to five. Ike finishes him off and hits level five. Gatrie attacks the soldier on the south side of the map. Titania charges all the way foreward and kills a soldier with her Iron Axe, hitting level two. Rhys and Soren run north like the worthless cowards they are. On the enemy phase one soldier attacks Ike, another goes after gatrie along with an archer. Shinion blocks an axe and two lances with his face. A massive amount of soldiers kill themselves on Titania.

Turn 2: Shinion steps back and shoots the fighter in the face. Ike finishes him off. Gatrie goes after one of the soldiers with a steel lance. Rhys and Soren move further north. Titiania charges Maijin with her spify new Hand Axe, knocking him down to 12. On the enemy phase Gatrie has multipule arrows ping off his face. That doesn't bother him at all. Shinion continues to block lances with his face, going down to single digit HP. Maijin kills himself on Titania.

The only thing that had to go right was Titiania hitting four 80 something percent hits against Maijin. That happened on the first try. I wish my other units were able to get just a little more EXP from this one, but it isn't worth taking another turn.

Chapter Five - Flight!: 6 Turns

​Preparation: Titania traded the Javelin to Gatrie and the Speedwings to Boyd. Gatrie gave the Elixir to Boyd. Gatrie took the front deployment slot, Shinion and Boyd took the east.

Turn 1: Ike full moved forward, revealing the enemies. Gatrie meandered up next to him and lanced the nearest soldier in his stupid face. Shinion ran foreward and stood to the east of the healing hedge. Boyd took position south of him and used the speedwings. Titania moves behind Ike. On the enemy phase a soldier started stabbing at Shinion. He misses. An archer shoots Boyd for five and then the idiot with a hammer runs foreward and horribly misses Boyd. He's followed by the cavalier, who also manages to miss. Boyd doubles Mr. Hammer time and smacks the cav down to 15. On the southern front the two archers run up and fire at Gatrie. They both hit but don't manage to do any damage. The soldier he attacked previously swings back and promptly dies on Gatrie's lance. Another one takes his place, attacks and finds himself at half health with nothing to show for it. More enemies close in on all sides.

Turn 2: Boyd finishes off Hammertime. Shinion fires at the Cav to knock him down to one. Ike equips his Steel Sword to kill the archer that moved right in front of him. Gatrie finishes lancing the guy from last turn. Titania trades with Ike to reequip his Iron Sword. On the Enemy phase everything moves forward and attacks. Boyd finishes the Cav only to have him replaced by a fighter and a soldier. He dodges the axe but eats a lance to the face. Ike and Gatrie are both attacked. The soldier in front of Shinion manages to hit this time. At the end of the turn Ike is at 19/29, Boyd is somewhere just under twenty, and everyone else is mostly fine.

Turn 3: Boyd finishes the soldier and Shinion kills the fighter because he has just under fifty percent hit against Boyd and does something like thirteen damage. Gatrie turns to the right and hits Ike's opponent for thirteen down to one. Ike finishes. Titania uses the chance to dart down and kill an archer. On the enemy phase everything attacks. I can't remember if it was this turn or the turn before when the western archer stopped picking on Boyd and went after Shinion. Either way Shinion crited him to death. I still have no idea how Provoke actually works. Anyway, a bunch of guys attack. At the end of the turn Ike is down to nine and Boyd is at eight (if he hadn't dodged a 70% he would have been at one).

Turn 4: Boyd and Ike both use a vulnerary. Gatrie pounds the guy in front of him. Titania slips down to assassinate a cavalier before cantoing back up. On the enemy phase Shinion is successfully poked down to 17, Boyd murders two dudes, and Ike takes a lance in the face back to nine HP. Gatrie damages the remaining Caviler, doubles one of the steel lance soldiers to death and then smacks another one for about half his health. Boyd ends the turn at three.

Turn 5: Boyd uses a dose of the Elixer to pick himself back up. Ike kills the guy in front of him. So does Gatrie. Titania slips down, kills the remaining cav with her Iron axe and continues on toward Dakovya. On the enemy phase another archer appears and attacks Shinion. This time the poor schmuck isn't rewarded with an immediate death and ends up at 2 HP. A fighter attacks Boyd, misses, and gets doubled and killed back. Perfection. Ike and Gatrie take some more punishment, and then Titania finally starts the slaughter. Everyone that attacks her with a one range weapon dies. Unfortunately Dakovya has a Javelin. I had forgotten that. Ike ends the turn at six HP.

Turn 6: Ike uses a vulnerary. Gatrie kills a guy. Boyd moves forward and kills the archer Shinion weakened. Everyone's favorite red headed sniper moves forward and around and shoots the soldier that had been attacking him for five turns. Unfortunately he survived. This little mistake meant that the guy was now inside my defensive line. Titania is too far away to come back and deal with him. Thankfully he was one movement short of reaching the throne. Titania went after the boss with her hand axe and canto'd back to the edge of his range. Don't want to waste uses I might need later. On the enemy phase Ike got to eat a lance and a Javelin down to three health. Boyd sees a little more combat, ending up somewhere around fourteen. Shinion get's poked some more, ending the turn at single digit life totals for the second chapter in a row. Gatrie fights a guy, and Titania slaughters several dudes and the boss, receiving an Ashera Icon.

I really hate Fog of War maps and Defense maps. This one in particular really annoyed me. It took three or four tries before both Boyd and Ike made it through alive. They both just have such awful defense. All the lances didn't do Ike any favors either. But I needed both of them to see as much combat as possible so they could gets some levels. That, at least, worked. Boyd managed to level up three times on this map, all the way up to six. He's going to need every single one of those levels in the next map.

Total Turns so Far: 21

Oh, Splart, how'd Mia's strength hit eleven? I thought her average was nine. Not an accusation, just curious.

Edited June 11, 2015 by LordRuby34

[Ema Skye]

idk, that's just what happened. Her initial BEXP dump was really nice to her. Fighter Band and Steel Sword during the dump helped though (boosted the growth to 50%). Fixed mode doesn't guarantee averages, only stats that are close to averages.

[SwordofAeons]

Mia starts with 70 points in strength, so it's expected for it to be above her average. With Steel Sword and Fighter Band, she would have 10.2 strength at level 11 assuming perfect conversion. A growth rate of 50 is never disadvantaged by rounding, so any time Mia earned an odd amount of experience she'd earn "free" growth points. 11 strength isn't impossible by any means.

[LordRuby34]

That's actually really neat. This is my first time playing through fixed mode, so I'm learning these things one step at a time.

[LordRuby34]

I hate chapter six. Titania needs exactly one more strength to one round the boss with a steel axe. I don't see another way to turn four clear without that last point of strength.

[SwordofAeons]

I'm recording my run on Twitch, and I'll also post updates here.

How are we all interpreting the "50 EXP worth of BEXP per chapter" rule in regards to the first time we acquire a character? Do they get their listed starting amount +50, or just their starting amount and the +50 starts on the next chapter?

[LordRuby34]

Oh, splart, your turn count is off. You forgot to add the three turns for chapter three.

In other news, I figured out a new four turn strategy. It's just insanely unreliable.

[KP 2010]

I'm recording my run on Twitch, and I'll also post updates here.

How are we all interpreting the "50 EXP worth of BEXP per chapter" rule in regards to the first time we acquire a character? Do they get their listed starting amount +50, or just their starting amount and the +50 starts on the next chapter?

I interpreted it as the latter. So for example, for Lethe, she gets nothing on the chapter she joins as a playable unit but she can get +50 BEXP on the chapter after.

I'll give your run a watch - it'll be interesting to see how your team handles the chapters.

[SwordofAeons]

Dag, I'm having a hard time concentrating tonight. I've never played a 3D Fire Emblem for efficiency before, and boy is my rust showing. I'll pick it up again when my head doesn't feel so fuzzy.

[Ema Skye]

I interpreted it as the latter. So for example, for Lethe, she gets nothing on the chapter she joins as a playable unit but she can get +50 BEXP on the chapter after.

I've done about 6 FE9 drafts and this is how they all handled the BEXP.

Also thanks for pointing out the error in my counting. I didn't edit the post but my log in this post reflects the error (meaning it's fixed).

Ch.8: 8/42

defend mission

Ch.9: 4/46

Titania needs a Counter (8%) or a crit (7% x2) against the boss (~8%).

Ch.10: 5/53

Titania naturally reaches the escape tile by turn 5 so it's only a matter of getting Brom in time. Ilyana is amazing and gets him.

Ch.11: 5/58

Titania hits the arrive tile by turn 5 even with obstructions. Ilyana manages to lure the boss and beats it, which is noice!

Ch.12: 8/64

You really feel the lack of a flier here. This is the minimum turn count but you spend so much time waiting it really feels like a survive map.

Ch.13: 7/71

Really don't like how easy it is to lose this map on the first turn :/. But 6 chest keys are easy to get a hold of due to Ch.7 and Ch.10 so it's pretty easy to clear.

Ch.14: 3/74

Mia and Ilyana promote woo! Titania ferries Mia to the boss and she kills him.

Ch.15: 2/76

Brom, Ike, Mia and Mist (thank goodness she has mage move in the desert!) form a shove chain to get Ilyana to Maurim for a ORKO. Theives didn't see combat but got Physic and Boots (which is allowed in the rules)

Ch.16: 6/82

Mist promotes at base. Got Bolting and the Full Guard. Titania and Maurim ferried Ilyana and Ike to the throne room. Titania then left to go get Bolting. Mist grabbed the chest keys from the top right room, and then went with Maurim to get Full Guard. Flare saves a turn here as Ilyana can't ORKO the boss without it.

One chest key left. Saving it for Wrath.

Stats at Ch.17 Base:

Unit     Lvl   HP   Str   Mag   Skl   Spe   Lck   Def   Res
Ike      20    37   18    7     15    15    13    14    10
Titania  11    43   17    5     18    19    13    18    12
Mia      20/3  32   14    9     20    22    14    13    9
Ilyana   20/4  32   5     20    23    23    16     6    21
Mist     14/2  28   9     18    11    17    13     8    15
Brom     16    33   13    2     11    12    5     18    3
Maurim   10    47   23    4     18    19    11    15    8

Significant Resources:

Seraph Robe (Ch1): Obtained but unused

Speedwings (Ch2): Ilyana

Ashera Icon (Ch5): Skipped

Talisman (Ch9): Skipped

Arms Scroll (Ch9): Obtained but unused

Master Seal (Ch10): Skipped

Statue Frag (Ch10): Skipped

Dracoshield (Ch11): Obtained but unused

Master Seal (Ch11): Mist (Level 14)

Secret Book (Ch12): Ilyana

Seraph Robe (Ch12): Obtained but unused

Arms Scroll (Ch12): Obtained but unused

Energy Drop (Ch13): Obtained but unused

Speedwings (Ch13): Ilyana

Occult (Ch13): Ilyana (Flare)

Spirit Dust (Ch14): Ilyana

Vantage (Ch14): Skipped

Secret Book (Ch14): Skipped

Boots (Ch15): Obtained but unused

Statue Frag (Ch15): Skipped

Dracoshield (Ch16): Skipped

Ashera Icon (Ch16): Skipped

Before anyone asks, I didn't rig Ilyana's speed (not like you really can on fixed mode). The 50 point dumps don't allow for rigging opportunities when you consider that her base. I probably wouldn't have used those Speedwings on her I had known she'd turn out this good. The speed blessing has been superfluous so far as it hasn't opened any new doubling opportunities for her (the 2 Speedwings did open them up however) so they haven't changed anything nor saved any turns.

Next time... the long haul in Ch17 followed by Tanith's arrival and the massive resource dump she's getting (pretty much everything but the Arms Scrolls are going to her).

Edited June 12, 2015 by splart

[AgrusKos]

All of your accounts are so interesting to read! Unfortunately I won't have time to start until next week :/ going home to visit the fam this weekend. I'm gonna spend all weekend daydreaming about starting my run >_>

KP I really feel your chapter 7 struggle. It's too late now, but remember you can always use a unit you didn't draft at a 4-turn-per-unit-per-chapter penalty. I'm going to have to do this with Lethe on chapter 15 so I can recruit Stefan, for example.

[KP 2010]

I actually completed half of this yesterday but was too tired to write it up...

Chapter 9: 8 turns

Lethe and Marcia appear!

Recruiting Marcia set me back some turns but it gave me a chance to train Ike as well. Marcia managed to hit the javelin soldier before Ike seized.

Ike: Level 15

Titania: Level 6

Marcia: Level 5

Lethe: Level 3

Chapter 10: 3 turns

Marcia and Lethe were both useful here for cutting down a turn. I forgot how strong Lethe is lol. Didn’t manage to get any of the treasure.

Ike: Level 15

Titania: Level 6

Marcia: Level 9

Lethe: Level 3

Chapter 11: 4 turns

Went via the North path and it was a pretty easy run (Lethe, Marcia, Ike and Titania were necessary for clearing the cavaliers blocking the way). However, I didn’t manage to get the Draco shield or the Killer Lance. :( If only I had picked Mordecai or Nephenee or something.

Thinking about it, I hope picking Makalov wasn’t a wrong choice lol.

Ike: Level 15

Lethe: Level 4

Marcia: Level 11

Titania: Level 7

Chapter 12: 5 turns

Marcia went for the boss. Everyone else stayed on board and defended, I guess. I had to reset a few times to crit-kill either the reinforcement raven or the boss otherwise Marcia would not have been able to survive.

Ike: Level 16

Lethe: Level 4

Marcia: Level 12

Titania: Level 8

Sothe: Level 9

Chapter 13: 10 turns

Standard defence map. Marcia got the boss kill and also KO’d a few crows. Managed to get all the treasure. I definitely could've optimised Marcia's EXP gain a bit more (maybe at the expense of Ike's) but oh well.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 4

Marcia: Level 18

Titania: Level 8

Sothe: Level 10

Chapter 14: 3 turns

Rushed Titania to the boss with a torch while Marcia went to recruit Makalov (who nabbed Vantage and hit a cavalier). Lethe also picked up the Spirit Dust.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 6

Marcia: Level 18

Titania: Level 9

Sothe: Level 12

Makalov: Level 10

Chapter 15: 3 turns

I had to promote Marcia at Level 19 in order to get the the defence and speed (she got a level up and 21 speed after killing three Laguz) necessary to KO Maurim in one-turn (with Vantage). She had to either avoid one of the Tiger Laguz attacks and kill Maurim on enemy phase (with Vantage) or crit-kill the boss in player phase.

Overall, I managed to grab the Physic staff, Boots, Guard (with Volke) and Silver Blade (with Volke).

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 7

Marcia: Level 19/2

Titania: Level 10

Sothe: Level 12

Makalov: Level 15

Chapter 16: 6 turns

I managed this chapter in just one try, whoo. :)

Ike killed the boss with a Regal Sword while Marcia (who ferried Ike and fought in the boss area) and Titania grabbed the Full Guard, Draco Shield and Bolting. If I had positioned myself a bit better, Sothe could have grabbed either the Silver Lance or Ashera Icon but I could not be bothered to restart lol.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 7

Marcia: Level 19/4

Titania: Level 10

Sothe: Level 14

Makalov: Level 16

Items:

Just thought I’d give a quick run-down of how I’ve distributed the items I picked up, using splart’s template.

[spoiler=Items]Seraph Robe (Ch1): Marcia

Speedwings (Ch2): Obtained but unused

Ashera Icon (Ch5): Marcia

Talisman (Ch9): Skipped

Arms Scroll (Ch9): Obtained but unused

Master Seal (Ch10): Skipped

Statue Frag (Ch10): Skipped

Dracoshield (Ch11): Skipped :(

Master Seal (Ch11): Marcia

Secret Book (Ch12): Obtained but unused

Seraph Robe (Ch12): Obtained but unused

Arms Scroll (Ch12): Obtained but unused

Energy Drop (Ch13): Marcia

Speedwings (Ch13): Obtained but unused

Occult (Ch13): Obtained but unused

Spirit Dust (Ch14): Obtained but unused

Vantage (Ch14): Marcia

Secret Book (Ch14): Skipped

Boots (Ch15): Marcia

Statue Frag (Ch15): Skipped

Dracoshield (Ch16): Marcia

Ashera Icon (Ch16): Skipped

Questions

I actually have some questions for you guys, if you don’t mind, as I am not too familiar with this game.

[spoiler=Questions]1) Does anyone know what the minimum turncount is for chapter 9 if you recruit Marcia? Just as an FYI, this is the chapter in which Marcia can be recruited and Lethe and Mordecai join as yellow units.

2) This isn’t really a question but I just found out that for Chapter 11 (after reading splart’s and checking FE WOD), anyone can reach the Escape spot to clear the map! :( I thought it had to be Ike. Dammit, I could’ve grabbed the Draco Shield and given Ike and Marcia some time for self-improvement (instead I was focused on getting Ike to the Escape spot). :(

3) I read the FE9 Draft Tier List and Marcia is second to Jill but she seems to cost turns to recruit (Chapter 3 and Chapter 9). Does she really end up saving more turns than Tanith?

In my first playthrough of FE9 last week (since c. 2006!) I found Tanith’s reinforcements to be pretty neat, especially for Rout maps.

[spoiler=Marcia vs Tanith]

Actually thinking about it, Marcia comes in Chapter 9 and Tanith in Chapter 18.

Chapter 3: Marcia costs around 1 - 2 turns

Chapter 9: Marcia costs a few turns (I'm not sure of the exact amount but I guess between 2 - 4?)

Chapter 10: Marcia saves 1 turn (but Mordecai's Smite or Oscar (although I suppose you would never really get to pick both Oscar and Tanith) does the same)

Chapter 11: Marcia saves 1 turn (I believe this can also be replicated by Oscar/Kieran or even Mordecai's Smite (maybe Lethe's Shove would also be required depending on how the cavaliers move in the North path)

Chapter 12: Marcia saves 3 turns if you reset until you get a necessary critical (which I did but it was really time-consuming lol)

Chapter 13: Defence map

Chapter 14: No turns saved?

Chapter 15: Marcia saves some turns (although a lot of resetting is required!) but it looks like Ilyana and Soren can do the same, based on splart's log

Chapter 16: No turns saved

Chapter 17: I haven't started these 4 stages yet but I just checked and it seems Marcia will definitely save some turns. part 1 is rout (potential turn-savings?), part 2 is escape where Marcia can fly to the blue spot (only matched by Jill), part 3 is defence, part 4 is kill Oliver and it looks like only Marcia/Jill can do this quickly.

Chapter 18 onwards: I think Tanith's reinforcements will be helpful for the rout maps (I can't remember how many there are).

Meh, I guess Marcia does end up saving turns.

4) Out of curiosity, would anyone have picked Makalov as their third or fourth pick? Even at level 16, his stats don't seem very good but I guess his high movement is always nice.

It's probably too early to say but I should've probably gone for Mordecai, Maurim, Ilyana, etc. instead.

@splart: I think your turncount for Chapter 13 is off because it's a 10 turn defence map?

@AgrusKos: I actually didn't even consider taking that penalty lol. It would have definitely helped me to train Ike some more and it would have saved me a LOT of headache (the amount of times I had to reset). :( Yeah I should've taken the penalty lol.

I didn't realise that in Chapter 1, you could have Ike gain some extra EXP without taking extra turns lol. I definitely regret not optimising Ike's EXP gain more because it seems splart managed Chapter 7 a lot quicker (I'm quite curious as to how splart positioned Ike and Titania because it was a 4 turn improvement) but her Ike was a lot tankier than mine (mine was at its average Def).

Edited June 12, 2015 by KP 2010

[Ema Skye]

@splart: I think your turncount for Chapter 13 is off because it's a 10 turn defence map?

Chapter 13 can be ended early if you open the chests by turn 7 (this will cause the ravens to retreat) and are able to rout the map (including the ravens that open chests). Turn 7 is the earliest you can rout it by.

[KP 2010]

Chapter 13 can be ended early if you open the chests by turn 7 (this will cause the ravens to retreat) and are able to rout the map (including the ravens that open chests). Turn 7 is the earliest you can rout it by.

Ah I never knew that! Thanks!

[Ema Skye]

No prob! It's actually fairly tough to end on turn 7 without thieves, but it's pretty easy to get around 8 or 9.

[KP 2010]

Haha I can imagine!

Anyway I cleared Chapter 17.

Chapter 17-1: 2 turns

This chapter wasn’t too bad except it was quite luck reliant. The main issue was the halbardier at the top. If Marcia hits it twice with a Javelin, it retreats and uses a vulnerary (costing another turn) so Marcia has to either crit-kill it (5% chance x 2) or miss one of the Javelin hits (I think it ranged from 75 - 80% accuracy) so that the halberdier attacked in enemy phase.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 8

Marcia: Level 19/6

Titania: Level 10

Sothe: Level 15

Makalov: Level 17

Chapter 17-2: 4 turns

Pretty standard chapter I think. Marcia flew to the exit while Sothe handled the soldiers on the right and Makalov tried to gain some EXP from the cavaliers.

I think if I had Mordecai’s Smite, I would have been able to 3-turn this.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 8

Marcia: Level 19/6

Titania: Level 10

Sothe: Level 16

Makalov: Level 18

Chapter 17-3: 10 turns

Standard defence map. The aim was to try and give as much EXP to Makalov (and to a lesser extent, Sothe). Titania and Marcia killed off most of the mages.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 8

Marcia: Level 19/7

Titania: Level 10

Sothe: Level 17

Makalov: Level 20

Chapter 17-4: 1 turn

Lethe shoved Marcia so that she could snipe Oliver with a Short Spear. Makalov killed a cavalier (just 3 EXP from promotion whoo) with help from Titania and Sothe chipped a fighter.

Ike: Level 20

Lethe: Level 8

Marcia: Level 19/7

Titania: Level 10

Sothe: Level 17

Makalov: Level 20

I wish we could choose our own positioning for these maps. I had to put Marcia at a certain starting point for the first stage, which disadvantaged me in the second stage but was beneficial in the fourth stage.

[LordRuby34]

Chapter 6 - A Brief Diversion: 5 Turns

Preparation: I deploy Boyd in the Southeastern square and Titania in the far south.

Turn 1: Titania kills the nearby archer and canto's west. Boyd leaps out of the bushes and beats on the Javelin guy for a little while, putting him to single digit HP. Ike stays in the bushes, but also moves further southeast. Rhys, Soren, and Oscar retreat into the bushes like the worthless cowards they are. On the enemy phase two soldiers attack Boyd down to 20, he kills one and puts the other at four. The eastern Mrymidon and Archer move forward along with a mage and the poleaxe Cavalier from the west. Javelin Guy retreats.

Turn 2: Boyd finishes what he started on the enemy phase and kills the other soldier. He levels up here, gaining speed and strength. Ike runs out of the bushes and crits the Mrymidon to death with his regal sword. Titania point blank hand axe's the archer and canto's forward. On the enemy phase the mage and the cav charge Ike. They both hit, and Ike counter kills the Cav with his Regal Sword. An archer suicides on Titania, then she's attacked by Javelin Knight. She hits him once and breaks her handaxe. The nearby soldier rushes forward and kills himself on her Iron Axe. Javelin Guys gets healed by a priest.

Turn 3: I make a mistake here and move Boyd into the wrong square, accdentally exposing him to the mage along with all the units on the eastern bridge aside from the Knight. He takes a Vulnerary to go back to 30 HP. Ike moves onto the brige. Titania Canto's back one space, grabs him, and moves south. On the enemy phase Javelin Guys gets the rest of his HP restored. Then Boyd gets attacked by the Mage, the remaining Cavieler, the Mage, and Javelin Guy. They all hit, putting Boyd to seven. He knocks the Cav to single digits. The Knight on the eastern bridge advances, ending up three squares away from Boyd.

Some enemies attack Titania. They aren't terribly effective.

Turn 4: Boyd moves back so that he's only in the range of Javelin Guy and the Cav that's going to retreat anyway. Titania drops Ike by the river and canto's in front of Emil. On the enemy phase Javelin guy finally manages to miss Boyd. Some enemies attack Titania from range and survive. A Mrymidon tries it from point blank and doesn't. Emil ends up in single digit HP. Ike is in range of only one enemy. They both do some damage, but nothing serious.

Turn 5: Thanks to his earlier level Boyd can now double Javelin guy with the Steel Axe. Javelin guy proves unable to dodge. Titania finishes Emil and Ike escapes.

I ran the probability of success on the turn four strategy and found it was something like 4%. It isn't worth the resets to make that happen.

Chapter 7 - Shades of Evil: 6 Turns

​Preparation: Titania takes the western deployment position, Boyd gets the North. Titania trades Boyd a vulnerary and her 13 use Iron Axe. In return he gives her his eight use Iron Axe and a Hammer. Titania equips the Short Spear

Turn 1: Boyd full moves North, keeping his steel axe equipped. Titania equips the eight use Iron axe and charges west, killing a soldier along the way. Ocsar rescues Rhys and starts cowering in his corner. Soren joins him. Mia appears. On the enemy phase an archer and a soldier attack Boyd for eighteen. He kills the soldier in return. Javelin guy and Hand Axe guy attack Ike. A million random dudes suicide into Titania, the Iron axe breaking mid rush and turning into a short spear right before the archer and the soldier with the Javelin attack. Mia recruits herself on the other phase.

Turn 2: Boyd comes down and kills Javelin guy. Ike critblicks Hand Axe dude. Mia runs up to the spot that triggers all the reinforcements. Titania kills that one random soldier that won't attack with her steel axe and positions herself in the middle of the southwestern room. On the enemy phase the archer attacks Ike, and one armor and a soldier fall to Titania's Steel Axe. The other two takes a ton of damage. The thief runs up right next to her. All of the reinforcements arrive.

Turn 3: Boyd runs one space out of the room into the central hallway, equips the Steel Axe and uses a vulnerary. Ike attacks the archer. Titania hits the thief for 20, down to one, and Canto's in front of the door guard. Gatrie moves forward and attacks the Myrmidon with his Iron Lance. Shinon moves east, out of the range of all the guys I want to suicide into Gatrie. The two knights that Titania wounded kill themselves on her during the enemy phase, along with the door guard. The archer in the room chooses to attack Shinon and die. One other Knight attacks him and he takes ten. The two knights blocking the main hallway come up and attack Boyd, who takes more than half of each Armor's health and dodges one attack. The two mage and soldier teams both advance. Two myrmidons suicide onto Gatrie and a soldier goes to single digit health. The archer misses Ike and the thief moves toward Boyd.

Turn 4: Boyd equips the Iron axe and sucks down another use of the Elixer. I was worried about him failing to dodge anything and dying, but the Elixer ended up being unnecessary. He dodged almost everything this turn. Ike finishes killing the archer. Titania moves up, and east, stops at the edge of the westernmost armor's movement equips the Hammer and eats a vulnerary. Gatrie moves around and attempts to Javelin the priest in the face point blank. He misses. Shinon moves down to get ready to engage a mage and soldier team. On the enemy phase two knights suicide into Titania, Gatrie murders a soldier, and hits Balmer for 12. A soldier kills himself on Boyd, along with an armor. Another one goes after Ike, who still has his Iron Sword equiped. A mage burns Boyd a little. The other mage and soldier due get close to Shinion as the theif runs north and turns west.

Turn 5: Boyd executes the mage and is shoved west by Ike. Shinion kills the other mage, and Gatrie goes around and lances the priest in the gut. Titania murders Balmer and canto's in front of the remaining knight. He attacks her on the enemy phase, succeeding in reducing his own health. The remaining soldier misses Shinion. The theif goes around and enters the top of the room Shinion is in.

Turn 6: Boyd kills the soldier attacking Shinion, Shinion shoots the thief, Gatrie finishes murdering the priest, and Titania axes the Knight again. All enemies defeated.

This was an annoying one. I had to try this four times before it worked. Ike died in my first attempt (which was because I approached it terribly that time), Boyd died in attempts two and three (because he would not dodge), and Titania died in attempt four (because she literally never dodged). Still, it felt rewarding to be able to shave a turn off this chapter. What really annoyed me was trying to figure out the trigger for Shinion and Gatrie appearing. I'm still not sure exactly where the invisible lines are, but I know it on at least one axis. To get them to appear on turn one I'd need either Oscar, or Boyd, Rhys, and Soren. That was mildly frustrating.

Chapter 8 - Despair and Hope: 8 turns

​Preparation: I sold all the junk that I didn't need, including the priest band, and bought something like five or six hand axes, a pair of new iron axes, a new steel axe, and forged Boyd an Iron Axe called "A Question". Boyd and Ike both got one level of BEXP, hitting ten.

Turn 1: Ike went east and equipped the Regal Sword. Boyd took the west and took up A Question. Titania went south and grabbed an Iron axe. On the enemy phase all the cavaliers without 1-2 range weapons killed themselves. Boyd chopped down three knights and a myrmidon, and Ike managed to crit kill an armor and weaken two other guys. Ike and Boyd both took ten damage.

Turn 2: Titania equipped the hand axe. Ike killed the soldier that hit him. Boyd moved to the western end of the eastern check point, equipped his new hand axe, and used a vulnerary. On the enemy phase Boyd killed did some damage to the Javelin knight but got hurt in return. Ike killed a myrm and took a lance to the face while Titania finished cleaning up the cavs.

Turn 3: Boyd used a vulnerary. Titania canto'd behind Ike, handaxed a soldier and took his place. Ike equiped his Iron sword and used a vulnerary. On the enemy phase the last Knight died on Boyd's hand axe, along with a mage. The other mage and the archer both survived because Boyd apparently can't throw in a straight line. The myrm from last turn attacked Ike and ended up at one HP.

Turn 4: Titania moved over to Boyd and handaxed the remaining mage. Boyd moved up and killed the archer. Ike finished the Myrm. On the enemy phase Ike took some damage as the Myrm was replaced. The longbow guy missed Boyd.

Turn 5: Boyd kills the longbow guy. Titania helps Ike again, who eats a vulnerary. Ike kills the Myrm on the enemy phase. Ilyana moves in front of Ike.

Turn 6: Boyd moves back into the main base and uses a vulnerary. Ike recruits Ilyana and uses a vulnerary. Titania does nothing relevent.

Turn 7: Titania moves down and kills the priest with the Red Gem, using her hand axe. Boyd joins her, trades for her vulnerary, equips his own hand axe and uses it. Ilyana trades Ike her vulnerary. He kills an archer. On the enemy phase two cavs suicide into Boyd and the boss attacks him. I don't think Ike did anything relevant. One soldier moves into the base.

Turn 8: Boyd axes Kamura A Question. The answer is a dead boss. Titania kills the soldier before he can take our base. Ike prepares for battle. On the enemy phase he dodges a Javelin, smacks a knight, crit's a soldier, and then fights another. Time expires.

This was a pretty easy one, good for grinding Boyd and Ike a few levels each.

Total Turns so Far: 40

[Ema Skye]

So I had this marvelous plan to get a Bolting flare on Oliver in 17-4 on the first turn.

Then it turns out I read the map wrong and the 10th tile away from Oliver is a tree. RIP that plan :<

Let's see what happens.

[LordRuby34]

Chapter Nine - Gallia: 5 Turns

Prep: Titania got Boyd's Forge, a hand axe, a steel lance and a Hammer. Steel lance equipped. Boyd got another steel axe for value. I forge Ike a max MT sword but don't use it. Titania and Boyd get the two foremost deployment slots. Boyd gets 50 BEXP.

Turn 1: Ike moves next to Titania. She rescues him and moves all the way forward, by the trees. Boyd follows. Lethe and Mordicai move out. On the enemy phase Titania kills a soldier and pokes a Mrym that doubles her.

Turn 2: Boyd runs up and one shots a mage with his Iron Axe as Titania runs forward and handaxe's one of the two Armor's guarding the fort. Lethe kills a soldier. Mordicai moves forward. On the enemy phase Titania kills the armor she wounded, and hurts two archers and another armor. The remaning Myrm attacks Mordicai. This continues to happen until Mordicai transforms and kills him on turn four.

Turn 3: Boyd runs up and kills one of the archers Titania weakened. Titania moves to the edge Kotaff's big armored bodyguard, equips the hammer and drops Ike just outside the knight's range. Then she canto's a few spaces forward. Lethe kills the other archer. The two knights kill themselves on Ike and Titania. Reinforcements arrive.

Turn 4: Titania moves to the back treeline, equips A Question, and heals. Ike moves next to her and heals. Boyd murders a myrmidon. Lethe ganks another. Boyd gets attacked by a myrm, Ike fights a myrmidon and a soldier before dodging a Javelin. His health is low afterwards.

Turn 5: Titania axes Kotaff with A Question, putting him in single digits. Boyd finishes him with a handaxe to the face, hitting 15.53. Ike seizes.

Another easy one. Originally I thought I could turn 4 this one. I forgot about the reinforcements. I tried to turn four again and then realized my odds of success were sub one percent. Ike would have to crit the knight in front of Kotaff -twice- and dodge an attack, then Titania would have to crit the boss to death. I don't even think it's possible with the weapons I had. There was another possible turn four, but I would have needed a max crit forge, and I hadn't made one. That's an oversight on my part that definitely cost me a turn.

Total Turns so Far: 45

Edited June 14, 2015 by LordRuby34