Battle Before Dawn HHM help

[Kirchu]

I can just not get to Zephiel on time before he gets utterly destroyed by the fighters with Swordreavers. I'm using my fastest units along with Ninian and others for added muscle to plow through. How am I supposed to get through this all?

[chococoke]

Move faster.

For real though, there isn't much else to it. An alternate strategy is to get someone with an A rank staves to the right treasure room and use the rescue staff to save Zephy's ass.

[Kirchu]

Is there a map with all the enemy unit locations? I don't want to resort to cheating but just in case I start pulling hairs.

[Shadow Mir]

Is there a map with all the enemy unit locations? I don't want to resort to cheating but just in case I start pulling hairs.

I'd try, what was it again... Wars of Dragons?

Also, it'd be in your best interest to kill Ursula, or at least run her Bolting out, before turn 13 or so - I read somewhere that she moves if she's still alive then.

[Nobody]

Is there a map with all the enemy unit locations? I don't want to resort to cheating but just in case I start pulling hairs.

http://fireemblemwod.com/fe7/hhm/ENG_cap28.htm

I'd recommend on putting your Strongest Mount on the east of the map and then moving them as much as you can towards Zephiel every turn, while staying outside Ursula's range. Always works for me.

[Sniper Knight]

Rescue chaining can move things a bit faster. If you're just incredibly unlucky, and you can't handle the chapter anymore, use staves. It's really not worth the headache to conserve warp for later chapters, since it doesn't have much utility in FE7, relative to the other GBA games.

[Dual Dragons]

It's really not worth the headache to conserve warp for later chapters, since it doesn't have much utility in FE7, relative to the other GBA games.

You don't get Warp until after Battle Before Dawn.

This map is pretty bad for some people, really. You don't even get Rescue before it.

I used to split my forces, torch with thieves and Torch staff, and gung-ho it. Bust through the building on the left in one turn, punch it to the other door with the east team, and kill all in sight. I would draw out Ursula and kill her so she couldn't threaten Zephiel. Didn't rescue-chain at the time but you can try that with your high-movement units if you need to. Just be careful of the secondary boss on the west side.

My problem was not NIno or Zephiel but Jaffar actually. The RNs were not going in his favor and he healed himself off the pillar. He died quickly.

[Sunfall]

The Rescue Staff is found in this very chapter, and if you're really quick about rushing the right side of the map (the bulk of your army should take this side), you can handle it off to Priscilla or Pent after you loot it from the chest. Assuming Zephiel hasn't moved west or south of where he starts, Pent should be able to pick him up from the treasure room. That will at least keep Zephiel under control while you worry about defeating Ursula.

Jaffar is quicker to reach thanks to fewer enemy units along the way, though you should consider using an anti-cavalry weapon if Maxime is proving bothersome. Once you have him, kill the thieves, then quickly bring Jaffar to the rest of your army before the reinforcements overrun you.

Depending on how many enemies are present on the map, you may just want to kill off Ursula quickly to stop the flow of reinforcements before they get out of hand. She's pretty easy to kill with anti-cavalry weapons if she's still carrying Bolting--just shore up your resistance with Pure Water or a Barrier Staff and you should have no problems tanking it as you defeat her Mercenary guards.

Nothing else to say, other than I hope you've got several strong mounted units at your disposal. If not, this is a very frustrating HHM chapter, rivaled only by Cog of Destiny in terms of how many wills it has crushed.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Sunfall

[Sniper Knight]

You don't get Warp until after Battle Before Dawn.

This map is pretty bad for some people, really. You don't even get Rescue before it.

My bad, I meant Rescue, which you do get during the chapter. I confused BBD with Sands of Time, oops. They're both defend/protect chapters with castles.

Depending on how many enemies are present on the map, you may just want to kill off Ursula quickly to stop the flow of reinforcements before they get out of hand. She's pretty easy to kill with anti-cavalry weapons if she's still carrying Bolting--just shore up your resistance with Pure Water or a Barrier Staff and you should have no problems tanking it as you defeat her Mercenary guards.

I actually find it easier to send a unit with high RES out to burn Bolting, since your anti-cavalry weapon wielders have to enter her range anyways. It's also helpful if you don't kill her before she moves so she can't reach Nino or Zephiel. Alternatively, you could use Torch near where Ursula is, then get Pent to use Bolting on her, which I think you get in the previous chapter.

Actually, isn't her position different in HHM? I might just be confused again, though, it's been a while. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, I guess.

Edited June 26, 2015 by PanneKnight

[Shadow Mir]

I actually find it easier to send a unit with high RES out to burn Bolting, since your anti-cavalry weapon wielders have to enter her range anyways. It's also helpful if you don't kill her before she moves so she can't reach Nino or Zephiel. Alternatively, you could use Torch near where Ursula is, then get Pent to use Bolting on her, which I think you get in the previous chapter.

Actually, isn't her position different in HHM? I might just be confused again, though, it's been a while. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, I guess.

You do realize that Ursula has max Res, right? There are better things to do with Bolting than waste it on someone who's going to take little to no damage from it. And that's assuming you even got it. And yes, her position is different in Hector mode (she starts in the bottom right corner of the map).

[Sniper Knight]

Huh, she does. Damn. I'd still recommend breaking her Bolting ASAP, though, since an Elfire doesn't hurt as much, though, it does have a higher hit rate. Your call.

[Sunfall]

Ursula's avoid also shoots up big time (an extra 20 pts) when she loses the Bolting, in addition to being much more difficult to double attack. It takes 25 Speed to double against her when she's using Elfire, as opposed to only 15 when she is carrying Bolting--plus she can't counter when she has Bolting, meaning once you actually get within melee range, she's as good as dead if you swing something supereffective against her.

Approaching her is not as hard as it looks; with enough defense the mercenaries surrounding her shouldn't hurt much, and a Barrier Staff/Pure Water helps tremendously with surviving Bolting when it does hit.

Not to say this is the best strategy, but I prefer not to fool around with counterattacks and dodgy hit rates when give the opportunity to avoid them.

[Nobody]

If you have Harken, get him with to the southeast and kill Ursula with the brave sword. I find this the easiest way to deal with her. With a pure water/Barrier, she can barely scratch Harken. He can actually one round her pretty safely.

[Vorena]

Part of this is RNG in this whole room. If Jaffar dies early and you have no trained mounted units to divert some attention from Zephiel I think you are screwed because of the swordreavers. Otherwise, Zephiel can resist the magic users for awhile until they damage him enough that he stupidly elixirs off the pillar. The westward side is empty apart from like a couple of thieves and a troublesome unit. After a few turns the southwest spawns promoted units and lackeys. Part of another strategy is to use rescue effectively. A single mounted unit is like carrying two people and you can abuse that on the westward side a bit to get units down to help jaffar more quickly.

You will have to deal with Ursula or at the very least keep people clear of her by a late turn, but you get a bonus to killing her early by preventing reinforcements on the west side. My thought is break into two teams. Faster mounted on the left to carry maybe a unit or two to stall the promoted enemies. While the rest go to southeast eventually having a mounted unit preferred break apart to deal with a few stray lackeys headed towards Zephiel. Otherwise, the east group focuses on capturing Nino and defeating Ursula. There are like 4 thevies on this map which come from the left side straircase. You can let them steal all the treasure and kill them off rather than wasting your own time getting to the stuff. But, I almost always had more than enough units to do the treasure stealing myself.