Jump to content

Recommended Posts

This thread should serve as a little guide for all the people who are going to play FE10's hard mode for the first time.

Credits go to Quintessence and RadiantDragon who supported me in this.

1. What are the exact differences between normal and hard mode?

Spoiler

 

  • 1.1. Enemies

All the enemies are two levels higher than on normal mode. In average they have +1 in each stat but it also depends on their class and growthrate. For the exact stats check out this site.

All the bosses have the same level, weapons and stats as in normal mode.

Very most of the laguz in 3-6 nd 3-13 have S instead of A rank. So they do automatically +5 damage.

The A.I. of the generics and bosses is the same.

  • 1.2. Disabled weapon triangle

No weapon has an (dis-)advantage anymore. That means that the biorhythm is more important now. Try to attack with units who have good / best biorhythm and attack enemies with bad / worst biorhythm.

  • 1.3. Disabled quick battle save

You can only suspend the game.

  • 1.4. Disabled enemies' movement range

You have to count the movement of each enemy.

  • 1.5. No access to Anna's tutorial
  • 1.6. Less battle and bonus experience

For poking and killing an enemy you'll get exact -5 experience than on normal mode. For killing a generic who's the same level as your unit you get 20 experience.

For a bosskill you'll get -20 experience than in normal. Poking a boss brings the same experience like poking a generic.

Steling and blessing gives you the same experience as in easy / normal mode.

For the bonus experience watch this site.

  • 1.7. Removed affinity bonus

All the allies and enemies who have the same affinity as the map don't have +5% hit / evasion.

 


2. Which units should get FE9 boosts in which stats?

Spoiler

 

In general everyone should get transfer boosts who'll join the Liberation Army. That means especially Jill and Ilyana. The chapters of Micaiah's party are harder than Elincia's and Ike's, especially part 3 where the Laguz are much more powerful (+5 attack for having S-strike rank; mentioned in 1.1.).
But also Nephenee needs boosts because 2-1 is a really tough chapter with lots of powerful enemies. Nephenee's steel great lance reduces her attack speed a lot. She has accuracy and evasion issues. Since her HP and defense aren't that great either her HP can go down to zero faster than you wished.
As for the GM's no one really needs them because they're still more than a match for the enemies since you have units with amazing bases like Ike, Titania, Gatrie and Shinon.


Here a few recommendations

Jill
strength, speed, skill, defense

Jill has the highest potential of all characters in FE10 because of her availibility and growthrates. But she has a hard start because of her only mediocre bases (especially strength). With a strength boost she can use at least the hand axe without AS penalty and only loses 1 AS with her steel axe. With a defense boost she should be able to survive two physical attacks in the beginning. Since her base HP is very low I highly recommend to give her the angelic robe from 1-4. I also recommend to forge her an iron axe to have a high hitrate.


Ilyana
magic, skill, speed

Ilyana isn't the best mage in the game for sure and she'll be outclassed by Soren when she joins the GM's. But she's a helping hand for the DB. Since 1-3 is one of the hardest chapters in the game Ilyana with boosts can help you a lot. With a speed boost she can double and ORKO some enemies. Since thunder is the most inaccurate magic type in this game a skill boost wouldn't be bad for her either.


Zihark
strength, defense

Although Zihark is already a swordmaster he's still fragile. In 1-F two enemies can still kill him. Since his strength and defense aren't his best growths more attack power and especially more defense help him.


Nephenee
strength, skill, speed, defense

Nephenee's problem is her base equipment. Her steel great lance weighs her down by 3 points. So she starts with 17 AS which means she can't double 90% of the enemies. With a strength and speed boost she'd have 21 AS. Enough to double pretty much everyone including Yeardley. A defense boost would allow her to survive two hits by Yeardley.


Boyd
speed

Boyd's main problem is his base speed. He's the third slowest unit of the GM's (behind the two healers) and can get doubled by swordmasters. With a speed boost you could prevent it and he could double axe generals and bishops at least.


Ike
speed

Ike's only real weakness is his speed growth. With 25 base speed he can double everyone except for swordmasters and you need less effort (bonus experience) to max his speed.


Marcia
strength, speed

Marcia's only real weakness is her strength growth. With her 16 base strength she can't use steel great lances without AS penalty. Although her speed growth is high a speed boost is recommended. She needs maxed speed till 3-9. With 23 strength and maxed speed she can oneround Roark with the brave lance.


Tanith
speed

With 25 base speed she can double all the paladins and a few snipers. With a strength boost she could even oneshot the paladins with the horseslayer.

Mist
speed

Mist is a walking target. With her 15 base speed she'll get doubled by everyone which isn't a magic user or a general. With 17 speed she'll get only doubled by swordmasters.
BTW A speed boost for Rhys wouldn't even help him because even with 16 base speed he'd get doubled by very most warriors, halberdiers and snipers.


To say it in a short way the most important characters for transfer boosts are Jill and Nephenee Imo.

 



3. Which Dawn Brigade characters should be used and how?

Spoiler

A general advce in the beginning: Focus only on few characters. Since Micaiah and Sothe are forced only use 3-4 other units besides them frequently. Otherwise your units won't get enough experience. Experience sharing isn't recommened in hard mode.

Micaiah
Micaiah is a walking target. Either she’ll get doubled or oneshotted. Except against mages pretty much each enemy means her automatic death. You have to worry about her through the entire game. The problem is that she needs stats in 1-9 to survive. She needs at least 13 speed not to get doubled and at about 25 HP to survive one hand axe or steel bow. If necessary you have to give her one of two angelic robes from part 1. However I don’t recommend to invest any status boosts in her. It's not a worthy unit despite she’s forced in the entire game. An useful strategy is to use sacrifice till she’s <50% HP. With resolve she might be able to double things or with wrath she could oneshot everyone. Thani will oneshot the boss in 1-2, 1-3 and 1-6-2.
Recommended skills: resolve duing part 1, wrath
Recommended status boosts: angelic robe (if she can’t take one hit in 1-8)


Sothe
In the beginning he fulfills his role as a non-mounted "Jagen". Use him only for poking and stealing. When he reaches the point he can get serious battle experience the others have outclassed him already. Sothe's main problems are his mediocre growths and crappy defense in part 3. Since he's forced in the entire game you should train him even if I normally don't do it. Beastkiller can kill himself in 3-6 and 3-13. Only use it in player phase. After he attacked, switch back to a weaker weapon. Otherwise too many enemies could attack and kill him.
Recommended skills: inbue, cancel in part 3


Edward
Edward is besides Jill the only first tier unit who’s able to double some enemies. However his main problem is his start. Even in the first chapter he can’t double everyone. He needs speed and strength early on to become useful. If he levels these stats consequently and gets a bit defense he can become an awesome unit. With support and decent defense gain he could even take two steel lances. Wrath mainly screws him in combat. You can benefit much more from it if he attacks with the wind edge / storm sword from the distance.
Recommended skills: wrath (defualt), cancel in part 1


Leonardo
Without question Leonardo is the worst archer in this game growthwise. His strength and speed growth are mediocre for this class. He’s really bad in part 1. You can only really use him for poking and in 1-6-1 against the pegasus knights. But when he has the Lugnasadh in part 3 he’ll become more useful. If he has 15 speed at least he can double most of the tigers. And as a sniper he can use crossbows which are handy in 3-12 against the falcon knights. Babying him in part 1 can be tedious but he’ll show his worth later.
Recommended skills: -


Nolan
Nolan is the tank in the very beginning but it’ll change at least in 1-3 already since he can’t take two steel axes anymore. That means he also needs levels early on despite he’s 3-4 levels higher than Edward and Leonardo. Nolan is a very untypical fighter. His HP and strength growth are low which is a problem in the beginning. With his steel axe he loses speed. If he doesn’t have 15 strength till 1-4, buy or forge him an iron axe. Otherwise he could get doubled easily which would be fatal since he’s an excellent unit. He’ll outclass Boyd because of his higher speed growth. He has earth affinity so pair him up with Volug or Zihark.
Recommended skills: nihil (defualt), cancel, beastfoe + vantage + crossbow as combination in 3-6 + 3-13


Laura
The same what I said about Micaiah only worse since she can’t attack. It’s incredibly hard to give her levels and to keep her alive. In all seriousness if you have a decent team and enough vulneraries leave her home in part 1. It’s not worth the pain to have two fragile units with lower movement in your party. You can beat part 1 without a healer. Only use her in part 3 as a second healer besides Micaiah. However on the other hand her growths are really good and a third range weapon user besides Micaiah and Leonardo would be welcome. You could train her in boss battles or chokepoints behind the chip unit. One option is double healing via sacrifice -> heal/mend. This can be done with a mage on 1-7, 1-8 or even 1-E. The mage can attack a target and Laura heal. This will take a bunch of turns so the player should have patience in order to make her keep up the pace. She can reach 2nd tier by the end of Part 1. Her combat will be ok although she will be frail, but a second healer and ranged attacker is always welcome. Micaiah won't be great at combat unless you rig spd and/or give her resolve.
Recommended skills: -


Ilyana
She's helpful in the beginning, even more if she has transfer boosts. But in the longrun I don't really recommend her to use because her growths (especially speed) aren't great. Keep her alive to bring some goodies to the GM's. Wrath is quite nice because a phyiscal hit would bring her automtically into wrath zone (aslong she can survive one hit).
Recommended skills: shade (default), wrath


Aran
In general I don’t use Aran for three reasons:

  • He joins with medioccre speed and has only a mediocre speed growth.
  • He doesn’t get a special weapon in part 3.
  • He has massive accuracy problems with his javelin.

However I’ve seen him used well in several playthroughs. He can become a really good tank but he needs speed so badly not to get doubled. With a forged iron lance he can hit hard. And he could use Tauroneo's silver lance later on if you give him discipline early on.
Recommended skills: discipline


Meg
Meg joins underleved at a point where the enemies are really tough. In 1-4 the tigers with 12 speed can oneround her. You have to grind her on the cats and heal her in each turn. She is a different knight, will have high spd, lck and res as if she were a pegasus knight. She'll mostly chip but won't be the knight you expect her to be like Aran. Still, if you want the power of the PINK then forge her a sword, give her a dracoshield and/or energy drop and feed her kills as much as possible. Sell her fortune.
Recommended skills: -


Volug
Volug is the most usable non-royal Laguz besides Skrimir for multiple reasons:

  • He has earth affinity so he can become a dodgetank.
  • He has enough speed to double all the Laguz in part 3.
  • He has enough power with S-strike to kill all the cats in part 3.
  • He can take two hits by tigers in part 3.

In part 1 he mainly fulfills the part of a Jagen. In the very first chapters he kills almost everything except for myrms and knights. He can't get any levels except you give a him a few bosskills but at least he can gain strike level. You want to bring him to strike level S at the end of part 3. In part 3 he’s your wall. He’s the only one of Micaiah’s time (besides a very good Jill or Nolan with angelic robe) who can take two hits by a tiger in 3-6. If you really want to use him till the end I'd recommend to give him an energy drop and draco shield.
Recommended skills: healing, savior, pass


Tauroneo
Tauroneo is only really usable in 3-12 and 3-13. In 3-12 you can’t use him much because he’s apart of Micaiah’s group. In 3-13 he’s a good wall since he also can take two hits by a tiger. Take his resolve from him in 1-6 and give it to Micaiah immediately.
Recommended skills: inbue in 3-12 and 3-13.


Jill
I mentioned it in 2. already. Jill can become awesome if she has FE9 boosts. It’s the unit who needs them the most. Her base strength is her major downfall. She can do only barely damage and can’t even use hand axes without speed penalty. This nerfes her quite a lot. With strength and speed boost and a forged iron axe she can really own the enemies. Give her the angelic robe of 1-4 to make sure that she can take two physical hits. If you have a good Jill she can wreck the Laguz in part 3. Give beastfoe to her because she can get a free kill in each turn since she can fly back to safe spot thanks canto. In 3-12 you can give her paragon to give her some levels. Imo she's the unit with the most potential in this game because of her amazing availibility and growths.
Recommended skills: beastfoe in 3-6 + 3-13, paragon in the other chapters (when she’s promoted)
Recommended status boosts: angelic robe


Zihark
Zihark is a swordmaster with excellent bases at the time he joins. Furthermore he has adept and earth affinity which make him even better. Many people tend to bench Edward when Zihark joins. If your Edward is strong and fast there's no reason not to use both. Edward will be similar if he has reached Zihark's base level. Zihark's resistance is better (which is pointless in part 3) while Edward tends to have more HP, strength and luck. However unlike Edward, Zihark can be used as a front unit aslong he has at least a B-support in earth with someone and resolve. This combination makes him almost invisible. Furthermore you could also give him vantage or cancel as second skill.
Recommended skills: resolve, vantage, cancel, inbue (in 1-7 + 1-8)


Fiona
Unusable on normal pace. But if you're willing to invest a lot on her then the best bet is feeding her exp by attacking priests on 1-7 and 1-E. They'll heal each turn and Fiona's chip will make her get a few levels. If she can stand the bosses then she can abuse them too. Be sure to get her to Lance Paladin by 1-E. Possible, yet suboptimal. She'll need boosters and a forged lance.


Rafiel
Recommended skills: celerity

Rafiel with more movement will help you in the swamp chapter and in 1-F a lot.

 



4. Supports

Spoiler

 

There’s no real general rule who to support with whom but there’s one thing you should keep in mind: Evasion is the most important support stat in the game. It's very important for the DB to survive part 3. This means you should do earth-earth-supports. As for the Dawn Brigade you have three usable units with earth-affinity (Nolan, Volug, Zihark). Of these three I highly recommend to support Zihark with one of the other two menitoned units since he’s the most fragile one of these three. Volug would be the best of the three who could support with an other affinity since he’s the tankiest of these three. Jill is a really good contender for three reasons:

  • Both have 9 movement.
  • Jill also gives a bit evasion for having thunder affinity.
  • Jill also needs evasion because she will be used in the DB as a front unit quite a lot.

So Nolan-Zihark and Volug-Jill are the best supports Imo.

As for the other DB members I recommend Edward x Leonardo. Both can get +2 attack and +3 defense. Leonardo needs all the strength he can get while Edward needs defense. With a decent defense growth he could take even two steel lances.

Micaiah x Sothe is alright because it gives Sothe good evasion.

A few things I'd recommend:

  • Support units who share a support boost in one stat at least.
  • Support units who have same movement
  • front units need more evasion while back up units (mages) need more accuracy

 


5. Skills

Spoiler

 

I already mentioned it a bit in question 2 but I'm going to explain it a bit more detailed.
Certain skills only really work on certain units and classes.

First example is wrath:
This skill is nerfed in FE10. It only activates at <30% HP. It's pretty much a suicide skill for combat units. So more enemies can be killed in an enemy phase so more enemies can attack and kill you.
Wrath is a very good skill for magic users for two reasons:

  • They have low defense. One hit can bring them already in wrath range.
  • They attack mainly from range.

Of course you can't kill much because you will use it player phase but it's the safest way how to use wrath. Micaiah and Ilyana are the best contenders for this skill.

An alternative is to combine it with resolve. In 3-6 a tiger will bring Zihark's HP automatically down to resolve and wrath zone. If resolve is activated and has A-support in earth it's nearly impossible to kill him. With resolve his skill is increased which gives him much more evasion and a higher chance to land a critical hit.

Skill combos are very handy in this game.
For Zihark: adept + wrath + resolve


Another good skill combination would be vantage + cancel you also could give to someone of the DB. This can prevent you from getting hit in player phase if cancel is activated and in enemy phase if both skills are activated. The possibilty that both skills are activated at the same time is low for a swordmaster (9% if 30 skill + speed and normal biorhythm) but already 16% for a trueblade (40 skill + speed).


A special combination I also recommend is vantage + beastfoe with a crossbow for Nolan. With crossbow + beastfoe he can oneround all the Laguz in part 3 (Leo could do it too btw). The only problem for him could be the enemy phase. So more enemies he can kill so more enemies can attack him (same problem as with wrath). However you could prevent it by giving him an earth support and vantage.
In general I rather tend to give beastfoe to Jill but I wouldn't really say one way is better than the other. Both strategies can grant you the same success to survive part 3. The only difference will be that one unit will get more exp. than the other.


In part 1 you get the paragon scroll. It's actually an interesting question, if to keep this skill in the DB or to pass it to the GM's. There are one advantage and two disadvantage if you give paragon to Ilyana in 1-F:
+ You can benefit from paragon more. The GM's have six more chapters than the DB.
(GM: 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, 3-7, 3-8, 3-10, 3-11, 3-F) (DB: 1-F, 3-6, 3-12, 3-13) The GM's could also benefit from it in 1-F if Ilyana's promoted already.
- The DB needs experience much more because the enemies are way tougher.
- You'll get two more paragon scrolls in 3-12 (take paragon from Geoffrey in 3-9).

Giving paragon to the GM's is only really recommended if you want to level up lower leveled units like Rolf or Mist. Better keep it in the DB.
Since you have three paragon scrolls give one scroll to each group in part 4.
(Alternative you could give all the scrolls to the Silver Army for 4-P. And in the base of 4-3 you could take them off to give it to the other two groups in 4-4 and 4-5. So you'd the best benificial of paragon too.)


About the endgame: Nihil and parity are your best friends against Ashera but you should know it already.

 


6. Which items should be bought and stolen?

Spoiler

 

In general try to buy and steal all status items.

6.1. Which items should be bought?

1-4: beastkiller (for part 3)

1-5:

  • spirit dust
  • iron long bow - There aren't many chapters in this game you can really benefit from a long bow because its crappy accuracy and very high weight but it has its uses in chapters with ledges. Most units can't oneround the enemies except for mages. With Leonard's help it is possible. But make sure to equip him back to a lighter bow or place him not directly next to the ledge. With the iron long bow equipped he'll get doubled by everyone most likely. Other good chapters for the long bow are 1-5, 1-7 and 1-F (against reinforcements).
  • forge an iron axe if you got the coin in 1-4
  • bronze knife

1-8

  • steel knife

You don't need the wrymslayer. Tormod can oneround the dracoknight in turn 1 in enemy phase if Muarim and Vika shove him in the swamp.

1-F:

  • recover
  • forge a steel axe

Masterseal is way too expensive. Arc tomes aren't really necessary for the GM's. Arcthunder has a very bad accuracy.


2-3

  • hammer
  • horseslayer

Killing weapons are expensive but Elincia's party has lots of money so you could buy them. Killer lance would be nice for Nephenee (Danved has already one).


3-2

  • wyrmslayer

Since you have the silver card buy as much as you can (especially range weapons). You could also buy the arms scroll if you haven't found any yet.


3-3

  • draco shield

3-4

  • silencer

3-5

  • secret book (... if you still have enough money left)

3-6

  • storm sword
  • short axe
  • physic
  • torch (not a must have)
  • beast killer (if you haven't bought in 1-4)

3-9

  • adept

3-11

  • thoron

3-13

  • storm sword
  • short axe
  • physic
  • blizzard
  • thoron (if you haven't bought in 3-11)

6.2. Which items should be stolen?

1-3

  • discipline
  • hand axe

1-F

  • physic (I don't know if it's possible to bring the healer to equip the heal stave. Never could do it.)

2-1

  • hand axe from the fighter in the south (if Brom can disarm)

2-2

  • killer lance (if Brom can disarm)
  • secret book from the boss

2-F

  • dracoshield

3-2

  • statue frog
  • elixir
  • storm sword
  • elthunder

3-3

  • storm sword
  • mend / ellight

3-5

  • energy drop

3-10

  • physic

4-P

  • recover

 


7. Who shall get which items?

Spoiler

 

In 1-F you can give these things to Ilyana:

  • blue jewel
  • anima tomes
  • fortune skill (if you want to have the money for the GM's)
  • unneeded vulneraries
  • paragon scroll

In 2-F you should give these things to Brom, Nephenee, Heather and Haar:

  • hammer
  • horseslayer (for 3-5)
  • discipline scroll
  • silver great lance
  • unneeded vulneraries
  • wo dao
  • killing edge (if you bought it in part 2)
  • meteor (for the special conversation in 3-7)

If the inventory of these units is full already you could give the vulneraries also to Lethe and Mordecai.


As I said in 5. already give one paragon scroll to each group in part 4.

 

 

 


8. Strategies for endgame
 

Spoiler

 

8.1. Recommendations for the endgame team?

  • Laguz royals are incredibly powerful and fast. Caineghis can oneround Deghinsea (heron required).
  • Bring Rafiel to the endgame because he can bless four units all the time.Give him celerity.
  • Seraph Knights are handy because of her triangle attack.
  • Bring all good skills scrolls to the endgame.

8.2. What to bless in E-3?
Long range tomes like Purge and Meteor can be blessed if you're not using Sanaki. Sephiran can be defeated by Parity Ike with capped strength and speed and Ragnell, and Micaiah can snipe him from afar with double Purge via Vigor. Her benchmark is 38 magic + Sothe support to sum up 45 might with Purge. Ike deals 20x2 damage and Micaiah dealing the rest 5 damage will help you defeat fast without the need of flamboyant/extravagant strategies. The easiest way would be to oneround him with Caineghis (requires 36 speed though).

The aruas can be defeated easily if you have units with 34 speed at least (32 against thunder auras).


Blessing the wyrmslayer for E-3 is only recommnded if you don't bring any of the Laguz Royals to the endgame. Caineghis with Red Pool and a heron can oneround Deghinsea (4x25 damage at max).
SS weapons are more accurate than brave weapons but they do less total damage. A brave weapon can oneround an aura. However you should have good biorhythm and a support which gives you accuracy.


Here are some examples (huge thanks to Quintessence)

  • 32 strength capped Trueblade:

- deals 22x2 dmg with Vague Katti. Deals 27x2 dmg with Vague Katti and Blood Tide.
- deals 11x4 dmg with Brave Sword. Deals 16x4 dmg with Blood Tide. Consider an Edward x Leonardo A support and Edward will deal 18x4 dmg with supporta and Blood Tide. Pretty deadly.

Same can be with Mia because her cap is 31 str and max mt support bonus is +3 because she's Fire affinity.

  • Nephenee with 34 strength:

- deals 31x2 dmg with Wishblade, Blood Tide and White Pool
- deals 19x4 dmg with Brave Lance, Blood Tide and White Pool (76 dmg). Give her a max mt support and she'll crush it.

Apply this to units like Fiona, Astrid, Tanith and Sigrun. They'll land similar amounts of damage.

  • Reaver with 40 strength:

- deals 37x2 dmg with Urvan, Blood Tide and White Pool. Deals 40x2 dmg with max attack support due to Fire Affinity.
- deals 21x4 dmg with only Brave Axe and White Pool. Instant death if he benefits from Blood Tide.
A similar scenario can be brought with Jill, although Boyd and Nolan are better.

  • Marksman with 36 strength:

- deals 36x2 dmg with Double Bow, Blood Tide and White Pool. 39x2 dmg with max attack support. Not enough to one snipe them.
- deals 20x4 dmg with Brave Bow, Blood Tide and White Pool, enough to one shot them. That's not even accounting supports.

  • All the potential Rexflame users are the best units to destroy the outside auras.

Sanaki deals 31x2 dmg with Rexflame, White Pool and +2 attack support; while Tormod or Calill deal 30x2 in the same conditions. These two benefit from Fire/Dark affinity so I don't see an edge on Sanaki tbh.

  • Lehran can snipe auras with either Balberith if you trained Pelleas or Rexaura, blessed by Micaiah.

These units can ORKO can inside aura:

  • Elincia (Amiti, >= 33 strength, >= 34 speed, 2x blood tide, white pool)
  • Caineghis / Giffca (maxed strength, maxed speed, blood tide or + white pool if he still has base speed
  • Boyd / Nolan (Brave Axe, >= 36 strength, >= 34 speed, 2x blood tide, white pool)
  • Rolf with triangle attack (>= 60 attack power)
  • Seraph Knight with triangle attack (>=34 speed, white pool, >= 53 attack power (>= 31 strength + wishblade) or Marcia or Sigrun with 32 strength, forged silver weapon with 18 might and A-support in fire, water or darkness); if attack power isn't high enough => blood tide required

Make sure to bring the brave weapon users to the Hawk Army and support them with Tibarn / Elincia who have heaven affinity and grant you lots of hitrate. Since Boyd and Nephenee also have a bit hitrate in their affinity they'll get +30% hit with an A-support. It would equaize the lower accuracy of the brave weapons completly.

 

 

 


9. Other things

Spoiler

9.1. How to use bonus experience?
This applies to all difficulties but it's even more important in hard mode since you get much less bexp.
Only use it if an unit has maxed 2-3 stats already and >=90 exp.
A good example is Edward: He tends to cap HP, skill and speed fast. If it happens give him a bexp. level to increase his strength and defense.


9.2. Is battle or bonus experience more important?
Definitve battle experience. As I said the bexp. gain is very low so you can take your time and defeat all the enemies on a map. You can even grind your supports so you can upgrade them after one chapter already. 1-7 and 1-F are seize missions so these are good chapters to do it.


9.3. When to promote?
If an unit has capped a few stats already and you really need the extra boosts after the promotion you can classchange an unit earlier than at level 20. Units like Soren can be promoted at level 10 or a bit higher already.

 

Edited by はたの 秦 こころ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Thanks for this compliment!

Feedbacks are always welcome.

Please apologize if there are a few typos or other errors since English isn't my mother language.

Will proofread everything again after I posted.

As I said earlier, each question will be answered in the topic post. I don't tend to do more posts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd dispute Ike/Oscar's effectiveness as a support - it doesn't really help Oscar where he really needs it, which is his offense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess this guide is completed for now.

I'm going to proofread everything all over again later. I'm pretty sure there are still some typos and other errors.

If there's sth. to add or correct please note it.

I'd dispute Ike/Oscar's effectiveness as a support - it doesn't really help Oscar where he really needs it, which is his offense.

I know that some things I've mentioned are disputable.

This support should mainly help Ike for the longrun since he's forced till the endgame.
Of course you can still support him with other earth affinity units like Tanith later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that some things I've mentioned are disputable.

This support should mainly help Ike for the longrun since he's forced till the endgame.

Of course you can still support him with other earth affinity units like Tanith later.

I find Ike/Tanith even more iffy than Ike/Oscar, and Ike/Oscar isn't particularly good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice guide overall.

Point 1 is great.

Point 2 is ok but it really depends on what units the player wants to use. He'll likely BEXP abuse on FE9 to cap the most stats possible for said units.

Point 3 is overall ok, but I'd argue all of them are salvagable if you're willing to grind and invest time and effort on the less good units.

For example:

[spoiler=Laura]Laura: she can get good level ups if you grind boss battles or chokepoints with Laura behind the chip unit. One option is double healing via Sacrifice -> Heal/Mend. This can be done with a mage on 1-7, 1-8 or even 1-E. The mage can attack a target and Laura heal. This will take a bunch of turns so the player should have patience in order to make her keep up the pace. She can reach 2nd tier by the end of Part 1. Her combat will be ok although she will be frail, but a second healer and ranged attacker is always welcome. Micaiah won't be great at combat unless you rig spd and/or give her Resolve.

[spoiler=Aran]Aran will make a good tank, he can hit hard with a forged lance that might be welcome to Fiona if you want ot use her. Aran is a good subject to heal abuse because his avoid is terrible but his combat will get reliable with his high skill and high strength and defense. His low luck sucks but its still a strong unit.

[spoiler=Meg]Meg sucks naturally and is one of the worst units in the game due to its bases and the effort it takes to make her worth. She is a different knight, will have high spd, lck and res as if she were a pegasus knight. She'll mostly chip but won't be the knight you expect her to be like Aran. Still, if you want the power of the PINK then forge her a sword, give her a dracoshield and/or energy drop and feed her kills as much as possible.

[spoiler=Volug]As much as Volug is a good unit, he'll start to fall back because he won't grow in Part 1 unless you kill all bosses with him or something. He'll need Draco and Drop to be strong and useful in the longterm because he'll be swarmed by enemies, especially strong archers and fire mages. Trying to build his rank up to S is vital on Part 1.His support bonus is valuable though.

[spoiler=Fiona]Unusable on normal pace. But if you're willing to invest a lot on her then the best bet is feeding her exp by attacking priests on 1-7 and 1-E. They'll heal each turn and Fiona's chip will make her get a few levels. If she can stand the bosses then she can abuse them too. Be sure to get her to Lance Paladin by 1-E. Possible, yet suboptimal. She'll need boosters and a forged lance.

By the way, I'd reccomend a maximum of 3 units to train besides Micaiah and Sothe. 5-6 is a lot, especially with the low gain of experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For having used both Meg and Fiona in a hard mode playthrough, while I think your hindsight on Fiona is right (she's usable, but takes way too much investment -mainly 2 levels of Speed in BeXP- and only ends up average), Meg usually ends up better if you're the kind to get screwed by hitrates (and therefore Eddy/Zihark suck for you).

She needs one level of Speed BeXP to stop getting threatened by anything on the map.

While I agree she needs more ressources than Edward or Zihark, I feel like she's a better unit for the chapters the DB has to face in part 3.

BTW, for transfer items, you forgot about Callil's Meteor if you want to get the Soren event.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, updated my guide.

Thanks for your corrections!

Nice guide overall.

Point 1 is great.

Point 2 is ok but it really depends on what units the player wants to use. He'll likely BEXP abuse on FE9 to cap the most stats possible for said units.

Point 3 is overall ok, but I'd argue all of them are salvagable if you're willing to grind and invest time and effort on the less good units.

For example:

[spoiler=Laura]Laura: she can get good level ups if you grind boss battles or chokepoints with Laura behind the chip unit. One option is double healing via Sacrifice -> Heal/Mend. This can be done with a mage on 1-7, 1-8 or even 1-E. The mage can attack a target and Laura heal. This will take a bunch of turns so the player should have patience in order to make her keep up the pace. She can reach 2nd tier by the end of Part 1. Her combat will be ok although she will be frail, but a second healer and ranged attacker is always welcome. Micaiah won't be great at combat unless you rig spd and/or give her Resolve.


[spoiler=Aran]Aran will make a good tank, he can hit hard with a forged lance that might be welcome to Fiona if you want ot use her. Aran is a good subject to heal abuse because his avoid is terrible but his combat will get reliable with his high skill and high strength and defense. His low luck sucks but its still a strong unit.


[spoiler=Meg]Meg sucks naturally and is one of the worst units in the game due to its bases and the effort it takes to make her worth. She is a different knight, will have high spd, lck and res as if she were a pegasus knight. She'll mostly chip but won't be the knight you expect her to be like Aran. Still, if you want the power of the PINK then forge her a sword, give her a dracoshield and/or energy drop and feed her kills as much as possible.


[spoiler=Volug]As much as Volug is a good unit, he'll start to fall back because he won't grow in Part 1 unless you kill all bosses with him or something. He'll need Draco and Drop to be strong and useful in the longterm because he'll be swarmed by enemies, especially strong archers and fire mages. Trying to build his rank up to S is vital on Part 1.His support bonus is valuable though.


[spoiler=Fiona]Unusable on normal pace. But if you're willing to invest a lot on her then the best bet is feeding her exp by attacking priests on 1-7 and 1-E. They'll heal each turn and Fiona's chip will make her get a few levels. If she can stand the bosses then she can abuse them too. Be sure to get her to Lance Paladin by 1-E. Possible, yet suboptimal. She'll need boosters and a forged lance.



By the way, I'd reccomend a maximum of 3 units to train besides Micaiah and Sothe. 5-6 is a lot, especially with the low gain of experience.

Thanks for your improvement suggestions!

I added very most of it (worded it slightly different in a few parts).

Your last sentence is the reason why I don't recommend to train units who take too much effort like Laura, Meg and Fiona.

As for the number of units I don't know exactly if I may count units who only do chip damage (Ilyana in the beginning, Leonardo, Volug). If these unit can be let out, then the number of units I really use would be four (Edward, Nolan, Jill, Zihark).

For having used both Meg and Fiona in a hard mode playthrough, while I think your hindsight on Fiona is right (she's usable, but takes way too much investment -mainly 2 levels of Speed in BeXP- and only ends up average), Meg usually ends up better if you're the kind to get screwed by hitrates (and therefore Eddy/Zihark suck for you).

She needs one level of Speed BeXP to stop getting threatened by anything on the map.

While I agree she needs more ressources than Edward or Zihark, I feel like she's a better unit for the chapters the DB has to face in part 3.

BTW, for transfer items, you forgot about Callil's Meteor if you want to get the Soren event.

Oh yes, I forgot meteor.

Added it!

Thanks!

I find Ike/Tanith even more iffy than Ike/Oscar, and Ike/Oscar isn't particularly good.

Tanith is more usable in the endgame because of her speed cap and triangle attack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tanith is more usable in the endgame because of her speed cap and triangle attack.

The problem is, is it really worth sending Tanith to Greil instead of a route she'd actually be good in? I say no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem is, is it really worth sending Tanith to Greil instead of a route she'd actually be good in? I say no.

Tanith does just fine on the Greil route, flying units can go in whichever army they please.

However, it's not super important who Ike supports since Ike needs very little help from supports, but almost everyone wants his Earth bonuses. I would recommend going with someone who joins early in Part 3, to build the support as quickly as possible. Mia, Boyd or Nephenee are great choices since they join early and have the same movement and role that Ike does. Oscar and Titania also want Earth, but it's probably better to let them support each other since again, they both have the same move.

Haar and Gatrie both prefer bonuses to Attack and/or Defense instead, since they have the concrete durability survive with out good Avoid. Ike doesn't want to support a Laguz either, since you want Ike to be able to counter 1-2 range enemies in Part 4 once he gets Ragnell, but enemies will ignore him and go straight for his partner if they don't also have good 1-2 range.

Non-frontline units like Mist/Rhys, Soren, Shinon/Rolf, or Heather are also not great options since they'll hold Ike back while you're trying to build/use the support, since you don't want them attacked. I would not recommend Soren as a partner for Ike unless you want a little extra dialogue at the end of the game. While the bonuses Soren gives are exactly what Ike wants (Attack + Avoid), Ike wants to be on the frontlines tanking, but Soren does not have the Avoid or concrete durability to survive next to him on the enemy phase.

Edited by Radiant Dragon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem is, is it really worth sending Tanith to Greil instead of a route she'd actually be good in? I say no.

With support grinding you could bring Ike x Tanith at least to C at the end of part 3, theoretically even B.

It wouldn't really matter if both are separated in part 4.

Ike doesn't really need a support in part 4 if you use him against enemies with physical weapons.

As for Tanith she's a helping hand in the desert chapter but Jill will do the main work, even Skrimir with resolve could do more than Tanith.

Non-frontline units like Mist/Rhys, Soren, Shinon/Rolf, or Heather are also not great options since they'll hold Ike back while you're trying to build/use the support, since you don't want them attacked. I would not recommend Soren as a partner for Ike unless you want a little extra dialogue at the end of the game. While the bonuses Soren gives are exactly what Ike wants (Attack + Avoid), Ike wants to be on the frontlines tanking, but Soren does not have the Avoid or concrete durability to survive next to him on the enemy phase.

I understand the last point and I dropped my Ike x Soren support suggestion.

It's probably one of my favors to support them and give resolve to Soren to use him as front unit in 4-1. However it only works if he has good biorhythm. A crit of a swordmaster can oneshot him.

Edit: I'm going to fix the point "Supports".

Edited by Ayama Wirdo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The max of 3 units I suggest only includes main units, units that will be used in the longterm and included in Endgame. Apart you can use Laura for healing, or a unit to tank and/or chip enemies. If you want to use Laura as a main unit then include tank units to abuse healing and promote her before Part 1 is finished. If the player wants to use Meg, Fiona and Laura as main units then he'll need to use others to help them train and gain levels. Like, Edward is mantory on Prologue, Nolan for 1-1 and 1-2, Sothe can carry on the rest. I think the intention of the guide shouldn't be forcing the player to use certain units because they're easier and have good bases, etc., but rather give orientation about how to use whatever unit in case the player wants to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tanith does just fine on the Greil route, flying units can go in whichever army they please.

Maybe, but I'd consider her much better in Silver or Hawk (particularly the former) than in Greil.

With support grinding you could bring Ike x Tanith at least to C at the end of part 3, theoretically even B.

It wouldn't really matter if both are separated in part 4.

Ike doesn't really need a support in part 4 if you use him against enemies with physical weapons.

As for Tanith she's a helping hand in the desert chapter but Jill will do the main work, even Skrimir with resolve could do more than Tanith.

And therein lies the problem - you're recommending double Earth for Ike, who doesn't really get that much mileage out of it because for the most part, only mages can do any real damage to him.

Edited by Levant Mir Celestia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah imo double earth for Ike is meh, since he won't be needing double earth that much. I'd recommend Ike x Soren after 3-13, and probably stick Ike to Mia or Boyd pre 3-13, since Oscar and Titania will be miles away.

Edited by Quintessence
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Double posting because I can. Not really, a bump to say a couple of things about endgame.

1. Units and weapons

Only 10 units can be chosen and can have weapons to be blessed. I consider necessary to bless a Wyrmslayer in order to kill Dheginsea faster, between a Seraph, a Gold Knight and Ike. Move, strike to double, canto and then trade weapon to the coming unit. If necessary, Ilyana with Rexbolt might lend help for an extra 20 (?) Dmg or so.

Apart from it, a siege weapon like Purge and Meteor can be blessed if you're not using Sanaki. Why? Because Sephiran can be defeated by Parity Ike with capped str and spd and Ragnell, and Micaiah can snipe him from afar with double Purge via Vigor. Her benchmark is 38 magic + Sothe support to sum up 45 mt with Purge. Iirc Ike deals 20x2dmg and Micaiah dealing the rest 5dmg will help you defeat fast without the need of flamboyant/extravagant strategies.

The auras can be cleared with any Mastery proc tbh. Trueblade, Marksman, Reaver, Sentinel and Laguz Royals are good for this. Now that I mention Laguz royals, I think Caineghis orkos Sephiran, but defeating him with the lords is better :p.

Onto weapons, I must be honest and say that SS weapons are not the best candidates to recieve Yune's Blessings. Why? Because Brave Weapons with Blood Tide and/or White Pool deal more damage than what SS weapons do.

Examples?

32 Str capped Trueblade:

- deals 22x2 dmg with Vague Katti (44dmg). Deals 27x2 dmg with Vague Katti and Blood Tide (54dmg)

- deals 11x4 dmg with Brave Sword (44dmg). Deals 16x4 dmg with Blood Tide (64dmg). Consider an Edward x Leonardo A support and Edward will deal 18x4 dmg with supporta and Blood Tide. Pretty deadly.

Same can be with Mia because her cap is 31 str and max mt support bonus is +3 because she's Fire affinity.

Elincia can take advantage of this by using Amiti and Support/Blood Tides.

Nephenee with 34 Str:

- deals 31x2 dmg with Wishblade, Blood Tide and White Pool (62 dmg)

- deals 19x4 dmg with Brave Lance, Blood Tide and White Pool (76dmg), she pretty much insta kills an Order Incarnate. Give her a max mt support and she'll crush it.

Apply this to units like Fiona, Astrid, Tanith and Sigrun. They'll land similar amounts of damage.

Boyd with 40 Str:

- deals 37x2 dmg with Urvan, BT and WP (74dmg). Deals 40x2 dmg with max attck support due to Fire Affinity. Looks cool.

- deals 21x4 dmg with only Brave Axe and WP (84dmg), insta death to an aura. Less resources.

A similar scenario can be brought with Jill, although Boyd and Nolan are better.

Leonardo with 36 str:

- deals 36x2 dmg with Double Bow, BT and WP. 39x2 dmg with max attck support. Not enough to one snipe them.

- deals 20x4 dmg with Brave Bow, BT and WP, enough to one shot them. That's not even accounting supports.

Now, regarding High Defense auras, your best bet are either Tormod, Calill or Sanaki in order to double them.

Sanaki deals 31x2 dmg with Rexflame, White Pool and +2 attck support; while Tormod or Calill deal 30x2 in the same conditions. These two benefit from Fire/Dark affinity so I don't see an edge on Sanaki tbh.

Another strong unit is Lehran, he can snipe auras with either Balberith if you trained Pelleas or Rexaura, blessed by Micaiah.

So, I'd recommend Braves over SS weapons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ Quintessence

Alright, thanks!


I've taken most of your points.

Of course you must be lucky with biorhythm. Brave weapons have a really bad accuracy against the auras because of Ashera's authority stars.

The only thing I'd disagree is blessing the wyrmslayer for E-3 since Cain can oneround Deghinsea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing I'd disagree is blessing the wyrmslayer for E-3 since Cain can oneround Deghinsea.

To be fair, he needs capped strength, Blood Tide, and a refresh to accomplish this.

@Quintessence:

Blessing a Wyrmslayer is mostly just a draft strategy though, where you don't have access to all of the Laguz Royals, and have more Endgame slots than you do drafted units. It can be nice to have if you're against bringing any laguz royals to Endgame for some reason, though (although Ike can not bless a Wyrmslayer himself, as he is forced to bless Ragnell).

Also, I'm pretty sure Auras actually have 90 HP, so none of the calcs you listed can actually ORKO them. I think only Cain, Giffca and Brave Axe!Reavers (all with double Blood Tide) can ORKO the non-Cover Auras without a Triangle Attack.

Edited by Radiant Dragon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Double posting because I can. Not really, a bump to say a couple of things about endgame.

1. Units and weapons

Only 10 units can be chosen and can have weapons to be blessed. I consider necessary to bless a Wyrmslayer in order to kill Dheginsea faster, between a Seraph, a Gold Knight and Ike. Move, strike to double, canto and then trade weapon to the coming unit. If necessary, Ilyana with Rexbolt might lend help for an extra 20 (?) Dmg or so.

Apart from it, a siege weapon like Purge and Meteor can be blessed if you're not using Sanaki. Why? Because Sephiran can be defeated by Parity Ike with capped str and spd and Ragnell, and Micaiah can snipe him from afar with double Purge via Vigor. Her benchmark is 38 magic + Sothe support to sum up 45 mt with Purge. Iirc Ike deals 20x2dmg and Micaiah dealing the rest 5dmg will help you defeat fast without the need of flamboyant/extravagant strategies.

The auras can be cleared with any Mastery proc tbh. Trueblade, Marksman, Reaver, Sentinel and Laguz Royals are good for this. Now that I mention Laguz royals, I think Caineghis orkos Sephiran, but defeating him with the lords is better :p.

Onto weapons, I must be honest and say that SS weapons are not the best candidates to recieve Yune's Blessings. Why? Because Brave Weapons with Blood Tide and/or White Pool deal more damage than what SS weapons do.

Examples?

32 Str capped Trueblade:

- deals 22x2 dmg with Vague Katti (44dmg). Deals 27x2 dmg with Vague Katti and Blood Tide (54dmg)

- deals 11x4 dmg with Brave Sword (44dmg). Deals 16x4 dmg with Blood Tide (64dmg). Consider an Edward x Leonardo A support and Edward will deal 18x4 dmg with supporta and Blood Tide. Pretty deadly.

Same can be with Mia because her cap is 31 str and max mt support bonus is +3 because she's Fire affinity.

Elincia can take advantage of this by using Amiti and Support/Blood Tides.

Nephenee with 34 Str:

- deals 31x2 dmg with Wishblade, Blood Tide and White Pool (62 dmg)

- deals 19x4 dmg with Brave Lance, Blood Tide and White Pool (76dmg), she pretty much insta kills an Order Incarnate. Give her a max mt support and she'll crush it.

Apply this to units like Fiona, Astrid, Tanith and Sigrun. They'll land similar amounts of damage.

Boyd with 40 Str:

- deals 37x2 dmg with Urvan, BT and WP (74dmg). Deals 40x2 dmg with max attck support due to Fire Affinity. Looks cool.

- deals 21x4 dmg with only Brave Axe and WP (84dmg), insta death to an aura. Less resources.

A similar scenario can be brought with Jill, although Boyd and Nolan are better.

Leonardo with 36 str:

- deals 36x2 dmg with Double Bow, BT and WP. 39x2 dmg with max attck support. Not enough to one snipe them.

- deals 20x4 dmg with Brave Bow, BT and WP, enough to one shot them. That's not even accounting supports.

Now, regarding High Defense auras, your best bet are either Tormod, Calill or Sanaki in order to double them.

Sanaki deals 31x2 dmg with Rexflame, White Pool and +2 attck support; while Tormod or Calill deal 30x2 in the same conditions. These two benefit from Fire/Dark affinity so I don't see an edge on Sanaki tbh.

Another strong unit is Lehran, he can snipe auras with either Balberith if you trained Pelleas or Rexaura, blessed by Micaiah.

So, I'd recommend Braves over SS weapons.

I kinda disagree on Braves thanks to accuracy - they might do better against the auras on paper, but in actual practice, I'd take the SS weapons' accuracy any day thanks to the auras tending to be a pain to hit (I'd need 8 numbers at max to go in my favour for braves to win out, as opposed to only 4 for SS weapons, assuming that I'm using someone capable of doubling). Radiant Dragon already covered the Wyrmslayer bit.

Edited by Levant Mir Celestia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Brave Sword only has 5 less hit than the Vague Katti, and 10 more hot than Alondite, so you may as well bless that one.

Urvan is hilariously accurate at 110 hit for some reason, though. The Wishblade also has 20 more hit than the Brave Lance.

Edited by Radiant Dragon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any hit issues can be covered thanks to Blood Tide because it gives +5 Skill apart from Strength, so. If you have a unit solo them without Blood Tide and Supports then there might be an issue, on top of low or worst biorhythm, so I'd totally take the higher damage, plus Trueblade, Sentinel, Reaver and Marksman have 35+ skill. The ones that suffer more from hit issues are Paladins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thinking about it:

-The auras have 135 avoid thanks to authority

-A capped Trueblade has 110 base hit before weapon acc (115 for females) - boosted to 125 or 130 from authority

-A capped Reaver gets 117 hit before weapon acc

-A capped Marksman has the same acc as a TB

-A capped Sentinel gets 115 acc before weapon hit

Results:

TB: 80 (85) hit with Brave

Marksman: 75 hit with Brave (drops to 45 at 3 range)

Sentinel: 65 with with Brave

Reaver: 62 hit with Brave

All this is before Blood Tide and other factors.

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...