Hardest chapters on all routes?

[Quirino]

The old topic hasn't been posted in for a month, so now with the Europeans having had the chance to play the game some more, are there any chapters that stood out in terms of difficulty?

I have played Birthright and Conquest on hard classic mode, so this is based upon that difficulty.

Birthright
Chapter 11 (To the Sea) - I don't see this one being mentioned very often, but this was one of the most difficult Birthright chapters for me. A lot of fliers when you only have a limited amount. When the units to the west (of which half are promoted) start moving I got overwhelmed each time. My mistake was that I waited for them with one group in the middle. When I sent half of my units north and the other half to the south I was able to clear out both groups separately.
Chapter 21 (Burning Falls) - Those stonefaces... So annoying. Dark Falcon Orochi saved my tail with those a few times.

Other than this Birthright wasn't too difficult for me. I hear chapter 23 being mentioned a lot but this one wasn't a big problem for me. I just made sure every unit in attacking range of the enemy (I usually had them wait on a bridge, where Camilla's dragon vein didn't hit) was healed up and it didn't matter that my other units were damaged since the DV can't kill them.

Conquest
Chapter 10 (Unhappy Reunion) - Predictable, but the one that took me most tries out of all. I played too defensive at first but then I saw a video suggesting it's better to play offensive and then it worked first try.
Chapter 19 (Kitsune Lair) - Those illusions with pass screwed me over quite a few times. Eventually I had beastkiller Effie nearly solo the map.
Chapter 23 (Possessed) - Had a few close calls with Hinata's group and wasted two rescue staff uses in Takumi's room (damn that Lunge guy).
Chapter 25 (Ryoma) - My Avatar couldn't take on Ryoma, so I had to defeat Saizo and Kagero. Bow Knight Niles with Lucky 7 and Shurikenbreaker really saved my tail here. That hallway on Kagero's side is a nightmare. I made sure I had the spy shuriken guys cleared out by turn 7.
Chapter 26 (Treason) - Iago's staves didn't even bother me that much but that bottom room with 5 generals and 5 berserkers charging you at once was tense. Xander and Camilla could barely survive it. Luckily Hans doesn't move (and 1 range lol) and Iago was easily beaten by Kaze.
Endgame (Night Breaks Through) - Well, let's just say I'm happy Chapter 27 was pretty easy. I blew all my rescue stave uses so I had to do this the 'legitimate way'. I can't imagine doing that on lunatic, since Endgame hard is sooo much easier than lunatic. Those 4 paired riders were the most difficult part by far, I could barely clear them out in one turn. I managed to do this without losses in about 6 tries though. I can't imagine doing this chapter without rescue and pass in lunatic.

Winds of Change and Hinoka weren't too difficult for me. In Winds of Change I just turtled my way through, really slowly. Hinoka I thought was one of the most fun chapters, battling over the dragon veins as to prevent some units from moving far. I got beaten once by Azama's counter (every time I faced damn Azama in Conquest I forgot he had counter) but otherwise this chapter wasn't too bad.

So what are your hardest chapters in both routes?

[Esme]

Conquest:

Takumi always gives me a hard time. Oboro's squad is incredibly tough and I always manage to get at least one unit killed somehow.

Treason is also really tough for me, for the exact same reasons you mentioned.

Birthright/Revelations didn't really have any difficult chapters. Iago's in Birthright was kinda annoying, I guess, but only because of the constant wave of reinforcements. I can't recall anything in Revelations being difficult at all, even on Lunatic.

[IfAwakened]

Conquest chapter 25 is the hardest chapter in the entire game. No question about it (at least in my opinion). That chapter alone makes me never want to replay Conquest.

Birthright's hardest chapter? Ehhh... you could say chapter 23 and 24, but reinforcements aren't much fun...

Revelation's hardest chapter was... in my opinion is the Endgame. All other "hard/difficult" ones were just trolly, or tedious.

[guedesbrawl]

I also had difficulty with BR! Chapter 11, TC. I found that the key to beating the chapter is to bait the last wave of fliers (with boss and a few promoted units to the centermost area of the map and activate the dragon vein to force them to slowly go through a more defensible area.

Chapter 21 was only a bit hard because

a) i didn't try to do a Rinkah pseudo-solo. She paired with my Hayato could ORKO the stoneborn with ease while taking little to no damage from everythign else

b) Easy mode woes - i jumped from normal to lunatic, and was expecting the aftermath of the boss's first attack to eventually fade.

Chapter 23 was also hard up until the flier reinforcements pop up. i could hold the reinforcements from the left side for a while, taking some care to deal with the mixed waves of Dark knights and physical units, but the ones that slipped by the upper part into the right part were the troublesome ones. Then suddenly the chapter was just mages, mages on horses and mages on wyversn and it became super easy.

Havent gone past 24 tho.

14 was also very difficult to me cuz i didn't use Ryoma and all.

[joshcja]

Conquest: Ch26 left side is legitimately worse than endgame highman.

Birthright: Nothing

Rev: Its weird how the game ends at ch18 isn't it?

[Dark Holy Elf]

Hm.

Conquest:

Chapter 10: I didn't find this as tough as many people, because I feel it favours an offensive playstyle along with a willingness to heavilly lean on prepromos. So the map plays to my biases... but I still found it pretty tough anyway.

Chapter 20: Probably the one I had the most resets on overall, puzzling out the wind made an already challenging battle even more difficult, lots of extremely dangerous enemies here and it's easy to get your units trapped in their range if you're not very careful.

Chapter 24: The Hinoka dragon vein stuff was certainly tricky, since whether she used it or you used it the range of units (yours and theirs would constantly change) and again you could accidentally end up in range of deadly enemies, including Setsuna who could one-round like half my team (and at least once I made the mistake of trying to wall her from reaching squishy units and forgot she had Pass). There's also a Hexing Rod to worry about (in a far worse situation than the last time it appeared) and I had approximately one unit who could reliably survive a round against Hinoka because WTF 39 speed and Luna.

Chapter 25: Oh man. Both sides have super-nasty death traps, I had to come up with some clever setups and staff use to deal with them. Not much to say here.


Birthright: Hmm. 13, 23, 24? Not nearly as bad by comparison!

Revelations: Either the one-two punch midgame, or the one against the swordmaster boss late, too lazy to look up their numbers.

[Jedi]

Conquest End Game

Birthright 23

Nothing in Revelations.

[Emerson]

Birthright: Chapter 11, because without Takumi or Setsuna as an Archer, it's the biggest pain to deal with. Close second is the endgame, but it's more tedious and spammy than difficult.

Conquest: Chapter 12 has a really tough middle-end section that requires some really tight strategy. Chapter 20 has a weird and interesting gimmick and really tough and relentless enemies. Chapter 25 is extremely difficult if your Corrin is unable to kill Ryoma and you have no solution to the Master Ninjas. And I haven't done 26, 27 and Endgame on Hard yet...

Chapter 10 is difficult, yes, but it gives you so many options and choke-points that I don't think it's as hard as these other Chapters.

Revelations:

Rev: Its weird how the game ends at ch18 isn't it?

Oh thank GOD I'm not the only one who thinks this. Chapter 7-18 of Revelations is what BR should have been. Chapters 19-27 are really really gimmicky and bad.

Edited July 29, 2016 by TrueEm

[Dark Holy Elf]

Interesting. I thought it was early Revelation which is far too gimmicky. Chapter 7 is awful, Chapter 8 is "somehow you still only have the same three units + Gunther, haha". Both maps take way too long to boot. Then there's slowly hacking through ice, and the Camilla/Flora map has you pointlessly wait like half a dozen turns before the dragon veins even appear. About the only good map in early Revelation is the Fuga one, which is just a watered-down version of a map I already played (admittedly, I didn't mind doing it again in an easier setting). By comparison I was generally fine with the moving platforms, etc., in later Rev maps.


I'm quite surprised at Conquest endgame nods (at least on non-Lunatic difficulties), but I guess that's another one where an aggressive playstyle pays off; moving down quickly will render many of the enemies (including the mounted guys at the bottom corners, and the reinforcements) irrelevant.

[Shadow Mir]

Conquest: Chapter 10, natch. Also, chapter 20 (one false move, and one of your units is separated from your squad and is easy pickings), chapter 22 (damn Mechanists and their launchers; Hana is also liable to wreck the shit of whoever she gets to, and the left team has to deal with her), and chapter 23 (first it's the Great Wall of Zerg Rush, then there's Takumi and his off-the-charts crit chance, his two skills, and his attack power, the combination of which makes it very hard to engage him without risking someone dying).

Birthright: Chapter 11 gave me trouble... Until I went on the attack. Chapter 12 can suck if you are playing Hard and don't use a flier to bait Xander every other turn. Other than that, not too much.

Paralogues: Sophie's can be a real pain in the ass if you wait too long. Velouria, Ignatius and Forrest also have paralogues that are nightmares to do late. Tbf, though, I think it's easier to list the ones that AREN'T a ginormous pain in the neck to do late. Also of note: the Paralogue situation gets worse in Revelations.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[joshcja]

Interesting. I thought it was early Revelation which is far too gimmicky. Chapter 7 is awful, Chapter 8 is "somehow you still only have the same three units + Gunther, haha". Both maps take way too long to boot. Then there's slowly hacking through ice, and the Camilla/Flora map has you pointlessly wait like half a dozen turns before the dragon veins even appear. About the only good map in early Revelation is the Fuga one, which is just a watered-down version of a map I already played (admittedly, I didn't mind doing it again in an easier setting). By comparison I was generally fine with the moving platforms, etc., in later Rev maps.

I'm quite surprised at Conquest endgame nods (at least on non-Lunatic difficulties), but I guess that's another one where an aggressive playstyle pays off; moving down quickly will render many of the enemies (including the mounted guys at the bottom corners, and the reinforcements) irrelevant.

I didn't mind the ice climbing, watching mozu grow was hilarious.

I seriously headcannon the opening of ch19 onwards as "and then they all died" and ch19-28 are just a bit of "squall is dead"

Edited July 30, 2016 by joshcja

[Mackc2]

Conquest

Chapter 12- So many pots goddamit all the reinforcements and the time limit can they just stop ruining my day.

Chapter 14- Not difficult just more annoying if you don't notice that capture maid standing in front of the boss

Chapter 17- I shouldn't even have to say anything about the ninja rape cave

Chapter 20- The wind can screw you up

Chapter 21- The best idea here is to just run to the top without fighting and instead activating dragon veins, that said I loved this chapter because of the perfect placement it required

Chapter 23- Nothing, I mean nothing can survive a round against takumi if you get unlucky

Chapter 24- Hexing rod on Azama is annoying, and the dragon vein make this chapter a pain but goddamit I love this chapter

Engame- Don't lie you sacrificed everyone just to try to get to takumi without being overwelmed. (assuming you din't use the rescue trick)

Birthright

Chapter 11- So many fliers they are a pain

Revelations

Nothing difficult only lots of things that are tedious

Edited July 30, 2016 by Mackc2

[Emerson]

Interesting. I thought it was early Revelation which is far too gimmicky. Chapter 7 is awful, Chapter 8 is "somehow you still only have the same three units + Gunther, haha". Both maps take way too long to boot. Then there's slowly hacking through ice, and the Camilla/Flora map has you pointlessly wait like half a dozen turns before the dragon veins even appear. About the only good map in early Revelation is the Fuga one, which is just a watered-down version of a map I already played (admittedly, I didn't mind doing it again in an easier setting). By comparison I was generally fine with the moving platforms, etc., in later Rev maps.

I'm quite surprised at Conquest endgame nods (at least on non-Lunatic difficulties), but I guess that's another one where an aggressive playstyle pays off; moving down quickly will render many of the enemies (including the mounted guys at the bottom corners, and the reinforcements) irrelevant.

This is REALLY long, so it's getting spoilered.

Chapter 7 was a bit tedious, but the enemies are placed in a way that only 1 or 2 can attack you on enemy phase, and they're so weak that they don't do much.

Chapter 8 was tough for me at first, but I came up with a really solid strategy eventually, and the chapter got a lot easier.

I will admit, they are both pretty long chapters for early game.

The Ice chapter was easy. Besides, you can clear it in like 6-7 turns if you're actively moving towards the boss, although I definitely recommend going for the items.

While the wait before the DVs show up is a bit long, it turns it into a sort of waved battle that requires you to use some limited unites resources and space to fight off the enemies. Then the DV shows up, and you have to make it to the boss. I thought it was neat. A bit tedious and requiring some good unit division, but not bad.

Looking back at it...

Chapter 18 was actually pretty good. It's gimmick wasn't super intrusive, as it was just split into sections with a good amount of choke points.

Chapter 19 was just the Conquest map but with more reward for going to the other side, and more deployment slots. It's a good Chapter.

Chapter 20 is also good. The gimmick was swapping bridges, and the enemies were split up by type to allow easy control. It's probably one of the easier chapters, but not bad, as you can't brain-dead your way through..

Chapter 21 has a very interesting gimmick as well. I like that the Dragon Vein switches them so the boss room becomes full of unpromoted units. It becomes a very interesting choice of exp or easy pickings. Overall one of my more liked chapter, although I wish the chests had a bit more pressure put on collecting them.

Chapter 22 is pretty fun as well. There's a bit of a dynamic of whether to give yourself some more breathing room but more enemies to deal with, or fight the outside enemies without using the DV and have a smaller space to work with.

Chapter 23 is where it starts going downhill. First off, fighting these over powered enemies with only 4 units at a time can be really annoying. The only way to remedy this is with fliers, but some people might not have too many capable fliers. Each island puts you in range of at least 4 enemies, and some have it to where if you move forward, you'll be attacked by even more enemies.

Chapter 24 is my least favorite chapter in the whole game. It requires you to sneak around the enemies, but you can't study the patterns of any enemy besides the first one, and the only safe spot is the beginning. It would be fine if this wasn't new to the player and they knew how to deal with it, but it isn't and they don't.

Plus, you don't know whether

MIKOTO

is telling the truth or lying the entire time. There are no tells about what they're saying, and the whole thing becomes Trial and Error combined with Stealth, which is NOT a good combination. Plus, you have chests to grab as well. It would be fine if you could kill the guard and not "sound the alarm" but NOPE you can't even get stealth kills right Fates!

Chapter 25 is is Chapter 23 with a slightly different problem. On one hand, you can send more than 4 paired up units to another area at once. On the other hand, you have a 1 tile space that makes movement and strategy a pain, while simultaneously making fliers much less useful than 23 by making it indoors!

I like the idea in concept, you have Chapter 18's Dragon Veins combined with Chapter 23's moving platforms, but you just end up with a mess of dealing with tight spaces, and having little to no defensive options as every room has both Magical and Physical attackers.

Chapter 26 is an endgame spammy Chapter, so I already hate it! However, I actually think this chapter is executed quite well for an "endgame spammy chapter," but I do have my problems with it. I wish that the reinforcements would stop appearing indefinitely after using the DV, and instead either more spawn or there are more scattered around. It becomes a chore to deal with the constantly spawning enemies that really have no reason to keep spawning. I do like the idea that Corrin and Azura

the two Vallites

get a buff for others around them and themselves. Overall, this Chapter gets a pass from me.

Chapter 27 is another endgame spammy Chapter, so once again, I already hate it. But this time, it has NO redeeming qualities! It gives you DVs for one singular healing tile and literally 10 enemies in range of your deployment spaces! It's a never ending cycle of death and torment for us all!

Endgame Revelations is actually pretty worth the pain though. The map looks cool, the boss looks cool, and the gimmick is really interesting. You need to defeat part of it on the left and right, then go back to the middle and kill it twice more. While tedious, the reinforcements are actually fun to deal with imo, as they spawn 2-3 at a time, not 5-6 like 26, and a boss like this is a first in FE I believe. I find it interesting and enjoyable. Although, I really, REALLY hate having to restart from Chapter 27, but that's a problem all 3 paths have. Overall, this is my favorite of the 3 Endgames.

Edited July 30, 2016 by TrueEm

[joshcja]

ch27 features a casual walk over to the weakest dragonskin user in fates on turn one EM. 28 cracked me up though, "the silent dragon"

I'm not certain why people dislike ch12 cq, the turn limit is really excessive.

I really like ch17 CQ, it's a free place to train up selena/silias's bow rank and laslow/Soliels knife rank while the army of sorcerer's zerks and draco's CQ gives you shitstomps the hilariously frail ninja's.

Edited July 30, 2016 by joshcja

[Lethakitty]

i didnt have too much trouble with birthright even playing on lunatic except for ch 25 and 23 really

Conquest's hardest chapter was definitely 25 I didnt find port takumi that dificult honestly but ch 25 definately is tough.

for genuine challenge in revelation i feel like ch 25 is the hardest even though really it is not too hard

[Avalanche]

Birthright: 10 and 11 took me by surprise on my first go around, but on subsequent playthroughs they really aren't too bad. 23 is a pretty big wake up call and 24 is a Chapter I don't think I've ever successfully routed in either Birthright attempt I've made so far. Quick Ryoma seize or bust.

Conquest: Oh lord, here we go. Chapter 10 is the big one, but the reinforcements in Chapter 14 really threw me on my Hard playthrough. I honestly reset more to them than I did all of Chapter 10 combined. Chapter 18 was also a Chapter I had to reset quite a bit over. It wasn't even super hard, more me simply screwing up positioning and having someone die. Mr. Fuga's Wild Ride speaks for itself; I cleared it and I still barely know how that Wind works. 21 is less difficult and more finding the most optimal way to clear it with 2-3 Pairs (low manning that Chapter makes it soooo much more bearable.). Finally, Chapter 26 may have the most legit tense segment I've experienced in an FE game period; the last stretch to the center room when approaching from the right side. It's right up there with the final turns of Chapter 10.

Revelation: To be completely honest, nothing comes to mind. It may have to do with the fact that I've never played Rev above Hard (I hear the enemies get their stats buffed massively in Lunatic), but I don't really think any of the Maps are super hard. I guess the 16-17 Stretch can be a problem, since you have to do them in a row with no option to Save (Unless you use Casual's Battle Save).

[SageHarpuiaJDJ]

Birthright:

I'm not gonna even lie and say that there aren't hard a few chapters now that I've beaten it, even though I cheesed. Chapter 22 was a tough one, but pretty fun. Those Dragon Veins got annoying, and I tried to keep Effie and Arthur alive. Arthur's a dumbass on this map after you talk to him. Chapter 24 was insane, but not too bad. Just a lot of units to deal with. This game's Chapter 27 was actually harder that Conquests due to the variety of enemies and no places to hide. The only one that pissed me off with it's difficulty was Chapter 25. Reinforcements right in front of me? *sigh*

Conquest:

Chapter 20 is a hard one due to the wind and whatnot, but I actually like the mechanic because you can get creative with the wind. Chapter 24 with those damn fliers and Hinoka. I'll remember to have a few more bow users after dealing with that hell. Chapter 25... all the asshole RNGesus blessed units are here with Spy's weapons. This is the only chapter with those, and seeing them for the first time pissed me off. Thank god that killing Saizo and Kagero isn't required. Iago and his staffs can burn in hell in Chapter 26. At least it felt good to kill him by silencing him and wailing on him like there's no tomorrow. Endgame was brutal, but after bring extra tonics it was a good challenge. Chapter 17 I will forever hate. Fuck ninjas and status dropping weapons and fuck that chapter.

Revelations:

So far the only chapter that classified as 'hard' to me was chapter 16-17. The random factor here is way worse than the wind. At least the wind had different colors to label what direction it goes, those damn flame walls don't have a real pattern. The fact that you have to cross the cracks was also dumb. 17 just had a clusterfuck of enemies and the new units you get are outshined by the Royals and aren't really that useful. Not hard, but meh, and fucking up mean you to BACK to Hell(literally. I think that chapter design wise is made to look and feel like Hell.).

[The DanMan]

Conquest 20 and 25 can go die in a fire. The last few chapters weren't bad because I played on normal.

[Avalanche]

Birthright:

I'm not gonna even lie and say that there aren't hard a few chapters now that I've beaten it, even though I cheesed. Chapter 22 was a tough one, but pretty fun. Those Dragon Veins got annoying, and I tried to keep Effie and Arthur alive. Arthur's a dumbass on this map after you talk to him. Chapter 24 was insane, but not too bad. Just a lot of units to deal with. This game's Chapter 27 was actually harder that Conquests due to the variety of enemies and no places to hide. The only one that pissed me off with it's difficulty was Chapter 25. Reinforcements right in front of me? *sigh*

Conquest:

Chapter 20 is a hard one due to the wind and whatnot, but I actually like the mechanic because you can get creative with the wind. Chapter 24 with those damn fliers and Hinoka. I'll remember to have a few more bow users after dealing with that hell. Chapter 25... all the asshole RNGesus blessed units are here with Spy's weapons. This is the only chapter with those, and seeing them for the first time pissed me off. Thank god that killing Saizo and Kagero isn't required. Iago and his staffs can burn in hell in Chapter 26. At least it felt good to kill him by silencing him and wailing on him like there's no tomorrow. Endgame was brutal, but after bring extra tonics it was a good challenge. Chapter 17 I will forever hate. Fuck ninjas and status dropping weapons and fuck that chapter.

Revelations:

So far the only chapter that classified as 'hard' to me was chapter 16-17. The random factor here is way worse than the wind. At least the wind had different colors to label what direction it goes, those damn flame walls don't have a real pattern. The fact that you have to cross the cracks was also dumb. 17 just had a clusterfuck of enemies and the new units you get are outshined by the Royals and aren't really that useful. Not hard, but meh, and fucking up mean you to BACK to Hell(literally. I think that chapter design wise is made to look and feel like Hell.).

I'm going to assume you meant Birthright Chapter 23 when you said Birthright Chapter 22. 23 is the Map where Camilla uses the Dragon Vein's to assault you, while 22 is where Shura's amazing band of Level 20 unpromoted units try and use Baillistae/Orbs to barely scratch your party.

[twistedxgrace]

Conquest I didn't think was that difficult (I've only played on normal mode, though) aside from a few chapters. Conquest chapter 17, Den of Betrayal, has to be the hardest in the entire game for me. So many enemies with shurikens and Poison Strike, and the Dragon Vein-triggered wall switching in weird spots make it such a pain in the ass.

Birthright? Hm. I remember having more difficulty with chapters 12, 16, and 23 than I ever did with Conquest chapter 10...12 is a given because it's supposed to be an escape chapter, but I think I'll go with 16; it made me cry the most.

Revelation might actually be the easiest route for me to be quite honest. It has my least favorite level design of the three paths mainly because it's "difficulty" is cheap. You recruit most of your party when they're underleveled, and the limit on how many units you can use each chapter is surprisingly low considering how big said party is (the final boss only lets you use thirteen for fuck's sake!). Some chapters require dragon veins be used in order to beat it, possibly without player warning, so if the avatar is the only royal you decide to use, you automatically make it more tedious for yourself. With all of that being said, I'd say Revelation's hardest chapter is 25, if only because there are a lot of enemies and I believe they all have B rank weapons, which can really mess with your defenseless units. It is also tedious for having the elevator gimmick, similar to the moving bridge gimmick in earlier chapters but more frustrating.

I'm not certain why people dislike ch12 cq, the turn limit is really excessive.

I really like ch17 CQ, it's a free place to train up selena/silias's bow rank and laslow/Soliels knife rank while the army of sorcerer's zerks and draco's CQ gives you shitstomps the hilariously frail ninja's.

I loved Conquest chapter 12. It might be my favorite chapter in the entire game, actually. I think its gimmick was well-done and its turn limit I had no problem keeping up with.

That's assuming everyone will make Silas and Selena Bow Knights and Laslow and Soleil Ninjas. Granted, I do think Laslow does well as a Ninja and Silas a Mercenary, but I NEVER promote Selena to Bow Knight because it doesn't satisfy her low skill stat like Hero does, and for that, I hate that Bow Knight is considered her "canon" class. I personally found Beruka and Benny most useful for training in chapter 17; they may be slow, but their high defense stats don't significantly lower when being hit by shurikens.

[joshcja]

Conquest I didn't think was that difficult (I've only played on normal mode, though) aside from a few chapters. Conquest chapter 17, Den of Betrayal, has to be the hardest in the entire game for me. So many enemies with shurikens and Poison Strike, and the Dragon Vein-triggered wall switching in weird spots make it such a pain in the ass.

Birthright? Hm. I remember having more difficulty with chapters 12, 16, and 23 than I ever did with Conquest chapter 10...12 is a given because it's supposed to be an escape chapter, but I think I'll go with 16; it made me cry the most.

Revelation might actually be the easiest route for me to be quite honest. It has my least favorite level design of the three paths mainly because it's "difficulty" is cheap. You recruit most of your party when they're underleveled, and the limit on how many units you can use each chapter is surprisingly low considering how big said party is (the final boss only lets you use thirteen for fuck's sake!). Some chapters require dragon veins be used in order to beat it, possibly without player warning, so if the avatar is the only royal you decide to use, you automatically make it more tedious for yourself. With all of that being said, I'd say Revelation's hardest chapter is 25, if only because there are a lot of enemies and I believe they all have B rank weapons, which can really mess with your defenseless units. It is also tedious for having the elevator gimmick, similar to the moving bridge gimmick in earlier chapters but more frustrating.

I loved Conquest chapter 12. It might be my favorite chapter in the entire game, actually. I think its gimmick was well-done and its turn limit I had no problem keeping up with.

That's assuming everyone will make Silas and Selena Bow Knights and Laslow and Soleil Ninjas. Granted, I do think Laslow does well as a Ninja and Silas a Mercenary, but I NEVER promote Selena to Bow Knight because it doesn't satisfy her low skill stat like Hero does, and for that, I hate that Bow Knight is considered her "canon" class. I personally found Beruka and Benny most useful for training in chapter 17; they may be slow, but their high defense stats don't significantly lower when being hit by shurikens.

Lunatic!CQ really fucks with the rules a lot more than it ups enemy stats. It really rewards high mobility bow users, strong 1-2 range, and punishes the unholy hell of of absolutely everything else.

By strong 1-2 I mean anything weaker than a passive stacked berserker hand axe becomes an active liability so there's some wiggle room. Bow knights/kinshi knights are bows with 8-11 move and reasonably strong 1-1 range, their damage is pretty damn nice with a light passive stack and a lategame high skill proc let's them have a strong anti-wary fighter game. Also shurikenbreaker is pretty much required on ch25.

Silias also gains enough def that he can straight up outbulk xander when VoF is active so bow knight convinces enemies to...actually attack him.

TL:DR Unless you're straight up masochistic or running blind you put Silias and Selena in bow knight by ch17. Hero is mostly useful for dipping sol on Soliel and Laslow, or on an Arthur A+/Harlot S supported with keaton as a 2 level dip alongside blacksmith to bring a hammer wielding zeker with lancebreaker+axebreaker+Sol into ch26 room 3 if you're self-banning Nos.

Edit:

Is that meant to insult me? You know I've only played normal mode, and who knows if I'll ever get as far as lunatic if it's actually so difficult.

Nope.

Edited August 2, 2016 by joshcja

[twistedxgrace]

TL:DR Unless you're straight up masochistic or running blind

Is that meant to insult me? You know I've only played normal mode, and who knows if I'll ever get as far as lunatic if it's actually so difficult.

[000000]

Birthright: Chapter 11

Conquest: Chapter 10, Chapter 20 and Chapter 26

Revelation: Chapter 16 and 17

[jonson]

Didn't play Brithright (nor planning to), in conquest chapter 9 was really difficult for me, more than 10 actually. The Hinoka chapter was tricky too. In my Conquest run I had a bit of a overleveled Corrin so I kind of killed Ryoma right away, but those ninja would be really annoying. Chapter 26 was really a challenge, more than 27 and endgame (I'm glad that at least 27 was easy, the thing that you can't save between 27 and endgame gets really annoying).

In rev not much honestly, there are some chapter that are annoying in the mechanics but not really hard (the stealth one, the one with the bridges, the one with the blue/red rooms...), I guess 17 was a challenge, until you get yolo Xander/Leo. (In classic it becomes a pain to save their retainers tho)

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Conquest 25 and Endgame: especially blind. These ones forced me to do the most planning and fiddling thanks to not having any Shurikenbreaker whatsoever for 25 and wanting to do Endgame without Rescue cheese. 26 and 27 get some points for looking scary, but then not being all that bad thanks to the AI being hampered by some extra rules that don't become apparent until a ways into the map.

Birthright 27: the enemy formation is actually really tight here and has a ton of 2-range weaponry. With the rate the enemy comes at, I was really forced to counter with some very tight positioning of my own. Endgame gets a vague runner-up mention for giving Garon significant Avoid, such that planning a 1-turn clear took a fair bit of thought and wasn't completely foolproof thanks to imperfect hit rates.

Revelation: I don't think I can really cite any specific chapter here, as none of it was especially hard (since it encouraged ye-olde juggernauting and then got rolled over by it). The hardest part was probably finding recruits who weren't pathetic bench fodder.

Paralogues: Shiro's, Siegbert's and Ignatius's when done late. Shiro's because he's a suicidal idiot that requires significant effort and/or precious resources to bail him out. Siegbert's because the map design as a whole is pretty awful, which is a shame because I really like the concept of having to shut down enemy spawn points. The way it's implemented, especially with the Woods spam, is just not good (especially with the reinforcements just adding cycles to spam out of the remaining spots as the others close). Ignatius's because of the small army between me, including a Freeze staffer, and the small army trying to murder Ignatius. The first and third maps could easily be fixed by having the applicable kid spawn as a tier 2. Siegbert's would need a complete overhaul. Forrest's might be a runner-up for being bad late, but there's also more tools with which to cheese the executioner than the other chapters.